OurTravels

We arrived at the Slovenia train station after taking the 12:52 IC train from Trieste in first class seats that were closer to second class than the first class seats we had gotten accustomed too.  Wondering if this will be the norm from now on.   After getting off we found a taxi that got us to the walking area of the old town.  Then a short “slog” to our hotel called Kollman Rooms which turned out to be a walk-up, lots of old wooden steps that were not level.   The rooms were very modern inside but the but the building was pretty old (like everywhere else we’ve been so far on this trip.

Julija  Restaurant one block from the river and our hotel.  I had Goulash, Kathy had the Duck.  Both were superb.

Joe Peña’s Cantina y Bar for lunch the next day with Tami’s friends who are living and working in Ljubljana for their church.  The Fajitas were very good.  But not spicy, bring your own favorite hot sauce with you to Europe.  Nothing so far has had anything that could remotely be called hot or spicy.

That evening we had Burgers for dinner and somehow found a real gelatto place (with the covers) about 500 meters down the river from our hotel.

This is truly a walking town,  no cars are allowed in the old town walking area.  Which is a fairly large place.

It rained most of the time we were here.

We were getting ready to check out after paying for late checkout and I happened to notice the walking area electric cart parked next door to hour hotel.   I quickly ran outside to ask the driver if he could take us to the tain station, he said what I thought was Yes.   I ran back in, told Tami and Scott and asked them to stall him while we got our luggage and brought them down all the stairs to the ground floor.   He waited, took our baggage, loaded it on top of T&S’s and we climbed aboard and off we went.   I wasn’t really sure where he would actually take us as I wasn’t sure he really understood what I was asking.   That Walking area ride service driver took us all the to the train station on a very rainy day.  That really ended our stay in Ljubljana on a high note!

 

Walked less than a hundred meters from the train station to our B&B Hotel.  Pretty nice for such an inexpensive hotel.  That was very nice as we were schlepping our bags.

Had a walking tour setup for 2pm, a couple hours after arriving.  Not the best plan but we did it anyway.   Trieste isn’t a large city, but it sure does have a complicated history.   Lots of lovely buildings and waterfront.  The buses are aw-sum but the drivers think the gas pedal is just on and off…  no finesse at all.  herky jerky while you are trying to tap your credit card to pay.

Kathy slept and rested most of the first and second days there.   (smart)  When the 3 of us got back from the walking tour we were exhausted. (don’t get old)  That evening I found a small Italian Trattoria with great reviews just a few hundred meters from our hotel.    It turned out to be the best dinner so far (one month already in Italy) and we’ve had a lot of excellent meals here.    It may have had something to do with the two big glasses of wine or beers.  Not sure.   Its called Salsapariglia Italian Ristorantino – Trieste Restaurant if you ever get to Trieste.  Small place and you probably need reservations.  (we did as it was Friday night)

Saturday, Kathy and I bused down to the center of town for lunch and afterward I took the Tram di Opicina (old tram up to the town of Opicina, steep climb that uses a pusher tractor on the steepest part, closest to downtown.)   Its crowded and uses Tap 2 Pay.  ~$1.70 each way depending on exchange rate.  Its got history if you want to read about it.   I took the bus down as it was uncrowded and had Air Conditioning .

The next morning our checkout was unusually late for Italy, noon!  Our train leaves just before one pm so kind of perfect.  But we do get to Ljubljana close to 4pm.

