Lilla Travels

Today, we had a nice slow morning in Alberobello, relaxing in our trullo and walking a bit around the town.

The basilica at the end of our road is named after brothers Saint Cosmos and Saint Damian. They claim to have relics of Saint Damian’s skull. He’s the guy on the right. Their statues don’t look like brothers since they were done by different artists.

The artwork in the basilica was quite interesting — see below.

For lunch we picked up two types of panini from Il Fornello: sausage and bombette (rolled pork fillet with a touch of Parmesan cheese); the owner was named Damiano.

We relaxed in the early afternoon too and then hit the road to explore some neighboring towns.

First stop, Martina Franca – about a 20 minute drive from Alberobello. We drove through and frankly didn’t see much. We were about to leave, but stopped one more time and found a cute, narrow pedestrian area. There were string lights with butterflies and painters palettes strung high above the walkways, and quotes from Picasso all over the city.

We had gelato at Latteria del Ringo. It was excellent, with Paul commenting that his “cinnamon cookie” flavor was one of the best he’s ever had. As we walked more of the little street we came upon the beautiful Basilica of San Martino and its giant, baroque facade. We walked around, popped in and out of stores and enjoyed this very off the beaten path locale.

Back in the car and after ten minutes we arrived at the town of Locorotondo – another cute small town perched high on the hill overlooking the valley. We walked around the centro, poking our heads into stores and churches. Paul bought a bottle of wine that he had researched ahead of the trip.

After a cocktail overlooking the valley, we headed back to Alberobello for 9:30p dinner at Aqua e Sale (bruschetta, pizza for Miss M, orechette bolognese for big D and I, and grilled meats for Paul.)

We strolled after dinner and at 11p stumbled upon a group of ballroom dancers at a small plaza next to the Chiesa di Santa Lucia, overlooking the Rione Monti, the old section of town with the most trulli. They were fun to watch, and a gentleman told me there is a studio where he takes lessons once a week for tango.

We ended the day with gelato at Mille Voglie: dark chocolate for Paul, fior di latte for Big D and milk chocolate for Miss M.

While we all miss Minori, Alberobello already has a few things going for it that will make this stretch enjoyable in its own way.

WiFi— I won’t get into all the technology troubles we ran into on that leg of the trip, but let’s just say we were able to use WiFi only while sitting on our balcony thanks to generosity of Andrea at Bar Antares a block away. A first world problem, I know, but it sometimes took an hour to connect to WiFi and publish a pre-written blog with pictures. In Alberobello, it takes a matter of minutes.

Quiet — While the trullo doesn’t have air conditioning, it’s made of thick stone so it’s cool enough. And quiet. We all slept VERY well. There’s a dehumidifier in one bedroom, and we can get fresh air in by opening the “skylights” in Big D’s room or Miss M’s cone.

Recycling and trash — I’m all for recycling, but Minori takes trash to a whole new level. There are four levels of trash disposal: compostable food waste, cardboard/paper, plastics, other. Each day is assigned a different type of trash pickup, so you are expected to hang your bag of trash on the wall outside your door for the garbage men to get by 7am. Whether it was the walk to Ravello, visiting Cetera, or around Minori, you’d see these little bags of one day worth of trash hanging everywhere. In Alberobello, everything goes in one bag and you hang it outside by 7am. No separating.

Here’s a pic of our trullo from the outside.

This morning we all slept in and went to the supermarket. No this isn’t just a gas station, it’s a supermarket as well.

We always have fun looking at the items in the Italian markets and comparing prices to the U.S. Pasta for 40 cents, tuna in oil for 5 euros (at Whole Foods the equivalent costs $12.) Here you’ll see a to-go package of salami that comes with its own knife, in the freezer aisle there’s mixed seafood and mussels, and lots of pasta and biscuits.

We picked up some groceries for the week, and then went to the bakery where Big D got the last sugar donut (shaped like a bagel) which the nice woman sliced across the middle and filled with frutti di bosco jam. He could have had it filled with Nutella or orange marmalade, but frutti di bosco was a no brainer for him. It’s a multi-fruit jam and his favorite flavor of gelato now just as it was six years ago.

Yesterday we left Minori and Paul checked off an item on his bucket list: he drove the Strada Statale 163, aka the Amalfi Coast Drive. Until this point we used a route that took us through the mountains and only to Maiori, limiting the time along the winding coastal road. Not to diminish the sharp curves of the previous drives, but this one was different. Paul did a great job and I was distracted by attempting to snap pics with the phone. I realize the pics that I have don’t do the height and fear factor justice.

