seafood haul

one of the biggest draws of living in london is the abundance of fresh produce on our doorsteps. while i'm partial to japanese uni and its preparation and presentation, their european counterparts weren't all that bad. lots of work though for what felt like minimal reward, but it was inexpensive from the local fishmonger. who is so techy he sends out texts / email alerts whenever he's got special stuff for sale. was also a little indulgent and treated ourselves to a lobster that was soon turned into bisque. tell a lie, the turning into bisque wasn't quite so fast as it was shaping up to be a social weekend with friends in town and dinner en masse. i had the heebie jeebies listening to mr. lobster scamper around in our spare sink, and felt perhaps he deserved some salt water in the bath tub to while out his last couple of hours. but that's just me being over-sentimental. and soon enough the scampering stopped :( i was just about to get emotionally attached! over dinner, told friends how we had a soon-to-be dead lobster running around the flat and we engaged in heated debated about the most humane way to put it out of its misery (spike through the head or pot o' boiling water, the jury is still out...) and we also talked about the best way to prepare sea urchin. one of my biggest regrets to date is not having had sea urchin pasta at lo scoglio, hands down my best meal of 2014 (even without said pasta) because the sea was choppy that morning and the fishing boats didn't return with uni. which means my new life mission is to return to the coast to finally taste their sea urchin pasta.

also scored some monster scallops that joined the sea urchin for pasta

and the short-lived lobster that was completely pulverised into bisque.

lago di como

by the grace of God, the mister was soon feeling better and decided to push on with our day in como. an option was to forfeit the rental car and lakefront hotel in favour of spending the night at the milan airport hotel before our afternoon flight. so glad we didn't because wonderful and ever-reliable singapore airlines delayed our flight by six hours. i'm increasingly disenchanted with SQ because, again, paying premium for substandard service just isn't cool. thankful the mister is organised and googles all our flights on the day because we wouldn't have been aware of the delay otherwise. 

this all made for an angsty letter, to which they alleged they'd records of sending text notifications. well let's just push the blame to european telcos and telephone towers, yeah? to be fair, there are probably worse places than lake como to wait out a six hour delay, and the hotel kindly gave us late check out so we made the most of the facilities that we wouldn't have been able to enjoy had we left just after breakfast as planned.

on to happier things - we'd a funny moment over breakfast when we realised once again just how different we were. the mister was reading the papers, eager to engage in discussion on crimea while i was preoccupied by the medical evac choppers winching up and down. despite sharing the same undergrad background, our current pursuits are on such divergent paths.

waterfront living

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.

lo scoglio

just the other day i was trying to think of an english equivalent of a third generation family-run restaurant serving the freshest fare from farm / fishing boat to table and i couldn't. to us, this was hands down the absolute best restaurant we'd the privilege of dining at in the south of italy. loved the kelong feel of scrubbed wooden beams perched over the beach as the tide came in. really homey and authentic, and a surprisingly well-heeled crowd for the casual setting. it's fairly priced and not surprisingly, diners come by the droves in their boats during high season. the lady running the show was the entirely delightful antonia who is palpably passionate about the food. she's beautiful, with the kindest face and warmest smile. i've not been so taken by a complete stranger in a while and she was effervescent and welcoming, sort of like a hug personified. her dear granny started the restaurant in the 60s and has since handed the reins of the kitchen to her grandson (antonia's brother) and the restaurant floor to antonia. antonia explained that her father is a farmer and the vegetables they serve were from his farm. we were hankering after the sea urchin linguine but alas the sea was too choppy that morning and her fishermen were unable to bring some back. such is their pride that they will not serve day old sea urchin. it's either caught that day or not on the menu. antonia recommended the zucchini pasta which had my normally anti-veggie husband swearing like a sailor with pleasure. that was some magic pasta!

and a deck ready with chairs to stave off the food coma. how thoughtful! throughout lunch we saw people wander on and off from the restaurant for smoke / iPad / company breaks.

we visited on easter sunday and were served the traditional easter bread with hard boiled egg (with shell!) embedded in the bread. anyone care to shed some light on why? we surmised it was something about jesus in the tomb. probably miles off!

life-changing zucchini pasta. sounds so ordinary but i'd make the mister drive 90min from sorrento in a heartbeat just to have another taste of this insane goodness. mind blown.

as we were leaving, we'd a little chat with antonia and it turned out where we were staying next was where she and her husband went for their first date. if such a capable restauranteur picked that for her first date, we knew we were on to something good :) lo scoglio also has simple rooms (she could just have been being modest!) and part of me wished we could've stayed on just to have dinner there, and lunch the next day too.

lemon grove

the mister found this charming restaurant on capri and it was our first time dining in a bona fide lemon grove, under lemon trees heavy with fruit. did wonder what would've happened if the lemons were ripe and dropped on us during dinner. sort of like how i wouldn't sit under a coconut tree for too long! but there was no drama and we were gifted two huge lemons to take with us when we left. lovingly handcarried them back for the MIL and curious as to what she'll use them for.

