Where Sasha Went

Capri, Italy

Our last day down by Sorrento we spent on the island of Capri. We took our little tram up to Sorrento and hoped on the ferry boat for the day. Since we were on a schedule to ensure we got off the island at the end of the day we didn’t have a whole lot of time to see much. Our friends had a tour to visit the Blue Grotto, so once we disembarked they met up with their tour group and we headed up the hill to explore the area.

We didn’t manage to make it to Capri’s Villa Jovis, a roman palace that is now an archaeological site that can be toured. After our all day trek through Pompeii the day before we were looking for something a little more low key and just chose to wander around the streets and take in the sights.

We headed straight up the hill and wandered into a number of various businesses. I think our favorite was probably the sewing shop. They had so much fabric it was even hanging from the ceiling. We continued up the hill and managed to find where all the people were hanging out. All the designer shops seemed to be huddled together near the top of the hill part of town. There were so many fashionable fancy people and so many shops neither of us would have ever even thought of buying anything in. But it was really fun to window shop and people watch.

We ended our day in Capri meeting back up with our friends and sitting on the beach near the ferry port for a good few hours. Then we caught the ferry back to Sorrento, had some dinner and took our trolley back to our campsite for our last night before heading to Venice the next day.

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The Rainflower – Amity, Oregon

Despite the Portland Metro region Oregon is a fairly rural state. Lots of small towns, lots of old buildings, many of which have been abandoned. It does seem like though as Portland has become more a more popular destination the tourism and money that comes with it has started to trickle out into the smaller communities.

It is not uncommon these days to drive through a one stop light town that looks all but abandoned, which actually houses at least one or two gems worth stopping for. Amity Oregon is one of these towns. Founded between 1848 and 1849 by by two Oregon Trail survivors the town today is home to about 1600 people. There is a school, a store, a gas station, and a whole lot of houses that look like they have seen better days. The downtown houses an antique shop, a pretty decent coffee shop and then right in the middle of the main street is a little shop called The Rainflower.

Almost other worldly in how out of place a boutique flower and chocolate shop are in this tiny little town, especially one so perfectly styled. A blend of 1940s architecture and modern day simplicity it is worth the stop if ever find yourself in the area.

It quite honestly feels like something that all the big city gift shops are trying to pull off, the high ceilings, antique fixtures, minimalist paint, sumptuous details sprinkled around.  But you get the feeling that unlike other shops this wasn’t intentional, but an organic result of the surroundings. It is perfection. As are the chocolates, of which I ate far too many. For hours and other details check out their facebook page, and visit soon it’s worth it I promise.

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24 hours in Minneapolis – Minneapolis, Minnesota

The final post in this edition of Minneapolis is a whirl wind and that is because the last leg of this trip was that as well. I only had 24 hours after my last meeting to experience more of the city than the skyway and my office building. And luckily for me the weather was incredible!

Shop: I Like You
It is a little like the Made in Oregon store but for a younger or perhaps just more kitsch. T shirts, cards, candles, jewelry, art, you name it they have it all handmade in Minnesota  and in some way touting the Minnesota theme. It was lovely and had I had a larger suitcase with me more people would have received Minnesota themed gifts that year.

Do: Minneapolis River-walk
The Twin Cities is built around the Mississippi river and as such there is a very impressive expanse of walking trains around the area. I had a friend as a tour guide so we just took off and start taking pictures of the lovely scenery but if you are looking some sort of guidance this walking guide is quite nice.  It is about a 3 mile loop in all, it took us a few hours because we stumbled on a farmers market.

Eat: Mill City Farmers Market
The market is only only open on Saturdays BUT if you happen to find yourself in the area on a Saturday it is a must eat. Tons of vendors from snacks to sweets to full meals. Everything smelled amazing, we couldn’t decide so we just ate a lot of samples.

Tour: Mill City Museum
Sadly I did not have time to go in, but the lobby of the Mill City Museum is impressive enough on it’s own for a stop through. The museum sits inside the ruins of what was once the largest flour mill in the world. Destroyed by a fire (did you know flour is explosive? I had no idea) the building was shored up and converted to a lovely history and art museum.

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