This morning I woke up early and headed down to Bari Central Station so that I could catch the train to Grotte di Castellana, I had planned on trying to make the 11:00 Long Tour (in English) of the Caves of Castellana but when I arrived at the train station I realized that the next train wasn’t departing until 10:53AM. Unfortunately I missed the 11:00 Long tour but I had a back up plan! The back up plan was to take the 1:00PM Short tour of the caves if I ended up missing the long tour.

To make a long story short I arrived at Grotte di Castellana around noon time and as I walked off of the train I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. There were no signs, just a field with some dead grass, some trees and a few cars placed here and there.

I decided to try to walk through what I thought looked like a desolate car park and after asking a random man who passed me where the Grotte di Castellana was, he pointed me in the right direction.

Once I arrived at the Grotte I purchased my 1:00PM ticket for the Short tour of the caves and pretty much laid out on a bench in the sun for a little less than an hour. Once 1PM hit, I got in a line which included maybe 6 or 7 people and myself. I was surprised that it was empty, but then again it was a Monday afternoon at 1PM.

We met our guide Christina who walked us down into the first cave and informed us that we were allowed to take photos and videos in this part of the cave only.

There were no photos or video allowed during the rest of the tour of the caves due to “copyright infringement”. I was pretty disappointed because I love to show my website viewers the in’s and out’s of everywhere that I visit on this trip. Unfortunately this time I couldn’t even sneak any photos or videos because they had a guide at the front speaking about the caves, and then another guide joined us at the back of the group.

I do have quite a few amazing photos of the first cave though here’s some more…

After the 45 minute walk through the caves we arrived back at the end and took an elevator back up to the exit. Overall I would say the trip to the caves was worth it’s 10 Euro admission price. It’s definitely a really cool thing to see if you’re in the Puglia region, or anywhere near Bari, Italy. It’s only an hour train ride from Bari, and I’d recommend you take the Long Tour instead of the Short tour I took if possible. Supposedly the long tour takes you to a cave called the White Cave which is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately for me the train times screwed me up. Maybe next time!

Once I arrived back at Marina’s house I jumped in the shower and relaxed for a while before dinner. Marina’s mother cooked us pasta with REAL Ragu sauce and I’ll explain to you why I say “REAL” in this side note below.

Side note: Last night I was telling Marina about our version of “Italian” food back home. More like American-Italian food I guess. I was explaining to her that when we make pasta back home we buy pre made sauce from the store (ex. Prego, Ragu, etc). She couldn’t believe that we bought pre made sauce. Here in Italy, most if not all people make their tomato sauce from scratch if they are going to cook pasta. Marina also couldn’t believe that there was a brand called “Ragu” but yet it came in a traditional version that was just plain sauce with nothing else in it. Here, the word Ragu means “Tomato and meat sauce” and she found it so funny that there was a sauce called Ragu and it didn’t even have meat in it! I think it’s almost offensive to the Italians to hear these sort of things. She also couldn’t believe that there was a sauce called “Prego” either. She said why is the sauce called Prego? The meaning of Prego has absolutely nothing to do with tomato sauce at all! We had quite a few laughs about it.

Back to dinner, it was unbelievable as most Italian food has been so far here in Italy. Marina has showed me all sorts of new ways to cook pasta and I cannot wait to get home and try some of the recipe’s that she’s given me. Her mother served us up a traditional type of pasta that is used here in Bari which is called “Orecchiette”, and it was covered with Ragu sauce, the REAL Ragu sauce! The sauce was made with tomatoes, meat, mushrooms, and onions. Along with dinner we had some really strong red wine, and a glass of Limoncello (a traditional after dinner alcohol made with real lemons).

After dinner Marina took me to a city which is south of Bari called Polignano. She had been wanting to take me there for a few days now, but each night we were either busy doing something else, or too tired to make the trek. Tonight we made it down to Polignano and I was so happy that we did.

Once we arrived in Polignano it was sort of an issue to try to find parking but after a few minutes we ended up getting a really nice spot right near the entrance of the feast that was going on! I had never been to an Italian feast before, but I had heard of them in the past. They are basically just big celebrations in the streets full of people, lights, food, street vendors, alcohol and entertainment. Sweet! Here’s a photo as we walked through the entrance of the feast!