 

Arrived at Santa Lucia train station on a Frecca from Verona and started looking around for the #1 Vaperetto to get to the apartment.   On our way to the ticket booth we were stopped by the Policia and asked for our tax payment paperwork to be on the island.  We told them we had rooms and had already paid.   They said fine, not even waiting for us to find the email that was sent to us to prove the taxes were paid.     We found the ticket office and it was 9.5 Euros each for 75 minutes on the “bus”.     After getting the tickets we walked over to the Dock E, a short way to the platform to get on the next “bus’.   At the validation machine on land there were a few guys trying to look official with lanyards and some white card with something written on them.  They grabbed our tickets and validated them and then grabbed our luggage and rolled it onto the dock.  Then the clowns came to me and showed me a receipt for 50 Euros and said we had to pay for our luggage.   I called their bluff when I stood up saying lets get the policia to straighten this out.   As I walked out behind them up the gangway, one guy turned to me and said, Never-mind and they all walked away.   A few moments later when I turned back around after getting back on the platform they were all gone, no where to be seen.   No an auspicious start to our stay in Venice.

Got on the next Vaporetto and with in minutes it took us to our stop.  We walked off and went down a very narrow alley out to one of the larger streets and maybe 100 yards to the right, I stopped to determine where the door to the apartment was.  Then I guy standing there asked if I was william…  He lead us to the room and explained everything we needed to know.   This place even had a washing machine, GREAT!   We were tired of washing clothes in sinks when a laundromat wasn’t convenient.  (which was a lot of places)

Anyway, this is one of the nicest apartments yet.  We are on the 6th floor, but no real view to speak of.  Nice elevator were all four of us could fit in at once (not many of those. (Only 2 if you had luggage)   The bedrooms were Miniature with that capital M…   It had a nice living room and small kitchen,  but as we are finding almost everywhere, no Microwave.  So far, only the apartment in Genoa had a Micro.   There seemed to be plenty of outlets in the kitchens.  But not many in all the other rooms.  I think the standard in the us is an outlet every 6 feet,  I think in Italy, its maybe every 20 feet, if there is a standard.

First afternoon walked over to the Rialto Bridge, it was mobbed as expected.   Went back to the room for a nap.  Later went out for dinner as a small fish place, but none of us had fish.  The pasta was very good though.

Second day we left early for St Marks Square.   Not very crowded.  Saw the Bridge of Sighs again.  Then they went into St Marks church.  (I was church-ed out by then)   I walked over to the bell tower as there wasn’t much of a line.  But I wasn’t planning on going up into it as I assumed it was a zillion stairs up.   When I asked how many steps up, they replied no stairs,  they only allow folks on the elevator..  YEAH!!   I ran over to the ticket line, of about 6 people and within minutes I was whisked to the top.  What a view of Venice and the surrounding islands.  So glad I asked.  The rest of the day we just wondered around the alleys and canals.   On the first afternoon we took a Service Gondola to get back across the Grand Canal where our apartment was located.  Talk about tippy canoe…  (wheres Tyler?)

That afternoon we set out to find a good gelatto shop on the island.  From what I could tell there were two of  them.  (viewing the pictures on google maps) we headed over to the service gondola with Tami and Scott.  It seemed even tippier… if that’s a word.   You sit on the gunwales, which are about 5″ wide.  Its quite a rocking thing as all the Vaporetto and boats motor by causing all sorts of waves..    One thing you will notice in Venice, there are no straight routes to anywhere.   Lots of T intersections on the walks where you must decide which way to go.  You must have a good sense of direction as the narrow walkways don’t allow much GPS signal to get to your phone.   Its quite an experience you just have to like, otherwise its a bit frustrating.  I love it, apparently the only one who does in our group.  About 8/10th of the way to the first listed shop we lost two of our group to go back and take more pictures of the Rialto bridge. (I was done going back into that chaos)  We had already been there 3 times during our 2 night stay.  (which only gives you one full day in the city)  About 5 minutes later we found the 1st shop,  they did not sell any gelatto, none it was a pizza shop.   It was another 5 minutes of walking to get to the other one that was in the train station.  We got there,  Luckily Kathy found a church just prior and wanted to go inside.

There is a chain of Gelatto shops called Grom that has the non tourist gelatto.  (In the covered pots)    We enjoyed our good gelatto and then bought tickets to ride the Vaporetto back to the apartment.

