Italian Odyssey - 9.

Rome to Naples is less than two hours by luxury fast train. In Naples we transferred to the local train service to Sorrento. What a come down! The old carriages made our ancient "red rattlers" seem like the Orient Express! We were crammed in like sardines for the 32 stops to Sorrento. We had our only run in with pick pockets so far, but thankfully we were ready! The cramped conditions were ideal, and when three swarthy gypsies came through pushing up against us, we were immediately suspicious. I felt a hand feeling the outside of my shorts pockets, which I pushed away, and then another tried to put his hand in my pocket, so I quickly put my hand in as well, which surprised him, and they all left the carriage at the next stop, as the railway security guy came through the carriage. We made it to Sorrento and were soon at our Hotel Girasole, which was lovely, but a lot further from town than the blurb had suggested! The property was covered in citrus orchards, with the biggest lemons & grapefruit we have ever seen. Sorrento is famous for citrus. We had lovely fresh juices for breakfast, which was included, every morning. We decided on a lazy afternoon after our hectic Rome schedule, so headed for the pool. The pool area was down the road a bit, but lovely. We found a couple of deck chairs under the shade of a lemon tree, and settled in for a lazy afternoon. Hotel Girasole is a bit like Hotel Marigold, quite a few older English Folk doing the annual weeks holiday for the 30th consecutive year! They have brekkie in the hotel, get lobster red around the pool, take a nap & eat dinner at the hotel! 

The Amalfi Coast is famous. The towns of Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, and not to forget The Isle of Capri, are on everyone's travel list. We booked a small group tour, to drive the legendary Amalfi Cliff Drive. We didn't get off to a great start, as two guests, sadly an Aussie Mum & daughter, held us up for half an hour, then added to the problem by insisting to go back for their sunglasses! The early start to miss the traffic was gone! The drive is spectacular. High on the cliffs with torturous switchback corners, and the road is very narrow, especially for buses. We were on a mini bus, but there were lots of full size coaches. There was a lot of backing up! At one corner we came across a poor old guy who obviously was regretting his decision to hire a car. He had met a coach coming the opposite way on a blind corner. When he saw the bus swinging onto his side of the road, he decided to cut to the other side, and almost got crushed against the cliff! The bus driver was furious! The old guy couldn't back the car & got totally stressed, and finally just left the car! The bus driver jumped out of the bus and into the car & reversed it out of the way, with much arm waving & lots of loud Italian! 

Our time in Positano was cut short as a result of our late start, and our guide made this quite clear to everyone! Positano is beautiful. A playground for the rich. The shops ooze class & the prices reflect that. Seeing Posotano from the cliff top is breathtaking, and a sight we will never forget. We used our limited time to walk down through the town to the beach. We found many of the shopkeepers quite abrupt, even rude. There were signs like, "we are already famous, we don't need your photos." It was almost as if they resented the daytrippers. The town is famous for its linen clothes, but it was hard to find a price under 100 euro. This is a very classy town, and you could see it in the style of the restaurants, some with amazing vistas out over the sea. We didn't see a lot of Positano, but unlike Portofino, it just didn't grab us the same way.

We continued the hair raising drive, which our guide dubbed the "mama Mia" drive, because of all the times the driver said "mama Mia", to Amalfi. Again it is one of those breathtaking sights. It is much bigger than Positano, and we immediately liked the ambience. Our guide gave us the option of spending all the time walking around town, or there was the option of taking a small boat ride for 45 minutes, along the coast. Everyone took the boat ride! It was fantastic. Our weather has continued to be spectacular, and looking back at this incredible scene from the water was just wonderful. We got to see Sophia Loren's holiday house, perched on the cliff with amazing grounds & views forever, as well as homes of other celebrities like Roger Moore. It was a great 45 minutes sailing up & down the coast from Amalfi. Back in the town, we wandered up the beachfront, which was very crowded, then into the main Piazza which has a very beautiful church. Our guide had told us not to eat too much, as we were making a lunch stop after Amalfi, but she did tell us about a famous pastry shop. We found Pasticierra Pansa, which has been doing its thing since 1830, and after trying the lemon delicious, and the canoli full of cassata cream, we can understand why! Coffee was also excellent. A wander past the shops and it was time to hit the road again. We were headed up to the top of the mountains, first to the small village of Scala for lunch, & then on to Ravello. The restaurant was a wonderful terrace with views forever out over the hills & coast. What a spot for lunch, a simple but delicious, salad, pasta & lemon syrup cake, served with water & wine. It was then on to Ravello, a beautiful hill top town, perched on the cliff. It has been a favourite spot of writers & musicians over the ages, and now hosts regular music events. We walked the beautiful gardens of the villa that hosts these events, one of which was happening soon judging by the scaffolding going in! It is a quiet and lovely place which we enjoyed immensely. So quiet after hustle & bustle of Amalfi & Positano. The views out over the coast are just breathtaking. From Ravello it was back on the bus, for another hair raising trip along the cliff road. This time our excitement was meeting a coach head on at a blind corner. No way he was backing up! So back we went, with about ten cars behind all doing likewise!! No road rage, just orderly chaos!!

