The day after I finished mid-term exams I headed off to the Cinque Terre with 5 German friends from Bocconi: Nina and Anne (from my language class), Nina's housemate Hannah, and two other friends, Christine and Eva. The Cinque Terre are 5 very small villages, set along the beautiful coastline south of Genoa. 'Cinque Terre' means 5 lands. The area's a relatively famous part of Italy for its beautiful scenery; the villages are also classically Italian, and there is a walking path from one end to the other which a lot of people from all over Europe do.
My housemate Cristina and her brother dropped me at the station at quarter to 7 in the morning as they were going to meet their parents there - che fortuna! The seemingly interminable train ride (4 hours - we could have done it in two but it's always cheaper to take the slower trains in Italy) took us to Monterosso, the closest of the Cinque Terre to Genova. The first part of the walk, from Monterosso to Vernazza, is definitely the hardest, and involved a lot of clambouring over rocks and heaps of steps. The path is fairly well maintained but gets very narrow at times - we were all surprised (but I think this is quite common in Italy) that there is no railing, fences or anything to stop you falling if you happened to fall off the path! Quite often there was nothing but a 6-foot drop down into grape vines below. It's nice to be free of public liability paranoia - Italy (probably more through laziness than decision) is very sane with things like that.
Stopped for lunch in Vernazza, a town with a beautiful harbour, and we climbed up to the ruins of the castle at the top of the town, looking right over the water, for some great views. The next leg, to Corniglia, wasn't quite as tough but still involved plenty of steps (and the Germans set a cracking pace!). Most of the walking is through or around the vineyards, which have been cut as layers, each about 5 feet high, into the hills.
We got to the town in the middle, Corniglia, by about 6pm, and mindful of having to be in La Spezia (a town further down the coast than the Cinque Terre), to check into our hotel by 8pm we decided to leave it there and get a train to La Spezia. Wandering around La Spezia that night, we had no idea where to go to get dinner, so Nina decided to ask some policemen we came across - I think they were quite flattered, not only did they chat with us for a bit but they rang ahead to a restaurant to make sure there would be room for the 6 of us! (Even though they hadn't heard us speak English they automatically assumed we were Americans - a very common thing for Italians to do (even though there were heaps of French and German tourists doing the Cinque Terre). I found it quite funny because if I hadn't been there the whole group would be German - not even speaking English!) That turned out to be a very good choice, the food was great and we shared a nutella pizza for desert! (not as bad as it sounds - actually really nice!). We were all pretty tired after an early start and lots of exercise!
We started off our second day with a wander around La Spezia, taking in the harbour, and then headed to Riomaggiore, the closest of the Cinque Terre to La Spezia. April 25th is also a public holiday for the Italians - Liberation Day (from the fascists) - and we heard on the morning radio a mention it also being "l'ANZAC day" in Australia and New Zealand! The whole area was packed with tourists. The walk goes past lots of paths leading down the to the rocks by the sea (actual beaches are virtually non-existent, the whole area is lots of cliffs!). There were lots of people sunbaking and having picnics, it would be a great place to spend a sunny day!
The walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is Via dell'Amore, famous for having lots of names of couples and love messages scratched into the wall, the rocks or even the cacti. When Italian couples get married it is a tradition to write the names of the husband and wife on a padlock and chain it somewhere (e.g. to a bridge). There are hundreds of padlocks along Via dell'Amore.
Manarola was packed with tourists so we paused for gelati and then headed off again on the last part of the walk. Ended up at Corniglia train station again, where we ended the day before, and with an hour to spare we decided to climb the 382 steps up to the town for a snack and coffee!
We all really enjoyed wandering through the little towns in the Cinque Terre. Common local produce (much like Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast) was lemon stuff (particularly Limoncello, a typical Italian after-dinner drink), crockery and cooking products (always with lots of decoration and ceramic work). We came across a shop in Corniglia selling all that as well as beer and wine variously named after Che, Marx, Lenin and various other left-wing figures, as well as Mussolini and Hitler and others on the right! I found it pretty funny but the Germans couldn't believe it - apparently you could never sell anything like that in Germany. They were a bit offended, I think, and even though they all liked the stuff in the rest of the shop they all agreed they would never buy anything there. Typical I think of the kind of German 'residual guilt'.
