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Published: September 10th 2006
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Monte Cassino
As we drove down the highway toward Naples I saw this huge impressive building atop a mountain. In the back of my mind I recalled reading about the prolonged World War II battle for the monastery called Monte Cassino somewhere in Italy. I assumed it was up north near the Dolomites, but just then Jurgen took the mike and drew our attention to "Monte Cassino on our left". It did have a commanding presence in the area but I couldn't understand why this garrison held up the entire Allied advance through Italy. Another note to myself - read further about the Monte Cassino campaign. Another great night of sleep. This hotel may be out in the middle of nowhere but it's quiet, cool and spacious. I couldn't ask for more. except maybe a REAL breakfast. I didn't even bother walking across the dog turd minefield for Chinese breakfast. Instead I had my last Sam's Cola that I had brought from home and kept cold in my room's refrigerator and ate some trail mix.
As usual we got an early start. We were on the road by 8:00 am. We would be spending the night along the beautiful, rugged Amalfi Coast near Sorrento. I say "near Sorrento" because we ARE on an EF trip. In order to put together a super cheap price they often put us up on the outskirts of the primo attractions (or in the case of Rome, waaaaaay on the outskirts). This night we would not be in Sorrento where the jetsetters stay but in the town of Meta di Sorrento which is about 3 miles outside of the action.
Our bus ride to Meta was rather uneventful. We did make the usual bus driver rest stop where I was sorely tempted to buy some over-priced Parmesano Reggiano and salami.
Hanging onto the Amalfi Coast
The drive past Naples was uneventful. Just another big city. But once we passed Naples and got off the highway we joined Ss145 or Strada Panorama ("Scenic Street"). Just outside Naples the road begin to climb then cling to the side of the mountains. The views into Naples harbor were fantastic but unfortunately I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus. I was almost afraid to lean over to the scenic side. This was about as good a picture as I could take from the moving bus. Another area we need to return to someday when we're on our own. This was going to be our last night in Italy but I was counting on finding a food store once we got to Meta. Our hotel for the night would be the
Hotel Panorama Palace.
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