Blogs from Campania, Italy, Europe - page 99

We went to Pompeii today. It was awesome—we took a chartered bus there. The ride was not bad at all! Erin and I sat up front by Emilio. We jammed out to *NSYNC the whole way, and when I started doing the dance to “Bye, Bye, Bye” in my seat, Emilio jokingly looked over, patted my arm and said “Margherita! Stop that!”. All of my teachers call me Margherita which I take as a sign of endearment and think it’s really funny. It’s Italian for Margaret and for some reason a lot of teachers think I’d like to be called only Margaret since I tell them my name is Mary Margaret. Anyways, it’s amusing and I like it. We got off at the remains of Pompeii. We toured it and it was just incredible. The technique ... read more

Geo: 40.1638, 13.9513Crappy hostel breakfast. Very stale croissant. Caught the early train to Naples and left my bag at the hostel. Off to the ferry for Capri. Going to be an expensive day - getting to Capri is not cheap!!! Naples looked nicer today - the pollution had cleared up a little bit. The sky was kind of blue ... or more of a blue-tinged grey. Had a butterfly cookie at the ferry terminal. Nothing special. Not a nice ferry ride - too smoggy or foggy (I'm not sure what it was). Munched on nuts and cookies all day ... I was trying to lighten up my backpack a little bit by getting rid of some of the dead weight. The Blue Grotto - ultra-touristy and more Disney than transcendent! Still, it was very beautiful but ... read more

Geo: 40.2345, 14.9894I lost my Campania travelcard! I think I accidentally threw it out last night as I was cleaning out my pockets. It caused me to miss the first train to Sorrento as I was digging around looking for it. I took the train to Sorrento, and from there I took a bus to Positano. There was an idiotic UK lady sitting behind me - she kept talking to an Italian man though he kept telling her that he didn't understand English. I think she just liked the sound of her own voice. Apparently she went to the wrong town earlier because the bus never stopped at the bus station. That's hard to believe - more than likely she missed it herself. It's completely understandable ... I find bus travel to be a bit of ... read more

Ciao ciao, my darlings! You cannot know the intoxicating feeling of writing some stuff off the top of my head (infused, of course, with enthusiasm and bliss) and having you read it and share it with me. Everyone should have a blog! Back to Sant 'Angello... After checking in, Neal and Janelle and I decided to walk into Sorrento. We walked on back roads to avoid the major traffic, and saw beautiful views of the ocean (down down down high cliffs), charming neighbourhoods, people walking their dogs, hot sun on green trees, lemons, palms, flowering trees. We serendipitously happened upon the Lemon Garden - an oasis in the midst of town, behind walls, down a path... a lemon grove - hot, dry, but quiet, green, covered in fruit at every stage - green on the trees, ... read more

Geo: 40.1638, 14.9105Had another great sleep in. Am tempted to stay at the hostel all day and not move from the bean bag. But at midday, I decided I should get out there and see something. I walked uphill to the train station and caught the train to Sorrento and arrived 40 minutes later. Then waited for a bus to Amalfi. The bus drove along the coast- at a high speed. The roads were very winding and I could see the drop down to the water. We drove through Positano. The little towns along here are packed with tourists. Houses sit high on the hills, roads are narrow. An hour and a half later I arrived at Amalfi. By this stage my stomach wasn't feeling very well. I should have sat further up the front of ... read more