Four Ways to Get Up a Mountain

This past weekend, I traveled south to Napoli, Sorrento, and Capri with a friend and classmate, Brenda. It was a quick trip, two nights and two sightseeing days, but long enough to visit some main areas.

Friday night we stayed in a hotel that if we hadn't seen the reviews, we never would have found it. The door looked like a place you would not want to ring the doorbell for, but once inside it was a very cozy place, complete with breakfast in the room and a hot drink of your choice, cappuccino for me. The night didn't allow much sleep because the motorcycles and scooters were loudly going by the alley beside the room, making a dreadful racket. 

Saturday was a day for adventures, hopping on the Circumvesuviana, the train, to Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic flows in 79 A.D. This area was one of the wealthier populations at the time of the destruction, which is apparent in the ruins with largely decorated walls, pillars, and plentiful ovens for cooking. 

After a sandwich/salad lunch at a local cafe, we headed to Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Having studied Pompeii in courses, the area did not meet the picture I had formed in my mind. I imagined white and gray ash colored areas, lots of wild dogs, and create crowds, whereas the reality was a few people, four of five sedated dogs sleeping in the sun, and more of a red brick coloring throughout the city. Also, I had expected to see lots of human ruins, morbid I know, but we only saw a case of bones and a few statue-like figures. There were pictures from our studies demonstrating figures that were caught in action, unaware of the lava explosion, freezing them in time, but none of those were on display in the open areas. The ancient city was a rocky walk, causing me to fall in one place, luckily it was a minor trip and I was fine, a bit sore afterwards but no damage. 

There were two theaters there, one almost in tact with the seating and the other covered in grass with the seats removed, I guess from the destruction. The park was one of my favorite areas with open platforms for seating, although I am not sure that is quite what they were meant for. 

After our journeys through the ancient cities, we ventured to Sorrento, our stop for the evening, this is where the real adventure begins and the reasoning behind the title for this post. The hotel I booked ended up being on the side of the mountain, only about 4 kilometers from the city. When we first arrived, we could not figure out the bus system, so we took a taxi that climbed ridiculous amounts, jumping between numbers at rates of about 80 cents. Our bill was 30 euros at the top, absolutely ridiculous, plus the driver was horrid, zooming around the curves without a care in the world. Additionally, he just dropped us off at a hotel that wasn't even ours. Once again I was thankful for having read reviews because I knew our hotel was within that area, although it took us a few minutes to actually find it. Upon arriving, checking in, and flooding the bathroom (courtesy of a bathtub shower without a proper showerhead holder), we ventured to the center for dinner, hoping to figure out the SITA buses this time. Standing under the bus stop covering we wait and a SITA bus passes us without stopping, utter horror because they only come every hour or so. Around that time the hotel bus was creeping out of their parking lot so I inquire about taking that to the city, SUCCESS! 2 euros/person. 

Dinner that night was superb, visiting a Rick Steves' recommended restaurant, Buffalito. We started with the Sorrento style cheese fondue, more out of curiosity than anything, it reminded me of pizza. For my main dish I splurged and enjoyed the stuffed buffalo, a slice of buffalo meat stuffed with mozzarella and vegetables with roasted rosemary potatoes and a salad. Finished off with lemoncello, unfortunately still not as good as the one I had in Venice with my parents in 2009. After dinner, Brenda found our transportation, another hotel shuttle, this time without actually inquiring about the fee we just pretended to be part of that hotel and gave him a 4 euro tip, since that is what we would have given the other hotel driver. Having expected a quiet peaceful sleep on the mountain, we turned in after dinner, just to be woken up by fireworks that seemed to go on for two hours, I am sure that is an exaggeration since I didn't look at the clock, but it definitely kept me awake well beyond a time I was pleased with.

Now our last journey down the mountain we figured we had set, just hop on the same hotel bus we took the first time. Our plans were foiled when no such bus arrived. Standing under the bus covering, shivering because of the wind and rain, I watched traffic coming down the mountain. Finally a bus that looked somewhat related to the city and reminded me of a firetruck came down the road, I put my arm out in hopes it will stop. Thankfully the driver did, saying he could take us to the city for a euro each. I believe it was a retirement bus of some sort, but it worked out.

After the adventures of traveling the mountain, getting to Capri was easy, buy a ticket for the ferry and off we go. Upon arriving to Capri at Marina Grande, the weather was still dreary and chilly enough to not want to embark on an open air boat ride of the island, so we do the sensible thing and buy the day bus pass, hoping to find places to visit with that. We wander to Capri, Anacapri, the outskirts of the Blue Grotto, and Marina Piccola. 

Capri was at the top of the tram, a small town filled with tourist shops and boutiques. 

Anacapri was more peaceful, closer to a town than a tourist spot, so that is where we had lunch. It was still a touristy spot for lunch, but my spaghetti with fresh tomatoes was quite tasty, although not comparable to Buffalito. 

