Amalfi and Naples

Early on the Tuesday after Easter, Josh and I took a train from Rome to Naples.  We bought business class tickets because they were the same price as economy.  Holy cow, I didn't want to leave those seats, they were sweet!  Remind me to travel business class again in the future...it was quiet, comfortable and we had tons of space.  Loved it.  It took a little over an hour for us to reach Naples.  We then had to catch another commuter train to Sorrento, on the Circumvesuviana line.  This was not as nice as our first train ride, it was basically like a subway/tube car but above ground.  This ride also took us about an hour...mostly because there we about 30 stops between Naples and Sorrento!  Once at Sorrento we had one more leg of our trip to complete before we made it to Amalfi.  This time, we grabbed a SITA bus and settled in for a hair-raising ride along the coast.

The SITA bus drivers have got to be the best drivers I've ever seen in action.  I thought that London bus drivers were amazing, but the SITA drivers have them beat in talent.  The drivers are contending with sheer cliff drop offs, blind and hairpin turns all while narrowly avoiding other drivers and pedestrians.  We had quite a few 'Whoa' moments on our ride!

The Amalfi Coast, between Sorrento and Amalfi.

One of the cities along the Amalfi coast...I think this is Positano.  

Two large SITA buses, expertly passing each other along the coastal highway.

Our hotel was down a narrow walkway in Amalfi.  We settled in our room and then headed out to walk around the town.  Amalfi is set into the cliffs above the sea, the streets are steep and there are steps everywhere!  

One of the main streets in Amalfi

Small town traffic jam :)

Amalfi

The Mediterranean coast of Amalfi

The following day, Josh and I decided to hike to Ravello, a city set higher up along the cliffs.  The paths up consisted mainly of stairs that meandered through the hills and brought us by the front doors and back yards of residents.  I was surprised at how many buildings were abandoned   But considering how difficult it would be to get supplies to some of these areas I can see why people have left for an easier life.  We did notice that everyone seemed to have a garden.  They used every available growing space for orchards or orange and lemon trees and  vegetables.  We even saw goats and chickens.  

Josh before the start of our hike.

Self portrait in Amalfi...not too shabby!

The starting point of our hike...Atrani

Abandoned buildings and terraced gardens. 

Heading up through some beautiful stonework.  

Our lunchtime pit stop...doesn't get much better than this!

I love this picture!  I laughed when we first saw this little dog...how did he get up there?
He obviously wanted a better view!

More terraced gardens...I'd love to have a view like that every day!

A view from the city of Ravello

Josh looking like a homeless bum in the center of Ravello...I actually got money out and tossed it at him!

Josh in Ravello

We found this nifty cave on the way back down.  

Isn't it just wonderful!  So glad that we got the chance to visit!

Josh and shopped and tasted Limoncello before heading back down to Amalfi.  The next day the weather was perfect for our planned hike of the "Sentiero degli Dei" or Path of the Gods.  We made a plan and headed out to catch our bus...only to find out we were on the wrong one and the next bus wouldn't be around for another 2 1/2 hours!  We didn't let that minor detail stop us though.  After a quick game plan change, we caught another bus and got as close as we could to where we needed to be.  It still took us another 1 1/2 of hiking to finally make it to the beginning of the trail!  It was not an easy ascent to Bomerano either...at one point we were pretty much rock climbing and fence jumping to get to the road we needed!  It was all worth it in the end, our hike along the Path of the Gods was amazing!

The beginning of our hike along the Path of the Gods

Being silly :)

The coastline all the way to Capri

Josh taking his Snickers break

Love this picture!  What a great hike!

The end of our hike in Nocelle, the city in the picture is Positano

After our hike we headed down the mountain by way of stairs.  1,500 to be exact!  No, I didn't count...I looked it up afterwards.  Out of the 12 hours of hiking we did between our two days in Amalfi, going down that many stairs in one go was the hardest on our bodies!  I felt it in my knees and calves for the next couple of days!  After our hike, Josh and I headed back to Amalfi by bus to pick up our bags from the hotel.  It was nearly 6pm before we caught another SITA bus to take us back to Sorrento.  From Sorrento we got the train to Naples.  We were tired and sore from our hike and were happy to make it to our hotel in Naples.  The next day we headed out to visit the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  They were amazing!  We had hoped to also travel to the top of Mount Vesuvius, but the volcano constantly had clouds around it and we didn't feel it was worth the trip up if we wouldn't be able to see anything once we got to the top!

Josh in the ruins at Pompeii

Pompeii

Enjoying the lovely weather!

Josh being a bum...again...but this time in the ancient streets of Pompeii!

Ruins of Pompeii

An amphitheater in Pompeii

Self portrait attempt in Pompeii

Beautiful ceiling work in Pompeii

Pompeii was huge!

A fresco that survived.  

A mosaic...I think this was in Herculaneum.  

An ancient kitchen.

Herculaneum.  

Herculaneum

Josh and I spent all day observing the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum   We were exhausted at the end of the day.  Thankfully, our hotel was a quiet, clean oasis in an otherwise not so nice city.  I had read online reviews of people over and over saying Naples was a dump.  I gave it the benefit of the doubt though and chose to stay there for our visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum and for the close proximity to the airport.  If I had to do it over again though, I would stay in Sorrento, it is about the same distance away from the ruin sites and it is about a million times nicer that Naples.  Naples was dirty...I thought London could be dirty, but holy cow, Naples was just gross.  It seemed as if no one cared or even made an effort to keep the area we were in a reasonable condition.  There were tiny pieces of glass everywhere, condoms (ick), trash, shoes, cigarettes, graffiti (which I don't mind in London because most of it is artistic, but in Naples it was sprayed everywhere...church walls, city parks, monuments...not artistic at all).  And the worst part...on our last day we had about two hours to kill before needing to leave for the airport so Josh and I decided to walk around. We headed towards the port and were walking along a busy road when we turned a corner and saw a guy bent over with his butt hanging out taking a dump on the sidewalk!  Gross, gross, gross!  At that point, Josh and I decided to retreat to the safety and comfort of our hotel lobby.  Hands down, the worst city I've ever been too...and I though Brussels was bad last year.  Brussels is an oasis compared to Naples!    

Despite the yuckiness of Naples, our week long trip to Italy was fantastic.  I hope you all enjoyed our pictures!

Rachel