Sorrento September 13-15 2018
Thursday September 13 - We woke up at 4:30 am in order to catch a 6:25 train to Naples. We had to change trains in Florence to get to Naples. So far, so good. Once we got to Naples, the adventure began. We needed to get to the Molo Beverollo, which is the ferry dock.where we were to catch the ferry to Sorrento. We went to the tourist information in the train station and they told us to take the M1 subway to the Municipio stop, which was only 2 stops away. We waited on the platform for 30 minutes, and the longer we waited the more crowded the platform got. The train stopped and the rush was on. Jeri crowded into one car, and there seemed to be no room for Blaine, but he pushed our luggage on and was mostly on the train. Fortunately the door was able to close!! Thank goodness we only had 2 stops!!
We got off and headed to Molo Beverollo. Construction in the area made our journey more difficult. We had to ask more than once where the ferry station was. Once we arrived we bought the tickets, but no one could tell us which dock the boat was leaving from. Finally about 10 minutes before it was to leave, the announcement was made. The ride was about 40 minutes and Blaine decided to take a taxi to the hotel since we had been traveling most of the day and we were tired. Big mistake!! Should have done more reading in the Rick Steves book!! Our hotel, Villa Fiorita, is quite a distance up the hill, and we didn’t realize how far up it really was. The taxi ride was 55 euros. Ouch! The hotel does have a free shuttle that will take us back and forth to town and we will use it for the rest of the trip.
The hotel has a spectacular view, and it is really nice. Other than the initial taxi ride we are very pleased with the accommodations. After a bit of rest we took the FREE SHUTTLE back to town for dinner, and then back to the hotel for an early night.
Friday September 14 - Because of our long travel day yesterday, we were not able to make any arrangements for tours today. Blaine called Mondo Guide, a tour company recommended by Rick Steves. He was trying to make arrangements for a tour on Saturday or Sunday to Pompei, Positano and Amalfi. The person on the phone said they did not have any tours available for those days, but they did have openings for today. We had to meet the guide at 9:00am. It was 7:43am when we made the reservations. Our free shuttle leaves every hour on the :45 so we obviously could not make the 7:45 bus, but we could make the 8:45. After a quick breakfast we boarded the 8:45 bus. It takes 15 minutes to get to town, so we had told the Mondo representative that we would be about 10 minutes late because we had to walk to the meeting point after we got off the bus.
We made the meeting point and boarded the van with 2 other couples and our guide Vicenzo. As we were heading out, Blaine asked one of the other men, Bill, if we were going to hire a guide in Pompei. He said “Pompei? We’re not going to Pompei, We’re going to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello” Well, I guess 2 out of 3 destinations on our agenda was going to have to do!!
The 2 other couples on the bus are Jim and Susan, from Seattle, WA. and Bill and Lynda, from Warsaw, Indiana. We are all about the same age so we had great conversations about our travels, kids, grandkids, and just life experiences in general. We laughed a lot and it made the drive time seem shorter. The drive along the Amalfi coast is absolutely insane!! The views are incredible, but as you get closer to Positano the traffic comes to a crawl. Buses going in opposite directions come within inches of each other. Motor scooters zig zag in and out of traffic, which is fine when you are sitting still and barely moving, but when the traffic starts moving it gets pretty dicey. I really wish I could have done a video of the chaos, but I was sitting in the back of the van. Evan described the traffic here as the wild west, with traffic rules merely suggestions, often ignored suggestions! Overall we enjoyed the trip and enjoyed the company. Once we got back to Sorrento, we all decided to go to dinner together. Jim suggested Chantecler’s Trattoria. It is a small family run place and the food was really good. Blaine had an amberjack fish dish and Jeri had, eggplant.
Saturday September 15 - Today was the day to explore Sorrento. We started the day trying to find the train station because that is how we will leave on Monday. We initially arrived via ferry from Naples and had not been to the train station yet. It was a usual hot Mediterranean day. We discovered 2 routes to the train station (basically, we walked a circle in the hot sun!.) But we did discover the best way to take our rolling suitcases on Monday:-). We enjoyed the communal park near the harbor with its beautiful trees, plants & statutes. Instead of paying 1 Euro to use the toilet, we spent 16 Euro to use the free toilet while drinking our aperitif. Jeri actually tried a Lemoncello Spritz instead of the usual Aperol Spritz (while in Sorrento…..).
We then backtracked toward the train station to the Giardini di Cataldo (Lemon Grove Garden). After a few pics, we did some shopping for lemoncello products. The smells and tastes in Sorrento are amazing! We then headed to Marina Grande (quite a downward hike!), where Blaine enjoyed crab ravioli and finally met Sophia Loren. Not sure we could handle the hike back up, we caught the cramped city bus from Marina Grande back to city center to catch our bus, which is 15 minutes up Via Campo to the top for our hotel, Villa Fiorita. Blaine enjoyed the hot tub while Jeri took some beautiful pics from our hotel terrace.