Three hours later we reached Matera, one of the three oldest continually inhabited cities remaining in the world. Matera is estimated to be over 9000 years old and it was where “Passion of the Christ” was filmed since present day Matera looks so much like Jerusalem of 2000 years ago.

We arrived in time for siesta which meant most places were closed. Luckily Parisi Piera at Cucina Lucana offered to make us a platter of antipasti: julienned zucchini, burrata, mozzarella, salumi and more.

We then went to explore Matera, but it was so hot. Miss M and I ended up staying at a cafe in the shade while Paul and Big D explored and snapped pictures.

It took a little over an hour to reach Alberobello, the next stop on this adventure. We’re staying in an actual trullo, one of the cone topped structures that Alberobello is so famous for. We are a few blocks from the main drag, but very close and almost next to the Basilica of Saints Cosmo & Damiano. Miss M is excited that she got to sleep in the cone. Pics coming tomorrow.

We had dinner at Bar Tropical, at Largo Trevisani, by the main pedestrian area of Alberobello. After a very nice antipasto, the kids opted for trofie al pesto, I had a salad, and Paul had the local specialty of Orrichette with rabe, olive oil and pepper flakes. It’s also served with toasted breadcrumbs mixed with dry oregano, to sprinkle over the dish. Everything was very good, though the kids were in agreement that Paul’s pesto was better.

Minori has been a great place for us to spend a week in Italy. If we never go back to Positano again, I’d be perfectly fine with that. But never returning to Minori would make all of us incredibly sad. We’re truly blessed to spend a week here.

I’ve written a lot about Minori over the past two trips, but here’s some random observations that should be noted:

1) Many of the tween girls carry small backpacks at night. All kids have phones, but I’m super curious as to what else is in these mini backpacks. The teenage girls don’t seem to carry them.

2) The man purse is definitely a thing here. In brown leather.

3) We have only seen one topless woman at the beach this week. Totally surprising compared to our beach experiences in Spain and Forte de Marmi, Italy.

4) All over Minori there are black and white laminated posters on display commemorating Minori’s past. For example, this is a picture of Minori’s concert band founded in 1863.

5) Closing the shutters at night greatly reduced the sound resulting in a better night’s sleep.

6) Every night there have been fireworks up and down the coast. Usually around 11:45p each night. We’ve seen them in Maiori (which we can see from our balcony), Marmorata, and twice we’ve heard them from the other side of Ravello, likely in Amalfi.

7) In chatting with Andrea, the owner of Bar Antares where we had our morning espresso, he makes approximately 300 cups of espresso a day…it depends on the day!

8) The water is clear, without seaweed, and haven’t seen a single fish. The shore is comprised of small pebbles that bake in the sun. Ten feet from shore the pebbles are gone and the sea floor is fine black sand.

9) I wish I could stay awake to be a part of the nighttime scene here, but by 11p/12a I am exhausted. Last night, as in every night, the dance music and singing went on until the wee hours of the morning.

10) Supermarkets: nothing is as cold here as it is at home. The eggs aren’t refrigerated, we buy milk and it’s relatively warm to the touch. The peaches and apricots have been delicious

11) Fishing is still big industry here, and each morning we’ve watched the men prepare their fishing lines for the day.

12) Passeggiata – the traditon of strolling after a meal. People watching and walking up and down the main street or ocean promenade is as much of a thing here as we’ve seen in other Italian communities. The old nonnas walk arm in arm, there’s usually a gaggle of tween girls with back packs, overtired babies being pushed in strollers, and tween boys are usually at one end playing soccer or some form of tag running through the small alleyways off the main street. It’s a great scene.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at a nearby restaurant where Miss M had mussels with slices of amalfi lemon, and the rest of us ate n’underi (the local dumpling we had the other night.) Gelato at Sal de Riso and then we called it a night.

All together, it’s been a fun and relaxing week. We believe Minori is a true gem of the Amalfi Coast and it will always have s special place in our hearts. We’re on to the region of Puglia tomorrow.

It’s our final full day in Minori and we have one thing on the agenda: spiaggia (beach). In the morning, we fed potato chips to the swans, seagulls and ducks who have been nesting in the water and rocks outside our apartment. A man came by and fed them stale cornetti (croissants) which they liked a lot better.

