Our Italian Honeymoon - Part 5: Sorrento / Rome

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Day 12...beers and Capri

We arrived in Sorrento on an overnight train from Venice. The train was a little rough, and sleep was minimal, however the moneys sove from the night's accomodations proved great for some nice "made in Sorrento" in-laid wood souvenirs.

The train from Naples was a little dis-heartening, with young children begging for change while their parents looked on, and constant warnings of pick-pockets. Susan was feeling a little uneasy, and I admit so was I. However, upon arriving in Sorrento she quickly understood why I insisted we add this location to our Italian Honeymoon.

After checking into our hotel room (Hotel del Corso - just off the main square) and getting cleaned up we walked down to the marina (Piccola) and enjoyed a couple of cold beers while taking in the wonderful views of the city on the cliff.

On the whim, we decided to get the ferry out to Capri, which was the destination on our list that we decided to scratch due to lack of time. We made it out there at around 3:00, which left us a little over 3 hours to explore before getting the last ferry back to Sorrento.

The island was absolutely beautiful. We walked up to the town centre and looked for a place for lunch, with not much luck. As we found with alot of places in Italy, restaurants close between 3 and 6 to prepare for dinner. We managed to grab a couple of calzones from a shop...which Susan wasted all over her new shirt (she wasn't happy about that!). In typical touristy place fashion, she then had to pay to use the public washroom to clean of her top.Then we headed further over to catch a glimpse of the Faraglioni and a stroll in a nice little park (garden of Augustis I believe?) near the "cool winding path down to the water..." (pretty sure that's not what it's called!!)

We just strolled around the town centre for a while and enjoyed the views. We then got a ride back to the marina on the Funicular (pretty cool), with 15 minutes to spare! We do wish we could have had a full day to appreciate the beauty of Capri (with probabily a trip around the islands and to the grotto), but are very glad we made it there if only for a little while.

Back in Sorrento we walked the streets for some time, doing some window shopping and buying some gifts, and had a nice dinner in yet another place I can't remember the name of!

Day 13...Lords of the Wedding Rings!

Our second day in Sorrento (or should I say from Sorrento) was one Susan had been looking forward to most of all...Pompei and Vesuvius. Susan, being a History major, always wanted to visit pompei; and myself after seeing Pink Floyd's famous "Live at Pompei" video, was really wanting to see the Pompei Amphitheatre.

We made it out there around 10:30, rented some audio guides (not great...should have pitched the extra money for the tour) and spent 4 hours walking through the ruins. The highlights for us were the baths (which contained the plaster casts of a couple of Vesuvius' victims), and the theatres...and of course the Amphitheatre. Much of the ruins are the same, and after 4 hours we decided to split to hit our next major destination...the volcano.

We found a kiosk at the Pompei Scavi train station where we bought tickets for a guided vesuvius trip on a tour bus. The trip lasted a little over 3 hours, which accounted for the 40 min trip there, around 20 minutes hike to the top and back, and around an hour at the crator to explore. It was really cool on top of Mount Doom...I mean Vesuvius, with smoke and steam still bellowing out from the deep crator. In fact, they say that if it is not smoking, then you could be in trouble!

We tasted and bought some wine on top...not sure the italian name, however it translates to "The Tears of Christ". The grapes are grown on the slopes of the volcano. The bottle we bought was from the 2nd of 3 souvenir shops located on the lip of the crator, and was stamped with a Vesuvius stamp...pretty cool I think. And the wine was good if I ever drink it. Who knows, it could be worth something someday if the mountain decided to blow it's top again. On that note, it is said it's not a matter of if, but rather when.

After alot of pics and some Lord of the Rings jokes, we headed back down and back to Sorrento. We had the best home-made pasta ever (surprise...don't remember the name of the place, but I think it was something like Holiday In Sorrento - Not the Holiday Inn). We walked the streets a little (shops in Sorrento stay open till 10) and ended up in Villa Comunale...a great place for a view. Seemed to be the local make-out spot!

Another day gone in Sorrento...getting sad by this time as only 1 day here left, and then one in Rome before the flight home.