The next morning we had an early train to get to Venice Mestre (on the mainland) so we were able to purchase tickets at the machine on the dock for the Vaporetto ride to the Train Station,  board a Regional train and in Mestre we caught the Frecca to Trieste.

 

 

We road a Frecca from Milan to Verona Porto Nuovo station,  our apartment was near the big Porta Nuova city gate, just a short walk from the train station.   It was a very nice place with a large living room.  We have not had livings rooms in the apartments we have stayed in till this one.  Most just had uncomfortable chairs in the kitchen area.  This place was large.   The first evening there we had great pizza, but the ladies said their pasta wasn’t up to snuff.   Kathy and I went back the next night for pizza.  It was great again!   Note to sell, ask them to cut the pizza to make it easier to eat, otherwise they do not cut it, requiring you to find a knife somewhere.

The next morning we headed to the Arena, at what is now the center of the old town.   Looks a lot like a short version of the Colosseo,  but was missing a lot of the external cladding as it had collapsed during a long ago earthquake.   From there we headed out to look for lunch as we weren’t wanting fish and chips.   We found this great little spot with a large outside patio covered by very big umbrellas.  Kathy was not  interested in the 4 P’s for lunch and got a nice looking salad.  I ordered a Panini,  one of the P’s.    Pretty good,  when finished we were just a short walk to the Arch where the walking tour starts.

Had a great walking tour with a really good guide that explained all the history of the area.   This picture is of the gate where we met the guide.   Verona is cool town, but the Romeo and Gillette stuff is all a scam.  As they were fictional.  It was incredible to me that the gullible folks paid to stand in line to see the balcony.

Walked over to lunch, Kathy had the no PPPP lunch.

Wandered over to the 2 hour walking tour.   The guide was very good.  We visited lots of landmarks including the Romeo and Gillette house. (all fictional)  You will see the ruts in the roadway below the gate from carts and roman chariots.

Ended tour an walked to the bus stop to get back home, but a different bus appeared and we got on by mistake.  Ended up a good distance from the apartment so we had a 15 minute walk instead of the 4 minute walk if we had waited a few more minutes more and took the bus that went right behind our apartment.   But because of that bus stopping far away we did get to stop and sit-down at an outdoor bar and spend some money on wine and bottled beer as our dogs were barking after walking a lot that day.

Took an Uber to the Verona train station as a nice treat to start the day for the trip to Venice as I knew getting around Venice with luggage would be challenging.

 

 

Boarded a 3 hour long EuroCity train to Zurich.  Nice views all the way, except in the tunnels.  One of them was the Gotthard Base Tunnel,  recently reopened after a freight train derailment a couple years back.   Its the longest (35 miles) and deepest tunnel at 7500+ feet deep.   The time went pretty quickly and then we were in Zurich.   It was around noon so I thought we would stop for lunch but that didn’t appear to be in the cards.  Some of us were in a bit of a hurry to get to Chur.   So we took a regional train that was close to 2 hours long to get there.   The 1 hour trains were all canceled due to track work on the direct line to Chur.  The one we took went the long way there. That extra 45 minutes was unwelcome after the longish morning ride from Milan.

We eventually got there and after a short struggle with our GPS map found the exit to the train station going the right direction to our hotel.    It turned out to be an long uphill drag of our luggage..  But the next morning it was a lot quicker as it was downhill all the way!

After we found the Hotel Drei Konig and walked inside only to see a sign saying the front desk was on the 1st floor… ground floor is 0 in Europe..  So the 1st floor is the second floor for us Americans..    And of course the Elevators started on that floor too.  Really?   We drug our luggage up a 20′ high staircase just to check in and board the elevator to our 2nd floor rooms (3rd floor to us)

It had been a long time since breakfast so we rushed out only to find most things closed, but did find one restaurant open.  We practically ran there and got a table.    I had a Pretzel and Bratwurst as you can see in the pictures.  Scott got some sort of sausage with Gold Leaf on top.  It was actual gold leaf, the metal.  (very thin gold)