Big D walked to the Bar Antares and bought himself two chocolate cornetti to enjoy at the beach club. I missed morning mass at the basilica but explored the inside afterwards visiting the crypt of Saint Trofimena, the patron saint of Minori.

Paul, Big D and I played in the ocean which is more crowded today being that it’s Sunday. When Miss M awoke it was almost lunchtime! We all spent time on the beach, cooling off in the water, and eating panini and fried fish for lunch.

We came to Italy with one ball (Big D’s basketball) and we’re leaving Minori with three. We’ve purchased two types of beach balls here, one of which is very popular on the coast. It’s an orange ball with the label “Super Santos” so the kids have named the ball “Amelia” in honor of Miss M’s good friend with the same surname. All week the kids have played “Seven Push” in the water with anyone who wants to join them, adults and kids.

It’s 5:30pm as I’m writing this part of the blog and literally Big D has spent a grand total of two minutes out of the water and it’s only because I forced him to take a few bites of his sandwich.

At 6pm, the cruise ships that we have seen in the distance sounded their horns as they left, and it started to sprinkle. God is sad that it’s almost time for us to leave Minori.

Paul started the morning with a ride on a scooter. The guys at the car park in Maiori didn’t have his car ready as requested, so instead of bringing the car to Paul, they brought Paul to the car!

Big D and Miss M enjoyed one Euro cornetti (croissants) for breakfast and we headed out for the day.

Paul navigated the windy road to get us to Pompei. We joined a few families and hired Carmine, a tour guide for two hours. He showed us homes, artifacts and of course the brothel, all preserved by the ash from Mt Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. Big D was responsible for taking photos with the good camera which means he took a lot of shots of stone penises and butt cracks on statues.

After Pompei, Paul brought us to Vesuvius so we could hike to the crater of this non-active volcano. A few times we had to reverse direction on the drive because of oncoming buses and sharp corners, but otherwise all good! It was a dusty hike, but well worth the uphill climb. The view of the crater was spectacular and it was so neat being at that elevation after spending a week at the beach. Miss M enjoyed the feeling of clouds surrounding her.

During the 90 minute commute back to Minori, along the winding roads and around the mountain, we drove behind a truck filled with tomatoes, another carrying fennel. We passed terraces of lemon trees and olive trees and grape vines, homes clinging to the side of the mountain, all scenery we’ve come to take for granted as repeat visitors of southern Italy.

We finished the day back in Minori at the beach, cooling off in the water and then strolling around Minori for dinner. Paul and I grabbed a container of mixed fish from the local fish fry, Big D and Miss M each had sandwiches from the local market (mortadella and mozzarella, and prosciutto cotto) along with a can of “esthe the limone” a lemon iced tea beverage they’ve ordered a lot on this trip.

We happened to be walking by Sal De Riso Pasticceria and lo and behold I spotted Sal! Some background: I’ve been a fan of Sal for many years, reading about his acclaim across Italy and international pastry circles, and when I discovered his origins were in Minori I just had to have his famous pear and ricotta tart when we were here six years ago. It was amazing. After the trip, Paul and I found the recipe online and tried to recreate at home, but it was a total fail. I’ve been looking forward to the tart and experiencing Sal de Riso’s store as we planned this trip, and bought my own ricotta and pear tart to have in the apartment this week. So meeting Sal and telling him how much we appreciate his talent was a real treat!

The kids brought the soccer ball to the beach at night, making a few friends and burning off the post-dinner gelato. Paul and I enjoyed some cocktails on the beach promenade at Crystal while the kids played. We people watched (more on that tomorrow) and then called it a night.

Today Captain Paul rented a boat so we could enjoy the beauty of the Amalfi coast from the water. We departed Minori, passed Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano and stopped the boat to access a beach outside of Positano. The beach is not accessible by foot, only by boat. The kids and I swam ashore and to our delight, there was a ton of sea glass. We quickly started collecting as much as our hands could hold, and sent Miss M swimming back to the boat to retrieve a bag for our treasures.

The beach was small, and after 30 minutes another family and their dog joined us.

I briefly stayed on the boat alone so Paul could swim to shore as well. Not comfortable with navigating the boat myself, Paul quickly swam back to me so our drifting boat wouldn’t collide with another nearby.

Big D took a turn driving the boat; he enjoyed accelerating towards the waves.

