All of 2020 has been cancelled, not just for us but for the whole world. Not traveling is nothing to complain about, and we've settled into a pretty good routine in London dealing with lockdown life, mostly counting our blessings. It's been frustrating feeling trapped with the travel restrictions keeping us from seeing family, but also not being able to look forward to getting away for a little sun and change of scenery especially as we round the corner of summer and head into autumn. As corona numbers decline across Europe this summer and the UK fiddled with plans to open up borders with certain countries without having to quarantine, we were watching carefully hoping we could steal away for a while to get a real change of scenery. It feels like a long winter ahead and this felt like a short window of opportunity to have a real holiday during what I predict will be a short lived lull in the corona infections. And given the restrictions for much of the rest of the world, particularly Americans banned from coming to Europe, it seemed like the prefect time to take advantage of low crowds during the top of what is normally high season in a usually overrun part of Italy. Scott's indefinite work from home plan enables us to be virtually anywhere with an internet connection. So with a very uncustomary week's notice, we planned a three-week stay on Italy's Amalfi Coast.
The first couple of weeks we stayed on a hilltop in the centre of the Sorrento Peninsula with a 360 degree view, including an amazing view of Capri. We spent much of our time soaking up the sun, swimming, reading, cooking, visiting Sorrento, enjoying amazing meals out and a boat trip to Capri.
Chill time at the villa with the most incredible view over Capri
Scott's temporary office
Warm late afternoon sun
Gorgeous sunset over Ischia every night
The view won over the pages of my book
The local food is amazing, but when is it not in Italy. We took half our meals in the villa, cooking ourselves. It's one of my favourite things about coming to Italy, using the local ingredients to cook simple but incredibly delicious meals.
The lemons in this region of Italy are second to none!
Some of the food we prepared ourselves, which I have to say was on par with some of the better meals we had at restaurants. So good! It's all about the quality of the ingredients.
Exploring Sorrento
Virtually empty, even in the peak of high season. The corona virus and the ensuing travel restrictions have severely limited visitors. This part of Italy is particularly devoid of tourists as it's a favourite American destination. It has been wholly empty. No traffic, empty restaurants, any tour we could want to take without the need for advance booking, honestly the place was completely at our disposal. It is devastating to see the economic wreckage of it all as you talk to the locals and hear how it's affecting them, but the advantage was all ours. To be here in a place that is normally so overrun with tourists and have it basically to ourselves has been such a dream. There's probably never been a better time in the history of ever to be here.
Our very first restaurant meal in Italy, or in 2020 since February!
Marina Grande, Sorrento
Fun in the sun at the villa
Another gorgeous sunset over Ischia
We chartered a boat to head out for a day exploring Capri. It was an amazing day cruising all around the island, swimming, dining on the cliffs of Capri and exploring a bit of the island.
A bit of work . . . and play poolside
Evenings dining in Sorrento were divine
One of the best meals we had in our three weeks. So good we went back again to the same restaurant.
Last day at the villa on the Sorrento Peninsula before we moved to the Amalfi Coast
Fun rounds of Uno at sunset
Onto the Amalfi Coast . . . but first a day at Pompeii!
I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit Pompeii. We took advantage of the gap between checking out of the first villa and checking into the second one to spend the day touring Pompeii. As with everything on this trip, Pompeii was virtually empty making the visit even more amazing. We packed up the car, drove to the sight and spent a few hours doing a self-guided audio tour a la Rick Steves of the ruins. It was so hot! We were all on the brink of heat stroke (no lie!) as we finished, but despite the heat it was really incredible to finally visit this historic place. It was so impressive to see such an amazingly well-preserved place from two thousand years ago.
Amalfi Coast time . . .
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