We went back to the hotel via the long way but finally got there.   By then we were exhausted and got ready to turn the lights out.   Tami texted Kathy about them turning the lights out and at that same moment the church bells from right across the street from our window started going off, loudly..  And it didn’t stop for 12 minutes.  I could not believe what was happening.  I thought they were on some sort of relay system to start ringing them and it got stuck in the on position.  I still don’t know what was going on…

We were out early after having a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and were able to make the 8:17a  Bernina Express Train to Tirano

Wonderful Ride thru the Swiss Alps and the Italian Alps on the Bernina Express!

At the end of the Alps trip we took a regional train about 30 minutes toward Milan to the small town of Sondrio for the night.  It was a very nice town but our hotel was a ways from the station and of course it was an incline, not steep but you knew you were going uphill.   After checking in we headed out for lunch, it had been a very long time since breakfast in Milan, it was now after 3pm.  Turns out there was a rally going on in the plaza a few meters from our hotel and we ended up getting Great Pizza at a cafe and we ate it outside trying to figure out what was going on in that plaza.    Afterward we took a short nap (wow, who knew naps are fantastic!)   Later that evening I was told to find a spot to eat.  I found a Chinese place within a reasonable walking distance,  it was Sunday so most restaurants were not open in Sondrio (as in most of Italy)

We walk about 3/4 of a mile along the river and find the restaurant.  and that is when the fun began.

It looked like a typical Chinese restaurant with all the hanging do dads  and chopsticks on the tables.   But that’s where the “typical” ended.   Our waitress was from asia, but did not speak a lick of English and the menu was in Italian.   Our Google app was clueless for translations there.   I was confused as the menu read like it was an italian pasta joint.  But it turns out that they did serve Chinese food.   Ravioli turned out to be potstickers.  After that it almost made sense to me.   I was looking for Kung Pow Chicken, but no go on that.  I ended up with some other chicken dish, which was great, but I have no idea what to call it. (and I love Chinese food, not as much as Mexican though)  I tried to order Fried Rice with it, but that didn’t translate for our waitress.   She just kept saying No…    After a bit they started bringing a plate of food randomly.  The first thing that arrived was fried rice… Huh?   Tami said they must have figured out what I wanted and made it.  A bit later my chicken came out and some others food arrived.   Then my White Rice (riso blanca) arrived and I was a bit perplexed.   We all had our food by then but Kathy had nothing at all.

We figured out that Kathy s dish was Fried Rice with Chicken.  You couldn’t tell there was chicken in the fried rice I was eating.  So, I was eating Kathys plate.. Ugh..

At the end we were all still hungry so Kathy and I ordered the Ravioli (potstickers) and Tami and Scott got more food too.

The food was very good, but it was a very different experience getting it.  At the time we had been in Italy for a month.  Although not in such a small town with almost no tourist traffic.

The next morning we headed for the train station, again, all downhill.. YES!  and road a regional train to Milan Centrale that went along Lake Como for at least 30 miles.   In Milan Centrale we headed to the 5 Guys for a burger and Fries,  The first and last time I had been to a 5 guys was after working at our CoLo in Ashburn Va, I drove up to NYC and stopped at one on the way.   Lots of Fries,  I remember being astonished back then.   This time was very similar.  Our travel companions were well versed in 5 Guy Speak so we learned some of the secrets.    After that we boarded a Frecca to Verona.  (ETR 700 train)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrived early morning at the Genoa Principe Train station and as we headed out toward the taxi stand the clouds let loose with a torrent of rain.  We walked back in and bought 4 Cafe  Americano’s (American coffee) and sat down to wait it out.  By the time we finished the rain had stopped and we went back out looking for the taxi stand.  Was a bit of a wait, it was Easter morning and I guess they were all in church.   We ended up taking two taxis as they were very small, barely got 2 of us and our luggage in the first one.   We arrived at the apartment and it looked good from the outside, much better than the others, except maybe the one in Florence. (once we found the front door)

After a bit we finally got a hold of the landlord and she let us in remotely thru the outside door to the lobby.  We had a modern looking elevator here, but very small.  4 people without luggage, but only 2 with.   The sent us a code to unlock the key box mounted on the front door so we could get into the apartment.

