The Amalfi Coast

Our last full day in Sorrento and we’ve booked a semi private tour to the Amalfi Coast. We were picked up by Bernado and met three American woman who were travelling together then an American couple from San Diego.

It was a beautiful day all and Bernado stopped at a few key lookout points for us to take some photos of the amazing coastline. Every corner we went around was another fantastic vista and I found myself constantly pointing across the Alan who was sitting next me and saying how beautiful it was. The road was really busy but at this point it was flowing okay. It wasn’t until about 10 km out of Positiano that things started grinding to a halt. The number of cars and buses on the road was ridiculous. Luckily the scenery was still good to look at. 

We finally made it to Positano and Bernado had to contend with the traffic to get a carpark. There is very little parking in the town. A you drive along the road there are local’s cars parked and many don’t look like they have moved for a long time.

Positano is the first beautiful coastal town that reaches far up the hill. It almost looks like one house has been built on top of the one below. The local legend about why Positano was settled is that a Turkish boat became beached on the shore and the captain was carrying a painting of the Virgin Mary. He heard the painting whisper “posa posa” (set me down, set me down) so the captain threw the painting overboard and immediately the boat began to float again. The locals built a church on the spot the painting was found. Positano later grew when the locals were fleeing the Saracen invaders. There are a number of fortresses built along the coast as protection from the invasions.

We strolled down the main street It twisted and turned and just kept going downhill. The streets are narrow and lined with shopping similar to Sorrento although I think this was even more crowded that Sorrento. 

Just as we thought it would never end we entered a piazza where the church is located and just below that is the port. We sat and relaxed for a bit enjoying a coffee before the long hike back up the hill to the car.

Back in the car the traffic had not improved at all. If anything, it had got worse. Apparently, this is what is like in the middle of the high season but other than this weekend, this time of year is usually much quieter and this trip would take a tenth of the time. Trust us to pick a national long weekend.

Our next stop was at a bridge over the Fiordo di Furore. There is a little village and a sandy beach that lead up into the hills on one side of the bridge and on the other side is where they either jump off the bridge or the cliffs to the side. 

This is a 30m jump. My only question is why??? 

After the bridge it was decided that the road was far to busy to go to our next stop at Amalfi so it was decided we would head up the hill to Ravello for our lunch and if the traffic subsided we would come back down.

Ravello is a beautiful town way up near the top that has the most magnificent views. There is a 13th-century Moorish-style villa called Villa Rufolo. It has beautiful terraced gardens and the most amazing views we have seen so far. The building is not occupied and is only a museum now.

There is also a quaint little town that is pretty much like all the towns in this area. 

The villa has beautiful gardens on the terraced areas and at one point I did get into trouble because I stepped up on a ledge to get a better photo and a lady asked me to get down. It's not like I was near the edge. There was actually another step higher that I could have used. 

As we strolled around the area they did have this one interesting shop. At first, I thought the sign may have been a misinterpretation but then I realised that marijuana is legal in Italy. It just such an odd thing to see.

We all met back at the pick up point and had the discussion of should we/should we not try for Amalfi. It was a unanimous decision to ask Bernado to take us back over the mountains instead.

When Bernado got back with the car, he started a speech that was intended to convince us that it was not worth trying for Amalfi as it would be hours before we got back to our hotel. As he was talking and being very apologetic we were trying to tell him that we had already made the decision not to got down. It took a while before he understood and I have never seen a driver so happy. He was almost crying with relief.

The trip over the mountain was a great choice as we got to see a whole new landscape that we would have miss if we went back the way we came. It’s quite rugged country. On the other side of the hills is Pompeii and Naples. You realise just how big and sprawling they are. It’s also very flat by comparison to what we have just experienced. Even though we missed out of Amalfi we still had a great day. Again, meeting new and interesting people and seeing some amazing and beautiful places.

Today is our last day in Sorrento and when we got back to the hotel we asked Raffaella to assist us with getting tickets to Naples. I had checked late the night before and there were plenty of train tickets but when I looked again the next morning there were any that I could find. I didn’t have time before the tour to do anything about it and I also thought that I may having been looking for the wrong thing. At first Raffaella was able to find tickets but when she tried to pay it would not accept our cards. We tried all three. Up until this point we’ve had no issues at all with our cards. Finally, she was able to find us a flight and arranged a transfer to the airport. It ended up and expensive exercise but at least we will make it to Milan even though Raffaella was very keen for us to stay another night. What we didn’t realise is that the next day was a public holiday and everyone would be going home after a long weekend.

