Positano Day1

(Originally written 25 May 2013)

Every once in a while back home, you may find yourself in some little Italian restaurant and see a poster on the wall of some amazing scene along the Amalfi Coast.  You may think, “Holy cow that is beautiful! That place looks simply amazing!”  You may even think, “Before I die, THAT is a place I MUST go to.”  And so you add it to your “Bucket List”.

Some of our first images of the coast.

We arrived today in Positano on the first leg of a 2+ week vacation to Southern Italy.  My impression of this place: take your highest expectations of the Amalfi Coast from looking at that amazing poster on the wall – and it’s way better than that.  The posters just don’t do it justice.

Everyone's so excited upon first arrival!

As I sit here writing this, I am looking at our bedroom window, across the terraced rooftops of the town below, and across the turquoise blue sea.  There is a cacophony of birds singing away, their sing-songy tunes interspersed with the noble chimes of the town’s church bells.  I am enjoying a moment of absolute luxury, especially for a parent - the luxury of laying down for a few minutes, closing your eyes, and just resting.  Really resting.  And as I lay there resting in peace, the images in my mind's eye are of the most vibrant colors of flowers, tropical flowers, and of the biggest, brightest lemons you have ever seen; purple wisteria canopies, roses of the deepest reds, orchids, flowering vines of every variety, and orange trees.  There is of course the deep blue sea and a beautiful blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds.  The images are all similar to what you might see in that travel poster, but it all comes to wonderful life when the breezes blow the waves of the sea and the leaves on the olive trees.  It’s the difference between seeing a Star Wars poster, then seeing it on a 40ft movie screen with Dolby sound and full CG animation.  You can’t be prepared for the real thing.

Tres chic, if you ask me.

There also must be something different about the air here.  It’s wonderful.  It feels cleansing.  Maybe it has nothing to do with the quality of the air as much as just being in this wonderful place, on a long, relaxed vacation with my family.  The little muscles around my eyes and cheeks feel like their being drained of stress.  Little muscles in my neck and shoulders.  It's a light breeze with crisp, cool air that gets in my sinuses, swirls around, and flushes stress and negativity out of those deep places inside where it gets trapped sometimes.

Our biggest concern right now is whether we should venture out and eat fresh fish for a nice dinner or if we will just chill at home tonight with fresh ingredients we bought at the market and a bottle of Brunello wine.

Josh proved to have a great knack for taking pictures.

This is good.  This is really, really good.
 
ct

Beating the Heat

Here we are in the Dolomites on the first of my 4-day "Furlough Weekends". I've been fortunate to be in a department that gives us some flexibility on how we choose to take 11 furlough days between July and September.  We have created a furlough schedule whereby me and a my fellow engineering supervisor will switch-off every other week with a Friday/Monday combination of furlough days.  That means Suzanne and I have 3 extra 4-day weekends to plan and 2 extra 5-day weekends to plan since a couple of my Furlough Weekends also fall on Federal Holidays.  With the kids off from school, Suzanne not tied to a job, and a great time of the year to travel, it's pretty much ideal for us.  Of course we'll miss the income, but under these circumstances, I'd trade that income for the days off anytime they want to offer it to me.

We didn't try to do anything extravagant this weekend because it was only recently that we returned from our 2.5 week vacation to the Amalfi Coast and Sicily, followed by a 3-week visit from my parents.  During my parents' time here, we took them on several day-trips and a great 5-day trip to Tuscany.  Suzanne and I were also able to slip away for an amazing weekend of scuba diving and relaxation along the Croatian coast in Pula.  Frankly, I think we have a touch of travel fatigue right now.  So 4 days in the Italian Dolomites, about 3 hours from home, was a relatively simple and easy trip for us.  But wow....I mean, WOW!

When we left yesterday afternoon, it was hot and dry.  It may not have been 100+ degree heat that they've been having in Maryland recently, but hot enough where a stroll down the street will make you sweat.  And after a lot of snow this winter and a very rainy Spring, this summer has been pretty much bone-dry.  Three hours later and we are reaching for every piece of warmer clothing we may have packed, along with our rain jackets.  Mountain weather - refreshing, but I don't think I'd want to trade.

One of the differences we were prepared for is that when you come up into this part of Italy, it is as much Germany as Italy.  All of the signs and menus have both languages, but more than that is the look and feel of the place.  All of the buildings are that classic Bavarian architecture with steeply pitched roofs, wood-beam overhangs, white stucco facades, and wood balconies covered in colorful flower boxes.  We ate at an Italian restaurant last night, but we are ready and willing to eat snitzel and drink a good weizen.  German food for me is something I like to eat every once in awhile, but then after one or two meals of it, I'm ready to go back to Italian fare or basically any other fare for that matter.  We haven't really had German food since our trip to Austria last January, so bring on the goulash!

Then one might ask, "What is it you DO up there with two kids in the mountains during the summer?"  Valid question.  I asked it myself.  It wasn't until we got off the autostrada and up into the mountains that it became more clear to me.  The scenery all around you is simply compelling.  The kids got noticeably excited and started finding ways of occupying themselves eg. making a game out of who was about to fall out of the car and plummet down the mountain as we traversed switchback after switchback.  There are waterfalls and bike trails everywhere.  The whole area is criss-crossed with hiking trails.  As we drove through quaint mountain ski towns, we saw lots of shops we'd like to go check out, playgrounds to visit, gondolas that take you up to even more scenic overlooks, and interesting looking parks including one with a "ropes course" for kids.  We are looking forward to going for bike rides along the water-water streams, like we did last weekend a little closer to home.  And it's also nice to just hang out in our awesome apartment and relax with a coffee, some fresh bread, and beautiful mountain views in every direction.

My gracious, just reflecting on it a moment, in the span of a short few weeks the amount of traveling and diversity of traveling that we have done as a family - it's staggering.  Our kids don't have the first clue about how unique and special this is.  For them, they go hiking in the Italian Dolomites or swimming in Sicily or sightseeing in Tuscany not because they are incredible special vacations, but because it's the weekend.

ct