After 2 whirlwind days in Rome and 5 ultra relaxing days in Cinque Terre, we headed down the coast to Sorrento, where we stayed for a full week! Isn’t it lovely?

But first, let’s talk about the ride down real quick, shall we? Those of you that follow me (I love you), know that I had some train ticket issues in Eastern Europe. Specifically, I bought them in advance when I shouldn’t have. Well guess what? My own advice about not doing that again bit me in the ass. We waited until we were in La Spezia (the major-ish station outside the Cinque Terre) on a Wednesday and requested overnight tickets to Naples for the following Sunday. Lo and behold – it was sold out. Crapola. We ended up having to stay an extra night in Vernazza (happy face) and took a day train (frown face) from La Spezia to Naples via a transfer in Rome. The plus side is that we got to take in the gorgeous Italian countryside. It was pretty. The down side is that we arrived in Sorrento much later than planned.

But, we made it. Stayed in a shack of an apartment, but that’ll make for good stories when we’re older. From Sorrento, we were able to easily visit Capri, Positano and Amalfi. Here is a brief run down of things we did:

Hung out on the beach piers in Sorrento (36 Euro for the day – steep!):

…Bought some handmade (on the spot!) sandals in Sorrento:

…Roamed around the island of Capri and took in the gorgeous views:

(Even jumped off some rocks. This was an achievement for me)

…And, of course, we checked out the Blue Grotto:

Traveler Tip: The Blue Grotto is cool, worth seeing if you are on Capri even for a day. It is a hilarious spectacle… You have to lay down in the row boat and the guide lays on top of you and yanks you in through the small opening with a chain! I suggest going very first thing in the morning to avoid the cruise ship crowds that arrive around 10. Also, bring cash. We forgot (!) and had to buy a tacky souvenir w/ an overcharge from the nearby stand and I don’t know if the seller will be that friendly again.

…We also repeatedly took the scary, yet beautiful bus ride to the Amalfi Coast:

…Visited Amalfi (only for half a day):

…And Positano (my favorite, went here twice):

Throughout the week, we drank about a million of these:

granita di limone

Overall, we had a really great time in this region too. For our last night, we splurged and stayed in a fancy seaside hotel and enjoyed the rooftop pool (& bar) all day. That was a great way to end the week and prepare for a long day of travel ahead. Some things we learned from our time there:

– Sorrento is very much a cosmopolitan city. It felt urban (and touristic) and only had a speck of sand; the waterfront is mostly piers. Positano is a beautiful village built vertically into a cliff with a nice beach. Don’t go there if you don’t like to walk. Much of it is sharp inclines or stairs. Amalfi didn’t have anything that these other two didn’t, so don’t bother if you are short on time.

– Logistically, getting to Sorrento from Naples is very easy, there is a metro that runs straight there. Getting to the Amalfi Coast is a little more tricky. You can either take a relaxing (expensive) ferry ride or a equally scenic (but nauseating) bus ride. I tend to get car sick (yes, I’m a child), so these long, crowded, hot, wobbly bus rides were torturous. Jaro didn’t mind them at all though.

– We had a similar food experience as we did in Rome: a lot of tourist menus slash likely non-homemade food. We still enjoyed it, lots of pasta and seafood, so really how much can I complain. Our favorite spot, Inn Bufalito in Sorrento, was so DELISH that we ate there twice. Definitely seemed homemade to me and if it wasn’t, good trick. Nothing else was quite memorable, anything with an outdoor patio was good enough for us.

We came home relaxed, tan and most weirdly, ready. We were ready to come home. It was a great feeling.

That’s all, folks. Hope you enjoyed reading about our summer vacation.

xxx