The Germans headed back to Milan that evening and I left them in Genova and headed to the HI hostel there, up in the hills looking over the port.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Rome
The week following Easter was 'Culture Week', during which all museums and cultural exhibits in Italy were free! If only we'd know earlier we would have planned a lot more for that week and not paid 10 euros to get into Pompeii!
I left Salerno and the Amalfi Coast for a few days in Rome, where the weather suddenly became beautiful and sunny - I wished we'd had weather like that in Pompeii and on the Amalfi Coast! The hostel I stayed at in Rome (M&J hostel) sucked, don't ever stay there.
After exploring St Peter's Basilica (including climbing all 551 steps to the top) I took in the Pantheon and the Castel San Angelo near the river. I wanted to go to the National Pasta Museum but it was closed for renovations! :(
The morning of my last day away was the beginning of daylight savings, so even though I left fairly early I didn't get to the Vatican Museums until much later than I would have liked. On that day entrance was free, so I had to wait in an enormous queue outside for an hour and a half. It was definitely worth seeing though, amazingly decorated buildings. Also enjoyed wandering around some of Rome's piazzas (I couldn't count the number of Obelisks there are in Rome) and seeing more of the Roman ruins in the area around the Colosseum. Got an overnight train back, again in a packed compartment full of chatty Italians on which I could barely sleep, even when everyone was quiet!
I left Salerno and the Amalfi Coast for a few days in Rome, where the weather suddenly became beautiful and sunny - I wished we'd had weather like that in Pompeii and on the Amalfi Coast! The hostel I stayed at in Rome (M&J hostel) sucked, don't ever stay there.
After exploring St Peter's Basilica (including climbing all 551 steps to the top) I took in the Pantheon and the Castel San Angelo near the river. I wanted to go to the National Pasta Museum but it was closed for renovations! :(
The morning of my last day away was the beginning of daylight savings, so even though I left fairly early I didn't get to the Vatican Museums until much later than I would have liked. On that day entrance was free, so I had to wait in an enormous queue outside for an hour and a half. It was definitely worth seeing though, amazingly decorated buildings. Also enjoyed wandering around some of Rome's piazzas (I couldn't count the number of Obelisks there are in Rome) and seeing more of the Roman ruins in the area around the Colosseum. Got an overnight train back, again in a packed compartment full of chatty Italians on which I could barely sleep, even when everyone was quiet!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Salerno and the Amalfi Coast
From Naples, we got ourselves up very early to get the train to Salerno, where we planned to base ourselves for a few days of exploring the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately, as soon as we got on the train Jess realised that she'd left her iPod at the hostel and ran back (literally, jogged for 20 minutes there and back through Naples!) to get it. Olivia and I got off the train, but it was still at the platform when Jess got back more than an hour later - it never left. We enjoyed the sunshine for a while sitting on the platform, and left two and a half hours later than we'd originally planned on the next train to leave - by the time we got to Salerno the rain had well and truly set in for the day, and we still had to spend about half an hour wandering around trying to find the hostel in the rain!
The HI Hostel in Salerno is a former convent and a decent place. I looked around in Salerno for a bit in the afternoon - the harbour would have been lovely on a sunny day! For dinner we had the dodgiest kebabs ever - they were in mini pita bread rolls, and they tried to put chips in with the rest of the ingredients! It only set us back $3 though. The search for the ultimate kebab continues... We did, however, find some amazing gelati - at Gerry's, all home-made, and only one euro for 2 scoops!