Sorrento itself is a lovely town to explore. With so much on, most of our exploring was done in the evening, when we would find a nice bar with a view for a drink, & then find our dinner venue for the night. There is no shortage of choice, literally hundreds of them, each with a spruiker out front trying to entice us in. We haven't had a bad meal since we got here. Sometimes it is simple pizza & pasta, other times it is the local specialty. On our Friday night we found a gorgeous little place, and got a table on the mezzanine floor looking down into the main restaurant. There was really good live music, and we had a bit of a splurge, starting with incredible zucchini flowers stuffed with a ricotta mix to die for, then Carolyn had a veal pizzaeola, while John had the pork cutlet with roast potatoes. The pizza bread was fantastic, the wine was excellent, the staff were such fun. It was a great night. The night finished with a good laugh, as I paid with my travel card which doesn't have a name on it. As the charming waiter brought the card back I could see he was searching for the name. As he handed back the card he said "thank you for coming Mr & Mrs 49365!" We all just cracked up! 

On Saturday, our plan was to take the boat back to Amalfi & Positano for the morning, for a better look along the coast, then come back & laze around the pool. Somewhere along the way we got some language wires crossed, and we finished up being stuck in Amalfi for the day! Still, worse places in the world to be stranded. We just wandered the streets, had coffee & cake back at Pasticierra Pansa, found a gorgeous little cafe on the esplanade above the beach, where we had l long lazy lunch, Carol did the church, which she said was great, and much bigger inside than it looked. Me, I am a little over churches, and there were a lot of steps up, so I found a quiet corner and watched the huge storm coming over the hill! Boy was it black! Carol came out of the church, there was a huge clap of thunder, not that the two events were linked, and we headed up the street. When the rain came, it pelted down, but as luck would have it, we were right outside a gelato shop, so we sought refuge & found gelato! Storm didn't last long, and soon the sun was shining again, and we were back on the ferry to Sorrento. A quick shower & back into town. God I wish we were closer to town! There just aren't any nice looking restaurants around our hotel. We had been told to try the Foriegner's Club, which has a huge terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples, so off we went. We found it without too many problems, and there on the gate was a sign, " Closed tonight for a wedding!" Bugger!! Plan B saw us disappear into the alleys of Sorrento, where it wasn't hard to find a nice place where we shared some lovely pizza & pasta. The final of the Soccer was on TV, and as Juventus, an Italian club was playing, there was a lot of interest. Mostly, the locals were cheering for Barcelona, as they all barrack for Napoli, & hate Juventus who are from Milan! Some serious rivalry there! 

On Saturday, we had one of our best days so far. We were off to the Isle of Capri, but not on your average tour. We had booked ourselves on a small boat tour, maximum of 12 people. It was a gorgeous day, and Marco our skipper was a lovely guy. The day was all about hugging the coast of both the mainland and the Isle of Capri, so we could see close up some amazing caves & rock formations, along the way. We arrived on Capri at Marina Piccolo, a small Marina at the back of the island. Here we went swimming in the clear waters of the Mediterranean, before catching the local bus up into Capri, township, where we came to the conclusion that the official language of Capri was "Loud American!" There were thousands of them! From here Carolyn & I, took the small local bus up to Anacapri, along an incredible cliff road. It is surprising how fast you climb, and when you reach the top, the views are just incredible. We walked the shops, and gazed at that incredible view, before boarding the crowded little bus all the way back to meet Marco at Marina Piccolo. All in all, we had spent five hours exploring the island. On the way back, we called in at lots of spots, including the famous Blue Grotto. It was closed due to tide & wave conditions, but there were still a few hardy souls diving to reach the grotto. Marco said it was too dangerous, so not for us. As we got closer to Sorrento, Marco opened up the esky and we enjoyed some cold beverages, before he cut the motor, and broke out the Limoncello for a round of toasting to celebrate an incredible day on the water.

Our last day in Sorrento, was Sunday, and we had a full day planned, as we had booked a full day, small group tour to view the ruins at Pompei, and Herculeneum. Everyone has heard of Pompei, but Herculeneum is less known. It too was buried by the same eruption, and here, the site is much smaller, but much more personal & in some respects better preserved. We did Herculeneum first, and saw inside individual homes, that were remarkably well preserved. It is unbelievable how well things have been restored. The decision has been made, not to expand the archeological dig, as it would all be under the new town, and be too costly to do, as many homes would have to be bought. When you are there, it is amazing to think what happened 2,000 years ago, and yet here we are walking those same streets. After a nice lunch at a huge restaurant near Pompei, we joined what seemed to be millions of other tourists, to view the Pompei ruins. The first impression is just how big they are. This was a large city, and it has been fully excavated. It doesn't have the detail of Herculeneum, but the scale is incredible. We walked the streets with our guide for just over two hours, learning some unbelievable stories. This was another fantastic tour. So full of amazing stories . We enjoyed it immensely. That night, we were back to earth in a big way, as we had a quick bite at a local pasta place, where I had the biggest beer known to mankind, and then it was time to do the laundry! Yes folks, the chores still mount up, especially on a long holiday. We have just about mastered the Italian Laundrette!

Next morning we were on the old red rattler back to Naples. These trains are an absolute circus. Gypsy buskers get on and off all the time. We started with a noisy trio doing Dean Martin impressions, then as they moved through the train, they were replaced by a little kid, obviously after the sympathy vote, so he could get enough money to improve his Accordian skills, and then there was my favourite, the family of three, trying to cover all bases! They had an amplifier playing Gypsy Kings, while the kid banged away on a bongo, and dad shook his tambourine. Mum wheeled the amplifier. The volume was incredible, people were covering their ears! The only things missing were a monkey & talent! We were so glad to get to Naples. We found our train, and headed for Arezzo in Tuscany, where we will spend the next three weeks criss crossing Tuscany & Umbria.