Sorrento

Well, again I have two days worth of travel to write about. And, as an added challenge, the internet connection here in Sorrento is sketchy at best, so who knows how long I have before the internet goes out again.

We begin with Tuesday, March 24. This was a travel day, but we spent the morning running a couple of errands in Rome. I had to get some warmer clothes (60 degrees somehow feels much colder over here - the wind doesn't help), and Erik had to get some medicine for his cough. Couldn't tell you what the pharmacist gave him, but it seems to be helping. We spent all afternoon on the train. First, a fast train from Rome to Naples, which only took 1 hour 20 minutes. Then, we had to wait for the "local train" that runs from Naples to Sorrento (and other towns along the coast). The local train is really a subway. Complete with pick pockets and cars covered in grafetti. On top of that, we happened to be there just before rush hour, so the cars were crowded, and we had to stand for the 70 minute trip, where the train stopped about 20 times in all the little towns in between. But, we made it to Sorrento, and walked about 10 minutes downhill (getting back to the train is going to suck!) to get to our hotel. The hotel is beautiful - we have a balcony overlooking the water, although it is too chilly to really use it. We walked about 10 minutes into the town square for dinner, and happened to pick a wonderful restaurant. The prices are much more reasonable here - about 50% cheaper for a dinner with wine than we were paying in Rome. This is definitley a tourist destination, as everyone else in the restaurant were tourists, and most spoke English. The town square is cute, and has a TON of cute stores that I can't wait to shop.

Wednesday was our big trip to Pertosa. We had planned to stay in Salerno Tuesday night, as it is much closer to Pertosa, but found a driver and guide in Sorrento that was willing to make the trip with us, and offered to contact the town hall to see if they could locate any documents for Erik's family, so we decided to take him up on that offer. We actually have to thank Rick Steve's for finding the driver for us - he specifically mentioned in his book on Italy that this gentleman specializes in helping Italian Americans find long lost relatives and information about their ancestors. So, this morning at 8am we met Carmello, a 70ish gentleman who speaks creative English. I think I understood about 70% of what he was saying, but perhaps less, because somehow he misunderstood us when we said our son's name is Dominic, and he is now calling Erik Dominico. Carmello is also taking us on a tour of the Amalfi Coast on Saturday, so Erik will get to be Dominico at least one more time.

Carmello loves history and information, and said he spends his off time in the library reading about the area, and the famous people that have either lived or visited here. Of course, he has had some famous people in his car (Woody Allen, Sophia Lauren), but he loves to find people from other countries that have lived here, or have family from the area. So, a trip that should have taken about 2 1/2 hours took well over 3 as we stopped several times along the way to take pictures and hear more trivia.

Granted, the views were beautiful, but our main goal was to get to Pertosa. We arrived in town around 11:30 and made our way to the Town Hall. The area is beautiful - lots of little towns set down in the valley of several mountains. Since Carmello's son had called ahead, they had 2 books for us to see - the original town register which contained information on the birth of both Erik's great grandfather and great great grandfather. After some challenging communications, we were also able to see entries about the great grandfather's two sisters. It was amazing to see these books from the late 1800's, and although we were not allowed to touch or photograph them, they did give us pieces of paper that contain the information from the books. We were also able to see the 3 streets where various family members lived, but none of the original buildings are left. We did get to see the church, which has been there for 1,000 years. It's mind boggling. Of course, the front has been rebuilt since then, but the brass bells are original to the church. This of course would have been the church where Erik's family would have been baptized, and married.

We walked around the town for a bit, then headed to the Grotto di Pertosa. We thought we'd be able to just walk into the Grotto, because Erik's father said that his grandfather would tell them stories about people from town meeting there on Sunday afternoon for a picnic. But, when we got there, we found that it is now something you have to pay to see, and there are tours only at scheduled times. According to the literature we picked up, this change happened in the 1930's when they turned it into a tourist destination. We didn't time it right to go for a tour, but did spend some time eating lunch at the cafe, and talking to the English speaking owner about the area. He had lots of interesting information, including telling us that a big battle during World War II took place right in this area. His grandfather told him about how the Germans hid out in the Grotto, and the Americans were up on the hills above. He also pointed out a road that is more than 4,000 years old which the Romans, Greeks, Germans and Americans have marched on.
During the drive home, Carmello pointed out the castles perched on the hill tops of most towns we drove by. These were occupied by the Kings or rulers of the towns back when these were all separate communities. It's quite odd to see so many castles all by themselves on the hill top, with the town below.

Arrivederci for now.