The next morning we headed to Positano, on the opposite end of the Amalfi Coast. We wanted to catch the ferry but none were running because of rough seas and rain all day (by now this was no surprise). Instead we took the bus, which goes through all the coastal towns and has stunning views of the coastline. It occured to me on the drive that the Amalfi Coast is quite similar to the Great Ocean Road, but in an Italian way - with picturesque villas, tumble-down houses, vine fields, ancient walls and roads that are WAY too small! The bus had to stop on almost every corner to let cars coming the other way go past, and meeting other buses and trucks was a nerve-wracking experience! The water was amazingly blue green, and everything is so GREEN!
Olivia and Jess spent time on the beach (nothing special, but they don't live near beaches!), while I looked around the town and walked to the next beach (via many, many steps!). On my way back I saw Gabe & Brittney (and then Logan and Lauren) on scooters! They had all hired scooters for the day and had ridden around the point of the peninsula from Sorrento (where we'd been 2 days before) to Positano (apparently an amazing drive!). We met up on the beach and the boys went for an (extremely quick) dip in the freezing cold water while the 3 girls decided to drive on to Amalfi.
In the afternoon the three of us and Gabe and Logan went for a walk along the coast and found a path winding through a gully from the road. We followed it a fair way along in and up the hill, and were puzzled by the sound of dogs barking in the distance - we figured it was just someone walking a dog or two in the distance until we saw that there were several dogs, barking from somewhere that was obviously some sort of gate, and a man dressed in shabby, ripped clothing, who opened the gate and let the dogs out after us! We ran pretty damn quickly down the path (that had taken us a good half an hour to walk) back to the road after that! We later asked a local about the guy, and as soon as he realised who we were talking about he had a chuckle. Apparently he's a really nice guy. O_o.
We also found the beginning of the 1700-step stairway to Nocelle and the Sentiero degli Dei (Trail of the Gods), a famous walking path that goes along the entire coast. We only got a few hundred steps up when the heavy rain, tiredness and hunger got the better of us, so we headed back to Positano to meet up with the girls.
Logan and Gabe offered to take us for a 'spin' on the scooters and Olivia and I couldn't refuse - even though by then it was incredibly cold and the rain was quite heavy. We went way up into the mountains above Positano (and the crazy dog-man's valley) - the rain was endless and there were rainclouds everywhere but despite that and the freezing cold, the view was amazing! Gabe and I came off the bikes within 5 minutes in a slide around the corner - but it wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds! While we were gone the other girls talked to a few locals about the weather - apparently they couldn't believe the rain, they said it only ever rains 5 days in a year, and never like that! Just our luck. By the time we got back to Salerno that night we were all thoroughly soaked; none of us dried out for many hours (and our clothes stayed wet for days!).
The next morning Olivia and Jess left early for Rome but I stayed an extra day for some walking. Catching the bus to Amalfi I met a nice family from Melbourne - we had a good chat about everything from Italy, the footy, and the drought! Amalfi is another very picturesque town, I wandered around a bit in the rain through lots of passageways under houses and stepped streets - very cool! I was planning to walk from Amalfi (at sea level) up to Ravello (way up in the mountains 350m above sea level) but as it was raining hard and I didn't really know the way, I ended up taking a bus about halfway, getting off where I saw a sign for a walk. Even though I only did about half of it, I was exhausted when I reached Ravello after god-knows-how many steps! The town is very cute, with even more steps that Amalfi and amazing views of the coast, the best of which were from Villa Cimbrone, a villa with extensive gardens which many celebrities have visited (including Winston Churchill and Greta Garbo!).
To get down from Ravello I walked down steps for almost an hour straight - by the end of it my legs were ready to drop off - to another town, Minori, and got the bus back to Salerno. That afternoon the weather was pretty reasonable, not much rain (!!!!). Shared a room that night with an American girl who was also, funnily enough, on exchange at Cattolica in Milan, as well as a German girl whose bags had been stolen the night before when she was camping!
Amalfi Coast is definitely somewhere I'll be returning to - it deserves at least a week, as there is plenty of walking to be done!
