Naples (shitville) and Amalfi Coast.

We decided due to the reputation of the Naples traffic, and the road conditions on the Amalfi coast, to take the train from Rome to Naples, and on to Sorrento to visit the Amalfi Coast, Vesuvius and Pompei. This was pretty exciting for us as it’s like a little holiday inside our big holiday, we get to stay at a hotel in a big bed and enjoy a hotel breakfast... Brilliant! Although Andrew was still sick from what was obviously the bird flu, or swine flu, or some sort of variant that caused the most pain a man could ever endure, we continued with our plan and took the train from Rome on Sunday. On arrival in Naples, it became immediately obvious that this was going to be a one night stop. There are few words to describe the state of this city. Disgusting could be one, but not in the way a fart (sorry Mum Boyce) in an elevator is disgusting, you really need to use your imagination to conjure up an image of this city. Jamie started her description by saying it’s like Bangkok, in the middle of a rubbish tip. I’m fairly sure that any sort of government has abandoned this city long ago in the hope that Vesuvius will erupt and provide a nice clean slate to rebuild a more liveable city. We were lucky enough to pick up a hotel fairly close to the train station to ensure a swift getaway the next morning.

The following day we made our way to the Ercolano train station to get a bus most of the way up Vesuvius. Our “Bus” ended up being an 8 seater that proved to be more of a hot lap of Vesuvius, rather than a lift to the top. The driver had a picture of the Virgin Mary stapled to the ceiling of the car and was obviously faithful that divine intervention was going to stop us from sliding off the side of the cliff, or smashing head on into an oncoming bus as he was overtaking cars, campervans, trucks at regular intervals at what seemed to be surely one lane sections of this poorly guard railed road. Or maybe he was just sick of living in Naples and wanted to end it all? Either way, we made it to the top of the mountain to see the volcano, and then back down to relative safety. We also went in to Pompei itself to see the result of this monster of a mountain exploding in 79AD. If you’re not aware of this place, you must look into it, it’s fascinating.

From Pompei we went to Sorrento which is one of the very touristy towns along this part of the Italian coast, and for good reason. It’s a great little town with excellent local produce and a great start off point to get to the Amalfi Coast. We picked up an amazing little B&B that had only recently opened for business. It was built on top of a restaurant in the middle of town and only charged 85 Euro a night which was an absolute steal. To sleep on a real bed, with great pillows, and shower with no thongs on is a great feeling and something that we’ve experience only a couple of times in the last 4 months.

There was one day, a couple of years ago, that both of us consider to be our most memorable travel day. It was a day we spent on a hired boat in Kas, Turkey sailing the Agean. We were hoping to relive but a small portion of that day yesterday when we took a cruise around the Amalfi Coast to see Capri and Positano. Although it was a lovely day, and we got to swim near the white caves of Capri, it didn’t get close to “that day in Kas”. This must have had something to do with the fact that we shared this day with several hundred pasty white poms rather than a few very close family. It may also have something to do with the evil woman that tried to steal our bag while we were going for a swim at the beach.... Thats right, someone tried to rip us off! We put our bag down which had pretty much all of our valuables inside, and went for a swim. Andrew thought the woman next to us looked dodgy, so while in the water he watched the bag constantly and caught her pulling the bag towards her which was apparently her first move to riffling through it and stealing everything. As you could imagine, Andrew all of a sudden had the ability to walk on water as he steamrolled towards this evil bitch. Upon questioning, the woman replied that everything was fine, and I should go back out in the water and enjoy it. Refraining from making a massive scene, we picked up our stuff and got out of there. It is incredible how normal these thieves look, she was a middle aged, middle class looking Italian “tourist”. You can never tell.

A&J xoxo