Our stay in Sorrento has been fantastic and even better than we thought. Much of that has been due to Raffaella and her knowledge and generosity. She has been amazing and helpful and I would recommend her and the hotel to anyone who would like to stay in the centre of Sorrento.

Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius

Today we head for Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Pompeii and not sure of what I expect to see.

Pompeii is about an hour from Sorrento and as you drive into the Pompeii area you lose all the beauty of the Sorrento Peninsula. It’s very flat and sprawling. I had no idea that Pompeii is a whole city and not just the site of the ruins.

When you get your first glimpse of the ruins you are surprised at the size of it. It’s much bigger than I expected. Unfortunately, our tour didn’t pre-book the tickets so we had to wait in line, but they took us to a quieter gate and it didn't take that long. While Terry was lining up I was able to get some photos of what everyone think is mummified bodies in pavilions along the entry path. 

The “bodies” that you see are actually plaster casts. What happened was when the volcano erupted it spread ash over the entire area covering the people where they fell. The ash then entombed the bodies and over the centuries the flesh decayed and left on the bones in a cavity. When they found these cavities the removed the bones, used the cavity as a mold and the filled it with plaster. The detail of the casting is pretty amazing and very sad to see.

Our guide Giuseppina started the tour by taking us to a large amphitheatre. It is well preserved with only some of the stone seating missing around the arena. A more recent claim to fame of the amphitheatre was that Pink Floyd played a concert there. A bit of a stark contrast in cultures.

Next, we walked the business area where we were shown a street of shops. It was explained that if the building that had a wide opening and a groove in the doorstep it was a shop. Next to each shop was the entrance to the residence which would have been above the shop.

Apparently, many of the shop were fast food shops. The residents of the area did not have good cooking facilities at their houses so they would go and buy their food from one in the town. You can still see where the cooking pots sat and the counter area for serving.

As you wander through the streets and look into the properties you can get a sense of what life would have been like.

The excavated site is huge and we only got to see about a quarter of it. It was quite hot and the sun seemed to radiate off the all the stone paving. At one stage I sat down to rest in the shade because I seem to have lost my ankles somewhere between Rome and Sorrento. Rafaella tells me I’m in Italy now so I just need to accept. Not sure if it’s the heat or the constant uneven ground but I’ll be glad to get them back.

Anyway, back to Pompeii…you could easily spend a whole day here and probably not see all of it and you would probably get lost doing it. How cool are these trees. They look like they are pruned but someone told me they are umbrella pines and they grow all over the place. Not usually a fan of conifers but I like these ones 

We finished the tour in the main square and that was a bit a wow moment as you entered you can see how amazing it must have been. The only downside was that it was crowded with tourists. This is an amazing and incredibly sad site.  Well worth the visit.

The rest of the tour was a trip up to Mt Vesuvius. This was a bit of a hairy ride as we were in a 50 seater bus and the road was barely wide enough for two cars let alone a bus. Then to add to that the road wound up the side of the mountain in a series of hairpin bins. I’m not freaked out easily by this kind of thing but I have to admit there was a few times I gasped.

We stopped at the carpark which was a 1000m from the top. We had to decide before we saw the track and after the way my ankles have been the last few days I decided against doing the climb. Terry was pretty happy about that. When I saw the path it looked easier than I thought it would so I would have been OK to do it although Terry would have stayed at the carpark. While I’m sure than it would have been an impressive site,  but I’m not too disappointed that I didn’t do it. I think in hindsight I would have preferred to go to Herculanuem another town destroyed but the eruption of Vesuvius. 

I guess you can’t get it right all the time.

Capri

Our day started out early for Italian time as we had to be at a pick up point at 8:00am. The start doesn’t worry us but we couldn’t find a place the was open for breakfast early enough. Today we’re heading to Capri. A very popular holiday spot for some very famous people.

