So I thought that I would give Allie a break and write this installment of the blog! I’ll do my best to capture as much detail as she does, and who knows, you might even hear from me again in the future.
We arrived in Sorrento after what felt like an eternity. As Allie has mentioned before, I like to arrive early for transportation, so I was able to convince Allie to arrive at the train station an hour before the train. Big mistake. The train ended up arriving 25 minutes late, so I am now resigned to run on her time schedule.
Our train is on the top right…The one with the +25…
In order to get to Sorrento, we had to first take a high-speed train from Rome to Naples, which was easy. It was a 1 hour straight shot on the high speed train, the seats were comfortable and we got to see quite a bit of the country side. Upon arrival in Naples, the scenery quickly changed. We jumped on the local commuter train for the last part of the trip, which, again, happened to be running late. We crammed into the train, taking notice of all the signs posted around us to watch out for pickpockets. Stuffed like sardines into the train, we stood for the 1 hour ride, as I think we joined every tourist in Naples heading towards Sorrento. From the train station we were able to walk to our Airbnb, just about 10 minutes down the road. We were taken aback by the contrast between Rome and now Sorrento. We went from a large metropolitan city to walking through the streets and alleys of a small port town with a population of about 20,000 people. The town sits cliffside, overlooking the ocean and is known for its lemons and limoncello; an alcoholic drink that you typically enjoy at the end of your meal.
Our Airbnb host, Michele, greeted us at our place, which was tucked behind a number of local restaurants and shops in a non-descript alley.
Here’s a look at our spacious Airbnb:
After unloading our stuff, and going for a quick run, we headed to the market to buy groceries. After a number of nights eating out, we wanted to take advantage of a couple home cooked meals since the Airbnb had a decent-sized kitchen. On our first night in Sorrento, we made a chicken curry dish that my sister had made for us during a camping trip. We ended the night watching a marathon of True Detective and passed out early as we were heading to check out the town of Positano the next day.
Allie hit the gym in the morning, while I took the opportunity to play some video games on my phone and do a bit of trip planning. She still finds a way to work out regardless of where we are! We bought food for breakfast and whipped up a quick meal before heading to the bus station. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical about our trip to Positano. The city is regarded as the most picturesque of the whole Amalfi Coast. I had seen pictures and thought that there was probably a lot of hype about the city, which was compounded by the line to wait for the bus. Through our research, we knew that we had to sit on the right side of the bus. In order to do so, we had to skip one bus, which put us at the front of the line for the next bus. Allie was all smiles, me not so much, as we crammed on to the bus and grabbed seats on the right side. The bus pulled out of the station and I quickly realized how wrong I was. There was a smile plastered on my face for the whole ride. It was incredible! Hairpin, 90-degree turns in a 50-person bus, along a sheer cliff, makes for quite the ride. It was like a rollercoaster! The picture below (on the left) is the view from the window of the bus… on the edge of the cliff. If you ever make the trip, this bus ride is a must.
I was once again amazed when we finally stopped and got off the bus. Positano really is a beautiful town. The town is small, and the marina is just a short walk down from where the bus dropped us off. The weather was nice, so we took the opportunity to jump in the water and pass out on the beach for a bit.
After our mid day “siesta”, we decided to explore the town a bit more. Down one of the quiet streets, Allie found a sandal shop. Unfortunately, Allie had broken her sandals a few days earlier in Rome. I found it extremely convenient that she “happened” to find a shop that made custom-fit sandals in Positano. She spent a bit of time talking with the owner, who fitted her and asked us to come back in 15 minutes, when he would have her sandals ready.
The shop owner working on Allie’s new sandals:
For the return trip to Sorrento, we decided to take a water taxi. The boat only took 35 minutes, compared to the 1 hour bus ride. The trip would also take us right by Capri, which we wanted to see since we did not have the time to visit it. The ride provided incredible views as we exited Positano and came back into Sorrento.