The HI Hostel in Salerno is a former convent and a decent place. I looked around in Salerno for a bit in the afternoon - the harbour would have been lovely on a sunny day! For dinner we had the dodgiest kebabs ever - they were in mini pita bread rolls, and they tried to put chips in with the rest of the ingredients! It only set us back $3 though. The search for the ultimate kebab continues... We did, however, find some amazing gelati - at Gerry's, all home-made, and only one euro for 2 scoops!
The next morning we headed to Positano, on the opposite end of the Amalfi Coast. We wanted to catch the ferry but none were running because of rough seas and rain all day (by now this was no surprise). Instead we took the bus, which goes through all the coastal towns and has stunning views of the coastline. It occured to me on the drive that the Amalfi Coast is quite similar to the Great Ocean Road, but in an Italian way - with picturesque villas, tumble-down houses, vine fields, ancient walls and roads that are WAY too small! The bus had to stop on almost every corner to let cars coming the other way go past, and meeting other buses and trucks was a nerve-wracking experience! The water was amazingly blue green, and everything is so GREEN!
Olivia and Jess spent time on the beach (nothing special, but they don't live near beaches!), while I looked around the town and walked to the next beach (via many, many steps!). On my way back I saw Gabe & Brittney (and then Logan and Lauren) on scooters! They had all hired scooters for the day and had ridden around the point of the peninsula from Sorrento (where we'd been 2 days before) to Positano (apparently an amazing drive!). We met up on the beach and the boys went for an (extremely quick) dip in the freezing cold water while the 3 girls decided to drive on to Amalfi.
In the afternoon the three of us and Gabe and Logan went for a walk along the coast and found a path winding through a gully from the road. We followed it a fair way along in and up the hill, and were puzzled by the sound of dogs barking in the distance - we figured it was just someone walking a dog or two in the distance until we saw that there were several dogs, barking from somewhere that was obviously some sort of gate, and a man dressed in shabby, ripped clothing, who opened the gate and let the dogs out after us! We ran pretty damn quickly down the path (that had taken us a good half an hour to walk) back to the road after that! We later asked a local about the guy, and as soon as he realised who we were talking about he had a chuckle. Apparently he's a really nice guy. O_o.
We also found the beginning of the 1700-step stairway to Nocelle and the Sentiero degli Dei (Trail of the Gods), a famous walking path that goes along the entire coast. We only got a few hundred steps up when the heavy rain, tiredness and hunger got the better of us, so we headed back to Positano to meet up with the girls.
Logan and Gabe offered to take us for a 'spin' on the scooters and Olivia and I couldn't refuse - even though by then it was incredibly cold and the rain was quite heavy. We went way up into the mountains above Positano (and the crazy dog-man's valley) - the rain was endless and there were rainclouds everywhere but despite that and the freezing cold, the view was amazing! Gabe and I came off the bikes within 5 minutes in a slide around the corner - but it wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds! While we were gone the other girls talked to a few locals about the weather - apparently they couldn't believe the rain, they said it only ever rains 5 days in a year, and never like that! Just our luck. By the time we got back to Salerno that night we were all thoroughly soaked; none of us dried out for many hours (and our clothes stayed wet for days!).
The next morning Olivia and Jess left early for Rome but I stayed an extra day for some walking. Catching the bus to Amalfi I met a nice family from Melbourne - we had a good chat about everything from Italy, the footy, and the drought! Amalfi is another very picturesque town, I wandered around a bit in the rain through lots of passageways under houses and stepped streets - very cool! I was planning to walk from Amalfi (at sea level) up to Ravello (way up in the mountains 350m above sea level) but as it was raining hard and I didn't really know the way, I ended up taking a bus about halfway, getting off where I saw a sign for a walk. Even though I only did about half of it, I was exhausted when I reached Ravello after god-knows-how many steps! The town is very cute, with even more steps that Amalfi and amazing views of the coast, the best of which were from Villa Cimbrone, a villa with extensive gardens which many celebrities have visited (including Winston Churchill and Greta Garbo!).
