Dawn's 15 Minutes Of Fame

I was up rather late for me - just in time to 

capture these shots of the dawn skies over a

period of 15 minutes....

Dawn blush above the mountains

The merest trace of pink above Il Mulino

Clouds change hue as the sun rises

Leila's Mountain silhouetted against fiery clouds

Skies aglow Clouds aflame

Snow On The Amalfi Coast - I Kid You Not!

Positano

When one thinks of the Amalfi coast, one thinks of

prettily coloured buildings tumbling down hillsides to the sea...

brilliant sunshine reflecting off the ceramic tiled domes of

Praiano & Positano....beaches with regimented rows

of ombrelloni in the height of summer....Amalfi's Duomo....

one does not think of snow!

Il Duomo, Amalfi

Yesterday morning I was again awake at 'silly o'clock' and had to

wait a good 2 hours for the dawn to break. It was quite a

beautiful dawn when it finally happened - well worth the wait....

November dawn

But as it got lighter, it became obvious that there had been

snow along the Amalfi coast overnight....not as much as

the first time we'd seen some, back in 

February last year, but definitely a dusting that remained

throughout the day...

Yesterday's 'dusting'

So, of course, I've cajoled hubby into finding his photos from

last Winter - I'll never forget waking up on

2nd February 2012 & gasping in amazement

at the sight...

February 2012

In fact, if I hadn't seen it for myself, I'm not sure

I'd quite believe it

A snow capped Costiera Amalfitana

The Art of Serving Coffee

Un caffè e un tè a Torremaggiore

Whenever & wherever one goes into a coffee bar in Italy,

there is a preset ritual which is usually observed: 

order your drinks at 'la cassa', pay, pick up your receipt

& take it to the barista, who will then set out

a saucer complete with spoon, followed by

un bicchiere di acqua. He will then prepare

your caffè and set the cup in the saucer with a 

flourish & a smile.

There's no need to ask for the water - it's a generations old ritual

& part of coffee drinking etiquette....but not if you're

'stranieri', as hubby & I discovered at MaxiMall yesterday.

We'd eaten lunch at Apollo & called back in for a coffee at the end

of our shopping trip. I took the receipt to the barista & asked for

'un caffè e un ginseng'. The saucers were duly set on the

counter top, hubby's ginseng prepared & my coffee made

but no water appeared....I wasn't impressed!

Hubby asked the barista for 2 glasses and a fair tirade of

grumbling fell from the guy's lips, the gist of

which was that we hadn't asked for water so how was he

supposed to know we wanted water...besides, 'stranieri' 

never drink water with their coffee, they don't appreciate it.

I may not be Italian, but I certainly like to drink my coffee the
Italian way.

Un caffè e un ginseng

First Snow Of The Season

 Below is a photo of the view from our bedroom - when we are

having a lazy morning, this is what we can see whilst sitting enjoying a cuppa in bed.

View from our bedroom

 On a clear day we can see what we have affectionately named

'Snowy Mountain', simply to identify which mountain we

are referring to in conversation. And yes, you've guessed it,

it gets snow on it in Winter.

Snowy Mountain last Winter

And this morning we noticed that, after yet another stormy night,

the first snow had fallen.

Snowy Mountain today

We drove past Snowy Mountain on our way to Pontecagnano

today, so I was able to get some closer shots

Snow on the peak & low cloud make for a stunning scene

Chiusa Al Transito

Road closed ahead

So now we think we've sussed why the Comune filled in

the potholes on our mountain road back in the summer 

(see my blog post:

http://cilentofairytales.blogspot.it/2013/08/never-thought-id-be-excited-about.html)

The SR ex SS 267 that runs along the coast has been 

closed & all traffic in both directions is being

diverted up or down the essentially single track road on Leila's mountain.

The turn for Leila's Mountain

So the peace & quiet of Il Sogno has been broken by the occasional

car or three going by intermittently for the past couple 

of days. Some sound their horns as they traverse

up or down, warning oncoming drivers of their presence.

And some seem to think that they are still on the smooth 

flat SR in their Ferraris or Lamborghinis, bomb along at 

breakneck speed & glare at you when you dare to be coming 

in the opposite direction at a much slower pace.

Every Italian drives one of these....in their head

Punta Licosa

Do you believe in Mermaids? 

Legend has it that Ulysses tied himself to the mast of his

ship as he passed through the waters off the Cilento coast,

to resist the ravishing voice of the siren Leucosia as he

sailed on his long voyage home.

But the reality of Punta Licosa is the poignant memorial

to the sinking of the submarine Velella - all 49 lives were

lost.