So far its the largest and nicest one.   And I checked  out the locking mechanism on the front door, i looked like the vault door to a bank.  Lots of round steel bars protrude out when you turn the key a few times.   Its going to take a lot to break down that door!!  The exact opposite of our Florence apartment door.  Which looked like if you leaned on it from the outside it would open.

The apartment turned out to be the nicest so far, very large.   A large kitchen with a couch and the heat came on when needed.  Something that really hadn’t occurred at any other place so far.

It was filled with IKEA like furniture, which was some pretty uncomfortable stuff when used.   Our bed had plastic legs and one of them folded over early one morning.  I had to put on my engineering hat, not the Casey Jones one, but the other.   I ended up removing both of them and replaced them with two upside down buckets i found at a shop down the road for 5 euros each.

 

We took off and headed out for gelatto and to check out the San Lorenzo Basilica.   The gelatto was grand and so was the church.  I took a video inside the church so I could hear the pipe organ,  that was a pretty awesome sound in there.   And also of a bell tower with ringing bells that I was able to capture them being rung on video.  It was very nice sounding and being able to see them being rung was a great experience.

We met up with Tami and Scott in the Piazza Ferrari and walked down a large shopping boulevard that would almost be a mall, at least it seemed like we were in a mall, but a very old one with new chic tenants.   Once we got down to the bottom of the street we decided not to walk back up and hopped on a bus.  Turns out you need an app to buy tickets,  its not like other cities bus lines allowing us just to tap our credit card when hopping on.   The app was ATS Genova, turns out its similar in Milan with the ATS Milano app.   We took that to a stop not far from our apartment.

We are staying in the old area of town, with extremely narrow streets, some of them only 4′ wide.   I heard a comment about how a ambulance would get in there.   The next day we went out for lunch and afterward I wanted to see a Funicular, there are a bunch of them in Genoa but it seemed all but one was closed.  (possibly due to gondola accident in Naples a few days before, but we don’t know if that’s why)

The funicular that was open took us up about 300′ in elevation.  Then across the street was something else that looked like another one, but it was a very long walking tunnel that went to an elevator that took us up at least anther 300′ higher.    I turned the wrong way coming out and we didn’t get to see anything.  Turns out there was a great viewpoint overlooking the city in the other direction and also another old church but do to unpopular demand we never got there.   On the way back down I spotted another one practically across the street from the one we were coming down, but it turned out that one was just another elevator down a short walking tunnel.   This was a much nicer elevator and it dropped us off at a different scenic overlook.  Took some pics and headed back down and home.

On the way back I stopped at the Pizza place behind our apartment and had a slice of “focaccia al formaggio”  It tasted amazing, it was like nothing I have ever had before.   I knew after that I was coming back for dinner before we left Genova.

The last night we were there we tried to go to a nicer restaurant but it turned out, after a longish walk it was full.  But we did get to have great Gelatto on the way there.     After the full restaurant,  I ended up getting to go to that best pizza joint in town, which was right behind our apartment.  (I had been closed the first two days we were in Genoa).

 

 

 

We left pretty early from Florence (7:56a)  and arrived around 9:30a in La Spezia.  Our apartment was very close to the train station and we walked down a small hill toward it.   We found the place and Whatsapp’d the landlord and she told us how to get into the building and which floor to take the elevator.   It was a tiny old elevator, two of us and luggage was all that was possible to squeeze into it.

It was the kind that has a heavy metal door on the outside and two smaller doors into the cab.   The type that if you forget to close any of those doors the elevator will not move again till someone closes them.   So are all three places how that exact same type of elevator.

