On those rare occasions when Niloo and I get to travel, it's not the scenery or the mountains or the beaches. It's not the parks or the museums or the ruins. It's not the food or the drink or the nightlife. It's the people. It's always the people.
Pic 1: we spent a full day with Captain Luigi and First Mate Antonio boating around and to Capri. For a couple of 26-year-old young men, they had a true command of the history of the region and the lore of the island. We boarded the boat as strangers as disembarked as friends.
Pics 2 & 3: a few years ago, we were in Sorrento. We stopped for a drink in what was pretty obviously a touristy spot, Fauno Bar in Piazza Tasso.
A gentleman named Francesco introduced himself and asked if we'd like something to drink. As we were deciding what to order, he urged me to try his special concoction (he said he invented it). I forget exactly what he called it, but it was essentially a combination of a local beer, a shot of Limoncello, a third ingredient I don't recall, and finely crushed ice (if 7-11 offered such a drink, it likely would be called a lemon-beer Slurpee).
I've had lots of different beers in my lifetime, but this was a first for me, and I have to admit, it was pretty darn refreshing, especially in the mid-July heat of Sorrento. I told Francesco he was a beer maestro, and we snapped a picture that we both posted on Instagram (pic 2).
Now that we are back in Sorrento, we had to see if we could find Francesco again. We went back to the same restaurant, and spotted him. I snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, remembered me, and gave me a warm Italian hug. He then took out his phone and pulled up his IG page, and there we were (in fact, he had only posted one other pic in the intervening years). We chatted a bit and it felt like we were re-connecting with an old friend.
Pic 4: Here's my favorite - Niloo and I were trying to find a restaurant that had been recommended to us. We were using Google Maps, which seemed to be sending us around in circles (it must have been Google Maps' fault, as it couldn't possible have been user error on my part🙄).
As futility took hold, we sat down on a stone wall. In my frustration, I may have let fly an expletive. At that moment, a woman emerged from an alley walking a cute Miniature Schnauzer (we would come to know the pup's name is Luna - yes, that's a little foreshadowing). The woman took a few steps away from us, stopped, turned back, and approached us.
"You're lost, aren't you."
"We are."
"You're looking for (name of restaurant)."
"We are, and Google Maps has been taking us in circles" (yes, I felt compelled to make clear it couldn't possibly be my fault that we couldn't find the restaurant . . .).
"Come, I'll take you there."
This is how we met a wonderful Sorrento native named Iris (and the aforementioned Luna).
We chatted as she walked us to our destination, learning a little about her work, her daughters, her life.
Once at the restaurant, we thanked her for her kindness and headed in for dinner.
The next night, we were walking through Piazza Tasso and who did we see but Iris and Luna. And yes, it felt like we had run into an old friend.
By the third night, we were having dinner together and thoroughly enjoying our new-found friendship.
As I said at the beginning, it's ALWAYS the people.
BTW, I posted pic 5 just because my better three-quarters still takes my breath away.
Now, on to Croatia.