As we walked down the main street into Polignano, the edges of the road were crammed with street vendors that were selling the same old stuff, (fake purses, sunglasses, toys, wallets, wrist watches, and more). It’s pretty interesting to see, but at the same time after you walk a mile and see the same stuff being sold over and over it gets sort of boring. We split off down another road that led us to the Old Town of Polignano and I was amazed to see how clean the old town actually was. It was built with all white stone and it was just absolutely beautiful!

After walking through the Old Town of Polignano we arrived at the cliff side views of the sea. They were amazing. There were a few different view points that we visited. Here’s a few photos of the views from the cliffs.

Tonight is the last night that I’ll spend at Marina’s comfortable home in Bari. I’m excited to go to Croatia, yet sad that I have to leave already. It’s been a great 4 nights here in Bari and I hope to be back to visit again soon. I have to say that the Puglia region of Italy is one of my favorite parts of Italy so far. It’s so beautiful here, and the views of the sea on the coasts of some of many cities that lie along the Adriatic are simply unbelievable. Bari, and the Puglia region is somewhere that I would love to come back to. Thank you Marina!

This morning I awoke around 8:15AM after getting quite a bit of sleep. I felt good yet at the same time somewhat tired. I think that when I sleep for too many hours that I’m even more tired when I awake sometimes. I jumped online to check my emails, had another nice breakfast with Marina and we headed off to Capitolo.

When we arrived in Capitolo we were met by Marina’s two friends Luciana, and Lidia. They were really friendly girls that were quick to tell me that they had studied English in the past but have forgotten most of it due to the lack of speaking the language over the last few years. I laughed and Marina explained to them that I don’t know much if any Italian either, so I guess that meant that Marina would be our personal translator for the day!

We all walked down to the beach that is right across the street from Luciana’s house in Capitolo. The beach was absolutely beautiful! The water was clear at the edge, and it then faded out to green and then blue in the distance. I couldn’t wait to jump in! I laid out on my towel for a few minutes before finding the water absolutely irresistible! I swam around in the water for about 25 minutes or so before heading back to my towel.

It was so refreshing, and so great to think that here I am on the east coast of Italy swimming in the Adriatic Sea, soaking up the sun and relaxing while “reality” awaits at home. Why am I so lucky? I don’t want this to end!

After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we headed back to Luciana’s house for lunch. In Italy most people tend to have a nice sized breakfast, a big lunch, and a smaller sized dinner. Today I realized what it was like to eat an Italian lunch! Luciana was a great host and she served up two courses of food for us on the outdoor patio of her house.

The first course was pasta of course! Not your typical pasta and tomato sauce though, it was bow-tie pasta with a creamy alfredo sauce and it had small chunks of ham mixed through it. It was great! Next up was a somewhat typical meal from back home which was roasted chicken breast with roasted potatoes that tasted like they were soaked in the juices from the chicken. Once again, the food was so GOOD!

During lunch we were entertained by Luciana’s brother Giuseppe who spent most of the lunch making jokes about how much he loved food, women, and his muscles. It was too funny. His warped perception of the ideal “hot american woman” was Pamela Anderson. He did not speak English but the one thing he could say in English was “Bay Watch”. I laughed hysterically and informed him that his girl Pam Anderson is actually viewed as trashy these days. He seemed to be disappointed in my statement about his girl but we all had a great laugh!

After our meal we went for a walk down to the beach again to attempt to walk off all of the food that we had just devoured and of course I had to grab a gelato before we headed back to the house. Marina and I headed back to Bari around 4:45PM and arrived back at her home around 5:30 just in time to meet all of her relatives that were visiting today. It was a great time even though I was surrounded by 10 or 12 of Marina’s relatives as they stared and spoke in Italian. Quite intimidating, but they ended up chatting up a storm with me and used poor Marina as the translator once again.

All in all, today was a great day. Another great day in Bari, and another great day on this amazing trip of mine. I’m one more day closer to reuniting with Liz in Croatia, and I couldn’t be more excited to see someone from home again! It’s been about 2 months now and I’m feigning to hang out with someone that I’ve spent months laughing with, joking with, dining out with, and just enjoying life with back home.