We then headed back down the coast, lingering outside of Fiordo di Furore to watch some of the boats squeeze through an opening (under a massive stone arch supporting the main road) to reach another small beach. Enjoying the wind in our hair and sun beating down on us, we sunbathed and relaxed while Captain Paul brought us to Maiori, one town south of Minori. Again we all jumped in the clean, beautiful and warm water, remarking at the saltiness.

We were exhausted and enjoyed a late lunch of pasta and panini at Bar Europa in Minori’s town square.

After a brief siesta and gelatos, we hopped on the ferry to spend the night in Positano. We browsed some stores in Positano and after realizing how difficult it would be to reach La Tagliata (a restaurant recommended to us by good friends) we decided to bail. Positano was crowded with tourists and one place we stopped to check the menu had outrageous prices. We took the SITA bus to Amalfi instead. The kids stood in the very front of the bus as it wound along the coast – views of the cliffs and steep drops to the sea out one side, views of the winding road ahead as busses, cars and motorcycles approached the narrow road.

In Amalfi we dined at Pizzeria Donna Stella. Paul’s stuffed squash flowers are better than theirs, but the pizzas were excellent. Miss M had pizza margherita, Big D had a white pizza, my pizza had a poached egg, spicy sausage, mozzarella and burrata, and Paul’s had mozzarella, onion, red pepper flakes and lardo.

We finished the night with our second gelato of the day and took the SITA bus back to Minori.

Today we took a short boat ride (25 minutes) further down the Amalfi coast to a small town called Cetera. The boat service didn’t exist when we were here six years ago, and it’s wonderful: Minori to Maiori to Cetera to Salerno. Our friend Antonella grew up in Cetera and now lives in Belmont, but returns to her hometown with her family every summer.

Antonella’s sisters cooked us a delicious lunch of baby octopus with potatoes, local tuna and anchovies, fresh mozzarella, steamed mussels with fresh amalfi lemons, and another little squid dish with spaghetti in a red sauce. Lunch was capped off with limoncello and a ricotta and pear tart from Sal de Riso.

We met many members of Antonella’s family and friends – cousins, aunts, nieces, pets, family friends, and friends that the kids hang out with each summer. We saw where Antonella grew up, where she went to school, where she used to work, and many more places of importance from her childhood and present life. The town is so small and she knows everyone. There’s one road — literally one — and two beaches, so of course we swam in both.

It was such a wonderful opportunity to spend time in the place that means so much to her and now has a special meaning for us.

We took the last boat back from Cetera to Minori, Paul made us a delicious dinner of spaghetti carbonara and insalata caprese, and we took a short walk after dinner for gelato at Gambardella, one of the oldest pasticcerias in Minori.

Every night Minori has been hopping. We go to bed, whether it’s at midnight or after 2am, and there are children running about and adults socializing on the promenade along the water. The vitality of life in Italy seems to have no bounds, or at least, no bedtime. The energy is relaxed and fun….people out and about having a good time. It’s really great, except for when you are trying to sleep. Not sure if it’s the crescent shaped layout of Minori that makes the sound echo or reverberate, but I can hear everything from our apartment since we’ve been sleeping with all of the windows open. The gentleman setting up the fruit/vegetable stand in the town square, people double parking in front of the bar to start their day with an espresso, 20-somethings wrapping up their partying at 5 am, a motorcycle zipping up the street, plus the sound of the waves crashing…I can hear it all. I’ve found that the activity on this main stretch -the one road in and out of Minori – does not stop.

At 4:30am today I woke up to the sounds of some partiers that still hadn’t called it a night. Sitting on the balcony, I could see that they were at the other end of the town from me, but I could still hear them. At 5am I went for a walk around town to Minori as it was starting to wake up for the day.

By 7am, vendors were setting up stands on the promenade: one selling fruit, another plants and seeds, a man selling cheese out of the back of his Fiat, and then a dozen vendors selling clothes.

While it has been light out for some time, the sun finally rose over the neighboring mountain. It beamed onto the balcony of the bedroom, making it too hot to sit outside.

We spent the rest of the day away from Minori…more on that tomorrow.

After a full day at the beach, last night we hiked from Minori to Ravello, an incredible town perched high above the water with beautiful views of the towns of Minori and Maiori below. Big D diligently counted the number of stairs we climbed up the steep and winding path: 1,283.

In Ravello we had dinner at Mimi Pizzeria where we each had our own pie: pizza margherita for Miss M, quattro formaggi (four cheese) for Big D, my pizza was called Rebellum and had cooked ham with dollops of burrata cheese, and Paul’s pizza was called the Costiera. It had ricotta, mozzarella, squash flowers, and an oil with the flavors of anchovies and lemon. It was all delicious.

