Ciao Italia - Central Italy (Assisi, Sorrento, Capri, and Rome)

We last left off with a couple of days spent wandering the magical canals of Venice. While an absolute must-see on any Italian tour, it is a pretty out of the way city in relation to the rest of the country. We could have back tracked in order to get back to Rome, but instead, we decided to drive through a bit of central Italy to get to our next destination: Sorrento. We knew we would lose the entire day to driving because Venice to Sorrento was a solid 8 hours. To break up the drive a little bit, we stopped about halfway through in the town of Assisi. Assisi is a great pit stop. It is an old town built on the top of a mountain and (like Lucca in Tuscany) is still surrounded by its original city walls. We braved the narrow and windy roads up the mountain, found a car park, and enjoyed a nice stroll through the town. We walked about a mile to the Basilica of St. Fancis and took a quick self-guided tour using their audio guide system. Before too long, we were back on our way south.

St. Francis Basilica in Assisi

Italian highways are a little unique. Unlike toll roads in the U.S. where you get on a toll road, collect a ticket or swipe your EZ pass, and then pay the toll when you exit the toll road, Italian toll roads are different. You collect a ticket when you enter the toll road, but there are several toll roads that connect to one another, so you can change roads several times before you actually end up paying a toll. When you finally come to the pay toll booth don't be surprised if you find yourself with a 20 Euro charge. This is where it came in handy to be traveling with another couple because in addition to sharing the cost of the rental car, we also alternated who paid the tolls. Also along the toll roads are rest stops called "Auto Grills". These were great for fuel and food during our 8-hour drive. 

As we got closer to the Naples/Sorrento area, the landscape greatly changed. We were approaching the coastal region. We opted to stay in Sorrento as opposed to Naples for several reasons. This was the first Europe trip that I planned on my own. While I still consider myself a timid traveler, I was terrified while planning this trip. I read travel books cautioning us against pickpockets and scamming gypsies. Most cities seemed relatively safe until I got to the section about Naples. It received overall praise for the things to do and diversity of culture, but got low marks for safety. Our main reason for visiting this region of the country was to see the Isle of Capri and the ruins of Pompeii, so when we read that Sorrento was the "resort" option for that region, we opted for that instead. I'll never forget driving on the highway above Naples on our way to Sorrento. Compared to everything else we'd seen in the country, Naples looked like the slums of the earth. Now looking back, I'm sure I've been to worse places and my fear of Naples seems very naive. At the same time, we had a marvelous time in Sorrento, so I don't regret our decision. 

We had a little trouble getting into Sorrento. Driving along the coastal roads was terrifying especially in the dark. We had previously decided not the drive the Amalfi Coast due do road safety (windy, narrow roads often without guardrails), and our scary drive into Sorrento reaffirmed our decision. I think driving at night had a lot to do with it because when we drove those same roads in the daylight 2 days later, they didn't seem nearly as bad. Also beware of motorbikes. They completely ignore all traffic laws and can be really scary road-sharing neighbors. As we approached the center of Sorrento, for some reason, one of the main roads in town was closed the evening we arrived. We had a terrible time trying to locate our hotel. The GPS failed us (not recognizing the hotel name) and we drove around the town for what felt like forever until we finally came upon the Majestic Palace Hotel.The hotel itself was lovely though our guest rooms were in the basement. Of all the hotels we stayed in, I'd say this was my least favorite, but it was still cool, clean and completely adequate. 

As I mentioned before, we didn't actually plan on doing anything in Sorrento itself. Sorrento had an easy access point to get to the Isle of Capri. For anyone wishing to spend a week on an absolutely magical Italian island, I couldn't recommend Capri more. To get to Capri from Sorrento, you have to take a hydrofoil across the water. Our first destination once arriving at Capri was the famous Blue Grotto. Not only is this one of the most beautiful natural wonders that I've ever seen, the adventure of getting there is half the fun. It's worth mentioning quickly that August in the month when Italians go on holiday. That's why Milan was a ghost town. Where do all of these Italians go on their holiday? They go to Sorrento. We knew this ahead of time from the research that we did. We also learned that the Blue Grotto is one of the busiest attractions, so our goal was to get there as early as possible. Remember me saying a few posts ago, that you can sleep when you get home? That's right friends. Sleep later (or get to bed early the night before which is what we always did).

