Beautiful Naples.

I woke up this morning to the steady drip of rain so obviously the storm of last night was still much in evidence! I fell asleep again and was woken by Mike who thrust his little finger in my face saying that there was something wrong with it...

It was indeed very swollen and twice the size of his little finger on his other hand so it looked like he'd been bitten or stung by something. I promised we would go to either Walgreen's or CVS and get him something to sort it out.

We had breakfast and the clouds gradually drifted away to be replaced with blue skies and sunshine. I called my parents as it's my Dad'd birthday today and wished him many happy returns. The line to the UK was very clear but it would have been great to have set up video messaging! We had decided we were going to find the pier this morning so we consulted maps and wrote down the directions, determined to find it!

The roads in Naples are set out on a grid system so it's quite easy to find what you're looking for when you realise this! We drove along the main street where a lot of beautiful shops and restaurants are located and then turned down a road into a residential area. Luckily, we soon saw signs for the pier and Historic Old Naples. At the end of a quiet residential street we saw parking spaces and Keith fed about $4 into the meter. There was a little boardwalk and beyond it a huge expanse of white beach with the pier in the distance.

We clambered over the sand and climbed some steps up onto the pier. There were lots of people fishing and at first I was a bit snooty, comparing it to the Anna Maria City Pier, but after we'd walked to the end I thought it was lovely. What made it even lovelier was that we saw two dolphins swimming all around the pier! What a treat!

We stood and watched people fishing and they managed to catch quite a lot. One young man caught a silvery fish and put it back into the sea, much to the relief of Sophie! I've taken lots of photos on my camera so will upload them when I get home. I also took an updated photo of Keith, Sophie and Mike on the pier so hopefully that will turn out well. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the one I took of them on Anna Maria Island and which is my all-time favourite!

Path to the sea

We walked back to the car and I was agog at how beautiful the houses were. They were truly stunning.

Back into the air-conditioned cool of the car we tried to make our way back to the town as we all fancied a cold drink. However, we became hopelessly lost in the most fabulous residential area I've ever visited. The houses were out of this world beautiful, each one gorgeous, with immaculately manicured gardens and imposing gates. There were lots of maintenance vans everywhere, no doubt keeping everything looking perfect. I dread to think how much money these houses go for, but I would guess many, many millions of dollars!

Eventually we made it to 3rd Avenue South where there were more lovely shops, restaurants and cafes. We saw three Ferraris in the space of two minutes and I parked in front of a white one, noticing that the passenger window was open!

We went into a lovely cafe and wine shop, Tonys Off Third, and enjoyed cold drinks, coffee, tea and cakes. While we were waiting to be served we had a lovely chat with a local man who had just returned from a trip to London. This is another thing about Naples - everyone is so friendly and the conversation generally starts with, "Where are you from?" We try and explain where Northampton is, and the person we're speaking to inevitably loves the UK, so we set off on a mutually admiring chat about our countries!

Sitting outside was lovely and a little sparrow-type bird came down and hoovered up all the crumbs! It was very warm and we made the decision to go back to the villa for the afternoon after calling into a Walgreen's on the way.

We consulted the pharmacist and she advised Witch Hazel to bring out the poison, a hydrocortisone cream to soothe the pain and itching and an antihistamine to relieve the reaction. Once that was all done, we headed back to the villa and spent a very enjoyable afternoon swimming and sunbathing. The sky was a beautiful blue with hardly any clouds. Perfect!

In the evening we decided to return to 3rd Avenue South as we'd spotted a lovely bar and restaurant called Old Naples Pub. The menu looked great and I'd actually researched this as a possible dinner venue before we'd left the UK. We sat outside, which was great, as it's something we rarely do in Florida.

We were given iced water and then our drinks orders taken. Sophie and I chose a glass of Riesling, Keith went for a draught beer while poor Mike had to settle for a Root Beer. The children shared a starter of nachos with chicken while Keith and I enjoyed a plate of onion rings with a spicy dip.

For our mains, Sophie wanted to try something different so she chose the Mahi Mahi tacos served with beans and rice, I had Coconut Shrimp, Keith had fish and chips (well, it is Friday!) and Mike had a triple decker sandwich and fries.

Sophie loved her fish, but wasn't keen on the abundance of lettuce and tomatoes it came with! However, she was pleased she'd tried something different and it's on my list to try as well, hopefully in the Keys.

We made room for dessert as I just had to compare their Key Lime pie with my own! Sophie and Mike shared a chocolate brownie which they said was delicious but I was a little disappointed with my dessert...there wasn't much of a lime tang to it! Perhaps the Brazilian limes we get in the UK have more of a flavour than the Key Limes?

Feeling very stuffed we paid the bill ($120) and waddled off to the car. We then noticed the sky...and what a sky it was! Huge storm clouds tinged with pink and peach towered above us and we just had to head for the beach and see the sunset. The timing is about 8pm here so we were just in time to see the blazing orb sink below the horizon.

There were lots of people on the pier and on the beach with some professional photographers using tripods to capture the gorgeous view. I'm afraid this sunset definitely beat the one we saw when we dined at The Sandbar restaurant on Anna Maria island the last time we came to Florida! I had another lovely chat with a woman who was leaving the beach and again the conversation started off with her asking where we were from. She was a fan of Stratford-upon-Avon, she said and loved our countryside. I said that we didn't get sunsets like this at home and that Naples was stunning!

When the sunset was over, and we could feel we were being bitten by little insects, we headed back to the villa, calling in to a 7-11 to get some petrol. This time we only paid $25 and filled the tank! With a few drinks by the pool and a free lightening show from Mother Nature, it was the perfect end to a lovely day!