and the strangest thing happened over dinner. when the mister had gone to use the little boys' room, an american tourist at the next table came up to me to compliment me on my dress! had noticed the mother-daughter pair once over me when they sat down, and again when i'd left the table but didn't think anything of it. there weren't many azn tourists in the amalfi when we were there and we were used to sticking out like sore thumbs. but it was really nice to have someone say, "don't mean to intrude but my daughter and i have been admiring your dress and she's too shy but i just wanted to tell you how nice it is to see someone dress up!" i've never been approached by a total stranger and as someone who spends most days in something i pull on while half-asleep (and i don't have a mirror at home!) it was really encouraging and made my day. wish i wasn't so susceptible to flattery haha but it was nice to have someone recognise the effort. for the record it was a discounted asos dress that i wear to death but who cares :) so now i'm all about encouraging my fellow (wo)man and being less shy about saying something kind if the opportunity arises. the world would be a much nicer place if more people did that and i'm going to try.

three rocks

we took a picture of the three rocks in winter and promptly spent an hour wandering around capri trying to find the exact same vantage spot. on one of my more ill-advised ventures, i accidentally insisted that this path led there but while we got a close-up of said rocks, it was not the photo op i so desperately wanted to re-create after seven years. but it was cool in the 'forest' path and we passed some gorgeous holiday homes getting their annual facelift before their owners stopped by for the season. not a complete loss! eventually mustered up the courage to ask at a flower shop (showed them the photo we took in 2007!) and the boss lady straight away pointed us to parc augusta. phew! didn't even quibble the EUR1 entrance fee (don't remember there being an entrance fee in winter!!!) and ran to 'our spot'. asked a japanese tourist to take our photo but alas the angle was all wrong (she was petite compared to the huge tourist who'd helped us the last time) and i was too shy to insist on her stretching her hands high up to snap our picture. snooze you lose? so i didn't get the exact photo i wanted and the mister was mocking my obsessiveness. but that made me realise i need to stop living in the past, to stop reliving old memories because while the rocks might've stayed the same, we've moved on.

(can't believe the mister is carrying his EU law text in a ziplock bag. as if he even read it once!)

aurora capri

while we stayed at anacapri, there was a shuttle service to capri and marina grande. it's not often that mister curious does repeats, but aurora was one restaurant we were compelled to have both dinner and lunch at. not since lucio's in sydney have we done a repeat on holiday. and with good reason! at dinner, i'd the catch of the day carpaccio which was essentially an italian sashimi platter. freshest fish served raw with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of sea salt. divine! the waiter recommended the cod three ways but we were underwhelmed, and regretted not ordering the water pizza the restaurant is so famous for. so we went back for lunch for the pizza and more pasta (we'd the seafood pasta the night before and it was comparable with the pasta at two starred rossellini's in ravello!) 

the waiter recommended the chocolate bomb for dessert and it was a pleasantly confusing mix of textures and temperatures.

anacapri

when we first visted capri in late 2007, this what how it looked. all dreary and gloomy and totally wrong season! so you can imagine my sheer delight when we returned in 2014 to this glorious sight.

the mister played it smart by choosing a sweet little converted holiday villa in anacapri because we could not bring ourselves to pay capri prices for accommodation. there's definitely a 20-30% premium to stay on the island and we're just not at the stage where we'll fling good money after bad hotels. that said, if not for nostalgic reasons (last time we couldn't afford to stay on capri!) i would not recommend spending the night as a day trip suffices. even anacapri wasn't cheap but it was more affordable, although i didn't think the auberge was particularly good value. oh well, went in with eyes open and accepted that you pay through the nose to enjoy 24h island life.

we did have a lovely room with our biggest balcony yet and i may or may not have climbed over three balconies, trespassed the neighbours' rooms and flashed an unsuspecting gardener in the process of taking the pool photo.

we were in capri over easter weekend and caught the easter procession with a mannequin jesus and scary mary. the whole town centre was quiet and shrouded in darkness as the church peeps paraded through in their robes. there was the most sombre marching band ever and nice and atmospheric despite the creepy effigies.

santa catarina

so much for eschewing amalfi! as it turns out, the mister chose to spend a night at the grand dame on the coast and we were blown away by the incredible service and attention to detail. it's rumoured to be where brangelina first met while filming mister & mrs smith, or so the easyjet inflight mag alleged! but when we were there, we'd yet to find out this fascinating bit of trivia. lovely lovely hotel though and the staff were all top notch. they were ever so kind as to double upgrade us and very classy to comp a bottle of extra dry spumante (just as i like it!).

also, i suppose i feel a little sappy about the hotel because it's where we received some very good news. i like how the mister's so cool - could've gone to any of the many m*starred places to celebrate but that's not us. instead, he picked a hole in the wall pizza place (donna stella) in amalfi and we took a leisurely stroll to treat ourselves to some pretty darn amazing EUR10 pizza.

rain rain go away! thankful for largely good weather but boy did it rain that evening we first arrived.

all sunshine and blue skies the next morning though. phew! took some photos before breakfast on the cantilevered terrace.