Allie had noticed that the hotel down the street from us advertised a rooftop terrace, so we decided to grab a drink there before heading out for dinner that night. The terrace provided an incredible view of the ocean and a pretty spectacular sunset. Nothing could compare to the sunsets in Santorini, but it was a nice way to end the day.
After my Old Fashioned and Allie’s overly-sweet vodka drink, we headed out for dinner. The dinner was one of the best authentic meals we have had in Italy, thus far. Ristorante Da Gigino is down a side street and was packed with locals and tourists. We ordered a 4-cheese pizza, pasta bolognese and two desserts. The pizza and pasta were excellent, but the desserts were underwhelming. Don’t worry, we made sure not to waste any food and finished both desserts. We finished the night walking through the open street markets.
Again, Allie woke up to work out. This time, she convinced me to join her on a 3 mile “jaunt” through the city. It was nice to see the city getting ready for the day. The burning sensation in my lungs and legs, not so much. After the run, we made our way back to the train station and headed over to Pompeii. After our colosseum tour in Rome, I was really excited about the tour in Pompeii. We booked a walking tour through Mondo Guides and our tour guide, Carmine, was awesome. He did a great job detailing the history of the city and bringing to life the ruins in front of us.
A bit of history for those that don’t know…The city of Pompeii was buried in 20 feet of ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The volcanic ash was propelled 18 miles into the air and over 4 billion tons of ash was produced. There was so much ash created that the coastline actually moved out 2KM, and apparently Pompeii used to be a port city. The only account of the eruption was captured by Pliny the Younger, who witnessed the event from the other side of the bay. Funny enough, Carmine had heard of the beer, Pliny the Younger, made by Russian River in California. It was surreal to walk through the sites and hear the stories I had read about in high school.
Sewage was discarded in the street, so elevated stepping stones were laid for people to walk over the river of sewage:
As we moved through the city, Carmine made sure to point out street names and interesting facts. As we crossed one of the streets, Carmine pointed to a picture near the top of a column. The picture showed two individuals carrying an item, which meant that the street was designated for merchants to carry products from the port to the city center. In Carmine’s words, “…this was the very first FedEx!”.
“Original” and modern day FedEx:
Mount Vesuvius looming in the background…:
After the tour, we made it to the train station with 2 minutes to spare before the train arrived. However, as usual, the train was late and didn’t show up for another 15 minutes. It seems that even the trains have adopted the casual lifestyle in Italy. Back in Sorrento we had lunch at a place called Fauno Bar, which despite looking like a tourist trap, provided a delicious and reasonably-priced meal. Afterwards, we took the opportunity to stop by Raki, a local gelateria, to grab the best gelato we had to date.
Most of Friday was spent indoors. A large thunderstorm had moved into the city and we were rained in for a good part of the day. It worked out great as we had the opportunity to finalize some travel plans. It also allowed us to mentally prepare for the marathon meal we would be having later that evening. Allie had made us reservations at Il Buco, a highly recommended, Michelin star restaurant in Sorrento. 8PM rolled around and we made our way to the restaurant. We were quickly seated inside and met our waiter for the evening, Ivan. We decided on the 8 course meal titled “I trust you”, where the chef creates dishes based on your likes and dislikes. To say the food was great is an understatement. The service was amazing and we had a blast. Ivan was an amazing waiter and even brought us a small pitcher of limoncello, on the house. We had such a good time, that almost 5 hours later, we closed down the restaurant.
Our awesome waiter Ivan!
On our walk home, we walked by a piano bar called Filou Club, and Allie convinced me we should “check it out”. After convincing the bouncer to let us in, we walked into one of the best bar/lounges of the whole trip. They played a mix of different songs and the whole place was up and dancing. It appeared that we were the only non-local people in the place. After a round of drinks, and a good amount of dancing, we decided to call it a night. An early day awaited us for our drive into Tuscan wine country!
Andrew + Allison Around the World 