Greetings from Sorrento, Italy

Hi everyone,
I am simply loving Italy. I love the warm weather, the food and the beautiful blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Yesterday we Took a city and sites tour around Florence. At every city we stop off we get a local guide from that area who speaks English and takes us around the city. Its very well organized. We combine the tour with a bit of bus travel as well.

After this we met Truus the tour director and she took us to a leather jacket shop in Florence. It had more than leather jackets. It had shoes, wallets, belts and it offered free engraving on all leather goods.

This was a genuine Italian leather store and the leather was treated. In Italy there are a lot of counterfeit goods sold on the streets in down town Florence. There are a lot of guys selling fake imitation paintings. If you the tourist gets caught purchasing a painting from these guys you get fined heavily by the police.

When these guys see the police coming they escape very quickly and not be seen until after the police have gone. There are a lot of beggars in your face here- more in the way of female women wanting money. They look poor but they are very good at playing the game.
There was a pregnant woman going round each of us wanting money while we were listening to the guide. An hour later she was seen smoking.

While I was in Florence I purchased a leather jacket. I thought it was a good investment as my black tailored coat is looking a bit shabby. It is very smart and I can dress it up and down. It is black and it will go with anything. It has a button front and is a bit like an anorak. It has two side pockets and a belt that I can wrap round if I wish. It is a classic style and wouldn't out date. I got a nice Italian guy serve me.
The jacket cost $334 Euros, which would be the equivalent to $560 NZ dollars.

After this we drove to Florence we went to Sorrento. Sorrento is a beautiful cliff top village. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.

Today I took a day trip to Capri. Capri is a beautiful sea side area which you have to get the ferry to take you there. The streets are extremely narrow here. We took a mini bus to Sorento, then caught the ferry to Capri. Capri is a touristy area. Nice food souvenir shops, restaurants. The guide took us round. Then we took the chair lift to the highest point of Capri and came down to the village area. We had lunch there. Then we took the bus round the bay area. The guide recommended us to do the boat cruise round the island. The boat ride was fabulous and we went through this cave.

The Young Italian commentator was very smooth. He took a real liking for me out of all people. Probably because I was the younger one in my tour group doing harbor cruise.
There was a lot of banter in my group over the Italian man. All good.

Must go, going to a traditional Italian Dinner tonight.