To get down from Ravello I walked down steps for almost an hour straight - by the end of it my legs were ready to drop off - to another town, Minori, and got the bus back to Salerno. That afternoon the weather was pretty reasonable, not much rain (!!!!). Shared a room that night with an American girl who was also, funnily enough, on exchange at Cattolica in Milan, as well as a German girl whose bags had been stolen the night before when she was camping!
Amalfi Coast is definitely somewhere I'll be returning to - it deserves at least a week, as there is plenty of walking to be done!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Naples, Pompeii, Ischia and Sorrento
On Thursday night before Easter, Jess, Olivia and I headed to Naples on an overnight train. Most Italian regional trains are compartmentalised, and our compartment was full (6 people) until we reached Rome at about 3am. There were two old Italian women who we chatted to for quite a while - initially they were fascinated to hear about where we were from (Australia, Canada and the U.S.), what we were studying, kangaroos, etc etc. Then the conversation turned to how dangerous overnight trains were - aparently there had been some armed muggings on trains - and about how our parents must feel about us girls travelling around Italy on our own. Naturally that made us feel pretty confident.
The conversation continued until very late, probably at least 1am - and Italians do not have quiet conversations - so we were very glad when they finally dropped off to sleep. Sleeping in overnight trains is very difficult if you're not in a sleeper carriage. The cabins are very cramped and although you can move the seats out to be on more of an angle, we were very glad when the other three left us in Rome - we had the 6-seat compartment all to ourselves and pulled the seats forward until they met in the middle - we basically had a bed compartment! Only for a few hours though.
Italy is a relatively young country (united in 1872) and most areas still have very distinct accents and cultures (most cities have distinct dialects, although most are not commonly used). When we got to Naples, Olivia (who speaks Italian as well or probably better than me) and I had a lot of trouble understanding what people were saying to us. Compared to the north, it seemed to us that people pronounced 's' sounds in a very different (maybe soft) way, but the most difficulty came from a kind of slurring that seemed to be really common. After asking for directions or something, we often found ourselves looking at each other saying 'I didn't understand a word of that'!
While our first day in Naples was beautifully sunny, when we headed off to Pompeii the next day the rain had well and truly set in - and wouldn't clear up for about a week! Stomping around in Pompeii in the wet, cold weather wasn't a great deal of fun but I still found it really interesting - didn't even see half of it, you would need to go for a whole (sunny) day to really do it properly. Even so, some of the houses are amazingly well preserved, and much of the town is still being excavated. We were hoping to climb Mt Vesuvius as well but we'd missed the last bus to the summit area (it was about 2.30pm so that was a bit of a puzzle for us!). We tried again two days later but the entire area was closed because of the weather (so we probably wouldn't have been able to do it any time while we were there!). We were disappointed but managed to console ourselves with the best cioccolata ever at the train station in Pompeii!
On Easter Sunday we thought it might be interesting to go to an Italian church service. However, the night before we discovered that a nearby island, Ischia, had hot springs, and all thoughts of church flew out the window, along with misgivings about the weather and any other considerations! We found a place, O'vagnitiello that had a 10 euro deal, made sure that they would be open, and headed off the next morning on the ferry to Ischia. The place seemed impossible to find - we rang three times for directions (and had a lot of trouble understanding what they told us!), asked at least two people on the street and the bus driver. Initially we thought we'd got off at the wrong bus stop so we rang again to be given more incomprehensible instructions. Eventually we found a long and winding laneway going from behind a church ('OH! I thought she said something about a church!'), and after quite a trek we ended up at a place with deck chairs everywhere on 4 levels next to the sea, with three pools, two bars, and even rooms obviously available for staying. The whole place was completely deserted.
We eventually found the guy who was in charge and got into the warm pool (in the rain!) and also the steam room. No hot springs though. The only other people were saw was an Israeli family, who had been living in Italy for years. We all ended up eating at the restaurant there which turned out to be a great idea - we had the best pasta so far in Italy, the Israeli dad bought us a bottle of wine and we had a cake for desert on the house! The whole day should have cost us 17 euros each but the guy in charge only asked $40 altogether! Happy Easter to you too!
