Happy Mother's Day

I have just woken up at the Hotel Antiche Mura, an exquisite b&b on the Amalfi coast in Sorrento. Arrival by train starting from Siena was an adventure, having never taken a train before. With minutes to spare, Michael from the Tuscan Renaissance Center helped me on board with my bags, validated my travel tickets, and I was off to Firenze to catch the next train. No one ever asked to see the ticket from Siena to Florence, and when I inquired if they do, I was told, "sometimes..." Ahh, Italy!
The Firenze station is rather large, and I kept my eye on the "Departure" board to see what platform I would need to go to...and it was never posted. I asked an official looking someone finally, and he said, they usually announce it or post it a few minutes before you leave... Oh, I just heard platform 10.
The ticket was reserved for car 11, and again, I raced to the car hauling two large suitcases filled with art supplies. They didn't seem large when I left Maui, but the more you drag them around they get larger and larger so one is tempted just to leave them behind.
There was a character singing, snorting, and talking to himself loudly for most of the 2 hour ride to Rome. I enjoyed the company of a delightful couple from Argentina who got on the train in Rome who wanted to visit because of the new Pope. Onward to Napoli to switch trains yet again to the commuter train to Sorrento, which I caught again with minutes to spare, thinking all along that MOM was certainly looking out for me to be guided with the timing through all of this. I've been thinking of her a great deal on this trip and wishing she had made it to Paris -- her life dream. I shared this with someone at the TRC yesterday morning as I looked over the misty Tuscan landscape with my coffee. When I went back to grab a croissant before I left, Braddah Iz was singing "somewhere over the rainbow" through the sound system and I was as misty as the Tuscan Valley.
It was another hour ride on the commuter train. The gentle jostling of the ride lulled me to sleep and I awoke to su noshing, warmth, and the beautiful blue Mediterranean. The Antiche Mura is 4 stars. (THANK YOU DOUG!) A chandelier in my room? Seriously? Can I LiVE here? After unpaecking, I ventured out for food and had calamari at the Aurora Light. A young couple (he from Lebanon and she from Paris) invited me to join them and we shared an excellent bottle of wine, and I learned of their lives and travels, and compared cultural differences. Good fun!
I'd share photos here if I could figure out how to do it, but I'd rather go eat breakfast!
Ciao!