Shortest Day, Longest Day

On this very dreary day, approaching the shortest one of the year, I can't help but think back to the longest day of the year---actually, just a few weeks past that June solstice day. Alan had taken me to Italy the first week in July, for my birthday. It was hot, sunny, romantic, and the best holiday either of us had ever experienced. I'm going to take a few minutes now to meander down that memory lane, with some photos of that glorious time, far away from this wintry day....

We left Edinburgh on a typically miserable Scottish summer's day. I was freezing in a sleeveless dress in anticipation of heat when we arrived in Italy. I wasn't disappointed. Our plane landed in Naples on a brilliant, scorchingly hot afternoon. We were picked up by a driver from our hotel, and an hour later arrived at the Hotel Corallo in the small village of Sant'Agnello, on the outskirts of Sorrento.

The family-run hotel was more than we'd ever expected. Not only was it beautiful, but our sea view balcony room was fabulous, with the most stunning view of the Bay of Napoli, Vesuvius, and the cliffs running into Sorrento. This is actually the back of the hotel, and faces the sea.

The view from the hotel's front entrance, with the mountains looming, and a tiny glimpse of Sant'Agnello village.

Looking towards Sorrento from the hotel. The heat haze makes it look cool and misty, but it was hot, and wonderful...!! The cliffs were truly amazing, with all the buildings just hanging on the edge. This view was to the left, off our balcony.

It was about a half hour walk into Sorrento from here, though the first time we walked the cliff route, which took us nearly an hour. We eventually found a shorter route, wandering through a little park, past an enormous orange grove right in the middle of Sorrento.




A closer shot of the cliffs (picture above). There are caves and passageways and ancient Roman steps, in fact a whole secret underground world beneath the buildings perched above.

Vesuvius, floating in the heat haze, in the Bay of Napoli. This view was to the right, from our room.

We had breakfast every morning on our balcony with these extraordinary vistas. I fell totally in love with fresh, hot, strong Italian coffee, served with a pitcher of steamy, frothy milk, and delicious little breakfast breads and biscuits.

This building, once a Capuchin Monastery, was almost directly off our balcony (balcony rail in the foreground). It was a ruin that Alan and I decided we could buy, fix up and live in---hey, we were on vacation, we can dream.

We found out later that it's owned by the Grimaldi family (yes, those Grimaldis). There's some kind of inter-family squabble going on over the property, so it's just been left, forlorn and abandoned.





Sorrento is famous for the wonderful drink, Limoncello, which we sampled often..!! The lemons are enormous, and though you can't tell from this photo, the "regular" lemons on the left are bigger than the average lemons. Honestly, the limoncellos were about the size of grapefruit. Needless to say, we brought back several bottles of this yummy drink, some to share and some to keep. And don't get me started on the Limoncello cookies...my mouth is watering as I write this.

Leaving Sorrento to cross the Med to Capri for a day trip. After all the heat, it was terrific to feel the coolness of the water misting around in the wind from the hydrofoil.

The headland on the left shows the Hotel Corallo, with the monastery hanging on the edge.

Entering the harbor at Capri. About midway up the hill is the actual town of Capri, and further up (several hundred feet), along a very narrow and winding single lane road, is the village of Anacapri, which was very cool.

In Anacapri you could take a chair lift up to the top of that mountain in the clouds. The view was absolutely spectacular, a 360* view of islands, the Med, and down the mountain to Anacapri and Capri. It was one of the best experiences of the whole holiday. Plus, being up on the mountain was so refreshing, in the cool mountain air, after the heat below, I just wanted to stay there permanently..!!




After leaving Anacapri and coming down off the mountain, we wandered around Capri and ended up having a most delicious pizza at this ristorante.

I never imagined such craggy, majestic mountains as we found everywhere we went. Or the smell of olive trees, or the beauty of the bougainvillea, or the amazing color of the water.

Before we headed back to Sant'Agnello, we took a boat tour around the Isle of Capri, seeing all the mega-mansions, the tiny villages, the wild goats, the caves and other interesting things you can only see from a boat. I couldn't believe the clarity, or color, of the waters of the Mediterranean. This photo barely does it justice.

