Blogs from Amalfi, Campania, Italy, Europe - page 6

Whatever the glitch was it has been taken care of...so now back to the regular programming...er posting :-) 11th day - Tuesday We drove to the Amalfi Coast to take a look around. The weather was dreary, again, and I think it is hard to appreciate the Amalfi Coast when the sun is missing. Nonetheless, we drove into Maiori and stopped to have a looksee and then we ate a swell lunch before driving off again. We drove up to Ravello, looked around a bit and then headed back down the mountain and drove to Amalfi. We wandered around a bit in Amalfi. There were quite a few student groups around and we surmised that the European kids were also on spring break. It started raining again so we decided to cut the visit short and ... read more

We had a lot to do in the five days we had an apartment in Massa Lubrense on the south coast of the Peninsula of Sorrento. This was to be our base to visit Mount Vesuvius and the ruins, the Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri. The area has a number of villages connected by twisting narrow roads switching back and forth negotiating the steep slopes. Terraced fields held olive, orange and lemon trees as well as many gardens planted in the black earth. Our first venture was the famous Amalfi coast - a series of little villages clinging to sides of very steep rocky mountains plunging to the sea. We had done so much reading ahead of the place it was almost like we had already been there. The road to Positano was stupefying ... read more

Thursday 28thAugust Rome - Napoli - Amalfi Coast Early Thursday morning we were all up and ready to go at 7.00am - one problem we couldn’t pick up the car till 8.00am. So we all rechecked under our beds, in the bathroom, in our bags to make sure the checking we done 15 minutes earlier hadn’t miraculously changed!! Finally Kurt, my Dad and Joshua left to collect our car. My Mum, Katelyn and I were responsible for taking the suitcases and everything else!!!downstairs via a tiny elevator that we were soooooo grateful to have. Our luggage had amazingly expanded to a total of 15 pieces of luggage (including pack bags and plastic bags with stuff we couldn’t get back into the suitcases) and NOT including 4 boxes of food stuff!!!! We were laughing hysterically as we ... read more

Visiting the Amalfi Coast was the best way that we could have spent our official weekend in Italy. Once again we planned the trip through a company called Bus 2 Alps. When booking a trip through the company, all of the arrangements are made for you which takes care of a lot of hassle. They only thing that you have to do is go to the train station at the designated time to meet the bus. On Thursday afternoon, we all packed our bags and then at 7 p.m. headed for the train station. Our tour guide for the trip was named Simon. He’s the owner of the company and from Australia. He reminded me of one of those people who never grow up; he’s 37 years old and travels almost every weekend with college students ... read more

We arrived in downtown Praiano at the Hotel Margherita yesterday. Internet access has been difficult. TUSCANY Wow, what a place! So many hills, windy roads and beautiful litttle villages. The Chianti area we were in was Radda, the very heart of the Tuscan hills. From our base at Villa Visterinni, we went to places like San Gimiano, Volterra, Pisa, Siena and Florence. Each day, a diferent direction. The architecture and the sheer history is amazing. All places were probably better than expected. Weather wasn't too bad. The windy roads were a good teacher of RHS driving. I know where the Italian Grand Prix drivers practice lol. TIVOLI We drove from Toscana about 300k south and arrived in Tivoli, just outside of Rome and stayed the night there. Tivoli was where the Roman Patricians went to escape ... read more