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Published: October 17th 2006
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Sorrento at night
Sorrento in the foreground; Napoli in the background. Welcome to the travel day from hell - 14 Ottobre. It started out wonderfully in Cernobbio as we caught the 8:53 AM to Milano. Arriving in Milano on time, we had 1/2 hour to transfer to the Eurostar for Napoli. Again, a piece of cake. During the 7 hour ride in 1st class, we enjoyed the conversation of other Americans before they disembarked in Firenze or Roma. Even lunch in the dining car was OK, although expensive (€26 each): a farfalle pasta, and tacchino e funghi (turkey with mushrooms.) It's amazing how skillful the servers were, plating each dish at the table from a platter. Not a drop was spilled on the tablecloth. Remember, the train is moving at speeds in excess of 40 mph.
Aside: it's mushroom harvesting season, so the porcinis are plentiful and incredible.
We hit the Napoli stazione at the afternoon rush hour which probably made things worse for us. Noisy, dirty and crowded with rude people. We had to find the local treni (train) to buy a ticket for Sorrento. Signage wasn't traveller friendly. While winding our way (each with a backpack and roller luggage), Pat attracts this mooch who wants money from the
Miserable bathing
The clothing is just for photographic purposes! No porno allowed on the blog. Americano. Pat noticed the guy put away his wad of Euros before following us. When Pat refused, he turned and started walking away. The mooch came back and told Pat that he was a bad person, but that HE was a good person. We had a few choice words about him!
We finally found the biglietteria (ticket office) for the local Circumvesuvina (local train) and negotiated 2 one-ways (€3 each) to Sorrento in our broken Italian. Down the stairs (hauling the luggage) and waited with the rush hour travelers on a filthy subterrainian platform. Keep in mind we are constantly watching each other's backs and hanging on to our luggage.
We noticed as other trains came and left, people had about 10 seconds to get in before the doors closed. (N&P, just like the DC Metro.) We piled us and our luggage into the train (like New Yorkers into a subway) that will stop 30 times before Sorrento. We had to stand for about 3/4 the ride, guarding our luggage and backpacks. The cars must have been the cast-offs from the Trenitalia (the national trains) junkyard. More than once we thought it broke down and we'd be stranded
Miserable bathing2
Note how much space between Pat and the shower curtain. Oh yeah, we forgot -- there isn't any. in some squalid neighborhood. Fortunately, it always started again. We finally sat near a couple from Chicago who gave us some hints about the Amalfi. We also enjoyed listening to the conversation of 4 American youth trying to pick each other up.
We arrived in Sorrento about 6:30 PM (9.5 hours after leaving Cernobbio), exhausted and hungry. We learned from Cernobbio and Venezia that getting a taxi at this point would be a good idea. Proved very true in Sorrento as our hotel was 9 kilometers up the mountain. We found a friendly, helpful driver who was willing to wait (hmmm, wonder why?) while Pat got €s from an ATM. It was a dark ride going up a switchback road. The driver said we were staying in a beautiful place, but basically stuck up on this mountain unless we had a car. (Driving in Italy was not an option - we knew better!) €60 later, we were welcomed at the Grand Hotel Hermitage Villa Romita.
So, we were tired, hungry, needing a toilette, and thinking we would be stuck in BF Egypt for the next 6 days. Villa Romita was up a walkable hill (a porter brought the luggage.) We did a quick refresh, and headed back to the Hermitage for the last dinner seating. It didn't take long to realize this hotel caters to German tour groups. The atmosphere in the dining room was like a scene from Cabaret. It was a set menu (Italian 1st course, German second course). Diners were seated at long, numbered tables under filtered fluorescent lights. Although there were linen tablecloths, it seemed like a high school cafeteria. We were convinced our travel agent made a big mistake on this, the longest leg of our journey.
We thought the day was redeemed as we watched fireworks across the Napoli Bay.
Our suspicions seemed confirmed when we fell
onto bed. We've slept on softer rocks in the BWCA. And then there's the shower. It's 15" deep from the curtain to the wall and 24" wide. You have to turn the water off in order to shampoo or wash or shave because you can't get out of the spray. You are constantly peeling the curtain off some part of your anatomy. Che seccatura!
On a good note: we haven't used a credit card yet! All our purchases have been cash. The ATM fee with our bank is 1%!o(MISSING)f the transaction which makes it very attractive. Our Visa card is a 3%!t(MISSING)ransaction fee.
As you will see in the next journal, the new day will bring wonderful surprises that more than make up for 14 Ottobre.
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Td
Teresa Divine
I am sorry
Sorry to hear about all the problems but just stay postive and remember all the great moments you have..You cant expect 28 days to go off perfect but I am sure all the other moments made up for this day! Love you and miss you!