We spend the day in Sorrento, exploring the narrow back streets and the darling shops and boutiques they contain. Pottery and limoncello are the primary wares. I buy a modest outfit for tomorrow, and when I say modest, I mean price. It's 15 euros and comes with a cute necklace. It doesn't come with a back. Decidedly cute, though my bra shows a bit, but mom says the lace on my bra peeking out looks cute anyways, and at this point, clean clothes trump just about anything. One of the best things I did to get ready for this trip was lose weight. My goal was 25 pounds, which I exceeded, so the clothes here actually FIT now. That's not to say all of them, as most are small and medium, but the shirt and a cardigan I got as well, do.
Yay, me.
Mom got a belt, and a really cute Esprit skirt and shirt. On sale (see, we were good girls... skipping the shop with the dress for 185 euros.) She also picked up a pair of fit flops. Not so cheap, but down one strap, her sandals were really making a dent. Mine, too, but I just keep putting band aids on. I now own stock in Italian bandages, actually. Despite buying a really nice pair of really expensive but really comfortable Naot walking shoes for this trip, my tootsies are shredded. It's not pretty. If the luggage hasn't come today, maybe I'll pick something up tomorrow.
We stop for a light lunch, a bit more poking around, then head to an Internet cafe until after 6:00 pm. We head back out and hit a few more shops on the walk to the bus stop, including a pharmacy for provisions. Mom nearly starts crying when we find a round brush. I feel the same way about my new tweezers. My eyebrows are out of control. I simply cannot cavort around the land of fashion with unruly brows.
It's dark by the time we get to the bus stop, where we wait for an hour for the blue Sita bus we've been told by Lucia to take. After the second red bus that says Massa Lubrense comes along, we decide to get on it, asking the driver if he goes PAST the town center, which is where we need to be. He assures us yes.
Which is why we are a little confused when he stops IN Massa Lubrense and everyone gets out.
Come. The. Hell. On.
There is no indication that this is a bus stop, either. We ask someone who points up the street with no real specificity. Thankfully, we find a hotel and the clerk guides us to the right stop just as the blue bus is pulling up. We point on the bus schedule to exactly which stop we need this time, and he nods. Please, buddy... know what you are saying.
Here's my concern... the worst, unfortunately, is yet to come. I haven't mentioned yet the extremely steep hill that our little house sirs at the top of, have I? Really steep. Narrow, too. And it's really dark. Not to mention mom's asthma. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried we will get hit by a car (the people here drive like their asses are on fire and they are trying to escape the flames -- I actually read this is a leading cause of death in Italy. Getting hit, I mean, not flaming asses.) My other concern is that she'll have an asthma attack. We don't exactly have all of her medication. Anyway... we will take it slow, but avoid stopping at the parts where the tiny road is flanked by walls on either side... making it impossible to not become victims of vehicular manslaughter.
The bus driver calls out our requested stop (earning him the prestigious patron saint of today award), I get up and drop my iPad on the floor of the bus.
Finally, we have our answer.
After everything that's happened, all we've been through in a few shirt days, it takes dropping my iPad to reduce me to tears. I sit on the bench at the busvstop, head on my knees, sobbing, as mom strokes my hair. It lasted all of two minutes, though I'm still sniffling on the climb. Until we get to an overlook near the tennis and futball (a.k.a soccer) field near our place. There's a game going, and watching for a few moments gives me calm. Reminds me of another game I was really happy to be at a few weeks ago. And I'm dying to run. I decide to buy athletic shoes tomorrow. Not pragmatic, but necessary for mental health. It will be fun to run in jeans. Or naked. I haven't decided which.
I make us some chicken breasts with sautéed zucchini and mushrooms for dinner while mom washes our underclothes in the sink. After, I take a bath, pampering my feet a bit, which feels nice.
Capri tomorrow?
Sorry, Delta... I'm going to need a swimming suit.
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