We lucked out and Vilma let us into our small apartments at 10a instead of the check-in time of 4pm.   That allowed us to unpack and head back to the train station to head over to the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso, the furthest town to the north.  We figured we would work our way back south later.

Stepping out of the train was the best ocean view I can remember seeing.  Hands down.   We walked around on the promenade and even took a stroll on the sandy beach.   We looked for gelatto but could only find the Tourist type so we passed on that.   We headed back to the train station after about about an hour and configured our Eurail passes to board a train to Cornigila.  An IC train arrived on the track at the time our train was to arrive so we figured it was the one.   It wasn’t and it took us all the way back to La Spezia skipping all the other Cinque Terre towns.  Turns out in Italy,  they schedule two trains for the same platform at the same time.  It happened to us again on Saturday, but we knew not to get on the train this time.  That time we did get to Cornigila and found the 383 Stairs to the town.

Saturday morning we headed out for the Cinque Terre early as we learned a cruise ship would be docking early in the morning.   We went to Vernazza first, and had a great breakfast overlooking the small harbor at the bottom of the town.   They places are just so cool.  When we were waiting for the train to head up to Monterosso we had an unexpected thing happen,  we were all standing on the platform and a train was coming thru the tunnel (there are LOTs of train tunnels in Italy, and the Cinque Terre seems to be all tunnels.  While standing there both Scott’s and my hat blew off from the strong wind coming out of the tunnel, apparently pushed by the fast moving train coming thru that wasn’t stopping at Vernazza.   After that we noticed all the train folks and police on the platform were holding onto their hats we trains came thru.  We went to Monterosso for a bit and then took the correct train to Cornigila.  But the stairs looked crazy so I opted out. (383 stairs up)  Glad I did as I heard the town at the top of the hill was a bit of a let down.

Then we headed down to Riomaggio for a drink on the cliff side with Tami and Scott over looking the ocean like Kathy and I had done Friday afternoon.  They had gone to a castle in La Spezia when we headed for the CT after getting into town.

After our drinks on the cliff we headed over to La Spezia to find our new favorite pizza place for lunch again.   Scott got the Fried Calzone this time and I heard a reference to a doughnut…

 

That evening we bought a couple beers and a bottle of wine and the ladies sat our on our balcony and we sat in the hallway chairs and drank lukewarm beer.

In the morning we took that same FreccArgento 8588 to Genoa.  We were the only ones in the first class car on the train.  It was a very nice and quiet ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrived after a 3 hr Frecca ride from Naples only to find a long queue for the Taxi’s that turned out to be an hour and a half wait.  The taxi’s came in one at a time at about 5 minute intervals.   Turns out there was a strike, that was supposedly called off… but I don’t think the message got out.

We take two taxis as they are too small for the 4 of us and our luggage.  Then we take 15 minutes to find the apartment.  There are 2 number 10’s on our street.   One is a shoe shop.  The other is in the back of gallery, and that one is ours.  It really fronts on a different street.   The info from the apt folks sucked, and it gets worse.   It was all electronic check in and when we get there NOT one of us has cell service at the doorway.   So we cannot get in.  Luckily for us, someone else comes there and goes inside so we get thru the first door.   Only to realize we do not have an apartment number nor a floor number of the apartment in the email from them.   WTH…  I take the miniature elevator to the first floor, all the lights are off.  another WTH..  and I find a placard with the company name on it.  Now, how the heck do we get in,  Still no cell service here, and it requires us to go to a web page to open the door.   But lower down in the email it mentions WiFi and a code.   Its a long password so it takes a bit to type it in and then I can get the web page up and open the door.  WTF..   We finally got in.  But it was a struggle each day all week long.