We spent the afternoon wandering around Ischia (fortunately the rain cleared up for a few hours) and stealing a few lemons from the trees which were EVERYWHERE! The return ferry ride had been dubbed the 'Ferry Ride from Hell' - the sea was incredibly choppy, the rain returned and the ferry was swaying unbelievably. The previous ferry had been cancelled because of the weather. Good-oh. The boat was moving around in HUGE waves but we didn't seem to be getting anywhere. We were at no stage convinced that the whole thing was under control (but everyone else seemed calm and undisturbed, except for a few people who had to run to the bathroom), the ride took an hour longer than it should have taken, and we were very glad when we made it back to land alive!
After our second attempt at Vesuvius was thwarted we decided to head off to Sorrento for the day. The train was packed with rowdy Italian teenagers being incredibly loud and raucous - we later found out that it was Youth Day or something like that, a day when all teenagers in the area head down to Sorrento. Great timing.
The morning was wet and cold, and the day was looking miserable but things brightened up after lunch, and after spending a few hours wandering around the town looking at the souvenier shops and down on the harbour, we met up with Logan and Katie (friends that Olivia and Jess had met on their ski trip) and three of their friends, Lauren, Brittany and Gabe, all Americans. We went wandering up a hill and somehow found a trail (and a random English guy who gave us his walking map - and completely out-paced us on the walk!) up the mountains. We spent hours spilling around on wet rocks and steps but eventually reached the town at the top, and got some great views both on the way up and down!
The conversation continued until very late, probably at least 1am - and Italians do not have quiet conversations - so we were very glad when they finally dropped off to sleep. Sleeping in overnight trains is very difficult if you're not in a sleeper carriage. The cabins are very cramped and although you can move the seats out to be on more of an angle, we were very glad when the other three left us in Rome - we had the 6-seat compartment all to ourselves and pulled the seats forward until they met in the middle - we basically had a bed compartment! Only for a few hours though.
If you tell anyone in Italy that you're going to Naples (seriously, ANYONE) they immediately bombard you with warnings about being careful of your luggage, watching out for pickpockets and motorcycle thieves, small children who are trained to pick pockets at the train station and in touristy areas.... We didn't feel unsafe at any time but we were pretty relieved when we got to our hostel and got rid of all our stuff! Since we had arrived in Italy (or maybe even starting before) there had been an ongoing strike of garbage collectors in Naples, so the other thing people would talk about was the pictures shown on the news of streets with rubbish piled up in the middle - it looked pretty nasty. We didn't find much garbage in the city though (I think it was much worse in the suburbs) and it didn't seem much dirtier than most Italian cities! Appartently though since then the situation has become a lot worse - people are refusing to send their kids to school for fear of rat attacks or catching disease. I hear Berlusconi has promised to have the situation resolved by 2010. Only in Italy....
Getting out into Naples on Good Friday made Milan feel like a haven of organisation, orderliness and cleanliness - no mean feat! Even getting out of the train station and finding our bus was a nightmare, we asked about 4 different people where the bus left from until one old man (again, only in Italy does this happen) actually lead us the 200 metres or so to the bus stop! The traffic was chaos, and it took us ages to get to our hostel, and the bus was packed. That afternoon we explored Naples on foot - we found a street market (lots of activity!), many narrow streets with washing hanging out every window of the apartment blocks, lots of steps, a fenicular railway taking us up the highest hill, and the Castle of Saint Elmo. We also had our first Napoletan pizza - thicker dough than in the north (but still nowhere near as thick as ours), great tomato paste, and commonly with circular slices of mozzarella (from the balls of mozzarella - often from buffalo milk) placed on the pizza (rather than grated cheese everywhere). Very, VERY nice. Naples is the birthplace of the margherita pizza (which, by the way, is not at all considered boring - it is very common to order just margherita in Italy).