We made our way to “Ceremiche d’Arte by Pascal” to see the man himself. We’ve been to Italy many times now (Paul six, me five) and therefore have seen more than our fair share of hand painted ceramics. We know unique pieces when we see them, and six years ago bought a piece designed by Pascal in Ravello. Instead of wasting our time this trip browsing many stores, we went straight to Pascal and weren’t disappointed. Pascal was so happy to hear that we were repeat customers, and they now ship for free to the U.S. for any purchase over 200 Euro which is easy to do in his store! He showed me the design purchased by George Clooney, his wife showed us pictures of his six sons as we were matchmaking for Miss M, and he invited us to stay at his villa next trip.

After climbing 1,283 stairs earlier, we rewarded ourselves with gelato. Paul had researched Baffone Gelateria Artiginale and knew it was the best gelato around. It was right down the street from Pascal and it did not disappoint. I had a whiskey/fig flavor called “Nonno Baffone” and cherry, Big D had Oreo and frutti di bosco, and Paul had dark chocolate and the same whisky/fig.

We finally made our way back to the town square with every intention of taking a taxi back down the mountain to Minori so we could call it a night, but the taxi driver wanted 45 Euro for the one way trip! We refused to pay that, knowing it would not take us long to walk back to Minori. Another 1,283 downhill stairs and 35 minutes later, and we were back at sea level.

It was so nice to wake up in Minori on our first full day in Italy. The sound of the crashing waves and beautiful view from our apartment can’t be beat. This is the perfect place to stay for the week. So far we’ve only heard one other family speak English. Very few American tourists.

On Tuesday Paul and I had a relaxing morning – cappuccinos at the local bar, shopping for groceries and beach towels, etc. Paul parked the car for the week in Maiori – the next town over, a five minute walk from our apartment.

The afternoon consisted of time at the Chalet del Mar beach club: two umbrellas, four lounge chairs, strong wifi. The water is warm, salty and clear, and the view from the water up and down the amalfi coast is spectacular. The salty water allows us to float effortlessly all day.

Dinner at Ristorante Giardinello where Paul had grilled octopus, Miss M had pizza, and Big D and I enjoyed N’dunderi — a pasta dumpling speciality found only in Minori.

Final stop Tuesday was gelato from Sal De Riso who last year expanded his original storefront to a cafe almost the length of a whole block. Row after row of gorgeous pastries and delicious gelato. We had frutti di bosco (mixed berry), strachiatella, peach and almond, pear, and more. People travel from all over Italy for his confections.

On Wednesday we again woke up to the crashing waves and went back to the same beach resort. This will be our schedule for the week. Beach, dinner, gelato…rinse and repeat.

Photos: a panoramic view from one of our three balconies, pastries from Sal de Riso, Big D with Mt Vesuvius, a view of Minori from the road entering town, the view from our bedroom balcony, and our apartment — yellow building in center of pic, second floor, three black windows with white trim and the fourth small window is the view from our kitchen!

Today the kids and I met Paul in Italy for the beginning of our summer 2018 holiday. Paul has been here for a few days already, and he’ll blog about that experience shortly.

Driving from Rome to Caserta, we passed a field of hay bales and both kids remembered Damian’s first experience with a hay bale in Italy. It will be interesting to see what memories are jogged after their last visit to Italy six years ago.

After 3 hours we reached the LaReggia designer outlets in Caserta for some shopping, and then we continued our journey another 90 minutes to Minori where we’ll stay for the next week.

Paul fit right in with the Italian drivers speeding along the autostrada and navigating the winding amalfi coast drive. Pulled over at one point to get a picture of the sunset and mount Vesuvius in the background when Big D exclaimed “it’s Jesus coming down from the clouds!” It was a beautiful sight.

Waited about an hour in Minori for our AirBNB host to arrive. The WiFi is very spotty, there’s two bathrooms and two generous sized bedrooms, three balconies overlooking the beach, and super tiny kitchen. It’s the perfect spot for us.

At 9:30pm we finally grabbed dinner at Bar Europa, a half block from our flat where we ate six years ago. We saw Ana from Germany and her husband — they remembered us and Grandma Mary Ann’s leg brace that she was sporting six years ago. We dined on delicious pasta and bruschetta and finally called it a night.

Pictures to come tomorrow.