The road to the harbour is an interesting one. The driver had to make a two point turn on every corner. The vehicle wasn’t even that big. It was a nine-seater van.  The tour group was only small with a family of five from the UK, a dutch couple, two Indonesian girls who are currently living in Melbourne and an American couple. We got on particularly well with the American couple and decided that we would stick together, first so we didn’t get lost and secondly because I overheard Derryl (the husband) say that he didn’t want to do the chairlift to the top of Mt Solaro. I suggested that I would go up with Jackie (the wife) and Terry and Derryl could stay at the bottom and have a relaxing cup of coffee.

The chairlift was great and didn’t even really seem that high as it followed the rise of the land up the hill. As we travelled up you can see into the local’s yards and it’s amazing to think the live on such steep land. At one point there was and elderly gentleman searching for something in the grass below the lift. Neither Jackie or I could work out what it was. Even on the way back down we could see that he was filling his bag but we still couldn't see what it was.

We reached the top fairly quickly and the views from the top were breathtaking. There’s a viewing area and a café but we decided not to stay up too long as we felt there was much more to see. When we got back to the guys it seems they had an equally good time so everyone was happy.

Back down in central Capri we wandered around the shops and then found a nice place to eat in a little plaza. There were people everywhere although it wasn’t hard to find somewhere to eat.

Over lunch we found out that Jackie was a former TV presenter on a local statin in Orlando and Derryl was the head of a large company that provided catering to airlines. They also have a daughter the was nominated for a Tony award for starring opposite Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812. Obviously a talented family.

After lunch we were back on the boat for a tour around the island. We were taken to quite a few caves, where the water was a beautiful shade of blue. We had the option to stop and the Blue Grotto and queue up for possibly an hour. The is a grotto where you get in a smaller boat and the guide has to wait for the swell to be at a low point so that he can pull the boat through. You have to lay down flat in the boat as he does this. Apparently, the water is an iridescent blue and quite spectacular. Our guides were happy to stop and wait if we wanted but the assured us they could show some equally spectacular caves and grotto and they didn’t disappoint.

We saw bright red coral that grow just below the water lines. We also saw a turtle that were obviously disturbed in one of the caves.

The water in these caves was looks the most beautiful shade of aquamarine and is crystal clear. The skipper of the boat was able to get in quite close for us to get a great view.

Not only did we get to see some amazing natural rock formations and caves but there were also some pretty spectacular properties built by some very famous people. Aristotle Onassis and Giorgio Armani to name a few. Both were pretty impressive.

On our way back to Sorrento they took us to closer into the coastline to see more caves and also a waterfall. Our guide told us some history about the waterfall and I thought he said something the water being used for the pasta. I didn’t quite catch all that he said so I could just be making that bit up. Shortly after that we arrived back at the port and were driven back up that treacherous hill.

We come back exhausted but happy after seeing some great sites and spending the day with some lovely people. Only thing left to do was to find somewhere to eat, it’s such a hard life!

Sorrento

Our day started well as we made it to the station and navigated the tickets and were comfortably on the train without much fuss. The trains are great but we had this woman sitting near us that constantly talked on the phone …all four of them!  I have no idea what she was talking about but at times she was not very happy because she’d thump the table and raise her voice. Then it was like the person hung up because she would look at her phone and then dial again.

The next part of the trip was an experience and not something you would want to do every day. We decided to take the local train (the Circumvesuviana train) from Naples to Sorrento and it take about an hour. The funny thing is, there does not seem to be any limit on the number of people it can carry. You think there is no room and as you approach the doors everyone shuffles a bit and you squeeze in. We thought us getting in was the limit but at least four or five got in after us. All we could do was laugh. At Pompeii lots of people got out and American lady and I got a seat. We ended up having a lovely chat with her and her husband.

We arrived in beautiful Sorrento early afternoon. After quick walk from the station we found our way to the hotel and only had to redirect once this time. Although Terry did keep giving these looks that translated to where on earth do you think you are taking us (that’s the censored version). Thankfully Google was spot on again and we arrived at another large wooden door that we had to buzz to get in. 

Raffaella (the manager) met us in the courtyard and she was just as lovely as she seemed to be from her email. She is a vibrant, outgoing and fun young woman with a great sense of humour who almost includes you as one of her family. She seemed really happy to see us. I guess she would though because we had already booked another night with her.

