Cruising the Amalfi Coast

When tasked with figuring out what to do with our last day in Italy, we were torn.  Did we want to go explore the ancient ruins of Pompeii?  Or drive along the infamous Amalfi Coast?  Both are great options.  It was a win-win situation no matter what we decided to do.  

After talking it over, we decided to have a treat yo self moment and hired a private car to drive us along the Amalfi Coast.  My parents' neighbors are from that area originally and recommended that we use Italy Limousine for our trip.  It was pricey for sure, but it did not disappoint.

Our drive/guide, Lorenzo, showed up at our B&B at 9 o'clock in the morning to pick us up in his Benz (treat yo self!).  We made a quick espresso/cappuccino pit stop (duh) and then we were off!

Lorenzo did a great job answering our questions and pointing various things out to us as we drove along, like the different citrus trees.  From time to time, he'd stop at an overlook on our drive so we could take in the view.  While there were a few moments where language was a bit of a barrier, we still had a good time and lots of laughs.  

In front of Vesuvius and the valley below

We stopped at three cities on the coast - Ravello, Amalfi, and Positano.  We were given 45 minutes to go explore each.  Not a lot of time, I know, but it was enough to give us a taste of each.

The first town that we stopped in on our tour was Ravello.  Out of the three that we visited, Ravello was my favorite.  I think that's because it was small and had the least amount of people in it.  Staying there for an extended period of time probably would have gotten boring for me, but walking around it for a little was absolutely perfect.

Our next stop was Amalfi, which had no shortage of people.  The streets were absolutely jammed packed with mostly tourists.  We spent our time there walking up and down one of the main drags and popping into some stores.  At the end we walked out by the sea, which gave us some fantastic views.

The last stop on our tour was Positano - the pearl of the Amalfi.  Lorenzo recommended a restaurant to us for lunch - Ristorante da Costantin.  This restaurant is situated high up on a hill, so when you look out you see the entire town.  Since we had a hook up, a table was reserved for us with a breathtaking view of the buildings and sea below.  I spent a lot of lunch marveling in the beauty of Positano, as well as the ingenuity it took to build the towns and road that goes along the coast.  These were all built into the side of mountains, which is mind-blowing to think about.  Humans can do really phenomenal things when they put their minds to it.

Our view with lunch.

After lunch, we walked around town to burn off some of what we ate.  We followed the windy streets down to the beach, stopping in multiple stores along the way.  I got to stick my feet in the water, and it felt amazing since it was so hot outside.

Towards the end of our time in Positano, it started to pour.  We ducked into a cafe, hoping that it would pass.  It was there that I discovered the life-changing caffè freddo (frozen coffee that's like a slushie).  I'm sad that I waited until my last day in Italy to order one because it was fantastic!  After checking the time, we braved the rain to head back to the car.

It was an exhausting day.  I was having a really hard time keeping my eyes open on our way home.  But towards the end of our ride, I started to wake back up.  As I was gazing out the window, I started to wonder what would happen if the car broke down.  Would someone else come get us so that we could continue on our way?  Would we be stranded wherever we were?  What's the procedure for something like that?  And then, just as we started to enter the port of Naples, our car died.  The engine strait up cut out.  Luckily, Lorenzo was able to pull off to the side of the road so that we weren't in the middle of traffic.  He opened the hood of the car and lots of smoke came cascading out.  Our guess is the car overheated.  That's something that got lost in translation.  He did, however, keep apologizing for it, but honestly we weren't phased by what had happened.  It was hot outside and it was obviously a fluke occurrence.  We weren't upset at all, and I did my best to make that known.  

While Lorenzo was trying to figure out what to do, another driver from a different company pulled over to help him.  After speaking to each other for a few moments and making a couple of brief phone calls, we were told that Italy Limousine would pay this driver from another company to take us back to our B&B.  Since we had no other option for getting back, we piled into the new van so that we could go home.  I realize that sounds really bad, but it wasn't.  The van didn't look like a windowless one a creeper would drive around while offering small children candy.  There were windows and everything. 

