6. August, 5.30am
The ferry from Sorrento to Naples was faaaast - on a hydrofoil - it only took 30 minutes, which was nice. But we ended up with 5 hours in Naples. It was better this time - different part of the city. We enjoyed a spicy pizza for lunch, visited an Internet cafe, and then a couple of cafe's before embarking the ship.
Dinner was funny. We pre-booked the cheapest dinner on the website along with our tickets (choices were none, a cheap pizza menu, or one of two expensive menu's), but we must have been the only people to have done that because nobody knew what to do. It involved a lot of running around and asking questions and a special exception for us. Tutto casino, tutto normale. Next time we'll know that we don't need to pre-order.
I slept well for a while tonight, but Sophia not so well. We'll get ready now, and we'll go to watch the ship come into port in a few. Must do washing soon. But otherwise we'll just spend the day in Palermo.
4. August
We went to the island of Capri today. Wow - stunning - I only wish I had enough money to afford more than one cup of coffee per day there though! The boat trip was quite nice, but I prefer larger boats against potential sea sickness. We walked up to Capri city from Marina Picola, where we arrived, and spent some time getting our bearings. We then found a cafe out of the main tourist zone (hoping it would be affordable - alas not - €3 for an espresso, when we got the bill) and a supermarket (normal prices, mostly). We wandered up a hill hoping to hit Salto di Tiberio, where Tiberius apparently threw his (usually very young) ex's off the cliff. We didn't find it, but we did find the Belvedere, which was breathtaking. The blue waters near the island make for great photos (forthcoming). Afterwards we spent a while at the beach near the port. Rocks instead of sand, but great, and a very picturesque backdrop. We saw a few grottos from the boat, but we didn't go into any (and the blue grotto was closed to boats because of choppy waters, but a few people swam in, some sustaining a few scratches). A great day. Tomorrow, we have to go to Naples (by ferry hopefully), then from there to Palermo.
3. August
Third day involved a trip to Amalfi. 2hr bus trip, although it's only 30km away, it was a little hellish with the inadequate aircon. Hot air blowing on our heads - yet better than no aircon. And those mountainous corners! Italians beep before going around a blind corner, and don't slow down very much at all. Can't imagine the number of accidents there are, even for Italian trained drivers. Amalfi itself is small and pretty. The history is more interesting than the tourist city it has become. But we found a small normal priced pizzeria to enjoy a lunchtime snack. We're catching a boat back to Sorrento in a few minutes. Should be faster and more comfortable thana return bus trip. And we'll see the coastline better.
End of the day. Ok - forget the bus. If you go, pay extra for a ferry bothways. Preferably one or both ways slow. It takes about 2 hours on a slow ferry, but the coastline is magnificent. We had deck chairs undercover but in the open facing the coast. Amazing. We even dozed off for a while. I think we'll opt for a ferry to Naples port instead of catching the train on Wednesday too. That way we'll also skip the dreck of the city and have no hassles finding the port there.
2. August
Travel from Perugia to Naples was nightmarish. We arrived too late for our next connection.. But it too was late.. So we ran to catch it, but had no water. We waited for 30 minutes in an overcrowded entrance while the sign always said 5 minutes until departure. Italian trains leave much to be desired. Berlusconi is no Mussolini. From Naples to Sorrento was no problem, just on a very slow local train. We failed to find the bus stop taking us to our hostel though. So we caught a taxi for €20.
We stayed in Sorrento the first day, and we quite like it. Beautiful coastline, and obviously benifiting from the tourist industry. But the local supermarket we found was better and cheaper than the small one in Perugia's center. Can't wait for Germany again. We did a lot of walking, bought a travel chess/backgammon set, and found a small shop selling cheap beer by a park before returning to our campsite and cooking dinner - a great first day of the holiday.
Our second day was less thrilling, however. Too hot, and we went to see Herculaneum, then Naples. Too hot for Herculaneum, but very interesting. Naples is north africa, though, and I'm not referring to the street vendors. Beautiful old buildings, but the poverty shines through. Cheap clothes shopping on Corso Umberto 1 though.