Sunday, April 24, 2011

There's no point . . .

. . . to this video

Except to show you what we have to put up with almost every waking hour. 

I understand why the Italians keep dogs.  There is quite a bit of crime here, and a dog provides some warning.  But what is the worth of the warning if it never stops?

Our American neighbors have their dogs socialized, and they only bark when someone strange comes to the gate.  Our Italian neighbors next door and down the street just let them howl.  Luckily they are fairly quiet at night.


Graphical . . .

. . . math

Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

Vir 'o mare quant’è bello . . .

. . . Ispira tantu sentimento


Don't try to translate this one.  It's in Napolitano, which even most Italians can't understand.  You might recognize the Dean Martin version, though.  He sings it in Italiano.

Friday night, we decided to drive to Sorrento the next morning for pizza.  I know, there are many more exciting things to eat here than pizza, but Sorrento has Da Gigino Pizza a Metro (pizza by the meter). 

Yes, you can buy a pizza two meters (6.54 feet) long.

We didn't.  We opted for the plate-sized pizza - about 12" in diameter.

The pizza was OK.  Better than anything we ever had in the States, but not as good as the restaurant in Ravello. 

After lunch, we decided to drive around the Amalfi coast through Positano, Praino, Amalfi, Minori and Maiori, then over the mountains back to Napoli.

I didn't take many photos because the traffic was very heavy, and there was almost nowhere to pull over.  For about 20 kilometers in the Amalfi area, every inch of the right side of the road was nose to tail with cars.  That left a lane-and-a-half for two lanes of traffic, including the occasional tour bus.

Then, there were the Italians who decided to stop in the middle of the road to shop or chat or even park for 10 or 15 minuts.  Couple that with Ms. Garmin losing her mind now and then, a large funeral and the Easter weekend festivities, we averaged about 25 miles per hour.

With the views of the Amalfi coast, however, who cares?

An overlook in Vico Equense northeast of Sorrento.

Cliffs outside Sorrento with Vesuvio in the background.

An ancient stairway cut into the cliffside. 

Vico Equense 

Italian builders are not afraid of any project.

Sorrento lemon, anyone?
(Update.  Not a lemon, but rather a citron - and useless)