Looking back at it all, I'm really happy that we had someone take us around instead of renting a car ourselves.  If one of us had been driving, then both of us wouldn't have been able to take it all of the beauty the Coast has to offer.  We also didn't have to worry about things like making sure to gas up the car and finding parking.  Also, I probably would have a full blown panic attack if our car broke down just outside the port of Naples.

Am I sorry that we skipped Pompeii for the Amalfi Coast?  Absolutely not.  I think we made the right choice.  And I do recommend Italy Limousine if you are looking for someone to give you a tour of the area.  The only drawback, in our opinion, is that you have to pay for it in cash.  Other than that, it was well worth the money and was one of my favorite things that we did in Italy.  Thank you so much, Jimmy and Juliette, for such a great suggestion!

L'amore

This is my friend, Joanna.  She's pretty cool.

We lived next door to each other in the dorms at IU.  She is a ton of fun and one of my favorite people.  During college, we spent time hanging out, going out, and eating because we both love food.

At an IU football game in college.

Joanna and her now husband (!!), who is Italian, live in Naples.  I spend a lot of time being jealous of where they live, especially when it's freezing in Chicago and they are on the beach.  Also, the pizza.

When we got the save the date for their wedding, I knew that we were going to do everything in our power to make it.  For one thing, we haven't seen them since our wedding and for another, I wanted to experience an Italian wedding.  And now that I have attended one, let me tell you how awesome they are.  

The ceremony was held in a beautiful church that's older than my country.  When the newlyweds walked out, we got to throw rice at them!  And they had a fun "getaway car" - an old school VW bug.

After the ceremony, we headed to the most beautiful venue I have ever been to in my life.  To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some pictures:

They got to show up to their reception on a boat.  How cool is that?

And then there was the food.

There were a million courses.  A by a million, I mean about five.  Luckily, we were warned about this beforehand so I didn't really eat anything leading up to the reception.  There was so much good stuff to eat, like pasta and fresh seafood.  And I mean fresh - I picked up a prawn to eat and was told that it was still crudo.  I had no idea what that meant and was willing to shrug it off until Joanna's mother explained to me that it was still raw.  She saved me from a day of being ill, and for that I am forever grateful.

One of the many fun parts of the night included a duo of Neapolitan singers that serenaded us during dinner.  They had beautiful voices and it was a lot of fun having them walking around and singing all sorts of different songs.

Since Joanna is American, there were some American aspects to the wedding - father/daughter and mother/son dance, as well as a speech from the Maid of Honor.  I love going to weddings where different cultural aspects are woven in.  So cool!  And of course we ended the night dancing away under the moonlight. 

It was a beautiful wedding and I'm so happy that we were able to share in the love!  Auguri Fabio e Joanna!

Capri for a day

When more than one person gives you a suggestion to visit a place, you should probably go (unless it's something like an opium den.  Don't go to opium dens).  Multiple people told us that we should take a trip out to the island of Capri since we were going to be so close.  Cue a Tuesday adventure!

It's about an hour ride on the ferry to the island from Naples.  On clear days, you can see it from the waterfront, but it has been so hazy here that you can't really make it out.  But that didn't deter us from wanting to go.

As soon as we arrived in the morning, we booked a boat tour around the island so that we could take in all of Capri's natural beauty.  I think it was a great way to spend our first two hours there.  So many people made a bee line to the high end shopping as soon as they stepped off the boat, and I think they really missed out.  But I guess some people prefer to spend their time shopping at Prada.  To each their own.

The pictures we took do not even begin to do the island justice.  But I can try to convey it to you in the ones below :)

We ended up skipping the Blue Grotto, which is one of the main draws of the island.  The wait was around 30 minutes, the water was choppy, it was not cheap to get in, and we were both hungry.  I thought I'd be more upset about missing it, but I'm not.  I think getting to see all around the island made up for that, as did exploring Capri's main square and side streets.