On another day, we hired a car and driver, and did the Amalfi Coast. I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

We stopped first in Positano, which is a village that sprouts on the hills along a most twisting, mountainous road--the true Amalfi Coast road. This was a walkway that led down to the harbor. The bougainvillea was so thick overhead, it made the perfect shady lane to walk along, looking at local art works, great little shops, and cafes.




Coming into Amalfi, the first headland jutting into the sea is Sophia Loren's. Her house was beautiful, as were the grounds, though you can't tell that from this photo. What a place to live...sigh.

Our driver stopped further along where we could look down the hillside to get a better view of her estate, though with the road so narrow, I could barely jump out for a peek, then had to leap back into the car before being mowed down by other drivers. No chance of a closer photo, in other words.

A street in Amalfi, filled with shops, and doorways to other levels. I found a regular Italian hardware store and bought all kinds of interesting gadgets that you can't find, except in Italy.

This turned out to be my most favorite place along the Coast: Ravello. The village, way up in the mountains, is behind me in this photo. It's a very small place, with the church in the square the main focus.

We had lunch, then gelato, and wandered around the square, and the village, while our driver went off to visit relatives.

This photo was taken from a little bar/cafe which hung right over the abyss, with this glorious view down the Coast to other villages, and onwards to the south. We sat under a big umbrella, on the edge of the deck, sipping our iced coffees, and I tried my darnedest to convince Alan we needed to move to Ravello and start new lives. I think I almost had him convinced, too...!!




On our way back towards Sorrento, and Sant'Agnello. There was a great deal of traffic late in the afternoon along the Amalfi Coast road, and no place really to pull off to take photos, so most of the stunning views were taken from the car, like this one. Still. What I saw with my eyes is firmly embedded in my memory bank







We had the most awesome holiday anyone could wish for. As I've been writing this, so many memories have come flooding back to me: drinking gallons of water each day; drinks on the hotel terrace every afternoon talking to Guiseppe, the bar manager; Giovanni, the best concierge in Italy; tiny geckos flitting about the garden; delicious and amazing food everywhere we ate, including the hotel; totally addictive Italian coffee; warm, friendly people; delicious icy-cold glasses of Limoncello; sights, sounds and smells of Italy in July...oh big, big sigh.

I took nearly 300 photos, just a smattering shown here. It's nearly killed me off to look at them today, while the rain lashes the windows, the wind is howling, and it's approaching the shortest day of the year. So, come with me for one final memory....

Our last night, we sit on our balcony (which seems like home now), sipping our Limoncellos. As the sun sets, suddenly out of the heat haze, Ischia appears on the horizon. (We haven't seen it once while there. If you look closely, you can see it towards the left). The seagulls are calling, the air is so warm, on the slight breeze are the smells of the olive trees, lemons and flowers...and we talk quietly, already nostalgic, about what a magical time we've had.

Now that I have thoroughly depressed myself, I think I'll dig out that last bottle of Limoncello from the freezer, pour a glass, and maybe with my eyes closed while I sip, I can transport myself to that warm, intoxicating land...

Fraught Week

Last Monday Alan and I went to the pet store to buy Christmas presents for Ozzy's pals. Alan found these probiotic digestive treats which we thought Ozzy would like. As he has a very sensitive stomach these treats seemed like a good idea. HA..!! As the mother, I should have said a big NO to this idea, knowing that Ozzy doesn't do well with anything out of the ordinary.


We buy the Christmas toys and treats, and when we get home, I give Ozzy one of these allegedly hypoallergenic, probiotic, suitable-for-dogs-with-digestive-problems treats, which he devours immediately. That night he woke me up around midnight, crying to go out, then every 45 minutes thereafter, all night long. He seemed to improve during the day on Tuesday, but again, that night, all night long, in and out of the house. He mainly eats grass during his "episodes" though with the freezing temps, what little grass there is, is frozen solid. The grass settles his stomach, but gives him diarrhea. By Wednesday I am fried from lack of sleep, Ozzy's fried from lack of sleep, diarrhea, and now starts throwing up, all over the house...on the couch, the bed, the carpet, everywhere. He's not a throw up kind of dog, so this isn't good. Then, on the very short morning walk, the diarrhea turns to just blood running down his backside. Cripes.


