Our Big Fat Crazy Hiatus: Sourh Bound- Off to Meta on the Amalfi Coast in Italy!

After five days in Rome, we took the train to Meta in the south. It is a small town very close to Sorrento along the beautiful Amalfi Coast. The trip a took a few hours and then we arrived at a small train station, with lots of baggage and weary children. We did not know how to walk to our villa in the hills from this location so we took a taxi which required two trips with all of our luggage. The taxi driver delivered us to the end of our lane, "Via Trarivi" by way of narrow and winding roads surrounded by lemon and orange trees! Once we got there, we were told that the driver could not go any further because the lane was too narrow for a normal car. Yes, he was right1 So, we trudged up the hill with our bags in search of the villa. In the end, Brian found the place with the help of the home owner who had a very compact car and he helped haul our suitcases up the steep lane.

The place was beautiful with citrus trees all around and the hills surrounding the villa were full of olive trees. The villa had lots of room for all and an amazing view of the Amalfi Coast down below. The owner and his friend had freshly squeezed orange juice ready for us and a kind offer to take us to town to get groceries. There was just one small problem- it was very chillyinside the house! He assured us he would give us heat but it would only be available for a few hours in the evening. We were skeptical that this would be sufficient to heat this large house but hoped he was right. We spent two days bundling up in sweathers to stay warm (especially at night) and finally we had a family meeting and it was decided thaat the owner had better give us the heat we needed or we were leaving! He solved the problem the next morning and we were more than toasty for the rest of our week stay. The ironic twist is that we had to pay for our own heat, so why not heat the place properly!

We discovered the local drink called lemoncella, which is a lemon cordial that is very delicious. We walked to the little town of Meta often to get supples and that was an adventure. There were no sidewalks to speak of and the roads were very narrow. We all walked single file down the road and watched out for large buses or trucks going by! The people in the town were very friendly and we tried to communicate the best we could with our limited Italian language skills. The pastry shops were a hit, with their wonderful cakes and hot chocolate as thick as pudding! We spend most of our time enjoying the town and visiting nearby Sorrento. We had a wonderfu time in our villa surrounded by orange and lemon trees!

We had chosen this vacation home because it was close to the world famous historical sites of Pompeii and Herculeneum. I will write about them in the next blog.