My final verdict of the island - it was only okay.  Before you get your pitchforks, hear me out.

My number one complaint, and I kind of knew this going in, was that it was absolutely overrun with tourists.  I felt like you couldn't breathe without trying to fight through a crowd.  On an island that small, you definitely notice the army of people that get off each ferry for a day trip.  I can't imagine what it's like at the height of tourist season in the summer.  Sounds like zero fun.

The second reason I wasn't blown away by Capri is admittedly a little snobby, but try to stick with me through the next paragraph.  In high school, I spent about three weeks on the island of Corsica to improve my French.  Corsica, much like Capri, has a very similar natural, raw beauty.  To me, both islands have beautiful coastal towns, amazing natural splendor, and stunning water.  So for someone who spent a fair amount of time on a pretty similar island, I was not blown away.  Don't get me wrong - it is still an absolutely gorgeous place that I recommend visiting (especially my North American friends since there isn't anything similar to it in our part of the world).  Mike was in awe of Capri because he had never seen anything like it before.  But to me, in seemed in many ways like a much, much smaller Corsica.

Nevertheless, we had a fun day seeing what Capri had to offer.  Especially the Caprese salad.  You're darn right if you think I got some there.  How could I not?  But I did pass on Capri pants.

S.S.C. Napoli

On Sunday morning, we took the high speed train an hour south to begin the second, and final, leg of our trip in Naples.  Rome was a good time, but I'm happy to be in Naples now. Being so close to the sea always makes me a happy camper.

We took no time at all diving into the Neapolitan way of life, including going to see S.S.C. Napoli soccer game.  It was the craziest sporting event I have ever been to in my life.  Granted, they were playing for a spot in the Champions League, so emotions were running extra high.  Mike and I agreed that no sporting event in the United States even comes close to this by comparison.

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Ticketing for the game is a little funny. You are assigned a ticket with your name on it when you purchase it, and you have to bring a photo ID with you in order to get in. Sometimes they are lax about checking IDs at the entrance and you can sneak in with someone else's ticket, but they were checking everything at this game since it was the last one of the season. Once you enter, you just pick a seat. Forget the one printed on your ticket; it's pretty much a free for all. The only place that's off limits is where the hooligans sit. That's probably for the best anyway.

Photo credit: Fabio

Once the whistle blows, you stand up on your seat for the duration of the game. It's a little uncomfortable, but you get used to it.  The only time that gets exciting is when Napoli scores and everyone starts going nuts. People are cheering, jumping up and down, and hugging each other.  I almost fell a few times when they scored.

The game was chock full of drama: Napoli being down 2-0 at half, then evening up the score, red cards, a penalty kick for Napoli to take the lead (they missed), and unfortunately, losing the game.  But man, the atmosphere was something else.  Emotions were running so high that after Napoli tied the game, a guy near us started to cry tears of joy.  Also, anytime Lazio got the ball, the stadium erupted into the loudest whistles (Europe's equivalent of booing) I have ever heard in my life. I have never been somewhere with so many people whistling at once.  It was deafening.  We also ended up losing our voices, even though we didn't know the cheers.  Even though Napoli lost, it was a fantastic way to start our time in Naples!

My own Roman Holiday

For those of you who have known me for years, it is no secret that I am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan. I'd say my obsession peaked in high school, but I still adore her to this day.  It should come as a shock to no one when I say that Roman Holiday is one of my favorite movies.

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In high school, I was so obsessed with that movie that my friend Emily bought me a purse with Princess Ann on it for my birthday.  I loved that purse and used it all the time.

Not surprisingly, Mike had not seen this movie. This isn't a slight against him, but part of a joke we have that he hasn't seen more than 20 movies made before he was born (excluding anything by George Lucas or Disney).  Anyway, we watched it a few days before we got to Rome, and I declared that I was going to do everything Princess Ann does in the movie.  He said that was fine, as long as I did not crash a scooter into a bunch of market stands and end up at the police station.

