Italy Trip Pictures October 2006
Sorrento Portion Of The Trip
In October of 2006 Hadley & I took our first real vacation that did not have any business aspects attached to it. I was not running any clinics, tours, speaking at a symposium or visiting family. It was just the two of us. We wondered if we would survive each other on a pure vacation since the concept was a new one. Since I retired from UCSB in June of 2005 we have been spending ALL of our time together so we felt confident that we would vacation together very well. When thinking back on the trip we both feel we had a fabulous time.
We traveled first class on Lufthansa (frequent flier air miles) from Seattle to Rome. We only had the first three nights booked for Rome with the remaining three weeks open to explore as we pleased. We loved the history of Rome, Pompeii, Florence & Pisa. The beauty and peacefulness of Sorrento and Vernazza (Cinque Terra) were well appreciated (by my sore knees) after days of sightseeing and hiking. Since we both love the water, being kayakers, these coast towns were a special treat. We have to admit that Venice was an unexpected treasure. The guide books were correct. The only way to see Venice is by going out and getting lost in Venice (which is very easy to do.)
Of the 973 pictures we have included ones that seem appropriate for fellow kayakers. We did not bring any kayaking gear and figured we would paddle if the opportunity presented itself. There were many times we wanted to get on the water but the lack of rental equipment was frustrating. Here are a few highlights of our Italy adventure and some great people we met along the way.
A view from our Hotel looking east along the Sorrento coastline which is on the South end of the Bay of Naples. Marina Grande is at the bottom of the picture.
If you are like us the water is begging you to jump in a kayak and tour the coast.
Marina Grande is the thriving fishing harbor of Sorrento. It not only looks like a little sleepy fishing village that is how it felt when we were there. You can read the story of our rental experience in the December 2006 Reflection "Renting a Kayak."
This is the old fisherman who ran the rental program visiting with his friends down at the harbor. The dog hopped on when the guy would take off on his scooter. I am ashamed to say the dog knew more Italian than me. He probably even spoke it better than I did.
We ended up in a double kayak which was the best of three options for a rental. The water was warm and calm. The option for PFD's did NOT exist. It was to beautiful to pass up so we made a choice to go.
When we paddled west we came to a point of land with ruins from an ancient Roman Villa. The locals were fishing off of the rocks of the ruins. As we neared the ruins we found an entrance into a secluded grotto.
If it were a rough day we would need full rock garden protection to even attempt going into the grotto. However, with calm seas it was easy to slip into the narrow entrance to our little hide-a-way.
Once inside the grotto we turned and looked at the entrance/exit and I thought I saw the "Jack in the Box" logo. I guess all the pasta I was eating was overwhelming.We swam around in the warm waters before paddling father down the coast.I returned to the grotto days later to do some snorkeling to see if I could find ancient treasure.
In ancient times this grotto was a place for boats to land and launch in protected water. The ruins have collapsed into the grotto. It was real exciting to take a breath and dive down to look at tile work that was 3,000 years old.
After snorkeling in the grotto I swam out through the slit and inspected the cliff face from under under the water.
Here is an ariel view of the ancient villa as seen from the book "Archaeological Sites of the Roman Empire" edited by d'Oriano.
Not a bad piece of waterfront real estate. It would be a great place to open a kayak shop.
Here is an artists rendition of what the villa looked like in all its glory.
Taken from the same book, "Archaeological Sites of the Roman Empire" edited by d'Oriano.
Here is Hadley with Rosa who is one of the many great people we met on our trip. Rosa runs a nice little shop in sorrento.
Rosa's cute little lap dog lured us in to buy some gifts for family and friends.
Our hotel had the greatest view and even better hospitality from the Stinga Family.We highly recommend "Hotel Settimo Cielo" in Sorrento.
It is located a few minute walk from downtown Sorrento out on the cliffs. We would get a melon Gelatos to help us up the hill.
It is easy to see why we strolled down hill to town every night. The views were incredible. On this particular night there was a fish festival taking place down in the marina. Tons of food, wine and music. We hung around for quite a while looking down and listening to the music and songs.
Wayne & Stefano found out they both loved the concept of adventure and being outdoors in the elements. Thanks to Stefano Wayne was able to get in some snorkeling with Stefano's equipment.Wayne's discussions with Stefano was the motivation for the USK reflection "Feeling Alive."
Stefano's January e-mail said he and his friend were the only boat out in the winter conditions during their skin diving outing.
If you would like to see some more of our Italy adventure please clink on the following links when they are active. Cinque Terra and Venice.
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