La Dolce Vida, and Mother's Day. Dylan and Suba sneak into a "Lemon Grow", and meet the most famous naked guy in the world.

It’s always exciting to meet up with old friends in exciting new places. Last year, we spent time with our dear friend from the Swingle Singers, Kevin Fox, in Venice. This year, we learned that Dylan’s Mom and her husband, Sue and Joe Bawden, would be travelling in Italy around the same time as our tour. So, we decided to leave a few days before our first workshop-day and meet them in beautiful Sorrento, Italy. We landed in Italy on one of the most appropriate days possible: Mother’s Day.

L-R: Joe and Sue Bawden, Dylan and Suba

We spent the next day visiting the beautiful island of Capri: playground of movie stars and Roman emperors alike. We got our exercise climbing to the top of the island to visit Villa Jovis, home of Emperor Tiberius and temporary capital of the Roman Empire.

The next day, Sue and Joe left for Florence. We stayed and enjoyed Sorrento. We’ve learned that, over years of touring and travelling, the real experiences don’t come from the sites you see, but the little moments that happen unexpectedly. Here’s what happened in Sorrento…

Sorrento is famous for its lemon trees, and for the famous liqueur limoncello.  One day we “accidentally” snuck into a private lemon grove, and the gardener, rather than kicking us out, showed us a case of “natural genetic engineering”. The skilled arborists managed to graft branches from orange trees onto the lemon tree,  allowing one tree to bear two different kinds of fruit!

We found a windfall orange on the ground, and ate it later in our hotel room. Possibly the juiciest orange we’ve ever tasted.

Later the same day, we stumbled on a well-known “gentlemen’s club”, held in a former Renaissance governor’s building. It’s a true Boy’s Club: women aren’t allowed in the building. Suba tried to take some “spy-shots” of the bouncer at the gate.

He caught her taking pictures, but instead of disapproving, he nodded to her, and invited us in. When Dylan asked (in painfully-broken Italian) if it was only for men, he invited us both in anyway. I guess with perfect weather, a beautiful town, and a relaxed vibe everywhere, it’s no surprise that people are so friendly.



We also visited Pompeii, a fully-preserved Roman town buried in the famous Vesuvius volcano eruption, and took a trip along the Amalfi Coast. The road to Amalfi is skinny...

A bus... coming the other way.
We were close enough to reach across and shake the other bus driver's hand if we wanted to.

the heights dizzying...

See that tiny little grey spot in the lower right-hand corner? That would be the guardrail,
the only thing separating us from the ocean, directly below.

and the scenery breathtaking.

The next day saw us in Florence for a whirlwind 36 hours. Like most of Italy, the pictures say it all, so here’s a photo-synopsis of our time in Italy.

Click Here for Photo Gallery

Up Next... Chapter 2 - Germany Part Eins. Tune in as Dylan and Suba reuinite with old friends, get stranded in a small town, and meet a Medieval wandering journeyman.

Click Here to continue the journey...