After settling into the room, we went for a wander to check out the shopping and to see what options we had for dinner. There is a main street that runs the full length of the town with a piazza in the centre. It’s from the piazza that it gets interesting for shopping and eating. Obviously as Sorrento is on the coast, all the shops have a that costal theme with lots of blues creams and sandy colours. There are lots of little interesting lane ways that are filled with lots of stalls and the most common are the ones based around lemons. 

Sorrento has an abundance of lemon trees. It’s one of the prime industries in the area. There are very cheerful looking stores and are filled with all things lemon. Lemon marmalade, lemon lollies, lemon biscotti and most importantly limoncello. A liqueur they seem to drink any time of the day, as a digestive of course.

The whole town is full of tourists and it’s almost shoulder to shoulder everywhere you go. It’s fun though. I don’t think it’s normally this busy this early except on the “Workers Day” public holiday. It falls next Tuesday day so I think the everyone takes the extra day for a long weekend.

We’ve explored the centre of town and found the Valley of the Mills.  It’s a large crevice where they built flour mills back in the 13 century. As time progressed the milling of flour was moved to the large pasta making factories and the mills fell into disrepair. They are now crumbling and overgrown with moss and ferns. It’s an unexpected and quite beautiful site in the middle of the town.

After wandering around for a while we returned to our guesthouse to get some of advice on where to eat as there were so many to choose from.  Raffaella suggested a restaurant down near the water but as we had a long day we preferred something a little closer.  So, she then told us she knows of another one but it’s “very far”. We opted for that one because we realised she was joking about the distance and it was two doors down the lane one the opposite side to us….we only just made it! The meal was delicious and the staff were lovely and welcoming.

Well our first day in Sorrento has been a success and I already know we are going to love it here!

Rome Hop On - Hop Off Bus

Today was a day for exploring Rome using the Hop On - Hop Off Bus service. We find this a good option as we learn about the various sights but are able to get off at any time to explore an area that interests us.

Unfortunately because we had no internet in our room in Rome I have got behind with the blog and can't remember what some of them are.

We decided to walk back to the train station to work out how long it would take us. Not surprisingly it only to about 15 minutes and that was walking uphill. We had to wait a while for the bus but that was okay because it meant we got a seat up the top.

On the bus we passed through the beautiful  Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore with it's stunning church. The streets are narrow but somehow everyone seems to know what they are dong on the road and there is less frustration from the drivers than I expected.







As you can imagine, everything is old and ornate. Such a contrast to Abu Dhabi.


Next major stop was the Colosseum but for obvious reasons we did not get off here. We plan to do a guided tour when we come back to Rome.

From there we travelled around the Palantino which is where all the historical archaeological site are and where they held the chariot races.

Next we followed the Tiber river and looked across to St Peter's Basilica where there hundreds of people crossing over the river to visit it. There were more beautiful buildings and I thought this one was particularly pretty. It would be really good if I could remember what it was.


Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. If I thought that the other destinations were crowded it was no comparison to this. It was a bit ridiculous really, but like all the other tourists we want our photo in front of it and throw our coins in into the fountain to ensure we would return to Rome one day.

We were a bit stunned by the amount of people at the fountain. You kind of had to push you way through to get down to the water to throw your coin in. They must make an absolute fortune from it

Next we found a little cafe to have lunch at although this is not a difficult thing to do in Rome. There are restaurants and cafes everywhere.

Lunch was lovely and after that we ventured off to to find the Spanish steps. Again the amount of people is ridiculous and I don't even think this is the high seasons yet.


The Spanish steps were built to link the church above to the square below. There are 138 steps although I thought Terry counted more than that. The climb to the top is worth it as the from the top is pretty good.


On the way back down everyone was filling their drink bottles from the fountain at the bottom of the stairs. The Romans say tat their water is perfect to drink but I'm not sure I wold give it a taste from this fountain. Terry found it pretty good to cool off in though.

That was our last stop for the bus and we made our way back to the hotel.

After dinner we went for another walk being a little more adventurous and walking a little further than last night. We wandered around checking out more of the buskers.We both thought this one was pretty funny, although not original as there was another one on the opposite side of the street

One of the funniest things we saw was how the Romans think outside the square or should I say the parking space.
There was obviously no spaces left for this car so the made one of their own by parking like this. I guess that's the benefit of having a small car









Another great and we decided to head to Sorrento a day earlier than originally so this will test of public transport capabilities.

