June 21 trip to Sorrento (through Naples)
Thursday morning we headed out to Sorrento, via a train ride to Naples, and then a ferry across the bay. We got on the train and suddenly had problems -- other people had our seats. Turns out that the tickets were for Wednesday and not Thursday, so we got off the train and talked to one of the conductors. She said we were fine, just find open seats once the train started. So we headed into the bar car, and stood there for a while. Then we found the tables and grabbed an open table and rode all the way to Naples there (only one stop in Rome). The conductors smiled at us each time they passed, and I'm pretty sure I know what they were thinking.
The train station in Naples is a crazy place, but then Naples is just crazy, too. Florence is a pretty busy place, and Rome is even busier, but neither are anywhere close to Naples. Cab drivers try to get you to come with them as you come off the train, and there are other people selling all kinds of stuff.
Since we had the wrong day for the first ticket, we also had the wrong day for the return, so we went to change them to Friday. Got to the window and were told no -- train strike on Friday, no trains. Uh oh. We decided to get tickets for Saturday morning and then try to find a place to stay Friday night.
Went out to the taxi stand and got a taxi to the port where we were going to catch the ferry. The cab driver started talking (yelling really) about the "tariff" being 15 euro and not on the meter. Seemed odd, but 15 euro was better than walking so we said okay. Who knows where the money went. So we speed out of the train station, and then suddenly we're driving on the wrong side of the road, passing cars on the left and the right, weaving to avoid the big piles of garbage everywhere (there had been a long trash strike in Naples and they were still recovering -- I can't imagine how bad it was before they started cleaning). Then we come to a traffic light and the driver points to some buses and tells us to get out and walk over there. We could see some ships, so we got out an hoped for the best.
Tickets for the ferry were pretty easy, and we didn't have to wait long (we just had to stand where the fumes from the ferry were pretty thick). The ride over was very nice, although the haze was very thick because it was so hot. Lots of views of Mt Vesuvius.
The Marina Piccolo in Sorrento is where we arrived, and our hotel, Faro, was right at the level of the port. The rest of Sorrento is at the top of the cliffs, probably 10-15 stories up. We decided to have lunch right at the docks (pretty good) and then checked into our hotel (very nice). The hotel has a restaurant attached and it looked good so we knew if we didn't see anyplace else, we would get a good dinner. Lots of seafood, too.
After dropping our bags, we hiked up to the town, and then got a tour "trolley" and rode around town, and then up to an overlook above the town. The tour operators have a little store up there where you can buy limoncello and other "local" products, and we enjoyed the views (still hazy, though).
After the tour, it was time for gelato and some shopping. People in the shops seemed a lot more aggressive here about wanting you to buy things, but we resisted most of them. We went to the park at the edge of the cliff and enjoyed the views from there for a while, and then went down the cliff along a walkway carved into the side (and into some caves) and arrived at the beaches. Beach is being generous -- there wasn't much and it was rather dirty sand.
We walked back down towards our hotel, and put our feet in the sea for a while. Then a little nap before dinner. We went out to the park at the edge of the sea and watched the sun go down (and a dad and son fishing) and decided that walking up for dinner was not going to happen. So dinner at the hotel restaurant.
They were great, very friendly and made sure we ordered the right thing. I got a mixed fish grill, and it was great, but not something Alli was happy about -- most of my food had faces. The waiter filleted the fish and I cracked open the other things. It was very good.
Here are the pictures from the day.
The next morning, the plan was to take a train to Ercolana, to see the ruins of Herculaneum, another town destroyed with Pompeii. It was supposed to be smaller and less crowded than Pompeii, but just as nice. I'll post pictures and the rest of the story later.
