Campania, the Italian region south of Rome that calls Naples its capital, is rightly known for its sunsplashed coastline, fun loving inhabitants and great food and wine. On our first full day here we can vouch for all of the above.

Cheese and lemons are a few of the iconic elements in the Campania lifestyle and culture and we were exposed to them in abundance yesterday. Arriving in Rome on an overnight flight we made a mad dash south to Naples with our colleagues Wendy and Corrado to catch our hydrofoil to the island of Capri. Corrado, whose speedy driving has earned him the nickname “la freccia rossa” after the high speed train that we considered taking before he offered up a lift, is known to many of you for his monthly “Corrado’s Corner” humor column in our Dolce Vita online magazine. He served up plenty of laughs on the drive south and within a couple hours of our arrival in Italy we were sitting down to a pizza lunch at our favorite Napolitano pizzeria – Starita. There we dined on five pizzas, cheesy concoctions covered in rich local mozzarella that tells you that you have arrived in southern Italy.

Less than an hour after saying goodbye to Wendy and Corrado we arrived on the island of Capri by hydrofoil, together with a hundred or so other mainlanders seeking a sunny, carefree couple of days. On our arrival the port was mobbed with our shipmates and other holidaymakers but within twenty minutes or so a procession of open air taxis had whisked most of them away to their hotels, as was the case with us. By midafternoon Rome and our overnight flight had faded into history and Capri and our four days at the Excelsior Parco Hotel lay ahead of us. We were welcomed to the tidy charming hotel by an even tidier and more welcoming staff, found our friends Pete and Nancy and before long were sitting in the hotel’s tidy and welcoming dining room where the Excelsior’s concierge, Viviana was introducing us to the wines of Campania. For over three hours we sipped sparking wine, Fiano, Greco di Tufo and Falanghina whites that are an inextricable part of the Campania lifestyle, and spicy Taurasi red. Throughout Viviana provided interesting insights about the wine and food of Campania. We finished our wine tasting with the national beverage of Campania – limoncello. And then it was off to dinner. Because why not?

Despite a enveloping fog of jet lag closing in on us, we powered through dinner at the nearby Paolina restaurant, an enchanting outdoor setting under a canopy of lemon trees atmospherically lit by strings of lights, with attentive staff buzzing about filling wine glasses, chatting and joking with diners. Paolina’s is a light, carefree atmosphere, tables jammed with beautiful people eating beautiful food from beautiful dishes. It doesn’t hurt that the weather is perfect for al fresco dining and for the couple of hours that we spent there it is hard to deny the overwhelming sense that life in that little eight foot strip of this vast universe – a zone between simple slab flooring and lemon crowned canopy – yes life itself is pretty perfect. Cheese, tomatoes, lemons and fish, complemented by goodly amounts of our good friend Fiano put a perfect cap on a perfectly lovely first day in Italy. It is good to be back.

Ci vediamo!
Bill and Suzy