The memorial to those lost aboard Velella

The Velella was built in Monfalcone in 1936 for Portugal,

but was operated by the Italian Regia Marina when

Portugal was unable to pay the construction costs.

Her final patrol was off the coast of Salerno on 

7th September 1943, where she joined 10 other boats

in an attempt to oppose the Allied landing.

She was torpedoed by the British submarine Shakespeare at

about 8 pm, and there were no survivors.

For some reason, the memorial out at Punta Licosa 

commemorates the 59th Anniversary of the sinking; seems

an odd anniversary to choose. But then, this is

southern Italy & 'normal' doesn't apply to much here.

The saddest part of the story is....

8th September 1943 was Italian Armistice Day

A plaque, a prayer & a photograph

An Accidental 'Surreal' Shot

Sea, sky & silence

We went for a drive on Saturday afternoon, starting off on the 

other side of Leila's Mountain from where, if we climb high

enough, we can see all the way down the coast to Acciaroli.

After parking up at a 'new build' that's been a 'new build' 

for the almost 3 years we've lived here & inspecting

what progress had been made since we last looked several 

months back (not a lot), we drove down to Montecorice.

As we entered the paese, I was pleased to see that

one of the neglected houses actually had no cars parked

outside, so I asked hubby if we could stop to take a

photo - I'd waited months for this opportunity.

My 'favourite' delapidated' casa in Montecorice

There was a huge amount of cloud cover, so the light

wasn't perfect, but I did manage to capture a 'car free'

image, if not quite 'dog free'.

We made our way down the mountain to the coastal road

to travel the scenic route home as the sun made an

attempt to break through the cloud & I spotted another

photo opportunity - the image at the top of this blog post.

So we pulled up at the side of the road in Ripe Rosse,

got out of the car & I leaned on the railings to click a

few 'tranquil' shots.

And then I looked down.....

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them - Walt Disney

November Dawn

5 am

Once more I was awake at 'silly o'clock' this morning,

bit I did have the pleasure of watching a rather beautiful dawn

Shrouded in her cloudy veil

The moon was still high above 

Monte Licosa as the

dawn crept slowly & silently

across the sky.

Then, suddenly, the clouds

above Leila's mountain 

were turned to gold by the

as yet unseen rising sun...

yet, all too quickly, the colours

faded softly 

The moon doth shine as bright as day

Delicate shades of dawn

Dawn blush above Costiera Amalfitana

Moon still visible in the pink skies

A string of clouds on the horizon

A moment of pure beauty

Fading into softer light

Making The Most Of The November Sun

As today is supposed to be the last sunny day for the rest

of the week, we decided to pack up a picnic

& drive south along the coast......

No prizes for guessing where we drove to today

Clear skies...calm seas....a perfect day

Deserted now but someone has walked the beach

Pretty empty to the north too

Today's catch for lunch?

A different take

Some beautiful clouds about over land

Cloud capped Monte Stella

Tweep Meet In Torremaggiore - Day 2

Where is everyone? 

After a fab Saturday evening with Amy & F - ending with a 

gelato, of course - hubby & I were up & out of the

B&B just after 9 am to explore Torremaggiore

on foot. We only made it as far as Il Castello

before we were accosted by Angela, a

'mature' lady, who asked us if we were Italian,

wanted to know what we were doing in 

Torremaggiore & who did we know there (it 

is an Italian idiosyncrasy that you establish

who you know in common before proceeding further

with a conversation). After giving us some advice on

where to visit, she smiled, wished us a 'Buona Domenica'

& carried on her way.

We headed for the Coffee Bar Amy & F had taken us to

on Saturday evening, only to discover it was closed on Sundays.

So we retraced out steps to a place we'd passed that had

an Illy sign outside, ordered our caffè & Orzo & sat at a

table. The guy behind the bar asked me if I really 

wanted a 'caffè normale' before making me one, & when he brought

it to the table he asked me if I was sure I wouldn't rather have

a 'macchiato' - they don't think 'stranieri' can take

the strong caffeine shot!

At 11 am Amy & F came to pick us up for the drive to Termoli, on 

the Adriatic coast. Parked up, we headed for the restaurant they

recommended for lunch to book a table, then headed for

the main Corso to grab a coffee & join the hordes of

Italians taking a morning passeggiata before heading

for the Centro Storico.

Il Castello, Termoli

Centro Storico

Tavolo per due

Allowing hubby & I plenty of opportunity to click away with

our cameras, giving me my 'wow moment' above & this

fab shot of Amy & F....

Love you both - thanx for giving us a fab weekend!