After Italy I took the train and headed north into Switzerland. My first impression - beautiful and very cold! At least compared to the warm, balmy weather I had experienced in Italy. After getting off the train I took the bus (following the directions given on the internet) to the hostel. Found it easily enough even though it was nighttime and quite dark out. Fortunately it was Saturday night and there were lots of people out and about - who knew the train station in Zurich was the place to be Saturday nights! The hostel was on a nice quiet street [View Full Entry]

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After my visit in Naples, I headed north to the little city of Orte-Amelia where I was met by Ettore (Hector). Ettore said he had not heard from me but had been contacted earlier by Wendy regarding my arrival time. He said he just went on instinct to the train (as I had gone on the train to the small little town) and somehow we both managed to find each other despite either of us having spoken. Ettore drove me back to his bed and breakfast while giving me a brief lecture on the history of Orte and Amelia. After arriving [View Full Entry]

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My second day in Naples I took the train to the town of Pompeii. From the train station I walked into the amazing ruins of Pompeii. Inside the gates, the sites were incredible. Stones cobblestones, huge statues and rock crevices were the only remains of the town that had existed before the eruption of the volcano (still active!). It was so neat to imagine families and civil life taking place among the old house structures. [View Full Entry]

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My second day in Naples I caught the bus down to the port and took the boat to the Island of Capri. The boat was quite nice, everyone had comfy, cushioned seats inside, and the ride only lasted a little under an hour. Once we arrived at the Capri port, I got off and found a station selling tickets for an island tour. After purchasing my ticket I went with about 10 other people into a boat and away we went. The tour lasted approximately 2 hours and went around the entire Capri coast. At one point we were able to [View Full Entry]

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After catching the train at the Sperlonga station, I headed further south to Naples. I went to the tourist office, picked up several brochures (they were free - yippee, usually they're not) and called Giolianno. I was surprised to hear him speak English back to me. Wendy had reserved a room at his bed and breakfast for two nights and told him I would need a ride from the train station. Giolianno picked me up and drove me to the B&B a short distance from the train station. After I was settled, Giolianno and I went on a walk down to [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Wendy's amazing B&B I took the train to a little town called Sperlong. Wendy had called ahead of time to reserve a room for me at another B&B run by two guys (boyfriends). She had told them I would call them when I arrived at the station if they could then pick me up. Neither of them spoke English but fortunately when I mentioned the name "Wendy" they understood and arrived in 10 minutes or so after my call. They were sweet guys and the B&B was almost brand new. While not as big or grand as Wendy's place, [View Full Entry]

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Rome was a nice change of pace from the business center of Milano. Not only were there historic pieces of stone everywhere you looked, not to mention millions of swarming tourists of every dimension, but the main sites and points of interest were all within walking distance from my hostel or a short metro ride away. The first day I arrived off the train and called the place I wanted to stay at to discover that it was totally booked. The lady was able to give me another name and number of a place that she said was close by. It [View Full Entry]

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After leaving the hostel I made a call to a bed and breakfast situated just outside of the main city of Rome, about a 20 minute train ride from the main station. Wendy, was the owner of the B&B as well as a cooking connoisseur that gave courses on cooking and led special food tours throughout Rome and the surrounding countryside. Wendy was great, and even though the place was a bit of a splurge, it was totally worht it to not only be able to relax in my own room complete with bathroom and fresh linens that were already in [View Full Entry]

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My second day in Rome I toured the sites and even bought a ticket for one of those bus tours. Although it was priced at 18 euros, it allowed you to get on and off for the whole day at different points of interest and included free headphones for a tour in your language of choice. It helped me to get my bearings a bit and also helped in getting around to see more sites - much more efficient use of time when compared to getting lost in random streets. Although honestly I still managed to get lost several times over [View Full Entry]

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The second day in Milano I ventured out to do more sightseeing and shopping. I saw quite a few churches and even managed to get in some shopping among my walking around. I bought a cute dress and a new purse - both on sale! Unfortunately, several of the churches and museums I had set out to see were either closed for construction or booked for the next couple of weeks. The city is constantly renovating its historic monuments to keep them in prime condition and often this is done during the summer months (no rain) but is also when many [View Full Entry]

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