Saturday morning we visited the Academia Gallery to see David.  That place was a nice visit.  Afterward we walked over to a meeting place for a walking tour which turned out to be a superb tour with a great guide named Armando.  He grew up just outside of Florence and made the whole area come alive.   Best 2.5 hours spent so far.   At the end of that our dogs were barking pretty loudly.   We headed over to a great sandwich shop,  $5 for a large sandwich made right as you order it.  ($5 Euros, not dollars)  And brought them back to the apartment and ate lunch there.  The rooster on the wine bottle signified it was from Tuscany.  That is our guide Armondo holding it in front of our new favorite sandwich shop.  (La Nicchietta in Calimaruzza)

The next morning (Sunday) we had Uffizi Gallery Tickets and that place is huge.   We had lots of barking dogs after that mornings sights.

He also told us the story of the Wine Window.  Which was pretty cool.  And the tradition was restarted during Covid a few years back.    Kathy made us Chicken & rice for dinner at home that evening.

Monday turned out to be a bit gray and wet and luckily for all of us Tami had booked us for a Cooking class to learn how to make Pizza and Gelatto.  The pizza we each made was amazing!  And we learned the secrets of making gelatto and how to find places that make real gelatto, not the Tourist kind that is really ice cream

Tuesday,  Church over to Sbrio gelatto joint.  Michaelo Angelo Park, then took city bus on a tour of the city and got off at Porta Romana to head back to the apartment.   Dinner was spectacular at a very small place a short walk from the apartment called Gustapanino.  Pesto Pasta ears and 3 of the best tasting meatballs I have ever tasted.

 

Wednesday.   Huge line for the Duomo entrance, bailed when we walked soo far and couldn’t find the end,  Walked over to the Chocolate Market in front of St Croce church but it was not happening. Maybe its only on weekends, not sure.

Later we found a Panini {sandwich} place right around the corner for dinner then almost next door was a great Gelatto shop with non tourist gelatto.   (gelatto covered by lids is the secret,   the Gelatto piled up in the storefront is Tourist Gelatto.

The walking on Wednesday really did a number on my back so I laid low on Thursday.  Kathy took Tami and Scott back to the dinner place we had gone to on Tuesday night and I was happy to receive a takeout order they picked up from there when they came back.   This time I tried the steak and it was right up there with the meatballs in great tasting food.    Kind  of wish we had found that place earlier in our stay.

Friday, was our FreccaArgento to La Spezia (city 5 minutes south of the southernmost Cinque Terre town)  Those Frecca’s are older and a lot slower than the 1000’s and 500’s.  But it was a quick comfortable ride there.

 

Tuesday.  Apartment was an interesting place, outside it looked like it was falling down but the inside was brand new.  And we were 4 floors above ground, but thankfully there was a rickety old elevator that looked like it was added 100 years ago to straddle the circular staircase.   It took a while to check in as there as there was a booking.com snafu.   So that had us miss the train to Paestum to see the Greek temples.   Once I realized we had missed it I found the next train and it was leaving in 20 minutes, I got a hold of Scott to see if he still wanted to go.  He did, we walked very fast back to Napoli Centrale to catch it before it left us as the next train was leaving over an hour later and would have not been ideal as it was pretty late getting there.

We got to the train with 2 minutes to spare but we didn’t have seat reservations and I asked a young conductor lady if we could buy them on the train.  She was aghast saying it would cost so much more.  She even tried to use my phone to buy them but was unsuccessful.   I said we would pay the fine (15 Euro) and headed for the train,  she told us to get in Car #2.   We did.  This was a IC train, much faster than the regional s, but no where near the Frecca speeds.

She came by and again tried to help us buy the seat reservations but we could not due to some 30 minute rule, she even suggested buying them from a town further down the line for this same train but that 30 minute rule kicked in again.   After she tried to help us for probably 10 minutes she took off to see the tickets for others.  She did help us by not coming back to collect the fines.   After a while another conductor came by to see our tickets and then realized we had tix but no seat reservations and just walked away, never to  come back either.   The Italian folks are really very helpful!   The temples there were all I hoped for and a bit more!   Its well worth the time it takes to get there.

