Lord Byron

Chinese Proverb

Japanese Wisdom

John 6:63 (RSV)

The weather had changed for the better and so I awoke to brilliant sunshine although Mr C slept well past the alarm going off. This gave me a chance to sit out on the balcony and read before going down for breakfast.

After breakfast we visited Villa Rufolo with its spectacular gardens and stunning views over the sea. The gardens and tower were an inspiration to the composer Richard Wagner, who after his visit, was moved to say that he had found “the magical garden of Klingsor” inspiring him to realise a large part of his opera, Parsifal. I can quite see how such views would have given him inspiration at almost every turn there was an “Oh wow!” moment. I will share the delights and history of this garden in a separate post.

We stopped in the square for a brief drink at Cafe Klingsor before making our way to Hotel Parsifal to book an evening meal. We had lunch in the square and lingered for a while. We had intended to visit the gardens in Villa Cimbrone but we had lingered so long we decided we did not have enough time to do them justice.

Instead we had a mooch around the shops including the many traditional pottery shops where the assistants tried to tempt us into purchases although we resisted their charms. All shopped out, it was time to return to the square to sit at one of the cafes in the afternoon sunshine before making our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.

We enjoyed dinner sitting on an outside terrace, once again with spectacular views over Amalfi Bay. For a main course we both chose prawn and vegetable pasta. Prior to this Mr C had ordered a starter of Octopus tentacles and as is the custom, an extra plate was provided for me to share the starter. I declined! To comply with our hotel’s food and drink restrictions we tried to locate (without success) a small bar on the way back to the hotel. Returning to the hotel, we found that they did have a bar but that it only stays open until 10pm. We had arrived just in time to order a drink. A few minutes later a group of French guests were turned away as it was just turning 10pm! We felt we were expected to drink our purchases hurriedly and leave, although we chose to linger…