Italy's Amalfi Coast Day 7

 Day 7: Cooking School and Transfer to Naples

We left our hotel early after breakfast to head into the hills above the Amalfi Coast for our cooking class and then for our transfer to Naples.

This cyclist passed our hotel while we were waiting for our driver

And then we passed him about 30 minutes later nearly 1500 feet higher up the mountain.

Cooking Class was in a working restaurant in Conca Dei Marini with Chef Fiore, Le Bonta dei Capo

The Kitchen

Gearing Up

Chef Fiore and the Girls

Staff working alongside us in the kitchen

Leftover pizza dough becomes loaves of bread for the table and for bruschetta.

We all got to prep 2 loaves and get them in the pizza oven

And then the kidney stone struck again, curtailing my participation for the  duration.

And now, bruschetta making.

Toasted Bread

Fresh Cut (by Rich) Tomatoes

And Olive Oil

Then now sea bass and sea bream with merangue

And finally, pasta. 

Two sauces for the pasta, vegetarian and seafood  (mussels and clams).

Plating the pasta

Deboning the fish

And eating (this was actually near the end when I was starting to feel a bit better)

The meal ended with homemade limoncello and demonstration on hw it is made.

I wished I had felt better to be able to enjoy the class and the food, but the rest of the crew had a great morning.  We left Chef Fiore and headed to Naples about a 2 hour drive from here.  We drove across the mountain range that separates the Amalfi Coast from Naples, again, not a road for the feint of heart.

We arrived in Naples late afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Grand Hotel  Parker's, weird name, but truly a grand hotel.  It is the oldest luxury boutique hotel in Naples. The concierge, Marco (in tails!) gave us a tour of the hotel and explained to us how it got its name.  The hotel opened in 1870. At the end of the 19th century, George Parker Bidder III, a wealthy English marine biologist, who spent much of his time at the zoological department of the Royal Villa Comunale, saved the former Hotel Tramontano Beau Rivage, where he was a loyal guest, from financial ruin. Grand Hotel Parker’s as it became known, transformed into the select retreat for the literary and cultural elite of British high society. After WWII it was purchased  by Francesco Paolo Avallone, a patron of the  arts. The Avallone Family is the Owner ever since.  It is a bit like a small art musem.

It also boasts one of the best views in the city

As well as a Michelin 2-star restaurant (which we did not patronize). Instead we walked a mile or so to "best pizza in Naples", 50 Kalo.  We were not favorably impressed by the pizza here, though. Andy and Jeri both make far better pies! After dinner, my kidney was talking to me yet again, and we decided to take a cab back to the hotel.

Last day of touring tomorrow.  Hope the kidney is quiet. Richie seems to have caught Suzy's cold and is starting to go down the yubes.  Hopefully better tomorrow.