SabbaticalScapes

Here we go… 

Although we were running a few minutes behind schedule to the airport, we pumped up the tunes and jammed to BOOM-BOOM-POW to get us into high gear.  Kerri, Elaine, and yours truly (aka Team BOOM-BOOM-POW) were ready for Italy.  But, was Italy ready for Team BOOM-BOOM-POW??? 

After landing in  Roma, the Italian men were upon me. Italy loves Angie and Angie loves Italy!  Several guys quickly deemed themselves as my “boyfriend”.  We managed to sneak away from them and make it outside the terminal only to be greeted by Elaine’s handsome “young and fresh” friend, Nicola. He was every bit of an Italian that one could imagine. He gave us a tour of the stomping grounds near his job, took us to a cute coffee shop for a snack, and then generously drove us the train station. Thank you Nicola!!

Once again we were en route and on the go. We went from Roma to Positano via the trains — some with no air and it was hotter than Houston!! Finally making it to Positano and settling into our beautiful cliffside hotel, we couldn’t wait to explore the island and get some food. As we walked along the way to the boardwalk to the beach area, there were many boutiques for our shopping pleasure. I managed to keep my spending to only food and essentials. The Euro was still pounding at the USD, making things pretty expensive from our perspective. Okay – I did buy a cute swimsuit coverup that I couldn’t resist.

Positano

Positano turned out to be the highlight of this fabulous trip for me. One night while we were having dinner, a guy totally surprised me with the biggest most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever!!! They even matched my outfit!  Apparently, he saw me the day before and waved to me, but I didn’t think anything of it. He then saw us having dinner on the boardwalk, passed by a few times, and then returned with the flowers…Now that’s ITALY!!! 

Our love for Positano continued by dancing the night away at Music on the Rocks, lounging on the beach, meeting wonderful people, eating great pasta, and hitching scooter rides. Kerri broke some guys heart and left him standing on the porch and Elaine –well, she just had a grand ole time.

Next, the star treatment continued as we ferried to the beautiful isle of Capri.  We were trying to go up to the top deck of the boat, but the Captain and his team beckoned us to come up to the command center for the remainder of the ride!!! It was great! We had a blast.

Capri

In Capri, we met up with a Billie and Ryan, Elaine’s friends. (As a travel aficionado, she has friends all over the world -LOL!!). Although we had the worst pizza ever in Capri, the day was salvaged by visiting the infamous Blue Grotto and taking the chairlift in Anacapri up to the highest point on the island for spectacular views of the Bay of Naples. AWESOME!!!!

Back to ROMA

Team BOOM-BOOM-POW was now in Naples. We waited a few minutes at the bus station, but realized we needed a cab in order to get to the train station before dark. Kerri and Elaine were a bit apprehensive at the cab that stopped for us because it wasn’t in the best condition.  But, I was getting in the first thing moving…LOL!!!

We made it to the train station and back to Roma. Seems like we went from one questionable situation to another. The hotel was in a remote area of town and we had to walk under freeways and back streets to get there. I dare not mention the things we saw along the way. Here, we added Nicole, a model from Milan to our team. So now, we were BOOM-BOOM-POW plus One!! She was full of energy and being fluent in Italian was our “tour guide” for the must see sites of Rome.

It was sooo unbelieveably HOT in Rome! But we hydrated with water from the ancient Roman aquaduct fountains and cooled off with gelato and limoncello slushies–mmmmm good stuff! 

We actually did a lot in the short time we were in Rome. We were in awe of the Vatican, Coloseum, the Trevi Fountain, and all the ancient ruins. We marvelled at the magnificient works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel….ahh ROMA!!! The only thing we missed were the catacombs. We got there too late to tour them. Oh well, just have to go back.

Inspiration – The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Be Blessed,

-A