Tomorrow I will try to make it out to a town called Castellana Grotte in which there are these amazing caves that you can take a tours of. Until next time…

This morning I awoke to a really nice breakfast that Marina went out of her way to set up for me. She has been following my website over the past couple of months and feared that I would write a negative post about her breakfast because of some of the posts that I’ve written about the horrendous breakfasts that I’ve had here so far in Europe. Please understand that I don’t believe that all breakfasts are trash in Europe, I’ve had many great breakfasts actually! And breakfast with Marina was one of the best! She pretty much grabbed everything possible from her kitchen cabinets and placed it on the table for us to eat. It was great. There was cereal, fruit, biscuits, yogurt, and more! It was even better that we got to eat breakfast outside on her front porch with a view of the Adriatic Sea. The breeze was like no other and the sun was shining so bright. It was only 9:30AM. Paradise!

After breakfast I set out to get a closer look at the city of Bari. I took the #12 bus from just outside Marina’s house right down to the city center of Bari. From there I just explored the main shopping streets and even walked down to Old Town where I walked along the old castle walls of Bari. The views of the sea were really nice.

Unfortunately due to the time of day that I visited the city center of Bari most of the shops were closed. Most shops, restaurants, and other services close here from 1:30 to 5:30PM each day. It’s quite similar to a siesta in Spain really. After I explored the city a little bit I walked along the beach on my way back to the bus station.

Once I got back to Marina’s I took a siesta of my own. It was the first time that I’ve actually taken a nap during the day through out my whole trip so far! Put it this way, I’ve been very productive in Europe! I ended up napping for about two hours before waking up to my left over panzerotti from last night. Mmm! A panzerotti is flat bread folded in half stuffed with tomato sauce and mozzarella and can be baked or fried. I had Marina’s favorite type of Panzerotti which is the baked type. It was so GOOD! It’s like a pizza really, but Marina claims that “it’s not, it’s different”!

After dinner Marina was nice enough to take me to another coastal town south of her city called Torre a Mare which means Tower on the Sea. It’s a place where many people go on a nice warm night to hang out in it’s small square filled with restaurants, gelaterias, and more. It was a beautiful night, the town was illuminated and the lights were reflecting off of the water where many boats, and yachts were parked up for the night.

After visiting Torre a Mare, we headed back to Marina’s house and fell asleep quite early. We are planning on meeting two of Marina’s friends this morning one of which owns a beach house in Capitolo another coastal town south of Bari.

Well, my stop over to Naples wasn’t too exciting to say the least. As soon as I walked off the ferry I wanted to turn around and walk back on. As I stepped on to the dock I could already smell the city. You know when you walk in to a real grimy city and you can almost smell the trash in the air? Well, in this case the trash was literally in the air, and all over the ground.

I had heard stories from fellow travelers that I’ve met along the way about Naples. Each and every one of them described it somewhat the same way. It was dirty, sketchy, and how else can you explain it, TRASHY! I had been warned, but I tend not to believe anything until I see it and that’s exactly what I did once I stepped off the boat at the port of Naples.

I ran across the street with my luggage trying to dodge the scooters and maniac drivers. I walked about 2 blocks took a left and as I turned the corner, there was my hostel! (Bella Capri Hotel/Hostel)! I had to pay 5 cents to use the elevator to get up to the sixth floor. Yes, you really do pay for everything in Europe. Toilets, and even elevators in some cities! Unbelievable right? I arrived at the sixth floor where the reception for Bella Capri Hostel/Hotel is located and checked in. I dropped my bags and headed upstairs to the lounge where they had free WIFI (another surprise) and I was really impressed with the conditions of this place. The lounge was really nice, it also served as the breakfast area. It had 3 PC’s, with internet, a flat panel tv on the wall with full cable TV, a common refridgerator, tables, chairs and more.

I jumped on the internet for a few to check some emails and then headed around the corner to grab some pizza. Naples is the birthplace of pizza and if you know me well you’d know that pizza is one of my favorite things to eat! They say some of the best pizza in the world is made in Naples. I wouldn’t totally agree with that, but it was pretty good!