Wednesday: Amalfi Private Tour.  Wow   Lunch at an elegant place with a stunning view of the coast.    We arrived at the Circumvesuviana train depot,  below Napoli Centrale Station.  Its a commuter line, that runs down to Sorrento where our driver was to pick us up for our 8 hour tour of the coast.   It was similar to the NYC subway.  And almost as crowded.   We booked Francesco for the tour but he sent Attillo to drive us.  We were a bit disappointed but we were very happy as we went along the road.   We were very glad we did NOT try to drive this winding narrow road that was almost two lanes wide.  It was interesting as cars and buses came toward us.   We made a few roadside stops to take pictures and then hit the town of Positano.   Its quite a steep cliff-side village.   With one path/road down to the beaches way below.  Zillions of shops along the walks and stairs as we headed down toward the beach.  Close to the bottom I overheard a young girl tell her mom that they will have to drag their luggage all the way back up when they left..  Wise beyond her years for such a young person.   And of course after getting coffee and cookies and pastries we were going to have to do that same thing.  We were glad we didn’t have our luggage!!

Next we headed toward Almafi and walked around that town, I walked up the main road/walkway and Kathy, Scott and Tami walked up the steps to a big church.  I saw all those steps and decided I wasn’t interested in seeing the insides of another church enough to climb all those.    Then back to the Mercedes Mini van with Attillo and off to Ravenna for lunch and a look around.  We arrived and climbed another 50 stairs up to the piazza.   Then we were off to find an amazing restaurant with an incredible view of the coast.  Ristorante Sigligaida in the Hotel Rofolo.  It was one of the best lunches I’ve ever had.  The view was totally amazing with floor to ceiling glass.  Then it was around 3pm and we were off to head back to Napoli.  A truly amazing day.  We decided to let Atillio drive use back to Naples instead of our planned ride back from Sorrento via the CV train.  It was a much nicer ride.   We used our return tickets to take that train to Pompeii the next morning

Thursday:  Pompeii.   WOW   Took that same train down to Scavi Pompeii station and walked over to the Marina Porto entrance.   Along the way there are a few scammers trying to get you to go inside their shops saying that’s where folks with tickets online must go.  We passed them and walked right thru the entrance with our online tickets.  The first thing you see in Pompeii is at steep grade with what we are calling Ankle Breaker rocks for a road you have to walk on to get up to the town.   I was shocked to see most of the town is still standing.   Unlike the Roman Forum,  which was mostly detritus from what it once was.   A lot of the homes till had fresco’s painted on their walls, which was quite amazing considering it was buried over 2000 years ago in 79AD.  We walked around for over 3 hours and saw maybe 1/2 of what was there.   Kathy wasn’t feeling well so we bailed out close to the farthest place from where we needed to go back to.   We got outside the gates and looked for a bus, but pompei is small, next bus was in over an hour.   We opted for the only cab around.

We told the drive we wanted to go to the Train Station and he told me the trains were all broken and he’d have to drive us back to Naples.  Wow,  Anyway I told him we were meeting folks at the train station and to take us there anyway.  He wasn’t happy I called his bluff.  He begrudgingly took us there.  And then of course wouldn’t take a credit card and then shorted me $5 euro’s saying he didn’t have change.  Everything we were warned about.

The trains were running and we got there just in time for the next train north.  This time the train had padded seats!  And fewer stops too.   But it had a Jamaican bongo guy entertaining us right behind Kathy’s head, not helping her headache.

Went out for dinner after the Pompeii visit but it was 6pm and the restaurants didn’t open till 7pm.  Some nice young lady stopped and asked if we needed help.  She told us to go over to the old town for a nicer experience as we were in a sketchy part of Naples.   I ordered an Uber and we took it to Piazza Santa Maria La Nova for tapas

Walk back to our Apartment (a very long way)  Had 17,250 steps that day…

The next morning we boarded another Freccarossa for a ride to Florence