can't get over what an indulgence slow breakfasts are, and we stayed out as long as we could before heading to the ferry. because, finally, after 5 days of admiring capri from a distance, we were finally going back.

secret beaches

hotel backed onto a local farmer's field ! liked how our hotel used produce that was locally sourced, in fact the tomatos and lemons were from right next door. and because having breakfast is a sign that we're on holiday (have the bad habit of not eating much before dashing out the door during term time!) we made a point of having late, leisurely breakfasts on the roof terrace. 

the floor manager tipped us off about a beach just down the cliff from the hotel that we visited after checking out. during high season, it transforms into a throbbing beach club but because we visited so early on, it was deserted. felt like a little secret beach! it was fun to stroll on the narrow lanes and randomly follow stairs down (like going down the rabbit hole) to find yourself on an empty stretch of sand and uninhabited stretch of coast. briefly joined by another holidaying couple who bravely took a dip in the freezing meltwater for all of three seconds as we tried not to stare in amazement. then they came out as quickly as they'd jumped in, toweled off and we helped take photos of each other before they moved on.

and because the cafe was closed, we borrowed their deck and chairs for the afternoon and watched the tide come in. this was when i was reminded that nice as hotels can be, and blessed as i am that the mister spoils me, the best things in life are free. to live simply and enjoy nature at its calmest is such a luxury.

positano by night

didn't take us long to be positano-ed out and soon returned to the hotel to decompress on the balcony. the mister liked the option of having positano so close and accessible, without actually wanting to spend very much time in it. funny man :) he did book us into la sponda for dinner and hm i personally found it disappointing.

after a massive lunch and potentially massive dinner, the mister was smart to go to the gym in the evening. having long ago resigned myself to overeating on holiday, i hunkered down with the mindy project and caught the amalfi sunset. the sun streaming into the room was beyond words, and this unfiltered photo does not do it justice.

la sponda was nice but i'm not a big fan of m*starred places and this was no exception. think my aversion lies in how most places are style over substance, and you're paying a premium for bells and whistles that i can do without. give me hearty trattoria fare any time! that said, rossellini's in ravello probably set the bar so high any meal that came after it would pale in comparison. now that's the exception where a 2 star place surpassed my already high expectations. 

also, had a little awkward moment with the well-meaning waiter at la sponda who asked at the end of the meal how many calories i had. this rattled me somewhat (although it was probably just banter) because 1. do i look like i'm the calorie-counting sort of twit?! 2. was he insinuating i should be counting calories?! either way he couldn't win. as a girl who's proud of not having food issues nor body hang-ups, i thought it presumptuous and subjugating to assume that all women watch their diet because that's the last thing i want to do on holiday.

view of positano from the syrenese (?) hotel terrace. loved how it was twinkling in the twilight, and that was essentially my view for dinner except the mister kinda blocked it.

foray into positano

the mister was going on about how the whole point of positano is to admire it from a far. because 'you cannot see positano from positano' and he was absolutely right. glad to have found a sweet hidey hole at one of the towns just before positano and camped out on our balcony. with the mister, nothing is accidental and i hadn't realised he'd planned for us to have a view of capri too, so we could gaze at capri and nostalgic me could reminisce as we traveled round the coast to it. he's probably more romantic than i give him credit for... 

we did venture into positano on one of the days as the hotel had a shuttle to and fro to spare us the nightmare of attempting to park our chelsea tractor along its narrow streets. excitedly asked a french tourist from the hotel to help take a photo of us with positano in all her sunny glory and this is what we got. not to be racist but really i only trust azns and people i can outrun (that limits my choices!) to take our photo :(

THIS WAS WHAT I WANTED. ugh.

after maybe half an hour fighting the crowds, we sought refuge in a small bar overlooking the beach and whiled the afternoon away watching the street artist work his watercolour magic. galvanised by our drinks, we eventually emerged and hazarded chez black and weren't disappointed. massive portions and settled down for food coma in the shade.

ravello continued

one of my more plaintive refrains to anyone who'll indulge me is how the mister plans super action packed holidays, when all i want to do is sit on a deck chair and not move. finally all my whinging got to him (poor husband!) and this trip was one of our most chilled out to date. flew into naples, rented car, cruised along the amalfi coast, stopped at small towns for 2 nights each, not doing very much in the day because the hotel's too nice to leave, then moving on i.e. driving max 30mins to the next town. wash, rinse, repeat. 

the ravello hotel is right up there with our best sleeps ever. built into the cliff, it's a converted home of a noble family and tastefully furnished with hermes. i'd never seen an hermes sofa nor cushions before and felt like such a plebe trying to discreetly take photos to send to my parents. it had a beautiful pool and sea view so we literally moved down to the pool and didn't budge for one day. watching geckos scamper around the stone walls was such a luxury because it meant we were truly on holiday with nothing better to do.

on our way to the next town, we stopped in amalfi (the town) to dip our toes in the hustle bustle (not to forget sampling the local delights at da gemma) before moving on. amalfi has a busy, if charmless, beach and i'm glad we didn't spend more time there than necessary. tell a lie, we did return for pizza a week later. but that's another story.