Italy is a relatively young country (united in 1872) and most areas still have very distinct accents and cultures (most cities have distinct dialects, although most are not commonly used). When we got to Naples, Olivia (who speaks Italian as well or probably better than me) and I had a lot of trouble understanding what people were saying to us. Compared to the north, it seemed to us that people pronounced 's' sounds in a very different (maybe soft) way, but the most difficulty came from a kind of slurring that seemed to be really common. After asking for directions or something, we often found ourselves looking at each other saying 'I didn't understand a word of that'!
While our first day in Naples was beautifully sunny, when we headed off to Pompeii the next day the rain had well and truly set in - and wouldn't clear up for about a week! Stomping around in Pompeii in the wet, cold weather wasn't a great deal of fun but I still found it really interesting - didn't even see half of it, you would need to go for a whole (sunny) day to really do it properly. Even so, some of the houses are amazingly well preserved, and much of the town is still being excavated. We were hoping to climb Mt Vesuvius as well but we'd missed the last bus to the summit area (it was about 2.30pm so that was a bit of a puzzle for us!). We tried again two days later but the entire area was closed because of the weather (so we probably wouldn't have been able to do it any time while we were there!). We were disappointed but managed to console ourselves with the best cioccolata ever at the train station in Pompeii!
On Easter Sunday we thought it might be interesting to go to an Italian church service. However, the night before we discovered that a nearby island, Ischia, had hot springs, and all thoughts of church flew out the window, along with misgivings about the weather and any other considerations! We found a place, O'vagnitiello that had a 10 euro deal, made sure that they would be open, and headed off the next morning on the ferry to Ischia. The place seemed impossible to find - we rang three times for directions (and had a lot of trouble understanding what they told us!), asked at least two people on the street and the bus driver. Initially we thought we'd got off at the wrong bus stop so we rang again to be given more incomprehensible instructions. Eventually we found a long and winding laneway going from behind a church ('OH! I thought she said something about a church!'), and after quite a trek we ended up at a place with deck chairs everywhere on 4 levels next to the sea, with three pools, two bars, and even rooms obviously available for staying. The whole place was completely deserted.
We eventually found the guy who was in charge and got into the warm pool (in the rain!) and also the steam room. No hot springs though. The only other people were saw was an Israeli family, who had been living in Italy for years. We all ended up eating at the restaurant there which turned out to be a great idea - we had the best pasta so far in Italy, the Israeli dad bought us a bottle of wine and we had a cake for desert on the house! The whole day should have cost us 17 euros each but the guy in charge only asked $40 altogether! Happy Easter to you too!
We spent the afternoon wandering around Ischia (fortunately the rain cleared up for a few hours) and stealing a few lemons from the trees which were EVERYWHERE! The return ferry ride had been dubbed the 'Ferry Ride from Hell' - the sea was incredibly choppy, the rain returned and the ferry was swaying unbelievably. The previous ferry had been cancelled because of the weather. Good-oh. The boat was moving around in HUGE waves but we didn't seem to be getting anywhere. We were at no stage convinced that the whole thing was under control (but everyone else seemed calm and undisturbed, except for a few people who had to run to the bathroom), the ride took an hour longer than it should have taken, and we were very glad when we made it back to land alive!
After our second attempt at Vesuvius was thwarted we decided to head off to Sorrento for the day. The train was packed with rowdy Italian teenagers being incredibly loud and raucous - we later found out that it was Youth Day or something like that, a day when all teenagers in the area head down to Sorrento. Great timing.
The morning was wet and cold, and the day was looking miserable but things brightened up after lunch, and after spending a few hours wandering around the town looking at the souvenier shops and down on the harbour, we met up with Logan and Katie (friends that Olivia and Jess had met on their ski trip) and three of their friends, Lauren, Brittany and Gabe, all Americans. We went wandering up a hill and somehow found a trail (and a random English guy who gave us his walking map - and completely out-paced us on the walk!) up the mountains. We spent hours spilling around on wet rocks and steps but eventually reached the town at the top, and got some great views both on the way up and down!
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