Well, this is different.  I feel as if I should be plotting my way out of this resort.

After 4 weeks of shuffling from city to city, bustling action and the freedoms typical of vacationing, we are now settled for the next 6 nights in an old quarry.  This isn’t your usually quarry though, in that it’s in Italy, has a significant amount of sun and blue sky.  Birds cheerfully sing somewhere, although I could be mistaken and the hotel might be playing such sounds from carefully concealed speakers.  We have a small stretch of beach, not white and sandy, but bordering on the Golfo di Napoli…and a hot tub bound to be frequented by the handful of French Canadians also staying here.  Too bad it wasn’t actually hot.

It’s the off season, and by off…they really mean off.  Hotels we passed on the way here have whole sections, divisions, shut down now.  The streets are bustling, but a small population of 20,000 that swells to 100,000 plus…then back down to it’s usual few must be satisfied with the tourist dollars that have been brought in to date.  The streets of Sorrento still seem to be full though, and the thought of mulitplying these numbers by 5 or 10 must shut the city down for any kind of vehicle traffic.  The narrow streets with little leather shops, chachkas, glasswork and limoncello certainly must be bursting at the seams come July and August.

I was saying to Melanie how where we are now, at this near empty, this seems to be the complete antithesis to Prague.  When we caught our ride to the airport yesterday morning at 4AM, the driver was apologizing for his lateness due to discos letting out at that point, thereby blocking up traffic.  4, 5, maybe 6AM…or whenever the establishment has run out of places to stash those Czech crown exchanged for shots of that mint Listerine-coloured elixir, that’s when they’ll kick everyone out and prepare for a new day.  the club on the corner decided 4am was a good time for just that.

Our location was amidst three hostels, and that Friday night eased into Saturday morning for many a young backpacker.  In some cases it wasn’t an easy transition with bodies laying in the streets…too intoxicated to continue.  Oh to be young and foolish again…I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.  The young part of course, but definitely not the inexperience.  I read a recent story on the developments in reversing the aging process on stem cells.  This isn’t the forum for such a discussion, but it does make me wonder what we could do without aching joints, dietary constraints, or fewer confidence issues related to the pounds packed on during those years of desk servitude.

Now, we are in near isolation.  About 15 minutes from town via shuttle that needs to be booked in advance.  Wifi is only available in the lobby, making short term plans and hours of Facebook time a little cramped.  Maybe we can relax for a few days, unwind in the solitude.  Watch some interesting Italian daytime soaps and nightly gameshows, while constantly trying to figure out just what might be happening.  Besides, I now seem to have a sore throat that has cropped up which needs to be nursed.  Have you ever tried easing the ache of a sore throat with Limoncello?  Highly recommended, only wish I bought a litre of the stuff.