Emergency trip to the vet. I explain to the vet about the treats, and ask how something so small, and touted as being for digestive problems, can have such an impact on Ozzy. He says Ozzy is having a severe colitis attack, and yes, if the ingredients didn't agree with him, he could (and did) get very sick. He gives him a shot to settle down his system, and some antibiotics in case of infection. One more night of no sleeping, though I only had to get up 3 times in the night, and by Thursday afternoon, with antibiotics and boiled chicken, Ozzy is back to normal.


What did I learn from this latest Ozzy "episode"...?? He will never, ever again have anything, treats or food, other than his normal Burns food and snacks. No more feeling sorry for him that he can't gnaw on a rawhide chew, or have yummy dog treats that other dogs can have. (Which I already knew, but apparently needed a very big reminder about..!!). It's one thing to have a sick dog, but quite another when he's gotten sick because of something I did..!!


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While all this was going on last week, I ran into a woman and her dog who I see often on Ozzy's walks. She asked me if I'd seen Jean and Mindy lately, which I hadn't. Jean is this wonderful 92-year-old who walks faithfully, rain or shine, with her dear, old dog Mindy. I told this woman that I had just mentioned to Alan a few days before that I hadn't seen Jean or Mindy for two, maybe three weeks, which was worrying. Later, with some trepidation, I decided to call Jean. I tried to tell myself that maybe it was the frigid temps, or maybe Jean and her husband Douglas had taken a holiday, though I have to say, Jean walked Mindy no matter what the weather. So, I call Jean. Thank goodness, she answered the phone, so one worry--about her---was alleviated. We chatted for a minute or two, then I asked her why I hadn't seen her, or Mindy. And, jeez, sometimes don't you just wish you didn't know stuff..????


Jean and Douglas live in a wonderful old mansion house, quite close to the actual village of Cramond. On the back side of their property is quite dense woodland, leading down to the river, with the front side leading down the hill to the village. Mindy was very good at getting through the woodland for an unsupervised walk-about when the urge would take her. She would stroll through the village, get lots of pets and treats, and meander home. On this particular day, Jean went out to take Mindy for her afternoon walk, couldn't find her, so walked into the village to find her. Now to the dreadful, horrible part. Someone had run over Mindy, and left her in the gutter in front of the pub. How anyone could hit-and-run this lovely, sweet, old dog, is just beyond my understanding. Jean comes down the hill, finds her dog laying in the gutter, and carries her home (Mindy was a large, thick-coated dog, about the size of an average Lab). Now, picture this old woman, carrying her dog, up hill, for about 3 blocks. My heart breaks. She gets Mindy home, where she dies. She and Douglas bury her in the back garden, with a view of the woodland. I'm in tears at this point (and as I'm writing this), Jean is crying, and I want to hit-and-run the bastard that not only struck down Mindy, but left her beside the road, alone and dying. Jean said she was so lonely without Mindy, she just couldn't get up the energy to continue her walks by herself. She told me she'd had a dog since she was 10, but couldn't in all conscience get another one at her age.

Now, as if that's not bad enough, she goes on to tell me that shortly after Mindy died (the day before Jean's 92nd birthday), Douglas, who's 93, falls down the stairs in their home, and breaks a few ribs. He's in the hospital and has been for about 10 days at this point. So she's doubly alone. THEN, she drives to the grocery store during all this chaos, comes out of the store and finds her car totalled by some idiot who had crashed into her car, and left the scene..!! For the whole time Douglas has been in the hospital, she has not only been without him, and her beloved dog, but her car as well..!! It boggles the mind, doesn't it..?? And breaks the heart.

I miss Mindy so much. She was the most loving, sweet old girl, just a big, black ball of fluff. Whenever she'd spot me, she'd come thundering up, give a couple of barks as if to say "hurry up with my treats", which I always had ready for her. If I feel this bad, imagine how Jean feels. I hope karma catches up with that driver...big time.