When Lies and I left Paris, we headed to the Amalfi coast. First stop was Naples. All we had to do there, however, was get from Naples airport to the train station, to take a train south. Right from the beginning, we observed the difference between French and Italian hospitality. The bus driver was super sweet to us, helping with bags, helping with tickets and then making a special stop for us at the smaller train station we had to use when he was supposed to only stop at Central station, he did it to save us the walk he said. We were most pleased with this walk saving, both because of the weight of our bags (see earlier post) and because when we landed in Italy, we began to experience real European summer heat. After being on the bus for 10 minutes we also quickly realised we were additionally glad to have been saved the walk because Naples was a COMPLETE AND UTTER madhouse! Houses piled on houses, people piled on people, and scooters, cars and buses all fighting for a scrap of road in any direction. We laughed ourselves silly at the chaos of the traffic, and particularly at the way scooters would take over turning buses on the inside with nothing more than a little 'beep beep' to let the driver know they were coming through. Super scary! We arrived at the station no problem and got on a train no problem and were soon heading out of crazy Naples for the divine shores of the Amalfi coast....Ahhhhh.....
We had booked accommodation in Sorrento and planned to spend a few days there taking day trips down the coast to see some of the other coastal villages. That first sight of water from the train was an absolute delight as the journey was long and un-air conditioned. The feeling of heat was enhanced by the knowledge that we were circling the base of Vesuvius. Unfortunately, this is the only pic I got of the famous volcano, can you see it hiding amidst the fog/smog?
I really think I have lost some of my ability to cope with heat while living in Norway, because I was really struggling. Just after that train ride we were both sticky little sweat boxes. Unfortunately, once we arrived in Sorrento we had quite a hike to our hostel and that only increased that saturated feeling. An old man had told us that all we had to do was walk to the end of this street. It was just that that street seemed to go on FOREVER! After arriving, we were most glad to dump our weighty bags and were pleased we could see the city unburdened. The road we had to walk along to get there had some seriously stunning scenery, and the water looked clear as crystal.
The city of Sorrento was very sweet, and very very crowded. Tour buses must have arrived by the dozen because the streets were really jam packed full of people. I guess you should not really expect much else, but the extreme mass of humanity that is European hotspots in summer never ceases to amaze me. While it felt a shame to have to share this sweet city with so many others, it was still pleasant to roam the streets and alleyways.
As pleasant as it was though, Liesl and I were really hankering for a swim in that crystal blue green water...
It therefore didn't take us long to head down to our local beach for the Italian beach experience, which meant paying a little cash and being given a delightful little lounge chair in the sun. The chair was fantastic, the water totally refreshing, and the pama we smuggled in perfect with frozen lemon soda. While the lifeguards didn't really measure up to Australian standards, they seemed to be there more to take care of the chairs than to save lives, so we forgave them their lack of form and settled in for a delightful first day of doing not much more than reading a book, sipping a cocktail and working on the tan!
The best part about the stay in Sorrento though was the cocktail/s we had every night at our local as we watched the sun go down. Sweet view. Attentive waiters. Lots of free drinks and snacks. And some wonderful company to share it all with. That was truly the life.
xxx
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