Day 14...Amalfi Drive...Arrived alive!

On our last day based in Sorrento, we headed down the Amalfi coast in search of great views, cool towns and some hiking.

The open-top sight-seeing bus from Sorrento to Positano was the perfect choice for the first part of our journey. The drive offered great views of the coast, and was accompanied with headphones with some short history lessons and relaxing music. Just as we got off the bus (luckily for us) on top of positano, it began to rain. We purchased an umbrella and got the shuttle bus down to the bottom of town.

We had lunch at a great little Trattoria, browsed around a little, and headed for the beach to view the town. Never stayed in Positano long, as our main destination was Ravello. The stop here was great though, as I ate the very best spagetti of my life, and susan had some delicious Risotto. Guess what...I don't remember the name of this place either!!!, but the ceilings were all painted with landscapes and people.

We decided to catch the ferry to Amalfi after some snapshots of this really cool town. The boat ride to Amalfi was nice. Once there we grabbed a cappuccino and got the local bus up the hill to Ravello. I had read online that there are some nice hikes from Ravello down to Amalfi, so this was our plan.

In Ravello (after waiting in Amalfi for the bus for almost an hour) we hung out in the square for a bit, and bought some nice olive oil and vinigar bottles in typical hand-painted Ravello style. Then we set out for the hike...which was a little dissapointing. Maybe we never took the right way? We went in search of the tourist office, which I had read through my planning contained free maps of the different hikes. For some reason the office was closed. When asked directions, we were told to simply walk down the steps and follow the signs.The walk down was just steps, and roadways. I was kind of expecting some small paths or fields...but just steps! and more steps! Ocasionally these steps would lead out onto the road which we would have to travel on (absolutely no sidewalks, and if you know how Italian's drive...!!!). It was nice though just the same, and would have been nicer had the rain held up.

Back in Amalfi we caught the more affordable means of transportation back to Sorrento...the SITA bus. The bus ride was great...constant horn barmping to warn oncoming vehicles (the road...which is cut into a cliff...is very narrow and the vehicles are fast). Probabily my favourite part of the day was the drive out and back...but maybbe not for the faint of heart.

Back in Sorrento we enjoyed our last meal there...the best Lasaugna ever! I actually remember the name of this place. In Tasso square, Pizzaria Aurora. A short walk around then back to the hotel to pack our things.

Ciao Sorrento!

Day 15, Last day...Back to Rome

We found a way to bypass the unnerving Circumvesuviana train to Naples for our return trip to Rome...a 6:00 am direct bus. The 4 to 5 hour bus trip gave us plenty of time to catch a nap and catch up on our journal writing. Unfortunately for us the bus dropped us off at one of the lesser-known stations in Rome, not Termini. Turned out that day there was a taxi strike, which meant we had to ride the subway to Piazza del Popolo, near where we believed our hotel was located. This proved to be very difficult with our luggage, not helping that we had recently purchased another roller to tote around the various souvenirs we had picked up along the way!

After about 1/2 an hour and a train transfer we arrived at the Piazza. The heat was unbearable, and the luggage was becoming a royal pain in the ass. It was a real shame that we weren't free to explore the Piazza. Originally we had planned to check out some of the churches there, as apparently one of them holds some great paintings by Caravaggio. Oh well, not in this heat, with these bags, and these stinky clothes!

It turned out that we would have been much better off to get off the subway at the Spanish steps, as when after 15-20 minutes hike we found our hotel only about 5 minutes from the top. Hotel Forte! Too early to check in and get cleaned up, we dropped our bags, enjoyed a much needed complimentary glass of punch, and splashed some water over some of our body parts in the lobby washroom!

Our main destination this day was one we had missed on our original stay in Rome due to improper attire. The Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception…otherwise known as the “bone church” is located in Piazza Barberini. The church is known for its tomb, which contains the bones and remains of the Capuchin Monks. Susan had stumbled across it on the Internet and placed it right on top of the things she wanted to see during our trip.

