For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Chicago,
IL
Friday, June 27, 2014
DAY FOUR  Got up VERY early to take a taxi by myself (like a big girl) to Vatican City for my tour. Yes, tour!! I hate tours but?it was that or wait in VERY long lines, which I hate more than tours. So this li?l Jewish gal from NYC did the holy tour of the Vatican, The Sistine Chapel and St. Peter?s Basilica and it was beyond amazing.As I sat silently in the Sistine Chapel, I was brought to tears by its magnificence and tonight my gratitude journal will overfloweth. I will admit I could have done the 4 hour tour in 2, but nevertheless it was awe-inspiring. Here's a photo of me with my Vatican guide, Alex, who speaks five languages. Now realllllllly!
 I finally managed my Italian currency enough to get back to hotel and meet Michele for lunch. It was time for ?real? pizza!Walked another 15 miles today, over to the Roman Forum and the Coliseum and found a Warhol exhibit which was a great surprise. Sidestep, oops detour...another fab shoe store. OK, OK, four days, four shoes. Just sayin?.   On the way back we stopped for our daily gelato then to hotel to catch Italy lose to Uruguay in soccer, not a lot of happy Italians tonight. I am starting to enjoy a daily cappuccino, something I never did at home. There is a distinct flavor difference here.
No, not done: back to our fantastic Art Hotel to change shoes then out again. This time to the Villa Borghese, the home of the Borghese family, the most powerful family of the Renaissance period, patron of the arts, extreme wealth as obvious in the mansion and park-like grounds. Opulence abounds. Back at hotel yet again and dressing for dinner with Michele?s Italian friends and packing for Capri tomorrow (can?t wait!).Oh yes, how could I forget to post the shoe store of the day? Then there was the Smoke Me shop that I did NOT go into. I also believe there are tremendous opportunities here for entrepreneurs in deodorant and toilet paper, but that's another story. DAY FIVE So, dear friends, another incredible day as we left the hotel by Mercedes to be driven to Capri.
Well, sorta. Raphael drove us to Positano for lunch and along the way showed us the birthplace of Hercules and an island owned by Rudolph Nureyev with tales to tell. Did not know that Positano was named for Poseidon or that Sorrento is where all that amazing mozzarella I've been consuming is from. And yes, I had a Limoncello, which if you don?t is as close to a sacrilege as you can get?and remember I went to all those churches.
The drive up the Amalfi Coast was nothing short of breathtaking. After lunch, drove to (no, not me, silly, we had a driver) Sorrento to catch the hydrofoil to Capri.   Well!!! Well!!! I have been all over the world and Capri has just made it into my top three most beautiful along with Santorini and Monte Carlo. It is ridiculously, outrageously gorgeous. And our hotel has to be the best - Hotel Punta Tragara. After checking in, we went to Anacapri?you guessed it?shopping, via a hot pink convertible taxi. Had sandals made by a cobbler, had our daily gelato and walked and walked and walked. We have done over 60 miles since we got to Italy.   Back to hotel to change for dinner at Villa Verde then to the famous Quisisana Hotel for cappuccino as a fellow Vistage Chair Alan Weinstein walked by. Now really!! Tomorrow the beach, woo hop! La spiaggia! Buona Notte da Capri.
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