Ravello, I Love You

Jeff and I have been in Ravello now for 2 days and it is an amazing place. The humidity has created a haze that won't blow out and doesn't allow us to 100% see the beautiful view, however the view is still one of the most spectacular I have seen.

We are staying at Hotel Villa Fraulo and the staff here is great. It's been so relaxing. We wake up, eat breakfast, lounge on the deck, swim in the infinity pool, longe some more, shower, wander the town, eat, drink, nap, wander the town some more, enjoy dinner, have more wine, espresso and then sleep. So simple, yet the perfect getaway!

Today we are checking out of our hotel and headed to an apartment Jeff rented for 2 days. He is excited to cook for me - he feels inspired by all the wonderful meals we've had. Yesterday we went to some new friends home for lunch. It was such an experiene that explaining it would not do it justice. The fact that they opened up their home to us and then treated us to a heart felt meal really made this trip so special. (Thank you Katharine and Salvatore!)

The meals here should be their own seperate post - we've had no bad meals. Last night we went for pizza but also had a salald that contained the thinnest sliced octopus ever with lemon and olive oil - so simple yet ridiculously good!

The people here have been great and to compare this place to Napoli would be like comparing night to day. Napoli was fun, crazy, but fun.

Enough of my rambling, I just wanted to try and catch you up to where we are and what we are doing. We have taken so many pictures, if you have the time you can check some of them out. Remember Jeff has been here 10 more days than me so the first 1000 or so are from his business portion of the trip. Enjoy!!

The heart of an espresso machine

We visited the Nuova Simonelli manufacturing plant in the Marche region of Italy. This is the home of Victoria Arduino. What are those you may ask? These are boilers waiting to be installed on the production line!

Buona Notte Bologna!

Does 36+ hours count as Day 1? Not sure, maybe I am a little delirious or maybe I am just dizzy with excitement, but all I know is that Italy so far has been far beyond my expectations. After 3 airplanes and 18+ hours of travel, we arrived in Bologna at about 12:00pm local time. First flight was from Seattle to Philadelphia on an Airbus 320. Not too impressed with US Airways - sorry Jason. I mean the plane itself was safe and smooth, but the creature comforts..wait, there were no creature comforts. Thanks to my lovely wife for packing me some snacks. Flight number two was from Philadelphia to Brussels on a Boeing 757. Again, smooth and safe, but nothing special. Both flights were packed - I think there were some small bambinos in the overhead bins. There was even a guy who got so uncomfortable that he raised his shirt up over his head and started to apply deodorant - maybe he was sweaty with nerves or maybe he was just trying to gross out Karen Stutesman - I'll go with the latter. The third leg was from Brussels to Bologna on an AVRO RJ85. This plane was much smaller, yet it was much more comfortable. Maybe because the flight only had about 30 passengers or maybe it was because I drank two beers. Again, I'll defer to the latter. I got a great picture of Joyce Morinaka sprawled out napping. Anyway, landing in Bologna was a treat. It absolutely felt like we stepped off the plane in Seattle. 50 degrees, rainy, and people waiting in lines - sound familiar? As for baggage, Karen and Joyce had their two bags arrive with us - "Tutto va bene" we all said!
I did not check any bags, but I did help Joyce on every transfer carry her satchel with the Hello Kitty tag - she was amused by this to say the least. After Walter, yes Walter is apparently an Italian name, picked us up and zoomed us to our hotel, we preceded to find our first doppio espresso. In true Italian fashion, we walked up to a little bar, ordered our caffes', paid a Euro each, and walked away very happy. The next few hours were dedicated to relaxing while we waited for Joe Fugere and Jeff Lewis to arrive...and by arrive, I mean by Business Class on Lufthansa - Come Fortunato! La dolce vita...