as we made our way around the coast, the mister was conscious to choose places that were diverse to avoid comparison. our last amalfi stop was this stunning hotel that distinguished itself by being one of the few that opened right onto the sea. many of the others were built into the cliffs and the beach was a treacherous flight of stairs (or cool sub-terranean lift like at santa catarina!) away. and in line with his holiday theme of choosing a destination hotel and not leaving its grounds, this was no exception.
although quite unintentionally i managed to leave my hat in amalfi at the santa catarina. and only realised when we were literally a sea away at capri. and good as santa catarina was (the front desk was frantically trying to book my hat onto the next available ferry, and when that didn't work out, to send it by road to where we were staying back on mainland...) our scruples wouldn't let them go to all the hassle. so the mister, bless him, drove 2h each way on treacherous coastal roads in pitch dark to retrieve my hat. now i've received enough incredulous flack from family and friends to subjecting the mister to such inconvenience but it my defence, the jury is still out as to whose watch the hat was lost on. after recounting the facts to my oldest and dearest friend (hello darling fishboo!) over udon last week, however, even she attributed blame to me :( which was when i finally conceded defeat and accepted responsibility. being sentimental, this was no ordinary hat but one i haggled in pidgin french for and scored at a hefty discount for being charming (haha) when i was in honfleur on my graduation holiday. and it was this very hat that i wore all over europe that special summer when the thought of going back to medsch finally germinated and took root. in other words, it's irreplaceable and the mister knows after almost seven years together that it just wasn't worth not retrieving something of such sentimental value.
apart from being reunited with my hat, our little detour meant that we could meet friends for pizza in praiano! which was an unexpected bonus. yay for social media (they knew we were on the coast from instagram!) and real world catch ups with a friend i've known for over twenty years (yikes!) and his lovely lady.
as with all the other places we stayed, we were welcomed with some delightfully dry spumante and gorgeous sea views. the perks of visiting in low season and a potentially dubious loyalty program...
sunset over the horizon
the sea was freezing meltwater! don't know how the european guests (german, brit) managed a cheeky dip. we bemoaned our thin blood as we snuck glances at their goosebumps bigger than their biceps, then made full use of the heated pool, sauna and steam room that was virtually empty as no one wanted to be indoors on a sunny day. except me.
as a rather unfortunate footnote, after our brief night-time foray into praiano, we spent the next 36h at the hotel, eating all meals in. we'd what seemed like a nice dinner at the hotel's restaurant and soon after the mister was really unwell. on a balance, it was probably something he ate in the last 24h - AT THE HOTEL! relieved to be medical and able to manage the mister with supportive therapy and symptom relief. yay for our traveling pharmacy but you can imagine my absolute horror when we'd a 2h drive back to naples, flight to milan, and an hour drive to lake como ahead of us. did not appreciate how the hotel staff, while sympathetic, did nothing. then again, they were probably playing it smart by not being seen to accept responsibility. suppose i could have kicked up a huge fuss but we were on holiday and my priority was getting the mister better. and that's when i saw yet again how the mister is made of steel. he gritted his teeth and got on with it. i'd not felt that helpless in a long while. 1. cannot drive manual 2. never driven left-hand drive so i couldn't even volunteer to take over the driving. he did wryly joke later that him running on no sleep and plagued by nasty stomach bug still made for safer driving than me at 100%. thanks, sweetheart.
all that said and done, was unamused by a hotel that didn't do any service recovery. i expected better. as an aside, when we had our wedding lunch at the capella and two (out of 350) guests fell sick (and honestly i don't think it was capella food but for the sake of MIL/DIL harmony i wasn't about to point that out!!!) the team apologised and gave the stricken couple a voucher for a 8 course meal at the chinese restaurant when they were feeling better. now that's great service, and why they command top dollar.
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