After eating our large pizzas, we took the Circumvesuviana train (train from Naples to Sorrento) and stopped at Pompei Scavi, the direct stop to enter the Pompeii Ruins. Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius during 79AD. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash, and it was lost for over 1,500 years before it was accidentally rediscovery in 1599. The Pompeii Ruins is one of the most popular tourist attractions to visit in Italy, hence why we went there! The ancient city was so well preserved, I was in shock! There were areas that used to be temples and houses that people once lived in. We even saw people made of plaster, but the plaster was poured over the actual bones of the people who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in the early first century. It was amazing to see how these people suffocated from the ash given off by the eruption, but yet their bodies as well as their city stayed quite intact for so long. There were amphitheaters, houses, frescos (wall paintings), a health center, a fast food restaurant bar, bakery, a whore house (my favorite location), among many other things that we saw there. Pompeii's ruins are really just a huge city that we spent 3 hours walking around using Rick Steve's Guided tour and still didn't see everything that they have excavated.
At the Whore House: Amphitheater Me inside the oven in the bakery!
the beds were made with
stone and brick.
After walking on our feet for over 3 hours, we hopped back on the train to go to Sorrento and spent the night in the town, a small town in Campania southern Italy, between Naples and Amalfi. It is located on steep cliffs on the Bay of Naples. It also has a small fishing harbor: Marina Grande. Sorrento and the Amalfi coast are well known for big lemons. Lemons are one of the important staple foods in Sorrento. The most famous product is Limoncello. It is an Italian lemon liqueur usually served chilled as an after-dinner digestive drink. Limoncello is now considered the national drink of Italy and can be found in stores and restaurants all over Italy. Every store or restaurant has its unique or favorite brand of Limoncello. Other products are lemon chocolate, lemon soap, and lemon decorated ceramics.
We found our Bed and Breakfast, right on the main square, but in an apartment on a hill. It was the cutest bed and breakfast. We had a huge bed, tv, Italian movies, wifi, and free breakfast/kitchen to cook. We loved it and want to go back. We went to dinner at a place right across the street and had some great Italian food. I, of course, got tomatoes and penne arribata! It is my new favorite dish and I plan to get it everywhere I can! We also got a free dessert, Delizia Al Limone: a popular Sorrento dessert which is a sponge cake base prepared with fresh lemon juice and covered in a generous layer made up of confectioners custard, fresh cream, limoncello and sugar, all topped with a sprinkling of lemon zest. We were so full from dinner that we sat at the restaurant for an hour extra talking and drinking. We were tired (we had been up since 5:30a), so we went back upstairs to our room and watched Mamma Mia in Italian with English subtitles.
Same dish, but made different at each restaurant! Molto bene!!!
We got up the next day bright and early to explore the cute town of Sorrento. We stopped in basically every store that had lemon products and bought some souvenirs to bring back for our families. Before leaving, we wanted to see a Lemon and Orange grove. There is a grove right by the train station that grows lemons and oranges and then makes their own limoncello's with their produce. We got to sample all the limoncello flavors: orange, lemon, mandarian, and blueberry. They were unbelievably strong, but very tasty so we bought some to bring home. We thought it was a cool gift because the limoncello was made from the lemons/oranges that were grown on that specific grove site. We got lunch before we went to Amalfi and of course I got penne arribata again haha.
In order for you to get to Amalfi from Sorrento, you take a bus ride (about 90 minutes) on the coast cliff. The Amalfi Drive (connecting Sorrento and Amalfi) is a narrow road that threads along the high cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ride is beautiful. Below are some pictures I took of the bus ride to and from Amalfi. I did this type of drive from San Francisco to LA on the California coast, but this was much prettier!
We got to Amalfi around 4pm, found our hotel and walked around. Our hotel was also on a cliff and had a gorgeous view of the sea and the whole town! We even had our own balcony! Amalfi is a town in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy on the Gulf of Salerno. The Amalfi Coast is composed of many fishing villages stacked above the sea and are known to be one of Italy's major tourist attractions. A number of hotels, restaurants, bars, boutiques, pastry shops, and boat trips can be found on the coast. We went to Amalfi, one fishing village on Saturday, and then Positano, another village on Sunday. The Amalfi coast is also famed for its production of Limoncello liqueur and of "sfusato amalfitano" (large lemons), which are double the size of regular sized lemons. It is common to see lemons growing along the entire Amalfi coast between February and October. We saw lots and lots of lemon gardens on our bus ride. We walked into all of the little stores in Amalfi, got some lemon candies, gelato, and fresh fruit. In Amalfi, there is no grocery store. They are known to have fish stores, butcheries, pastry shops, and fruit/vegetable stands. I bought some apples and pears at a local fruit store and was very satisfied. The fruit in Italy is very fresh and delicious! It was not tourist season, so it seemed as though many restaurants/bars were closed on Saturday night. We found a restaurant that was open for dinner and got some great food. I had homemade minestrone soup and Kim got veal! We stopped at a pastry shop on the way home to get another Lemon Sponge Cake and cappuccino. We went to bed even early on Saturday, but it was nice to get a good night’s rest for once. Sunday morning came and we got up, packed our backpacks and found the cafe where we got free breakfast for staying at the hotel. We ate some food, and headed on our way back to Sorrento, but we first stopped in Positano. Positano is known to be the most amazing village of the Amalfi Coast because of its beauty. It is positioned at the centre of the Gulf, with houses and villas built on terraces, amongst gardens planted with palm trees, orange and lemon groves. We didn't stay in this village long, but the scenery was absolutely gorgeous! Part of me wishes we went when it was warmer out because the beach was beautiful!!! Sunday was the best day of weather, which made Positano even prettier! The sun hitting the villas and beach was an amazing view and I hope to go back to this cute city in the future!
We took the train back to Sorrento, got on a train to Naples, and headed back to Rome. This weekend was one of the best trips I have taken since being abroad. I loved traveling with Kim and exploring south of Italy with just one other person. It was very relaxing and stress free. The views were gorgeous and I hope I can go back to the Amalfi Coast. Pompeii was the coolest city we have seen, but Amalfi's view, villa, and small town was my favorite place we traveled this weekend! Amalfi and Positano are much different from Rome's busy and traffic city. I would love to live in a villa on the Amalfi coast one day!