The Wonder and History of Rome

We’ve made it to Rome and found our hotel after a few self-imposed stressful moments getting here. All went well until we reached the Rome airport that is not particularly clear on where to go to collect your luggage.  So, like the good sheep we are, we following the crowd who were all getting on a train. Thankfully it was the right thing to do and soon we were checking through customs.

Next trick was to catch the train into Rome Central. Again, I think we made this harder than it needed to but we successfully made it into the city. That’s when the fun really started. From the point we got off the train we both had an opinion on which way should go and needless to say that it got a little tense after walking around in circles for about 15 minutes. Our hotel is supposed to be about a ten-minute walk from the station and it took us nearly an hour. Thank goodness for Google Maps and headphones. 

Having got to our hotel, finally, we entered through a big ornate wooden door that takes you through into a courtyard. Thank goodness the guy at hotel came out to meet us in the courtyard because we would have had no idea where to go. It looked more like private residences that a hotel. Actually, I think it a combination of both.

The location is perfect, however the room is very basic and has no internet in the room so updating this blog is going to be a challenge. It’s clean and the bed is comfortable but we’ve decided to only spend two nights here and head to Sorrento a day early.

Anyway, after adjusting to around surroundings we went out for a walk. As I said the location is perfect, the Colosseum is practically around the corner and there are restaurants everywhere. We stopped at one to get a drink and get our bearings. After a delicious iced coffee, and a bourbon for Terry,  we bought a gelato and started wandering around the area. I have to say the gelato is everything everyone raves about…it’s delicious!

It’s pretty much a “follow the crowd” type of area. There are buskers and spray paint artists along the street as you head toward the Colosseum. There are lots of selfie stick and water hawkers trying to sell their wares. The other thing is there are quite a few Sudanese who come up to you in a very charming way and tell you they want to give you a gift. When you try to say no they push it into your hand. One guy threw one at me (not aggressively) so I threw it back he let it drop on the ground. Terry let him put one on his wrist and told him it’s a gift but he could give him something for his family. They must do quite well out of this and all the ones I saw doing this are all extremely well dressed. They are very charming, articulate and well presented.

Having escaped the hawkers, we continued around the Colosseum. It’s an impressive building and I’m looking forward to going through it when we come back with Rylan. We wandered up through a park that had lots of ruined buildings and it seemed to be a local hangout are in the evening. There were people sitting on park benches and kids playing soccer. There was even an impromptu cricket match going.

We wandered back through the streets and with every turn the was either a ruined building or a beautifully ornate one. The streets are very uneven but much cleaner than I expected, a nice surprise. Maybe I haven’t found the bad ones yet. 

The streets twist and turn and you are never really sure which direction you are heading. We found this tunnel that surprising bought us back on the street where our hotel is. I remember seeing it on the way to our hotel earlier in the day and thinking that I should come back and take photos. It seems that it was meant to happen.

After dinner we went for a stroll in the opposite direction to the Colosseum and came across archaeological sites they have exposed. It was well lit but we’ll definitely come back to have a look in the daylight. We walked down the Via del Fori Imperiali and marvelled at the beautiful buildings.

After our walk to went back to the room to get ready for dinner. We both decided on having pizza. Despite the numerous reports that people don’t like the Italian pizzas, we have to disagree. We loved them. Thin crispy base with minimal topping so as not to confuse your taste buds…delicious!

After dinner we went for a stroll in the opposite direction to the colosseum and came across archaeological sites they have exposed. It was well lit but we’ll definitely come back to have a look in the daylight. We walked down the Via del Fori Imperiali and marvelled at the beautiful buildings. The Via del Fori Imperiali is a wide cobblestone street that is closed off to traffic in the evenings.  We went ad far as the Altare della Patria which is a marble, classical temple honouring Italy's first king & First World War soldiers.

Across the street is another beautiful church, the Santa Maria di Loretto. I feel like I’m back home, my mum’s name is Maria and her sister’s name is Loretta. Maybe this one is for them.

This street has archaeological sites either side and was an unexpected sit for me to see so many in the centre of the city.

On our way back to the room we got our final glimpse of the Colosseum for the day.

Our first day in Rome has been great and we are both exhausted be so happy to be here.