After dinner I headed off for a walk down a few main streets near the port which had all sorts of shopping, and seedy watch shops, “looky, looky men” and trash EVERYWHERE. If you haven’t heard, Naples is undergoing a major and I mean MAJOR trash crisis. Check out an article about the crisis here. After walking around for a few and not being able to stomach the 5 to 6 foot piles of trash in the streets and the smell of wet garbage that is weeks old I decided to head back to my hostel and hibernate for the night.

I got back and hung out in my room with a few people and my three roommates. One guy was from Sweden, and the other 2 girls were originally from New Jersey but both went to school in Massachusetts. One of the girls actually lives in Medford currently so we ended up hanging out and chatting for a while before bed. She is traveling with her younger sister who is a student at UMass Amherst and is currently studying abroad in Spain. They were both really cool, and it was definitely refreshing to meet some people from back home.

This morning we headed to breakfast which included a croissant. Mmmm! I haven’t had a croissant since my Contiki Trip. That was a change! After breakfast we just hung out in our room until check out time. I headed on the tram down to the train/bus station and bought my bus ticket to Bari while my roommates headed off to the Ring Hostel in Ischia, where I had been 3 days previous to coming to Naples. After buying my bus ticket I grabbed a quick slice of pizza and walked around a bit. It was really sketchy around the train station. There was trash piled everywhere, and many people were approaching me from all sorts of directions trying to sell me laptops, iPhones, belts, hats, you name it! All fake of course… And what happens if you say no? They offer you all sorts of other junk products that you have no interest in. Sometimes they even offer you Hash, Cocaine, Ecstasy, and more. Well, that’s what happened to me at least. I was so over Naples, and couldn’t wait to get out of there.

The bus finally arrived and it was a three hour journey to Bari. When I arrived in Bari, I met up with my host Marina who I have been speaking with through CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club for a while now. I’ve been excited to meet her and she’s everything I had originally expected. We took the bus back to her house which is located on the Adriatic Sea here in Bari. It’s simply amazing!

I was shown to my room, or shall I say my own FLOOR of the house (the downstairs) which is finished and includes, a couch, a kitchen table, oven, microwave, refridgerator, bathroom with a shower, and more. Marina was also nice enough to feed me her mothers own home cooked Lasagna, but the difference was that this was not your typical Lasagna! It was mozzarella, broccoli, bacon, and some special sauce that was mixed together and made into Lasagna. At first I cringed at the idea of the four ingredients above, but after I tasted it I ended up chowing down two huge slices of it! It was the best! Now if I can only get the recipe!

After eating we headed up to the roof deck on top of her house. It was unreal! You could see for miles over the coast line of the Adriatic Sea as the sun was setting over Bari. I was in heaven! The roof deck of Marina’s house is now my favorite thing! We don’t have anything like this back at home. It seems to be quite the norm here in most houses in Italy. I like the idea of coming up to the roof deck on a sunny day to lay out, or even when the sun is setting and the cool breeze is blowing off of the sea. It’s so relaxing here. I’m really looking forward to chilling out here for the next few days.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading into the city of Bari to have a look around. I’ll hopefully get to explore the old city, and maybe even do a little shopping. We’ll see!

Ciao!

Another late morning! I woke up around 9:30 which is late compared to what I’ve been used to on this trip so far. Most mornings I’ve been up at 7:30, 8:00AM. Coming to Ischia was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far on this trip. It’s been such a refreshing get away for me. I’ve done nothing but lie in the sun, swim in the ocean, hang out in the hammocks on the roof deck, and take in every inch of the beautiful scenery around me. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been on the whole trip. It feels GREAT!

This morning I hung out with my Cali friends before they headed off to Naples. A little later on I decided to rent a bicycle from the hostel for 5 Euro. I headed off and cruised around Forio. I took a spin down to the beach, the cliffs, and stopped to grab some dinner before heading back to the hostel. It was fun, and it was cool to get back on a bike again. I haven’t ridden a bike since I cruised through the valleys of Hopfgarten, Austria a few weeks ago.

When I arrived back at the hostel I ate while I did some research on where I’ll be heading next. My original plan was to stay here in Forio (Ischia) at the Ring Hostel until Friday morning and then take off to Bari, Italy. Instead I’ve decided to jump on the ferry tomorrow morning to Naples and stay on the coast of Naples for a night before taking the train to Bari, Italy.