By getting up early on your day in Capri, you maximize your ability to do and see things without waiting for hours. The Blue Grotto gets very crowded and if you wait until later in the day to go, you can run into 2 problems. You might have to wait for hours until it's your turn to go or the waters will get rough and they'll close the grotto for the day. Not wanting to take any chances, we got up very very early that morning. We took the very first hydrofoil across to the "big" island of Capri, caught the very first boat out the Blue Grotto, and the adventure began. When the main boat arrived at the entrance of the grotto, a bunch of small row boats surrounded us. They began calling out for parties of 2 or 3. We held up 4 fingers indicating that we needed someone who could take 4 people. Before too long, one of the drivers motioned us over, and we boarded a small row boat. But instead of sitting on the wooden seats of the boat, we sat on the floor of the boat with our legs in front of us. The next person sat in between my legs with their legs in front of them, etc. etc. Then the boat's "captain" explained to us that when we got to the entrance of the grotto we would have to lean back as far as we could. The driver then grabbed a piece of rope outside the entrance to the grotto, told us to lay down, and he pulled us through the tiniest opening in the cave. That's all I'm going to say about that. It was a fun and exciting thing to do and the magnificent wonder you behold inside the grotto is unparalleled by anything I've ever seen.

Laying down to enter the Blue Grotto

After exiting the grotto (the same way you entered) you have 2 options: take the same boat back to the main island, or have the driver drop you off at the "ladder" so you can catch a local bus into town. Our next stop was the smaller island of Ana Capri, so we opted for the ladder. The bus took us into town where we located the chair lift up to the top of the mountain. (Think really really long ski lift). The chair lift was about 15-20 mins long and gave you an incredible view of the entire island. You saw local homes, lemon trees, beautiful gardens, and when you arrived at the top, the water views were stunning. There is also a noticeable temperature change though since you spend most of the day in the island heat, I don't recommend bringing a jacket for the 30 mins you spend at the summit of the mountain. Just tough out the cold. You'll miss it soon enough when you're back in the heat.

View from the top of the mountain in Ana Capri

Since we got up so early that morning, we did the grotto and chair lift all before lunch. We spent the rest of the day walking around the island shopping before heading back to Sorrento. In the evening, we walked around town for a while, got a quick dinner and turned in early. (In case this wasn't already painfully obvious, I'm not the blogger to ask for advice on good nightlife.) The next morning, we checked out of the Majestic Palace Hotel, and drove to the ruins of Pompeii.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to see Pompeii. When reading about it in the travel books we learned about a few different options to maximize our day there. The Pompeii complex is huge. Beyond huge. We could venture out and explore the ruins on our own, join an official tour, or seek out an "unofficial" tour. We heard that at famous sites like Pompeii there would often be free lance guides who would offer to give you a tour for a discounted rate. Leery of scams we weren't eager to embrace this sort of thing until the we came across a guide who made us an offer we couldn't refuse. First, we didn't give him any money until he gave us our entrance ticket. And second, we didn't pay for the tour, until after it was over. So that being said, we realized he had no reason to scam us out of a good tour because if he vanished, he didn't get paid. Boy were we glad we did this. It was only a 1 or 2 hours, but it covered all of the highlights of the city, explaining what archeologist's found and what certain buildings were used for. Sure, we could have learned this on our own, but it was much nicer having a guide. After the tour, we spent a few more hours wandering the streets before calling it a day. (TIP: wear sunscreen. After so many days of wearing short sleeves, I wore a tank top to Pompeii because we weren't going in any churches. The scorching August Italian sun combined with very little shade left me with very red shoulders.) 

Before driving to Rome, we had one more stop to make. After seeing the devastation that the eruption  of Mt. Vesuvius caused at Pompeii, we wanted to come face to face with the mouth of the volcano ourselves. Crazy? Probably! :) So, we drove up to the Vesuvius visitor center (which was another one of those narrow roads and windy drives...there are a lot of those in Italy, but don't let that deter you!) parked our car, and....it started raining. We went from a hot, burning morning at Pompeii to a chilly, rainy afternoon up the side of a volcano. One of my souvenirs from the trip ended up being a fleece jacket that I bought at the visitor center. Our traveling companions also fortunately packed little plastic ponchos which really came in handy. What? You think we would let a little rain scare us. Heck no! How many times to get to hike up the side of an infamous volcano?? True the clouds and rain made the views from crater of the volcano not so great, but looking down into the crater of Vesuvius was worth ever step in the rain. And looking back, it's such a fun memory. 

From the Vesuvius, we drove back to the Rome airport, turned in our car and looked for a ride to our hotel in downtown Roma. This is where it was important for us to remember that there is a flat rate taxi fare from the Rome airport into downtown. At the time the rate was around 45 Euros (it was a pretty long drive). There are drivers all over the place trying to charge tourists more. One driver even approached us, grabbed my bag saying that he could take all four of us into town for a "very low price." He had my bags in the trunk of his car before he would finally tell us that he would drive us for the "bargain" price of 100 euros. The other gentleman in our group sprang into action, immediately grabbing my bags, forcefully saying no, and we were back on our way to the taxi stand. The driver didn't pursue us or anything like that. It was a slightly unsettling thing especially for me, but we weren't harmed or cheated out of any money. If that happens to you, just don't be afraid to ask how much and say no if you don't feel comfortable.

