The morning did not start out good. The wake up call at 7:30 found Chuckie’s throat so swollen he could hardly swallow; a salt/peroxide gargle and 600mg Ibuprofin only offered minor relief. The only recourse is to head for the infirmary. Fill out the forms, wait for the Dr.
“Say Aaaahhhhhhh”
“Yep… not quite strep but not good”.
Sooooo… a 6 day dose of Prednisone to reduce swelling and because of the last years Cancer issue leaving his immune system a little lacking, an Antibiotic series just in case. Yeah… China was all about Illy’s slip and fall act… Now its all about Chuckie.
But wait… China was 1.5 hours at midnight in an emergency room with 2 doctors, x-rays, and meds= $75.
Welcome to American Captive Audience medicine shipboard style… 15 minutes and $175 later, we were ready to head out to find Sorrento via the hydrofoil from Naples’ Molo Beverello. [Beverello Pier]
After we found the Bigletteria [ticket office] we passed the 1.5 hour wait with a little café, some shots of local kids clowing around and searched for a few more KODAK 
moments. After shots of the Palazo Real on the hill, we crossed the street to climb the hill for pics of the Castelo Nuovo, now a museum] guarding the port. Then it was time 
to hustle back to catch the Ferry… at a different slip than on the embarkation schedule. We settled into window seats for the 30 minute trip and relax…for all of about 10 minutes… and DL heads out the back door to see if we 
can get topside for pics since the windows are too water spotted… “Authorized personnel only” so pics of Napoli in our wake from the rear deck suffice. 
The ferry lands at the Dock in Sorrento which is waaaayyyyy down the hill from Sorrento Centro, so we set out to trek up…. And up…. And up, the VERRRYYY busy, narrow, 
winding street.“Legs don’t Fail me now!!!!”
Only to come to a set of stairs that wrap around the retaining wall leading up of the city center; 130 steps to be exact. The last 20 steps on
rubber legs had us looking like drunken seamen coming off the “Stairway to Sorrento”. 
Where was that Funicular Tram everyone talked about??? Oh here it comes NOW!!!!We wander aimlessly around Sorrento for the next 3
hours, hitting every Limoncello store and tchotchke shop along the way and back. Tried a couple of Pharmacy’s for some sore throat and dry mouth remedies, but none had what we were looking for; On with the window shopping and the usual KODAK stuff.
After circling the town center and winding up over a gorge with an ancient Mill at the bottom [1565AD I believe]. We are in and out of more pottery and tchotchke stores until hunger set in and we found “Fauno Bar” overlooking 
Sorrento’s “Chaos Corner”, the congested city circle that seems to confuse all that enter it and cant find their way out [3 cops giving directions doesn’t seem to help].
We step over the sleeping Dalmatian guard dog to an upper table away from the profuse smokers that the 
Italians are, order a little Spuntio [Snack] some wine and relax to watch the confusion before us. Not without Chuckie spotting some really interesting KODAK Character Studies, including some Damn Cute Italian Kids 
that rated photos [remember his China Kids Photo album] as well as a local Fashionista… oh and Sleeping 
Dog as well. The Fauno Bar is really MOD with each Waiter armed with a Wireless Order Pad that really expedites getting the order to the table. Not necessarily correct as twice we had to correct deliveries but overall food and service rate 4. It’s a VERY busy place.
Pranzo [lunch] and pics done, we head for a local tchotchke alley with a
ton more Limoncello shops, each bottling their own in every imaginable bottle shape possible; stars, moons, castles, towers, world globes, violins… the shapes are endless. All other types of leather and fabric shop are about as well so Dragon Chick is in tchotchke heaven… but restrains herself ‘cause the prices aren’t right or the choices to her liking.
Time to head back down all 130 steps to the loooong down hill walk to a cute little Chiesa [church] at the harbor dedicated to the lovers of the
sea to light a candle for her mom and mine [we try to do so in every city we can… it’s a Catholic thing]. and we were off to check the location of the Ferry to Naples. After 2 mis-directions we spot the Hydrofoil waaaaaayyyyyy over there and hustle to just make the boarding.
The trip back was as uneventful as the trip in with a few 
better KODAK subjects on the way out of the harbor.Once back at the Terminal building in Napoli, DL remembers she has not picked up T-shirts for the Grand-Babies yet [apparently the plan is to get one in every port], so we pay the usual Kings Ransom at the Terminal “Captive Audience Gift Shop” where Chuckie’s Italian slips and he asks for Children’s Shoes instead of T-shirts and after a REALLY strange look from the shop keeper we get the terminology straight and DL has her Baby’s Napoli T-shirts.
Tomorrow… Roman Ruins, Rock Tombs and an interesting meal on the way to Caunos.
Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the getting the hang of this relaxing stuff, Dragon Lady
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