I found a brochure of a hostel in Naples here at the front desk of the Ring Hostel called Bella/Capri Hostel & Hotel. It looks like a really nice place. I asked the receptionist what she thought about it and she said she stayed there for 3 nights recently and really liked it. She said it was in a good location and also fairly cheap. I checked out the website a bit more and made a reservation for tomorrow night so I’m all set and ready to go!

Tonight I’m just going to hang out here and relax on the roof deck with a couple of beers. Theres really nobody else here, two canadian girls just showed up but that’s about it! This hostel is a ghost town at the moment, and I like it that way!

Ciao!

Today I decided to sleep in a bit. I woke up around 10:00AM with no real set plans for the day for once. I figured that I’d spend some time doing a little research on where I’m off to next, and how I’m getting there (ferry, bus, train). I asked around whether I’d be better off taking a bus from Naples to Bari or a train. I was advised the train would be a better decision. So I think that’s what I’ll do.

After researching and updating my website I decided to take off to the beach for a swim. I had heard that there was some cliffs that you could jump off of about 15 minutes walk from the port of Forio so I took off on a mission to find them. I invited my two new friends from California, Rebecca and Kristen. We all headed off down to the port and then walked along the sidewalk for a bit before walking down to the waters edge until we saw the “cliffs” in the distance. The cliffs weren’t really cliffs, they were just giant sandstone type of rocks sticking out of the water. They were really cool though!

We finally arrived at the rocks and headed down the stairs to get to the beach level. We walked across quite a few huge boulders to get out to where we wanted to be. I found a big flat rock for us to lay our towels out on and it was right at the waters edge so it was a perfect spot. I threw my stuff down and jumped in to the water so that I could go get a better view of where I would land if I jumped off the big boulders or “cliffs”. There were no locals there jumping so I obviously had to have a look for myself of the landing area. I swam out to where I thought you would land and went under water to check out if there were any rocks in the way. It was clear, there were a few rocks on the right side but other than that it was really deep in this one spot and wide open so it was definitely safe enough to jump.

I swam over to the edge and climbed up on top of the big boulder and I’m really glad that Kristen and Rebecca were there because I would have no photos to prove it! That’s the one benefit of traveling with someone, the photos you can get of yourself without holding the camera in your own hand and taking photos of yourself. At first I jumped from a lower spot on the rock just to make sure it was safe enough. The next time I went up I ran and jumped from the top. It was sick! It wasn’t as high as other cliffs/bridges that I’ve jumped off in the past but it was a really good time. Who would have thought that I’d be on an island right now off of the coast of Italy jumping off cliffs into the ocean? This is crazy!

After jumping for the second time I instructed Rebecca on where to jump and land so that she could do it also. With no hesitation, she made the jump! I was pretty impressed. We hung out in the water for a bit and then swam through this crack in this huge boulder in the water, you could swim all the way through the center of the rock. It was amazing. The rock was so big, and if I knew where a good landing spot was, I would’ve jumped from it. But, unfortunately it was a little too far to swim out to find out where to land.

We swam back to the rock and laid out in the sun for a couple of hours, it was so relaxing. The sun was slowly setting and the temperature was absolutely perfect.

Today was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. Out of all of the places that I’ve visited in Italy so far, Ischia is surely one of the best places I’ve been to. Although there isn’t a whole lot to do on the island, the weather, the fairly reasonable prices, the scenery, and the somewhat courteous people make this island a great place. Also, it’s great for a real relaxing vacation in the sun. What makes Ischia even more appealing is the fact that you mostly see locals from the island. There are hardly any tourists here! The island of Capri is a totally different story!

Tonight I plan on having a beer or two on the roof deck of the hostel and heading to bed. No set plans for tomorrow, probably a little more research and then maybe I’ll take off to check out another part of this island.

This morning I had to wake up at 7AM so that I could jump in the shower, and get ready to check out of my hotel. The ferry that I needed to catch was leaving from the Port of Sorrento at 9:30, and there’s only one ferry daily from Sorrento to Ischia so I couldn’t be late!