Our hotel in Rome was called the Hotel Artemide which was right downtown. I don't remember too much about this hotel other than it met all of our hotel criteria and the location was very convenient to the Rome metro which took us everywhere we wanted to go. 

The last two days of our Italian getaway were spent in the capital city of Roma. Some might say that we saved the best for last, and Rome was great, but for us, Rome was just the icing on an already delicious cake. The only glitch in our plan of leaving Rome for last was that it left us in the city on a Saturday and Sunday. The Vatican is closed to tourists on Sundays, and is only open until 11AM on Saturdays (at least this was the case in 2007), so that left us with a very small window in which to see Vatican City including the Sistine Chapel. So in order to see the world's smallest country (Vatican City), we got up (surprise surprise) early so that we were able to get in line to get tickets before it opened. (In Rome, like Venice, we also did the Rome Pass but it did not include the Vatican.) Unfortunately, we weren't the only tourists with such a brilliant plan and by the time we arrived, there was already a huge line that wrapped all the way around the outer walls of Vatican City.

Our hope for even getting in was slim until we saw a gentleman walking around offering English tours. We stopped him to ask him what his 'deal' was, and he made us a very similar offer to our guide in Pompeii. We pay for nothing until he hands us tickets. What did we have to lose? This ended up working out to our advantage because entry to the Vatican is done in 3 waves: official groups (schools, etc.), unofficial groups/large parties (like our unofficial group), and individual tickets. By joining up with this tour guide we were able to bypass the huge line and get into the Vatican before all of the individual tourists. The guide was also able to get a walkie talkie system from the visitor center, so he spoke into a device that fed directly into the headsets we were all wearing. It was a great way to hear him over all of the other tour guides talking. What was supposed to be a 2 hour tour ended up lasting almost 4 hours, but we have absolutely no complaints. Our guide was excellent, and after the tour was over, he disappeared so quickly we didn't even have time to tip him. The tour ended at St. Peter's Basilica right around lunch time. We spent the rest of the day seeing typical Roman sites like the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain while walking around the city in general. Rome is a lovely city and it was a great way to spend our second to last day.

Our very last day in Rome was spent seeing some of the most famous places in all of Italy including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. But we started the morning taking a bus out to the Roman Catacombs. The bus depot is easily accessible from the metro, and we found the bus we needed to see the Catacombs. The bus drove along the Via Appia Antica which is an ancient Roman route that still exists today. The Catacombs, while a little creepy, were really interesting and didn't take too much time. If you have a free morning, I highly recommend making the trek out to see them.

Our next stop after the Catacombs was...finally...the Roman Colosseum. This, like the Vatican, had a line wrapped all the way around the entire structure. This is where our Rome Pass saved the day. From the outside, it looked like there were 2 lines: one for groups and one for singles. We weren't too sure what to do (we read online that the Rome Pass allowed you to bypass the line), so we sort of stood at the end of the group line with our Rome Passes in our hands. A very kind tour guide happened to see us and said something to the effect of, "No no. You no wait in line. Go to front. Go! Go!" Not wanting to seem rude, we gladly followed the guide's advice and casually walked all the way to the front of the line where we saw a separate security entrance for Rome Pass holders. There was no line at all, and we walked right in. We would have stood in line for hours easily if we hadn't encountered that person. The Colosseum is simply amazing. I love that the stage floor is gone and you can see the tunnels and routes below the arena. Although the Colosseum is fantastic and an absolute must-see, it's not terribly time consuming. An hour is more than enough time to see what you came there to see. We spent the afternoon at the Roman Forum which, contrary to the Colosseum, can take hours to see. But the afternoon was hot, and we were suffering from severe vacation fatigue, so we didn't spent nearly as much time there as we could have. We made an effort to go to Palatine Hill (ancient ruined homed of former Roman rulers), but we didn't make it much past the entrance. We were happy to find shade and relax a bit on our last day of vacation.

We asked the hotel to arrange for a taxi for us the next morning and pretty soon we were on our way back to the states. This first trip abroad under my belt, I immediately made notes of the things that went well and the very few things that went wrong. I knew the lessons we learned in Italy would help make all of our future trips go smoothly. Now 7 years and 7 countries later, that couldn't be more true.

I hope you've enjoyed the summary of my Italian travels. Coming up next will be the highlights from my 2009 trip to France and England. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler