Some more pics from night 4

I forgot to tell you about Bev treating jimmy to a pedicure. So here's a pic

Day 4 - Chartered a boat - what a day!

We were picked up by Francesco, our very Italian captain. Our boat's name was Papa! We had a great day cruising all over the Amalfi coast. We kept anchoring to jump into the water to cool down. Francesco took us into a beautiful grotto and then he showed us an amazing waterfall. Everyone swam up and went under it....everyone but me! Ryan went snorkelling and came up with an ID bracelet from 1994 and tons of pieces of ceramic tiles. We ate lunch at La Conca del Sogno, a beautiful restaurant that you could only access by boat. On our way home we stopped to walk around Positano. Syd and Erin followed Auntie Robin's suggestion and got made to measure sandals.

It is now 9:30pm and Jimmy and the girls are watching Pretty Woman in the den. Ryan is watching another movie upstairs and Bev is attempting to write a rival blog. We are anxiously awaiting our pizza and salad that Lucchio went to get for us. I'm sure we will be eating out of the box!

Day 3 - One Fire Beach / Positano for dinner

We all sleep in and Luccio arranges a boat to take us to a great beach club. Of course Bev and I were the last to leave the house so Luccio offers us a lift to meet the boat on his vespa. Guess what...we accepted! The 3 of us hopped on and off we went. Very fun and scary!!

One Fire Beach club was amazing! Great music, lunch at our lounge chairs. The owner, Picolekto, took great care of us. He even came around with a cold water backpack and sprayed Bev down! We played a little ipad scrabble(I won) and the girls and Ryan read + swam.

When we came home we all jumped in the pool.  We always arrive hot and sweaty from our 10 minute uphill walk so the pool is the perfect antedote.

That night Luccio drove us to Positano and we ate at Max's. The decor was old world, with fabulous art and antique furniture all around you. The hit of the night was Jimmy's Lasagne and the apple torte.

Day 2 - 6:30 pm- Girls Arrive

We were so excited to see the girls! Even more exciting was that Bev was surprising Jordyn. The girls flew from Mykonos to Rome, then they took a train to Naples where Luccio picked them up in our beautiful Mercedes. He held a sign saying "Alexander daughters". Upon arrival in Praiano the girls piled out of the car with their backpacks looking tired, tanned and gorgeous. We showed them around the villa and Bev was waiting to surprise the girls on the roof. Jordyn never disappoints...when she saw Bev she started to cry. I actually have it on video ...I will upload it as soon as I figure out how to get the video on my computer.

That night we hired a chef to cook for us! What a treat...dining al fresco hearing about the girls' amazing summer.

Day 2 - Il Pirata Beach Club

We all slept great! Bev and I were picked up by the grocer's son to buy stuff for the house and Ryan, Jimmy and Erin walked to the beach club. Bev and I loved the grocer's son and his girlfriend, Wendy a school teacher from new york. They fell in love while she was travelling and she decided to stay. Bev "Maxine's" everyone she meets. My mom would be proud!!

Then Bev and I join the others at the beach.  It's a 10 minute walk downhill...wasn't really looking forward to the walk up. We watched an adorable Italian boy jump from a cliff and we asked him for an encore and he obliged!! Bev and I got up our guts and jumped from the first rung of the ladder! We are soo adventurous.

For the second day in a row, they took Erin's wine glass away and left Ryan's. That's what happens when you look like a toddler.

Day one at Villa Ferida- Praiano, Italy

We were warmly welcomed at our beautiful Villa by the house manager, Maria and our concierge Luccio. They immediately and efficiently showed us around and we were blown away by the house and by the outstanding views. I never thought it possible, but the villa is actually nicer than the photos on the internet. We all picked our rooms and guess what....Jimmy and i got to choose first! There are 4 double bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. Erin's room has a huge terrace off of it overlooking the sea.  There is a rooftop terrace with lounge chairs, outdoor shower and a big square terry covered mat with pillows covered by a billowy canopy. My favourite outdoor area has an infinity pool, outdoor living room and gorgeous stone outdoor rain shower facing the Mediterranean.

                                                    View when I'm blogging

We settled in and walked to dinner at Il Pirata. About a 5 Minute walk from our house. Me, Jimmy, Erin, Ryan and Bev had a blast. Ryan loved it because they served him wine but took Erin's glass away. Dinner was delish...we ordered everything on the menu. Ryan and I thought the simple pasta and tomato sauce was the best but Jimmy and Bev loved the ricchola fish and totano (like octopus),.

We were exhausted and happy and all went to bed early. btw- beds and linens are A+!!!!!

night/day of travel

Flight went perfectly! Landed in Rome and went straight to Budget rent a car. What a scene. Thousands of hot ( and i don't mean sexy) people waiting in a hot room! Got our number and took a seat on our luggage and proceeded to wait 2 hours. Ryan and I had very good real estate on the floor and we were able to sleep. Jimmy figured it would go faster if he and Erin stood the whole time, so that's what they did. Who am I to argue. After getting our contract we had to stand in another line to get our car. For those of you who have travelled with me (Nina and Sari), you know I like a car with as little mileage as possible. So when they gave us a van with high mileage Jimmy said to the very impatient man; "my wife would really like it if you gave us one of the Mercedes vans".  He curtly replied "they are already contracted". After trying a few different tactics to get the guy to give us the Mercedes Jimmy finally responded; "Listen, I will give you 100 Euros if you give us the Mercedes van". The guy simply responded "ok"...so off we drove in a brand spanking new Mercedes, 9 passenger, Automatic ( rare in europe) van. Exactly 16 km on it!

Off we went to the Amalfi coast! 

For those of you who don't know, it is the law in Italy that when you stop on the side of the highway you have to wear an orange vest. So when Jimmy had to pee I insisted he wear the orange vest. 

Leaving tonight!!!

Jimmy and Erin are laughing at me because no one is following my blog. So today I will send out the link to a few people so others can enjoy. Cynthia says she is not interested in my mundane life so she should only start reading in a few days since today I am going for a mani/pedi and a blowdry, maybe I'll stop in at luluemon on Greene and buy another pair of black shorts that I don't really need. It'll a boring day since I'm not playing bridge nor do I have carpool.

Tomorrow will be very exciting! We will be arriving in Rome in the morning where we will pick up our rental car and be on our way to our villa, http://www.villaferida.com/, in the town of Praiano on the Amalfi coast. Jimmy plans to  gag and blindfold me,  and not in the way Christian Grey does it but more like the way a kidnapper might do it to quieten his victim. I hear it's a scary ride.

I am very excited!!

I better go pack....

Happy 74th birthday Dad!

I hope you have a great day and an incredible year filled with good health, great golf games, a little adventure, some new gadgets, a few stellar naps and lots and lots of special times with family and friends. Our upcoming trip to Asia has given 23 people, who love you, something amazing to look forward to. I am so lucky to be your daughter, you are an incredible dad, role model and friend. You are special!!! I love you xoxoxoxxxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxooxxooxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoo

Jimmy feels this is not the purpose of a travel blog...but i do!
Now I have to go pack....

Day before we leave!

I guess it would be a good idea to pack. So excited, my baby girl is coming home today.