So far, we've done the same things as Mr. Peck and Ms. Hepburn:

Stick our hands in the Bocca Della Verità

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Get drinks at a cafe

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Sit on the Spanish Steps

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See the Castello Sant'Angello at night (although sadly there is no barge there where you can dance)

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And go to the Via Margutta, where Joe Bradley (George Peck) lived.

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Some things we have not done that they did include:
Sneak out of an embassy;
Walk around the ruins while mildly sedated;
Lie about our identities;
Cut off the majority of my hair;
Try to steal a small child's camera;
Hit a guy over the head with a guitar;
Hold a press conference.

There's always next time though ;)

Strolling through ancient Rome

I think it is safe to say that the most iconic site in Rome is the Colosseum.  It has stood the test of time and is a wonder to behold.  For someone who has never been to Rome, I knew my visit would not be complete without seeing it, as well as the Roman Forum and Palatino Hill.

Thanks to the advice of friends, guidebooks, and Internet forums, we decided to start our visit to these ancient Roman ruins in the early afternoon rather than first thing in the morning.  It wasn't as hot, and there weren't nearly as many tourists.

The ticket for the Colosseum is also good for the Forum and the ruins on Palatino Hill.  You have 48 hours to use it, which is nice because there is a lot to see and you don't have to rush.  We were told to buy our tickets at the entrance to Palatino Hill, which was one of the best tips we got since there was no one waiting to get in when we showed up, and we were able to bypass the massive line at the Colosseum.  Win-win!

Even though we had two days to see everything, we decided to do it all in one afternoon which made for a ton of walking.  We walked 40 minutes to get there, around the sites for another four hours, then to Trastevere for drinks, and then back home.  Mike's pedometer said we walked about seven miles, but it wasn't working the entire time so we think it was closer to ten.  We earned our carbs for dinner that night.

Since there were three different sites that we saw, I'm going to break this down into three different sections.

Palatino Hill

Palatino Hill is where Romulus and Remus were found by their wolf mother, and where Romulus supposedly founded the city of Rome in 753 BC.  The majority of the ruins on the hill are from Emperor Domitian's huge complex, which was built in the 1st century AD.

The ruins were expansive and beautiful.  It would be the perfect place for a picnic since there is a ton of shade and lots of places to sit.  We enjoyed wandering around, drinking water out of the many fountains, and looking at the different views of the city as well as the Forum.

The Forum

This site was my favorite.  The Forum was the heart of ancient Rome, and was so cool to walk around.  We downloaded Rick Steve's audio tour and listened to that on our phones as we went from place to place.  It was free and well done.  I highly suggest it.

We saw Julius Caesar's temple, where the vestal virgins lived, Titus's arch, and so much more.  Unfortunately, some of it was closed off but we managed to enjoy roaming (horrible pun) around anyway.

Perhaps the best part about the Forum was stumbling upon an elevated grassy area where there was almost no one.  It provided the greatest view of the Colosseum, and we managed to get some of the best pictures without a ton of tourists in them!

The Colosseum

We saved Rome's most famous site for last.  As I said above, we bypassed the line for buying tickets and were able to go directly in to the site.  We downloaded another Rick Steve's guide for here, but we barely used it because the way the site was set up was different than how his guide was.  Plus, we were getting tired by this point.  Since I have watched so many documentaries on the Colosseum, I knew a lot about what we were looking at.  I can't tell if that makes me a nerd or if that's a humblebrag.  Either way, if you're looking for a good documentary to watch about the Colosseum, check out the one NOVA did.  The elevator they constructed for this episode is still there.

The lighting was perfect for taking pictures inside and out.  It was also starting to cool down, so you didn't feel like you were roasting while climbing the steep steps between levels.  We probably spent only 40 minutes there, but it was enough time for us to grasp the magnatude of the site, as well as imgaine what it must have been like when it was full for games.

It was a long day for seeing the ancient Roman sites.  I came back to our apartment and slept for close to 13 hours.  No kidding.  But it made for a fantastic time and I wouldn't have done it any other way.