Going back to Capri by bus we go by foot and lots of stairs to Marina Piccola to see Faraglioni, a rock formation in the water. We also stopped by the rocky beach. After that, our visit ended, hopping on a bus to the ferry back to Napoli where we caught the train home.

Roman Wonders Part 2

Having learned of the Roma Pass, our first stop on Monday was to the tourist office. This pass allows purchasers to skip the lines at the first locations and get discounts at a few others, plus free public transportation for three days. It was an excellent purchase. Our first visit was Trevi Fountain followed by the Pantheon, as they were right around the corner from the office and the hotel.

After that we went to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill as planned, luckily the weather obeyed, offering sunshine, so it wasn't too chilly. The lines outside the Colosseum were unbelievable, immediately I wondered if we would ever make it through the gates to visit, then all of a sudden people created their own pathway through the masses and we followed. As it happens that was the line for the holders of the Roma Pass, meaning us. Having that little pass in hand allowed us to walk past everyone, getting inside almost immediately. Inside the structure was unbelievable, such a piece of crumbling history. The courtyard contained the ruins and I was surprised to see little blossoming flowers just growing on the sides of the rocks.

Leaving the Colosseum, we immediately went to the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forums, unfortunately, we probably should have stopped for a snack, but we were OK. The grounds were expansive showing everything from a large bird house to ancient ruins.

Lunch and a visit to the hotel gave us the energy to find new areas to explore, a church with two churches inside ancient ruins below the main cathedral; Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a bust of Mother Teresa and returning us to Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Santa Maria has a well known face statue inside, the Mouth of Truth. Supposedly if you go up to the statue, place your hand inside the mouth and tell a lie, the mouth will chomp down on your hand. We did not wait in line to take our chances, but still capture it in a photograph. Dinner this evening was an absolute feast at Santa Cristina; the recommended dish was zucchini pasta, homemade recipe, so Mom and I ordered that along with a filet mignon, deciding to split the two. No room for dessert, but I am sure it would have been delicious.

Tuesday we ventured to the Vatican. Somehow we went inside the Cathedral while a service was about to start, managed to look around, escaping before the full service started. We made the executive decision to go up the dome, not the best decision of our trip to say the least. I had a bit of trouble on the stairs because it was a right leg dominated climb and Mom experienced a bit of claustrophobia in the climb. There were warnings about heart conditions, etc, but no warnings about tiny, itty bitty hallways or stairways. We made it to the top, caught some fresh air, dreading the journey down. We made it to ground level, in great need of a rest in the open air away from the crowds.

After a somewhat disappointing lunch of pizza we decide to go down to the Giardino Roma, thinking it was a short walk from the Vatican. Unfortunately, the walk wasn't as straightforward as the map made it seem; we ended up at a bus terminal after climbing more stairs, so off we went to the hotel for proper directions to the park. I guess not many tourists visiting Rome ask to visit the green area, because the hotel attendant was unfamiliar with the area. We hopped off the bus near Santa Maria in Trastevere, enjoyed a gelato and wandered inside the church, just to have the doors closed behind us, signaling the start of a funeral. I don't know many people who have experienced that, but it is a rather uncomfortable feeling, crashing a funeral for an unknown person. We managed to sneak out and make our may to Fonte Acqua Paola and Porta San Pancrazio.

At last we made it to the top of the park, catching view of Monumento a Garibaldi and the statue of his wife. Just this year, a new statue development was placed inside the park, busts of leaders were placed all around the walkways. Overall the park was a beautiful location in Rome, that I highly recommend visiting if you have the time. My favorite area was the statue of Garibaldi's wife, Anita, on the horse. They had her story on four different panels, each on one side, fighting alongside her husband. We caught a bus down from the top of the mountain, just to be dropped at the bus terminal we had found earlier that day.

With a bit of time to spare before our dinner plans, we visited the island. It is a miniature piece of land with almost nothing on it. We were told it is a more thriving place during the summer.

That night we had dinner reservations at a French restaurant run by nuns, complete with singing of Ave Maria. The entire restaurant was empty except for one couple just finishing and a pair of clergymen behind us. A rather awkward experience, especially when I ordered dessert, the waitress, a nun, was not happy with me wanting the dessert. The food was good, but it was not the exciting experience I thought it would be with the entire restaurant singing Ave Maria before their meal.

Our last day in Rome was a dreary, cloudy day, making us thankful that we had hit all of the main spots on our list in the days prior. We did venture out  to the train station to get my ticket home, a stop for some lunch and a visit to the Wax Museum. The Wax Museum was an entertaining spot for an indoors day. Some of the statues were a bit off in their representations, but it was still a fun place to visit. Afterwards, I decided a hot chocolate or something would be nice, oh what a mistake that was. Just two blocks past our hotel, we get caught in a downpour, getting completely soaked despite having raincoats with us. That experience made us completely happy to return to the hotel for a change of clothes and a chance to stay dry, finish packing up the hefty bag I was sending home with mom full of winter clothes.

As you can see, our trip was a wonderful vacation. It went by so quickly though, as you can imagine.