Yeah, visitors!!!!

Well this page has been quiet for a week for good reason. Chris and Emily came for a visit last week and I haven’t had time to write something up. The first part of their visit was up in Venice then they came down to Brindisi. Our first order of business was to go to the Amalfi Coast. But before we arrived in Sorrento we stopped at Pompeii. I always like that place because people who come later have modified so many other things but no one had that chance with Pompeii. There are old churches and towns in Italy but they all get modifications by the following generations. Pompeii is all the way it was….
We arrived at our hotel, which was high up over Sorrento with a nice view of the Bay of Naples. The hotel was complete; it even had a resident cat that could always use a little more attention. We hit all the major towns along coast. I learned more about the coast like that there is a nice parking lot at the bottom of Positano, which would have made the stop there much easier. When Emily made it up the stairs from the bottom to top of Positano, then I knew she could handle anything on this trip (she’s kinda pregnant, like 6 months!). In Amalfi we stopped at a papermaking mill. It’s amazing to think that there were once 16 papermaking mills in Amalfi. The town’s not that big. Another highlight were the views from Ravello (I think most postcard photos of the Amalfi coast come from there). This town is really small, now I know why it was hard to find a hotel there. Then we headed back to Brindisi the scenic way. I love driving down through Potenza and Metaponto to Brindisi. You stay in the mountains for a long time but the road is usually pretty empty because the trucks will take the Autostrada, so really I think it’s an easier drive. It also takes you through Basilicata. A very poor region of Italy but the towns on the hilltops look amazing.
Back in Brindisi we hit the local towns. A couple new things we did were: a visit to Polignano a Mare. This town is high above the sea, with some cool restaurants in caves in the cliffs over the sea. Also we toured a plant that makes olive oil. The people there were VERY nice, so go to there website www.oilclaudio.com. They drove us out to see some especially old olive trees in the area and a stone house that people used to live in during the harvest (hundreds of years ago). Then after giving us a tour they gave us some olive oil. And we thought we should give them something for the trouble. They had about 6 people there to show us around. I have to go back when they are making oil to see it at work (that starts around the end of November).
That wraps up the highlights as I see this is getting really long. I should put up a few photos this weekend.Late edition to this blog. The weather was terrible before C & E came but it was perfect while Chris and Emily were here and now it looks very dark out...