I threw my backpack on my back and headed down to the train station. It took about 15 minutes to get to the station. I bought my ticket and headed 1 stop down to Sorrento. From there I made the walk down to the port to buy my ticket for the ferry. A one way ticket from Sorrento to Ischia on the only available ferry (Jet Boat) was 18.50 Euro. Sort of pricey if you ask me.

The ferry took about 45-50 minutes to get over to Ischia, I slept most of the way due to being so tired from the night before. When I arrived I immediately hopped off of the boat and headed straight to the bus ticket window. All I wanted to do is drop my backpack and see the island while the weather was nice. I bought a bus ticket for 1.20 Euro, and headed off on the #1 Bus to the port of Forio (Forio is an area on the west coast of Ischia) where my hostel is located.

I found directions to the Ring Hostel on their website the night before arriving and the directions were pretty spot on. I didn’t have any trouble finding it so that was comforting. After about a 15 minute walk from the Port of Forio, I finally arrived. When I walked in I felt like I was in a ghost town, there was one woman at reception that checked me in and the rest of the hostel was empty. When I was shown my room (the Blue Room) I walked through the dorm room and I was glad to see that there were a few backpacks and clothes under a few beds as I walked to the back to find my bed. It was nice to see that there actually were people staying here!

After picking my bed I changed into my bathing suit and planned on heading out to the Baia di Sorgeto (Natural Hot Springs) here in Ischia. I walked down to the Port of Forio and took the CS Bus to Panza where the Baia di Sorgeto is located. Unfortunately I missed the stop originally and had to take another short bus ride back to the Sorgeto stop but it wasn’t a big deal. Once I got off I had to walk about 15 minutes downhill until I reached the top edge of the cove (as you’ll see below).

From there I walked down 228 stairs to get to the bottom. At this point I was already envisioning the walk back up. Once I reached the bottom I dropped my bags underneath this little cave type of thing that is along the shore (as you’ll see below).

I couldn’t wait to get into the water! As you walk into the water it feels like an actual jacuzzi. You have to be very careful though because if you step or jump in the wrong spot of the water or you will literally burn yourself. That is how hot some of the spots are! I was told before I went there that I should only go into the spots of the water that people were already lying in because at least you know it’s not boiling in those areas.

I laid down in the shallow water up rested my head on a rock as the cool tide came in and swept the hot water from the shore edge back out towards me. It was an amazing feeling! I spent about 45 minutes lying in the water taking in the sun and relaxing. It was such a good time.

After spending some time at the Baia di Sorgeto I decided to head back to the hostel to shower and relax for a few hours before dinner. I took the bus back to the hostel, took a cold shower (no hot water here). Figures!

At 8PM a few of us met in the lobby of the hostel and headed on a crazy roller coaster type of car ride from the hostel to the owners restaurant which was located about 5-10 minutes away. Dinner was good, I sat with two girls from California (Rebecca & Kristen) that are staying with me at the Ring Hostel. I had Gnocchi and I also ordered a cheese pizza to go.

I was dead tired from the previous night so I headed to bed around 1AM. Tomorrow I’ll sleep in for a while and then head off to explore the island a little bit.

The sky was looking pretty overcast when I awoke this morning. I was hoping that by the time I got back from breakfast that it would clear up so that I could start my day. I had been planning on doing a day trip to Pompei and that’s exactly what I did.

After breakfast I headed back up to my room because it was still raining a bit. Twenty minutes later, my aunt and uncle knocked on the door and were heading down to the pool bar which serves food from 12-2PM. Odd hours, I know. Most pool bars tend to be open all day, not in Italy. They take random breaks during the day like the people of Spain!

I headed down to the pool to grab something to eat and to chat about what our plans for the day were. My aunt and uncle wanted to head to Capri, and I had already given Capri a shot the previous day and it sucked due to the torrential down pours. I wanted to head to Pompei for the day but I was waiting for the skies to clear up first before I even attempted to make the trip.

