An Italian Adventure ~ Day Three

Taking in Pompeii, Sorrento, The Island of Capri and The Amalfi Coast

Day three saw another early start this one even earlier than the last two, this was so we could hit the road and make the most of our last day before heading back to Rome. We drove from Sorrento down the world famous Amalfi Coast to the small town of Amalfi taking in he gorgeous views along the way. We saw the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea and the view was just perfect a great way to start your day!

Next up we stopped at a look out over the hillside town of Postiano to get s few snaps of the picturesque little town again watching the sun rise over the hills it was truly magical we took a few shots from the look out and then we got a group shot with all the people on the tour which is a nice little memento of the trip and a good way to remember all the lovely people I met on this trip.

Once we arrived in Amalfi we went to a great little place and had some breakfast pastries before having a little look around the town, we had quite a bit of time to kill and the town was fairly small so once we had looked at the cute shops and the Church we headed to the marina and chilled out there catching some sun. We then met back up with the rest of the group for a little boat trip to see some of the scenery from the sea. On this boat trip we anchored up for a short while so we could jump off the boat and have a swim in the Mediterranean which was a real treat.

Back on dry land we piled back onto the bus and were shipped to the hilly town of Ravello more in land than Postiano and Amalfi. Once we arrived here we went straight for some lunch having a panini and a Peroni of course. We didn't have to much time in Ravello because it is so small but we wandered around for a little while and grabbed a frozen yoghurt with all the chocolate toppings and general yumminess before jumping back on the bus to head back to out campsite in Rome.

Back in Rome a few of us that had booked in to the campsite for the evening before heading onwards on our travels met up for dinner at the campsite restaurant as a final goodbye and also a chance to swap contact details.

This was my first experience of travelling on my own in the sense that I didn't go on this trip with anyone I knew in advance, and this is a very big step for me. I used this trip a taster of what solo travel and organised independent trips might be like, and I must say it was an absolutely wonderful experience once that I hope to do again in the near future. Its such a great way to see the world whilst making new friends along the way. 

You can read Days One and Two by clicking on the links

An Italian Adventure ~ Day Two

Taking in Pompeii, Sorrento, The Island of Capri and The Amalfi Coast

Day two was an early start so that we could get the ferry across to the Island of Capri for a day looking around an exploring the island. We were lucky that a ferry docked up right outside our camp site and we all piled on for a journey across to Capri that took about an hour, we stopped of at another dock to collect some more people from another town and then we headed straight across to the island. On the approach you could really marvel at the beauty of the little rocky island its such a beautiful island. Feeling a touch hungover from the night before i made myself comfortable and had a little snooze, its a real talent of mine to be able to fall asleep almost anywhere! 

Once we disembarked we headed to a little Café for some breakfast, as it was still quite early my appetite hadn't quite woken up so I just had a plate of fries with some Mayo. Other people in the group had some really yummy looking food with Bruschetta, Pizzas and Paninis on the menu that all look super tasty! Once we had finished eating we headed to a little shop that sold food and drinks and I picked up a sandwich to keep for later on. Lunch in the bag a few of us decided to head to the other side of the island to go and see the Blue Grotto.

 We hopped in a stretch Fiat car that took 7 of us across to the other side of the island for our tour of the Blue Grotto. This mini tour of the island was great we went right to the top of the mountain and had some amazing views over the Mediterranean Sea and of the main land to. Once we arrived at the  Blue Grotto we joined the queue which was quite long but we were willing to wait as we had heard that it was well worth seeing. As we neared the front of the queue there was a little bit of a dispute happening between a Italian family and one of the gents that rows the boats that take you in to the grotto. Unable to understand we watched on this typical Italian argument which in itself why quite amusing they get so animated. Soon a few more of the row boat handlers joined in and the family stormed off quite angry and we found ourselves at the front of the queue completely unaware as to what was happening. An Italian further back in the queue approached the rowers to ask what was going on and he then explained to us that the water had become to choppy and it was becoming dangerous, they could get us into the grotto but they may not be able to get us back out again. 

Disappointed we picked ourselves up and headed back to catch a bus to head to one of the little towns on the island to do a bit of sight seeing. We caught the bus to Anacapri where we decided to go on the chair lift right to the top of the mountain to take in the panoramic views. It cost 8 euros for a single trip or 11 euros for a round trip, as we were short on time we opted for a round trip. Now I'm terrified of heights so going on this was a huge deal for me and I'm pretty sure my heart rate was raised the entire trip especially when a wasp landed on my bag and I couldn't move to wafted it away, terrifying times indeed! Up to the top safe and sound I took a look around taking pictures of the beautiful scenery before heading back down.

Back on solid ground we headed back to the marina for the last part of the day sitting on the beach soaking up a bit of the sun before we headed back to the ferry to take us back to the camp site. Once back we freshened up and then headed for some food on the camp sites restaurant. 

That's all for day two make sure you check in again for the third and final day!

You can read days One and Three by clicking on the links!

An Italian Adventure ~ Day One

Taking in Pompeii, Sorrento, The Island of Capri and the Amalfi Coast

Last week I took the plunge and went on my first ever Solo Travel trip! I decided to ease myself in gently by booking a long weekend trip to Italy with the travel company Busabout. I booked on to the Busabout Italian Adventure cramming a whole lot in to the short time here is what I got up to!

I met the Bus outside Plus Camping Roma where I had stayed over night its a camping village just outside of Rome very convenient and very inexpensive. Once on the bus I got chatting to a few of my fellow travellers and soon made some very good friends. Our first stop was the lost city of Pompeii, a place I have wanted to visit for so long. We were guided around the town by a local guide and she gave a very interesting and detailed tour which lasted around two hours. Pompeii is definitely worth visiting its so interesting to see what life was like in Roman times what the buildings looked like and there uses also all the tools and pots etc. everything almost perfectly preserved a real treat for any one interested in ancient history its like a snapshot in time.

After a spot of lunch we hit the road again on our way to Sorrento. We arrived at our campsite for the next few days dropped off our luggage, freshened up and then went into Sorrento to explore. As part of the tour we were scheduled to go to a Limonchello tasting at a cute little shop in the town owned and run by great guy called Tony, now I'm not a huge fan of the drink itself but he also sold Limoncello infused chocolate covered nuts which were just to die for. Having picked some chocolates to take home for the family we moved on to a look out over the Sorrento bay and en-route I picked up some Gelato and Prosecco to chill with before my evening meal.

After our meal we went to a local cocktail bar that did us a cheap deal on drinks and we all got suitably merry drinking numerous cocktails moving on from the normal sized cocktails to those big fishbowls fairly cheap too! We then decided to move on to a Karaoke bar because who doesn't love a spot of Karaoke huh?? I had an absolute ball getting to know my fellow travellers more and having a real laugh. We missed the last shuttle bus up to the top of the hill so we ended up walking, which I was none to please about but I made it back and in to bed safe and sound!

So this is just day one as you can already see we crammed so much in to the time we had check back soon for days two and three!

You can read Days Two and Three by clicking on the links!