Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast

---

I arrived in Sorrento, hot, sweaty, and a bit miffed that the "10 min. walk" to the hostel took more like 20 min. in the beating sun. Again I was told, "Today is the hottest day we've had this year!" Lucky me.

I was brought to my hostel room, which in reality was a hotel room with 5 beds in it. The hostel was more like a hotel or resort, with a lovely pool, a pool bar, a restaurant, air conditioning, and just overall nice accommodations. I dropped off my stuff and made my way to the pool bar where they were still serving lunch for another 15 min. or so. I ordered spaghetti, and it was okay. A little pricey for what you got. I decided to take it easy, so I went back to the room to put on my bathing suit, and I found myself in a room with 3 Armenian girls (living in Lebanon) and one in particular was very chatty. I was told for the third time this trip that I don't look my age (hooray!) and went out to the pool. Ahhh! So nice to be able to get into the cool water without fear of breaking into hives from ocean water!

After my swim, (the pool closed at 6pm!?!?), I changed back into regular clothes and walked into the town. The hostel/hotel is actually on the far east side of the town, so going to the older part took a good 20 min. walk. I found a supermarket, and decided to go there after walking around the old downtown area. There were lots of shops and restaurants, and a found a cart that sold banana & nutella crepes. That turned out to be my dinner. 😉

I made sure to stop back at the supermarket before it closed, and then was considering what to do for dinner. Nothing jumped out at me, so I headed back to the hostel. The three girls were there again, and the one chatty one, (let's call her Princess) took an hour and a half to get herself ready to go for a walk. O_O She told me the same story three times in that amount of time, and was starting to drive me nuts. I basically just hung out and decided what to do the next day.

The following morning, Princess woke up the room at 6am, even though she thought she was quiet. She clinked her spoon in her mug (of instant coffee), ran the water in the ensuite bathroom with the door open, flip-flopped her way around the room, and then at one point, spoke in normal voice levels to her sister about something or other. I got up at 7am to get moving because I wanted to catch the 8:30 bus to Amalfi. I got to the station about 8:32 and had just missed it. Oh well. I sat on board the bus for the 9:00 departure and got a window seat on the right side of the bus as I had heard that it was where the best views were. Unfortunately, half the bus ride was spent dozing off. 😞 The bus twisted and turned its way around the coast, honking to let people know it was approaching a curve, and waiting for cars to back up to let it past when it was too tight for it to make the turn. Scooters and motorcycles deaked in and out of tiny open spaces, honking as they passed. The view was great, and as it turned out, Amalfi was not. I got off the bus in Amalfi and found myself among a million tourists who meandered and stopped, walked out in front of you, and were generally a pain in the butt. I looked for a place to eat, sat down at one restaurant and was told there was no electricity to use to cook with. So much for that! The town was small, but I found a little shop that sold sandwiches. I bought one and sat down to eat it. Just then, I saw Princess and the other two girls! They had headed to Amalfi first because I had said I was doing it, and Princess tried to convince me for the third time that I should join them in Capri the following day. My plan was to see Positano the following day.

Anyway, I found a bus to Cetera, headed there, and took pictures on the beach. I found my way back to the SITA bus stop, only had to wait about 10-15 min. and jumped on. I took pictures all the way back, and headed back to Sorrento. The pool was calling to me. After my swim, I met the other girl who was in the room with us, a fellow Canadian. She's also a teacher, working in Toronto, and was really nice. Daniela and I decided to look for a bank machine, and then had some pasta for dinner. We discovered that we were both annoyed by Princess. (Big surprise!) We headed back to the hostel as she was going to meet some people for drinks, and I had planned to go down to the beach, but it was too dark for photos at that point. I went back to the room to enjoy the air conditioning and relax. Daniela and I made plans to go to Positano the next day, and she headed off.

The next morning arrived sooner than I wanted, with noise at 6am (and noise as I was trying to fall asleep the night before, even though I had made it clear I was going to sleep around 11:30pm). I got up around 7am, got ready to go, and Daniela woke briefly to tell me that she wasn't going to join me, she was too tired. I headed off again for the 8:30 bus, got there in time to catch it, and discovered it was so full that people were standing in the aisle. I decided to forego it and wait for the 9am bus. I got something to eat, and came back 10 minutes later to find a nearly empty bus waiting. Again, I got a window seat, and met a couple more Canadians on the bus. All the way to Positano (30-60 min. closer than Amalfi) the cameras were clicking. I would try to focus in on something, and it would get blocked by tree leaves. Oh well.

The Canadians got off in Positano, but I decided to keep going on to Praiano or to the Grotto della Smerelda that I had seen the day before. I got off in Praiano since I had seen "Smerelda" on a sign, thinking that was where the grotto was. Nope! I walked along the road, thinking that after each curve I would see the building with the elevator to the grotto. After 20 min. of walking, I decided to catch the next bus. I got off at the right stop this time, and went down the elevator to the grotto. It was a 10 min. boat ride around the small underground pond, and the English tour wasn't nearly as detailed as the Italian one, I'm sure. I'm still not sure if it was worth the 5 Euros!

I caught the bus back to Positano and descended down the hill to the town. It was very pricey! I kept looking for an inexpensive place to eat, and couldn't find anything I liked. I took some photos from the beach, got discouraged by the food situation, and headed back to Sorrento.

Once back in Sorrento, I got a sandwich and a Diet Coke (and of course a gelato!) and walked around the shops again, picking up souvenirs. I was back at the hotel around 4pm, took a swim, and then headed down to the beach finally, for photos. I had pizza at a recommended restaurant, and headed back to the room. The girls were there, as was Daniela (who had felt sick on the bus back from Positano) and there was lots of conversation. After a few hours of that, I decided to put on my headphones and hide out. Princess wouldn't shut up! She was trying to pack, but getting her sister to do it all for her, and they were loud! I was happy to be rid of them soon!

Next stop, Naples!

---