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Biggest surprise?
’Approdo in San Marco di
Castellabate, a couple of hours south of Naples on the Campania coast. We wanted to kick
back in an off-the-tourist-track spot and we found this place in The Parker Company’s
(800/280-2811) catalog. Right on the coast in a delightful little fishing village.
Operated by an excellent staff headed by Bruno, the "direttore" who also runs
the kitchen. We let him choose our wine and menu every evening and he nailed it every
time. Trained in Paris, London and other international kitchens, he specializes in
Mediterranean cuisine and as a native Neapolitan, knows his stuff. We enjoyed our respite
there so much that we never got around to the day trips we had planned to take from there.
Our Granddaughter?
Our 15-year-old granddaughter joined
us for a week and we had the pleasure of showing her all the sights ... Colosseum, Forum,
Pompeii, etc. But at the top of her "must see" list was Juliette's home and
balcony in Verona. Her sophomore class was reading the play and
she was queen for a day when she returned and showed her photos and postcards to the
group.
Tips from really raw first-timers.
No rookie as innocent as we were can
spend a month in Italy without goofing up big-time here and there. I’m not about to
embarrass myself in front of America’s computer-literate masses by chronicling all of
mine, but here’s a sampling:
- Now that we’ve experienced the excellent train
system, I’ll have second thoughts about renting a car again, even though it helped us
reach places we otherwise would have missed–L’Approdo, for example. The
Autostrada is great; just be sure to use the left lane only to pass and watch in your
rear-view mirrors for those cars barreling up behind you. And as my wife says…if you
can avoid them, "stay off the white roads!" Every time we ventured onto one of
those squiggly little white lines on the Michelin map we ended up on a mountaintop
somewhere.
And a special caution: if you park in a garage, be certain to pay the cashier and get your
ticket stamped before you return to your car. There’s no cashier at the exit, just a
machine where you insert your stamped ticket to raise the bar. Pay first to avoid having a
line of red-faced drivers behind you muttering in tongues.
- If you do have a car and the Cinque Terre is in your
plans, park the heap somewhere and take the train. We used up a lot of time–and
nerves–on squiggly white roads that we could have used to advantage in those
beautiful little towns.
- Don’t crowd your travel schedule too much. Even
though we were there for a full month, we still found ourselves rushing from place to
place to cram in everything we had planned. Partly because it was our first trip there, we
wanted to make certain we saw all the guidebook touristy sights.
Well, we’ve done that now. Next time we’re going to give ourselves more chances
to stop and savor the local color, the awesome landscape and especially, the
people.
Top memories?
The entire stay created a singular
memory that we simply won’t forget. But if I were to presume to break it down into a
top five smaller ones–in no particular order–here’s a stab:
- Rome with its fountains,
churches, walks, and the awesome feeling that there’s another city and another age
about 15 feet beneath where you’re walking.
- Venice because, well,
where else are you going to see something like that.
- Milan’s LaScala,
with its six flights of stairs that my wife would have negotiated on her knees rather than
miss a production there.
- Our first glimpse of the Mediterranean
and the rush of memories that a lifetime of reading has built up about that storied sea.
- And of course, Tuscany.
Whether you traverse those hills by train, bus or car, you’re hit smack in the face
with what Irving Stone saw in The Agony and the Ecstasy:
The Tuscan was a natural sculptor
… Stone was the dominant factor: with it he built his farms and villas, enclosed his
fields, terraced his slopes to retain his soil. Nature had been bountiful with stone;
every hill was an undeveloped quarry. If the Tuscan scratched deep with his fingernail he
struck building materials sufficient for a city. And when he built of dry rock, his walls
stood as though masoned.
Okay, I know I said five memories but
I can’t stop:
I have to add a sixth. Last but
certainly not least is the people. Unbelievably friendly,
helpful, accommodating, and just plain charming. Our maiden voyage abroad was to check out
all that incredible marble pictured in our history and guide books. Our next trip will be
to spend more time with the flesh-and-blood ancestors of those giants who left such a
stirring legacy.
Again, thanks to all those whose
unselfish help made it possible for us to fashion an unforgettable trip.
Copyright © 1998 John Thompson
Published May 18, 1998
John Thompson is a freelance writer
and actor living in Indianapolis.
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