At around noon time I decided that I would head down to the train station which was a 15 minute walk from my hotel (S. Agnello Station) to head for Pompei. The Circumvesuviana train runs from Sorrento, to Naples with many stops in between, one being Pompei. I found it to be fairly fast, efficient, and very cheap (3.10 Euro – Day Pass). The only downfall to the Circumvesuviana train system is that they are not the cleanest trains. The outside of each train car is full of graffiti and the inside of the cars are no where near modern. I guess you get what you pay for here in Italy! It’s cheap, and it got me to Pompei, so that’s all I expected of it!

Pompei was only about a 25 minute train ride from Sorrento, and it was a lot faster than I thought it would be. Trains run every 25-30 minutes too, so they are pretty frequent unlike other modes of transportation here in Sorrento. Pompei was about nine stops from (S. Agnello Station) heading towards Napoli (Naples) of course.

When I arrived in Pompei, it instantly reminded me of Pisa, Italy due to all of the street vendors. It wasn’t as bad as Pisa was with the “looky, looky” guys coming up to you trying to sell you the shirt off of their back, but there were tents, juice shops, and souvenir shops that lined the walk to the ruins of Pompei. They are smart enough to set up shop where they know all of the tourists come. I would hate to label myself a tourist, but when you visit some of these sights you instantly become one.

The ruins of Pompei are within a 5 minute walk from the train station. I headed straight for the information booth located inside of the entrance of the ruins where I picked up a free map and free guide book so that I could easily navigate the ruins of Pompei. I then bought a ticket to enter the ruins which cost 11 Euro. I thought that it was fairly expensive considering if you wanted to rent a guide it would cost another 7 Euro. I decided to walk the ruins on my own and use my map, and guide book to get around.

Once inside I was amazed by the fact that this village was once covered in volcanic ash and rock after Mt. Vesuvius erupted back in August of 79AD. The whole village was then excavated and now the public can tour the ruins of this amazing ancient city. I was also amazed by how big the city actually was. There were 3 different routes you could take to tour the ancient city of Pompei, the first route took approximately 2 hours, the second 4 hours, and the third 6 hours! 6 Hours would obviously allow you to see all of Pompei.

After about 20 minutes of strolling around I ran into two girls taking photos of each other in front of some of the ancient buildings. Jodie was from New Jersey, and Brittany was from New York. Both fairly local to me in Massachusetts. Jodie and Brittany are currently working as Au Pair’s in Rome and were visiting Pompei for the day like myself. I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the day as we walked in circles trying to find certain things that each of us really wanted to see. It was a great time, and it was really cool to meet people that were my age.

We walked around and visited a few sites: Porta Marina, Temple of Venus, Temple of Apollo, Forum, Forum Granary, House of the Faun, House of Pansa, Bakery, The Lupanare and much more! We covered a lot of ground once we figured out how to use the map. I’m usually great with maps, but this place is so big that it’s confusing! Especially that it lacks street names. It took the three of us to figure it out, but in the end we accomplished a lot so it worked out great.

After exiting the grounds of ancient Pompei, we headed for the train station. The girls invited me to come hang out in Naples with them for the night, but I had dinner plans with my aunt and uncle back in Sorrento, plus my hotel room was waiting for me there so I decided to head home. I exchanged emails and numbers before splitting up with the girls so that we can keep in touch incase I want to head back to Rome for a few days or maybe they’ll come visit Dublin or Boston sometime.

Afterwards I jumped on the train back to Sorrento and arrived back at my hotel around 6:30 just in time to shower, get dressed and head out to dinner with my aunt, uncle, Keene, and Allison (my aunts friends from work).

We went out to a restaurant in the main square of Sorrento (Piazza Tasso) and had dinner and drinks before heading across to the Fauno Bar for another drink before heading home for the night.

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Side note about restaurants in Italy:

There’s something about the service in Italy that makes me want to go crazy. It’s not just Sorrento either. At this point I’ve been to nearly 10 cities in Italy and the restaurant service is the same across the board. The waiters are rude, your starters/appetizers come out with your main course, and your drinks come as you’re taking your last bite of your meal. If you want the bill/check, make sure you ask for it about 25 minutes before you want to leave. They are so slow, and I think it’s on purpose. Simply because they think that the longer they take to print out the bill, the more likely you are to order another drink or dessert. It’s unbelievable. I have to say that Italy is the worst by far when it comes to restaurant service. Hands down…
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