Summer in Sorrento, Italy

Travel in Italy is like childbirth. Painful much of the time, yet at the end of the whole process, it’s so amazing you forget how awful it was and you do it again. And, in my case, again and again. I learned my lesson about having children after having three…they don’t stay cute and tiny, by the way. But I’m still not over Italy, and so I keep going back. After all, there are still parts I haven’t seen and Italy doesn’t disappoint. The true dilemma is whether to return to the places I love or keep pushing forward. I try to do both.

Bay of Naples

Since it’s summer as I’m writing this, I’ll start by telling you about the Amalfi Coast. I stayed in Sorrento, which is a great beach town and a fantastic place for a summer vacation. True to all my Italian experiences, it was difficult to get there. I took the tiny commuter train called the Circumvesuviana from Naples. First of all, there is no lift at the train station in Naples and I had luggage. I should learn to backpack, but I can’t. I’m not wired that way. And although I have severely trimmed down what I travel with, I must have a certain amount of accoutrements with me or I am very unhappy. Leaving, I tried a car. The traffic was unbelievable and everything you have heard about driving the hairpin turns through the Amalfi hills is true. I’d return, but next time, I might try a helicopter or the ferry.

Sunning in Sorrento

Sorrento is a great town. The locals have an ongoing love affair with Dean Martin and you can hear his lovely, slurring voice drifting through the air everywhere you go. There’s not much to do here except admire the scenery, swim, shop the markets at night and stroll, but I loved it. Sorrento has a ferry stop, as well as a bus station, and yes, there is that train so it makes a great base from which to go to the other towns in Amalfi. There are great bargains to be had in the shops. There are incredible linens, such as tablecloths, napkins, embroidered throws, and pillow cases. All were inexpensive and I loaded up on gifts (see why I need luggage?).

Shopping in Sorrento

Lemons grow everywhere in Southern Italy and they are the size of American grapefruit. The lemon motif is predominant and lemons are used in nearly every recipe. My favorite meal here was pasta served in a half of a lemon shell. Not only was it delicious, it was more than enough to fill me up. The lemons are huge! The meal was served at my favorite restaurant called [i]Ristorante L’Antica Trattoria[/i]. The waiters are charming and are known to strew your plate with flower petals. The second time we ate there, they gave us complimentary champagne because we came back. See, that’s the lure of Italy. Everything and everyone is so seductive you keep coming back for more.

Springtime in New Jersey

Spring Blossoms

New Jersey is a bad joke to many.  The American talk show hosts love to mock the state.  And it’s true that if the only part of the state you’ve see is the New Jersey Turnpike on your way from Liberty Airport in Newark, it does look bleak.  When you tell people you’re from Jersey, they ask you one of two questions to determine what part of the state you’re from: What mall do you live near or What exit? 

Well, I’m going to reveal a secret I know I shouldn’t.  Since NJ is the most densely populated of the fifty states, it’s not much of a secret to those of us who live here, but here goes.  New Jersey is an amazing place to live.  Whether you live north, central or south you are a mere hour away from something else entirely.  If you live in the center of the state you either live on the coast, or you’re a short ride away from fabulous beaches.  True, we do pay fees which is an entirely ridiculous concept.  But you have your choice of quiet, fishing beaches and bays, surfing beaches, family beaches with boardwalks and rides and games; you get the idea.   

Depending on where in the state you live, you are also a short ride away from the mountains.  Or from New York City.  Or Philadelphia.  Or Atlantic City.  And, of course, if shopping is your thing, there are all those malls. 

yellow spring blossom

Usually, we get three great seasons of outdoor weather.  Four if you’re a winter person which I am not.  Then, if it’s a good year for snow (an oxymoron), we even have skiing. 

Springtime is one of my favorite times.  You can smell the earth and it’s damp and green and in late April and early May, the world explodes with flowers and the chartreuse new green of the trees bursting back after a long, dead winter.  Everything looks like an impressionist painting.