Monday and Tuesday in Sorrento were both kick back and relax days.  We visited the Corner Shop in Sorrento where we reconnected with Giovanni, our wine sommelier.  We had a great reunion with him and his father and sister Elizabeth.  It was like old home week in Sorrento.  When we walked in he looked at us for a long time and said……”Seattle?”  Yes, we were back.  After sampling some of his wares, Doug and I both ordered 3 cases each of a variety of amazing grape juice that he will be sending back home for us…perhaps before we even arrive home. We are having it sent to my office in Stanwood.  (note to my staff, please don’t break into the boxes)  Speaking of arriving home, in two weeks to the day we will be waking up in our own beds if the Lord is willing.

We also visited the Stinga marquetry shop.  Marquetry is decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by placing different pieces of colored wood onto a veneer that is then applied to a surface (as of a piece of furniture)   This man is an original artist.  He is now into his late 70s and he is the sweetest, most gentle man you will ever meet.  His wife, who has helped him with a fantastic eye for detail over the past 50 plus years has Alzheimer’s and is beyond helping him now in his craft.  He says the passion for doing such work has dimmed for him with her deterioration.  There is no telling how long he will keep going.  He has a caregiver part time for his wife when he works but he still cares for her.  He said his children want him to put her in a home.  He says no.  We met his wife who he proudly introduces by tapping his heart and saying, this is my wife!  We made some renewed purchases there.  Doug and Barb got an amazing piece of art that is hard to believe it is marquetry and not hand painted.

We have gotten used to the tours around here, usually packed with a multitude of people and always led by someone holding either their arm or a flower or something up in the air.  We even found one with flower antlers she was wearing in addition to her umbrella she would hold up.  Here are a few examples.

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It seems like if you hold your arm straight up in the air, you will immediately have about 15 people milling about you for the start of a tour.  Here is me testing the theory.  Yup!!

Sorrento sits way up on a bluff and the cliffs around the city acted as a protective barrier to keep intruders out back in the day when Homer wrote the Odyssey.  If you recall the story, Odysseus was on a collision course with the Sirens, those mythical women on the shore who would sing their sweet siren song and woo men to sail to towards them where they would crash onto the rocks and be killed.  Odysseus ordered his men to put bees wax in their ears and to tie him to the mast and not release him no matter what he told them.  As they were sailing by Sorrento the Sirens sang to him that beautiful song and he begged his men to release him but they bound him tighter and escaped certain death.  So enough with history and mythology, we’ve had an absolute great time here these last few days.

Today we started our anniversary celebrations….42 years for Lynda and me and 39 years for Doug and Barb.  Giovanni had a bottle of champagne that he has had chilled for us for the past couple of days.  We bought some bread, salami, cheese, onion jam, and olives at a local shop and loaded it into our backpack for an anniversary picnic at the beach.  We swung by Giovanni’s shop and picked up our chilled champagne for the picnic.  At the beach we set up our picnic spread to the envy of those around us and popped the champagne for an absolutely delightful anniversary lunch here in sunny Sorrento. The cheese had olives and chili peppers in the middle.  The lunch was amazing and the company even better.   It was absolutely spectacular with Mount Vesuvius in the background.  Just think, our real anniversaries are still 9-11 days off.

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Yay, more celebrations in order before we get back home!  As you can see by this next photo, Mount Vesuvius even gave a puff of volcanic activity as a note of celebration for us.  Yes, really!

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The weather has been amazing and we have arrived back home at our hotel this afternoon to rest up for our last evening in Sorrento.