And I think we actually made the SMARTEST decision of our whole trip, as we awoke Friday to the bay of Naples being FAR more choppy than it had been on the previous days...
Not to mention we spied LIGHTENING strikes streaking off in the direction of Capri...which I'm SURE (given our luck!) would have coincided with ascending the mountain chair lift! I was MUCH happier watching from a SAFE distance on our balcony...
Butttttt, it wasn't alllll lounging on the balcony, as we did take the shuttle one last time to Sorrento and headed to the coastline to take in the little fishing village. Tell me this isn't the quintessential old school Italian fishing town??J
My only regret was that we went there on the one stormy day we had and missed showing you how blue green the sea was on a sunny dayJ Oh well, stormy is 'rustic', no?J
So we walked the entire length of the village to the LAST restaurant on the right and headed into...
But, again, we found complete peace, a SUPERRRRR friendly staff and yet another adorable dog to great us at the doorJ
Up first, was our last caprese salad of the trip. And I must say that this was the prettiest one to dateJ
This view never ceased to make me VERY happy:
....how I'll miss you, Italian olive oil, fresh mozzarella & chewy fresh bread. We ate that entire plate...lettuce garnish includedJ
But I don't actually ever remember tasting the bolognese, as I don't know if I EVER lifted my head from my own plate:
Isn't it a beaut??? Risotto was the ONE THING I said I still hadn't tried and I was soooo happy to fill my last "must have in Italy" quota with this SUPREME dish of seafood risottoJ It was literally equal parts seafood & risotto...there were just soooooooooooo many mussels, clams, octopus, squid & shrimps hidden throughout the ENTIRE dish! It was tough to find a BITE without a delectable piece of the sea included!
And much like the restaurant in Amalfi, Ristorante Delfino continued in the coastline tradition of having THE MOST TENDER SEAFOOD I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! I ALMOST got Scott to try octopusJ I don't know if there's any place on the planet that you would EVER find it any better...it all just MELTED in your mouth. It still baffles me....
It probably helps that you can literally SEE the fishing boats where half of my lunch probably came from from your seat in the restaurant. Talk about fresh!!!
Morning catch??
And one thing accompanied our lunch that had been (thankfully) previous absent our entire trip: Rain. And lots of it. And thanks to that...we had absolutely NO desire to move from our sea view seat in the restaurant and gladly enjoyed a THREE HOUR lunchJ I really don't even think we got our dessert for about an hour and a half after we finished our entrees...and what did we care?? We had no where to go!
The thing we noticed about restaurants in Italy...unless you motion for the waiters, they will really leave you alone for your entire meal. No one comes to make sure 'you're OK,' no one asks you if you're ready for the check or want a refill. If you want it, you ask. And if you want to lounge over your meal for 3-4 hours...no one rushes you out the door. It's a nice change of pace from our usual frantic pace over in these parts.
We finished up our lunch by leisurely sipping cappuccinos, indulging in (more) ricotta pear cake, listening to the ocean and watching the rain fall. After all the madness of Rome and settling into our life in Sorrento...this meal was the antithesis of it all. I'm not sure if I've ever felt more relaxed on vacationJ
OK, OK...so we didn't want the staff to think we moved inJ hahahahaha...so after polishing off those cappucinos, we headed back out to catch our last views of my favorite little alley ways of Italy:
And made one last little stop for a sweet treat (which we foolishly ate in the airport the next day...it just wasn't the sameJ)...
...and picked up a few more souvenirs. This man HAND PACKED PLATES of chocolates for us and individually wrapped them all. They may have gotten a little squished in our carry ons, but I thought that was a hell of a lot more unique than a prewrapped box from the airport! I must have said "GRATZI, GRATZI" about 42 times! I thought that was really nice of them.
And after winding our way back to pick up the hotel shuttle, we relaxed a little before heading out to our one last night in Sant' Agata...
And yes, while we toyed with the idea of trying a different restaurant in town...we just couldn't get over the FABULOUS dinner we had had the night before and decided we could NOT pass up one more night at Le Stuzzichino....
And unlike the mild evening the prior night...this night had turned chilly & blustery, so we happily tucked ourselves into the cozy restaurant where the head waiter greeted us with huge smiles & handshakes. So sweet.
And what I loved the most?? Their kitchen was open air and we were able to sneak peeks RIGHT inside...
...including a sighting of 'Momma' plating the dishes before they headed into the dining room. LOVE!
That night, although it was TOUGH to resist the call of the stuffed peppers again, our dining companions the night before had indulged in the appetizer sampler and Scott said it had looked way too interesting to pass up...
I think everything we sampled on this plate got a 'why is this so good?' stamp of approval. Especially the little mozzarella & prosciutto mini 'calzones' in the foreground. Ugh...so good!
For Scott's main dish, he went with the HOMEMADE fusilli with tomato & eggplant...
...while I just could NOT pass up the chance to have my VERY OWN dish of the infamous pasta, potato & provolone dish...
Ohhhh...how I will crave this dish when I am feeling under the weather. It is just the ULTIMATE comfort food dish! Pasta + potato + cheesy broth = a happy soulJ
Anddddd since it was our FINAL evening in Italy (andddddd because it was under 5 eurosJ)....yes, we also indulged in one last pizza from its homelandJ hahahahhahaha
I actually watched the man in the kitchen make this before it hit our table (I swear, it was in the oven for under 2 minutes!), which was pretty cool. It was surprisingly 'pillow-y,' not the super thin crust I was expecting from Italy. But regardless, it was so 'sink your teeth' savory...esp. on that cold night!
And yes...one last round of desserts was to be had. For him: tiramisu...
...and for her: coconut gelato on the half shell J
And after 2 1/2 hours, with blissful sighs and a thank yous to the staff, we headed back out into the cold and bid farewell to Sant' Agata...
...although not before our little buddy came COMPLETELY out of nowhere to say goodbye one last timeJ
...actually, he almost followed us back to our hotel! Of course we go 1/2 way around the world for a puppy to STILL follow Scott the way ours does at homeJ
But he eventually wised up and realized his life in Sant' Agata of lounging and making friends with tourists was just too good to follow us ALL the way back and we said our final farewells as he retreated back to his peaceful little townJ (why am I welling up??? I'm such a freakin sap!J)
And with that, we took our one last sparkely view of Sorrento before retreating to bed to continue our journey onward in the morning...
I'll always remember this portion of the trip as being the chance to REALLY relax, recharge & unwind. We already decided that when we go back to Italy, we know where we are staying: IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! "Tourist towns" are for the birds...where you will find your TRUE vision of Italy, is in those quiet, relaxed & peaceful moments that I will always cherish.
Unfortunately...in about 8 hours we were back in "planes, trains & automobiles" land again, as we ventures onward to Spain. I'll fill you in on our ONE LAST NIGHT in Europe tomorrow...and I promise: there is STILL more good food to be shown! Have a good Thursday!
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