The Amalfi Coast!

JAKE: We spent our last morning in Rome going back to our new bakery stop. I guess they specialize in Sicilian pastries, though you could tell me that and I would never know the difference. We are already recognized after three days, but we still have no idea how to order other than pointing. This was made more difficult by us choosing to sit down and highlighted when Julie tried to order small pastries and received cookies. Perhaps the Italian Cookie Monster says 'P' is for cookie? We then camped out in our lobby after checkout before heading to the train station.

The train stations in Europe always seem creepy. There are too many people hanging out seemingly not going anywhere, and I always imagine that's how terrorists travel (too many movies/books about terrorists). We caught our train and actually had a very pleasant ride all the way into Salerno. Salerno was bigger than I expected and the train station equally as creepy as everywhere else. We were supposed to meet a taxi driver here to escort us to our place in Atrani. Of course, I had no way to tell who he was, so when I went inside to the ATM, Julie scouted him out by spying a folded piece of paper with "LANIER" written on it. When I came out, she was trying to explain who we were and where I was. His English was not good, so I finally showed him my passport and he was relieved. We then began a crazy drive with super windy roads. Sergio was a very safe and calm driver, despite people passing him with no room to pass. I believe he was driving slow for us, especially with Julie's quiet cries of terror. It was a quiet drive, only interrupted by Sergio's ringtone: "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. . . odd. Who hurt you, Sergio?

We arrived in a very secretive garage with an old lady and a high-school aged lady. Mariana, the young lady, was translating for Madame Sylviana, who owned the place. We had tons of instructions on how to use the apartment and ascended as many as stairs as we did in CinqueTerre. They were extremely accommodating, and this apartment is wonderful, complete with free WiFi, a small washer, a fridge stocked with beer, milk, water, and fresh lemons, and an amazing view of the town and the sea.

For dinner during our first night, we ended up at a casual pizzeria which apparently doubles as a karaoke bar. While eating my fish sampler, some old dude was setting up a synthesizer and electronic drums (whatever you call them). Also, a monitor and some mics were set up for karaoke. He then began to sing along to Italian songs while drumming. One of the waiters would walk around with the mics to get the patrons to sing. We were the only foreigners there and had to sing a little bit of "Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano" and of course, all of The Police's "Every Breath You Take." When the waiter said this song is for you, was he saying that because it was in English or were they trying to tell us they'd be watching us our whole time here? It's tough to say. The highlight of dinner was Italian Mel Gibson (circa 1980's) was singing along. He pretended not to care at first and then clearly cared as he never gave the mic up after that. Did I mention his hair was glorious?

The downside has been the temperature. It's kind of cold and windy. Thursday morning, as I write this, looks beautiful out, but is a little on the cold side. Oh well.