Very unfortunate that when we arrived we found that it had been closed the day before for the annual cleaning, and would not be re-opened for a week! Oh well! We were in the neighborhood to see something that I had placed high on my list of things to see in Rome…the Old City Walls. We walked up Via V. Veneto towards Via del Corso, where I had read was a good place to see them. They were pretty cool…really gave yet another idea of how great of a power Roma was in it’s heyday. On route we came across the Hard Rock Café, at which we had to stop! As great as the Italian food was (well, most of it!) this great big cheeseburger really hit the spot! And we got to eat it right under one of Hendrix’s crazy outfits…pretty cool!

Now able to check into our hotel, we headed back for a rest and to get cleaned up for the evening. We headed out in the afternoon without a plan. First we decided to head in the general direction on Piazza Navona with the possibility of buying a painting. Two weeks earlier here we had seen many nice works by local artists but decided to wait to maybe buy something on our return. We decided against it. After buying two small watercolors at the top of the Spanish Steps, and seeing the EXACT paintings in the Piazza, we learned from one local that alot of the pictures were actually prints...pretty dissapointing. Oh well, they are still very nice prints, though some of them are well over-priced.

After leaving Piazza Navona we headed across the river to wander around...thought about going into Castle San Angelo but were convinced by one leaving that it was a waste of money. In hindsight, would have liked to see it anyway. We window and market shopped and enjoyed listening to a man playing saxaphone near the castle. On route to the river we passed an Irish Pub located just behind Piazza Navona called the Abbey Theatre...so, with nothing else planned to do, we decided to get drunk! And DRUNK we got!

We had a great time drinking guinness with the crowd in the Abbey. There was an American ball player, an older Irish couple and a great couple of English bartenders...all of whom were buying us beer on the occasion of our marriage! After some time, our stomachs began to rumble, as we realized we hadn't had any supper yet and it was getting a little late. The girl behind the bar recommended we go right across the street to what is hailed to be one of if not THE best pizza places in Rome...Pizzaria Da Baffetto.

We left the Abbey without leaving a tip..something to this day that I feel terrible for still! We were actually totally broke...but planned on returning and downing a few more guinness with the gang. Unfortunately we never did. We got a table after a "short" wait...around 30 minutes....however once inside we had to wait for about one and a half hours until our pizzas arrived at our table. The atmosphere in the pizzaria was unlike anywhere I've ever been (except maybe a little like the place in Florence)...very loud, very busy, and a little crazy...good fun...though I was a little irritated because I really just wanted to get back to the bar and have some more Guinness!

By the time we left the pizzaria we decided our new found friends were probabily gone from the bar, so we left to walk back to the hotel. Rome at night was beautiful. We stopped at the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, drinking a couple beers along the way (love Italy!). Probabily one of the most memorable nights spent in Italy.

The next morning we had the hotel call us a car to the airport. One last experience of crazy Italian-style driving. The drivers spedometer stayed between 160 and 180 for the entire trip...cutting off, weaving in, cursing other drivers, all the while seeming to keep his cool (if that makes sence!). I was glad to see the airport in one piece!

Before long we were air-born...on-route to Toronto, and then home to Newfoundland. It had been a great 15 nights, and a great way to kick off our married lives together!

Arrivederci Roma...Arriverderci Italy!
...for now! (We did thow our coins in the Trevi again before we left!)

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Photos

Entering Pompei
On the way through the main gate of the ancient city of Pompei

Pompei Ampitheatre
Apparently the best preserved Roman Amplitheatre in the world...pretty close to the Coleseum as the coolest too!

Climbin' Into Mordor!
On top of Mount Vesuvius!

Positano!
Probabily one of the coolest looking towns in the world

Ravello Pottery Shop
One of many pottery shops. We bought a oil and vinagar set!

No Bones!
Oh well! Now we have a reason to come back to Rome!

More Coins for Trevi!
This place was beautiful at night

Crazy Old Building in Hole!
This really odd looking place is located just off Piazza Tasso in Sorrento

Pompei Resident
One of the plaster casts of an unlucky resident of Pompei. The detail was outrageous...you could pick out the detail in his sandals!