Day 3

Sorrento – Upon arriving in Sorrento we once again stopped at a bar very near the dock for some lunch. The waiter was a comedian...and the food was good. I had a swordfish fillet and some french fries. We asked the guy if he had any ideas for a good place to stay for the night. He said the owner had a bed and breakfast and we should head up there. Next thing we knew...a car had arrived to pick us up and take us to the villa. This place was nice...privately gated with lots and lots of lemon trees in the yard. It was in a great location and only cost 80 euros. He gave us a key to the room and to the gate outside. Once we dropped everything off we headed into the city. Walked around quite a bit taking random pictures...but it was a bit rainy again. We took a little tour on a train shaped car and viewed a few churches. After walking around a while we found a really cool area...very narrow corridor between buildings that was full of shops. It was a great atmosphere. We picked a random place to eat...the food was of course amazing. I had some chicken, potatoes, and some dessert (like a chocolate moose). After that we did some more walking around...went back to the villa to get changed for dinner and such. We actually ended up going to this “American Bar” where there was a bunch of people from Conotiki were singing karaoke. It was quite funny! We talked with a few girls most of the night about travels and America. All in all a good night.

The next day we woke up to find two ladies waiting to make us breakfast. They had picked some oranges from the trees outside and made us fresh orange juice. There was an assortment of croissants and other pastries along with some cereal with fresh steamed milk. It was good! They let us keep all of our bags and such there...and even use the room as much as we wanted that day. That is something that I found to be very neat about Italy. Everyone is very willing to let you leave your baggage and such for as long as you want. We headed out and went to the shopping area. We had looked into possibly renting a boat...but the only one they had was 1000 euros...over my budget. We then were going to rent a scooter to possibly drive to the Almafi coast. A car came and got us to take us to the rental area. Something about the cards wouldn't work and we ended up not being able to rent the scooter. I was slightly relieved...because the way the roads work here is scary at times. There are really not directionals or lines on the road...everyone sort of just makes it work. We walked around some more and then took the metro to Pompei.   

Day 2

Capri – We left upon awaking to go to Capri. We went to the subway and then to the train station again. We ended up on the first class train...without really knowing it. We eventually figured out that this is probably not the place that we should have been. When the ticket man came we just handed him our tickets and acted really distracted looking out the window. Phil took out his passport to further look ignorant...he just punched our tickets and handed them back to us. A very nice ride. We had two nice guys sitting next to us that helped us figure out what to do once we arrived in the city. They were students studying law...spoke decent English.

Once we were off the train we had to find the bus station and purchase tickets. We then had to find the bus that we were supposed to be on. Harder than it sounds! This part of town was really rough...traffic was heavy and there were buses everywhere. There was a lot of graffiti everywhere and was just a slum type of area. You can see this from one of the pictures I took. We asked a dude selling umbrellas...he turned out to be helpful . He seemed very interested that we were from US. An old Italian helped us from that point and made sure that we got off at the right place. We then had to find the boat ticketing...asked a bunch of people that really didn't seem to interested in helping us. They sort of just pointed to a general direction and said that way. Not a good feeling to just be walking without really knowing what you are looking for or how far away it is.

We did eventually find the ticketing station. We got in line with a bunch of other people...upon reaching the window I told the guy I wanted a ticket to Capri. He said/yelled something in Italian and gestured for me to move. I just sort of stood there for a minute trying to figure out what he was saying...a helpful Swedish lady behind us told us what he was saying. Evidently he was trying to sell tickets to the boat that was about to leave before the other one. The seas were very rough once we finally got on the boat. It had rows and rows of seats above a large area where people drove their cars in to get them to Capri. Phil got pretty sick...I, thankfully, was alright. The approach to Capri was beautiful. I went to the back of the boat to look out...stormy day.

When we arrived to Capri we pretty much went straight from the docks to a small snack bar that was by the landing. We had some coke there while Phil was recovering from his sea sickness. The boat ride over was rough because of the storms. The man on Capri later called it “Red Sea” describing how bad the water was. We asked the lady there at the bar what a good place would be to stay for the night. One of her recommendations was The Bianca Gatto. The hotel was immaculate. The floors were all tile and everything was very clean. The balcony opened up to a stunning view of Capri...the mountainsides and cottages. We walked around at night...the city was deserted. After walking around a bit we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep.

The next day we went out into Capri. Thankfully the weather had cleared up that morning...it had been rainy the night before. The sun came out long enough to get some great pictures and do a bit of hiking. We went all the way down to the coast via a very long stairway. It was rough on my legs but it was well worth it. After that we just walked around some of the stores, all very high end. We sat at a bar and had a coke and gelati...which cost us 40 euros. CRAZY. Shortly after that we left the island en route to Sorrento. The boat ride was much faster and smoother thankfully this time.

Day 1

Rome - I left Atlanta on time on Saturday afternoon. Jared took me to the Marta station. This was the first time I have packed a large backpack with enough cloths for a week. It weighs a ton...but in general we only have to carry the packs until we reach the city we are going to be spending the day in. Once I get there and we locate a hotel we just keep the bags there. The stop in Germany was interesting...I was pretty calm and handled it well I think. The landscape is really neat...they have lots of windmills scattered all around the countryside.

Hotels have a lot of little quarks to them. The faucets are labeled differently, there is a new type of toilet for women, doors locks are very strange...usually theres some sort of button you push to enter instead of turning the knob. The beds are firm...but OK. The toilets are pretty bad...they do not have nearly the flushing strength that they do in the US. Toilet paper is very thin and rough. I am glad that I brought the wipes!

Once I arrived in Rome I had no problem locating Phil. He was waiting right outside of baggage. My baggage took a little while to come...but I was thankful that it came at all! Scary to think it could have gotten lost. Right after I arrived we hopped on the subway to the main train station. We then took a train to the Spanish Steps area and went to the hotel. After getting settled ended up just wandering around Rome. The ruins are very interesting to see. I am looking forward to possibly being able to get down there and walk around.  

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