Day 11, August 13: Officially half way through our trip. We hop on a train first thing in the morning to meet Mom and Dad Giancola, my in-laws, in Cassino. It's wonderful to meet up in Europe and do a little family trip. We walk through the Monte Cassino Church which stands atop a mountain and it's where St. Benedict's sarcophagus resides. The place has been destroyed three times. Once by earthquake, once sacked and burned down in 883 AD, and once bombed in an air raid during WWII when it was believed the German soldiers were using it as a stronghold. Even after that bombing St. Benedict's tomb was unharmed.
Inside is incredibly ornate. Lots of colored marble and gold everywhere. The ceilings in the prayer room below the altar is all mosaic work that is so beautiful. There were more artifacts, bibles, and paintings here as well as pieces of the old church, again with the porphyry sprinkled in. Now with all of it gone from the earth the church had to be rebuilt with a different kind of marble.
Then we head off for Napoli to find a pizzeria that our friends Brian and Jennifer rave about. It's in an area that reminds me of the San Francisco tenderloin. Not glamourous but definitely has some character. Pizza Trianon was excellent. There are a few locations but we went to the one on Via Colletta Pietro. The place is 4 stories high with a brick oven on every floor. It was packed when we arrived and we got a spot on the top floor by the windows. Service is a little slow delivering but they're friendly. The pizzas are also a bigger, American style size, it's not a personal sized pizza.
After pizza and a few errands at the train station we had an adventure just trying to get out of the city and back onto the freeway. Finally, we headed to Sorrento. A few hours later, we arrived staring at the amazing hotels and homes built right on the sheer cliff jutting straight out of the ocean.
The roads get more windy and tight with scooters still weaving through with no hesitation. Pedestrians also step out knowing the cars will stop for them. It's amazing people make it to adulthood here but I give them points because in all this chaos everyone looks incredibly calm. No road rage here.
We stayed at the beautiful Hilton Palace Sorrento, up on the hill with a view of the town, mountains, ocean, and Mt. Vesuvius in the background. The hotel is beautiful, airy with bright colors and the staff is wonderful. But you can see where the hotel cut costs in building. Short pillars on a stair rail are painted to look like marble to match the lobby floors, the floors in the rooms are laid with something like tatami mats, and the walls are paper thin sheet rock. You hear EVERYTHING in the hallways and sometimes the next room. A person walking by in their flip flops sounded like they were walking right into our room.
The worst design in the place is the door to the balcony. It's a catch lock with no door handle on the outside. So if you close the door completely while you're outside, you're stranded on the balcony with no phone to call for help unless you have your cell. There are no warning signs on the doors about it either. So without knowing this, I followed Jason out onto the balcony and out of habit, closed the door. We had to then climb over to Mom and Dad's balcony (startlingly easy, they're all separated by a low piece of glass) and walk back through their room. Ridiculous. I wonder how often people get stuck out there.
We went for a drink downstairs since it was happy hour. Jason ordered a really nice limoncello and I enjoyed Bailey's on the rocks. We sat next to a well dressed family who's son was rocking an outstanding outfit. He looked about 14, dressed in a white linen suit, fuschia collared button down shirt, and I believe there was a pocket square. All he was missing was the gold chain and chest hair. Pimp. Mom and Dad joined us after their nap (they are still adjusting to the time) for a glass of wine.
Then we went to dinner down by the water at a place called Zi'ntonio. This place was hit or miss. Beautiful view on the water with sneaky mosquitoes (little bastards), good wine, nice staff. I tried fried zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese for the first time. Deeelicious! But my risotto seafood was only half great. All of the seafood was excellent and cooked to perfection except for the calamari strips (at least I think that's what they were) which were a strange, unenjoyable texture and the rice was a little more al dente than I hoped, a little crunchy still.
The fish Mom and Dad received was really good and so was the octopus salad Jason ordered. Unfortunately his grilled sole was bland. But we figure this 'disappointment' is because we've been spoiled so far in the trip. All that homemade food with items fresh from the garden! After dinner we caught the restaurant shuttle back up the crazy tight little street and headed off to bed.
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