We forced ourselves awake in Rome with our 6:30 am alarm since we wanted to catch an early train. After packing our suitcases and having breakfast, we checked out around 8 am and then took a cab to the Roma Termini train station. We wanted to take the 8:38 am train to the main train station of Naples called Napoli Centrale. The standard second class and even first class seats were all sold out so we ended up buying the only available tickets that were for business class. The tickets were a little pricy but our philosophy is that time and comfort is always more valuable than money, especially on a vacation and this was no different.
The high speed train ride to Naples was very smooth and had no stops so we reached Naples in a little over an hour. At the Napoli Centrale train station, we changed to the regional Circumvesuviana train that's named as such because it goes around Mount Vesuvius. The regional train was a stark contrast to our earlier train ride. It had 33 stops and no air conditioning. The train itself seemed quite old. Luckily, Samia got a seat right away and I got the one next to her after a couple of stops. This ride also took a little over an hour because of all the stops and slower speed but we finally reached Sorrento around 12:30 pm. We took a cab to our hotel. The hotel is about a 10 minutes walk from the train station but because of the hilly terrain, the roads are winding so it wasn't possible to walk with two suitcases.
After checking in, we freshened up and rested for about an hour before leaving at around 2 pm. Sorrento is a very intimate town on the Amalfi coast of Italy and our hotel is in the old town near the marina. With cobblestone streets and a view of the bright blue ocean with a couple of hilly islands in the background, it's a gorgeous town with a very relaxing vibe. We walked to a pedestrian only street that has shops and restaurants lining both sides and had lunch at a restaurant that seemed to have good food. It ended up being a great pick - both the beef burger and the chicken burger turned out great. It's getting to that stage where we've had so much pasta and pizza that we now want to try other types of food.
Then we walked to the train station and took the Circumvesuviana to the Pompeii train station. Pompeii used to be a town with a population of 20,000 people that was founded about 500 years BC. It was a bustling port town with some main trade routes of the Mediterranean sea passing through it. When the nearby volcanic Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the debris of ash and lava that fell over the city froze the city in time. About 2000 people were unable to evacuate by the time the catastrophe struck and they were all buried with the city. The city remain buried till the 15th century and when it was rediscovered and excavations started, it was remarkably well preserved because of the sudden nature of the incident. We had seen one city of ruins previously, Ephesus in Turkey but Pompeii is a much bigger city that is much better preserved. We walked through the city for almost three hours and saw the main town square, the basilica, the market, some houses, streets with chariot wheel marks, pedestrian streets, a brothel, public baths, water supply pipes, frescos on walls, brick ovens inside houses and an aqua duct. It is truly a city and you can get a very clear idea of the advanced nature of the Greek/Roman civilization in those days. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it's not an inhabited town but rather one that had been buried for almost 1500 years! Machu Picchu in Peru is extremely impressive but part of the reason is its remote location hidden inside jungles. Pompeii is equally impressive (and maybe marginally more, depending on what impresses you more) because it gives you a better idea of the life of the people of this city in their time. Pompeii is one of the top highlights of our trip.
After visiting the ancient city of Pompeii, we took the train back to Sorrento and walked back to our hotel to rest. We researched a Kabab joint that's ranked in the top 3 restaurants of Sorrento. It was in a narrow street behind the Main Street so while we were making our way there, we were skeptical of its ranking. All doubts melted away once we took the first bite of our Kabab sandwich. It was so good that even before we had finished our sandwiches, we decided that we would come back here again. Instead of buns, the sandwich had two toasted naans on either side with the chicken and beef mixture with garlic mayo and chili inside. After this delicious meal, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update from the Amalfi coast, take care and ciao!
The high speed train ride to Naples was very smooth and had no stops so we reached Naples in a little over an hour. At the Napoli Centrale train station, we changed to the regional Circumvesuviana train that's named as such because it goes around Mount Vesuvius. The regional train was a stark contrast to our earlier train ride. It had 33 stops and no air conditioning. The train itself seemed quite old. Luckily, Samia got a seat right away and I got the one next to her after a couple of stops. This ride also took a little over an hour because of all the stops and slower speed but we finally reached Sorrento around 12:30 pm. We took a cab to our hotel. The hotel is about a 10 minutes walk from the train station but because of the hilly terrain, the roads are winding so it wasn't possible to walk with two suitcases.
After checking in, we freshened up and rested for about an hour before leaving at around 2 pm. Sorrento is a very intimate town on the Amalfi coast of Italy and our hotel is in the old town near the marina. With cobblestone streets and a view of the bright blue ocean with a couple of hilly islands in the background, it's a gorgeous town with a very relaxing vibe. We walked to a pedestrian only street that has shops and restaurants lining both sides and had lunch at a restaurant that seemed to have good food. It ended up being a great pick - both the beef burger and the chicken burger turned out great. It's getting to that stage where we've had so much pasta and pizza that we now want to try other types of food.
Then we walked to the train station and took the Circumvesuviana to the Pompeii train station. Pompeii used to be a town with a population of 20,000 people that was founded about 500 years BC. It was a bustling port town with some main trade routes of the Mediterranean sea passing through it. When the nearby volcanic Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the debris of ash and lava that fell over the city froze the city in time. About 2000 people were unable to evacuate by the time the catastrophe struck and they were all buried with the city. The city remain buried till the 15th century and when it was rediscovered and excavations started, it was remarkably well preserved because of the sudden nature of the incident. We had seen one city of ruins previously, Ephesus in Turkey but Pompeii is a much bigger city that is much better preserved. We walked through the city for almost three hours and saw the main town square, the basilica, the market, some houses, streets with chariot wheel marks, pedestrian streets, a brothel, public baths, water supply pipes, frescos on walls, brick ovens inside houses and an aqua duct. It is truly a city and you can get a very clear idea of the advanced nature of the Greek/Roman civilization in those days. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it's not an inhabited town but rather one that had been buried for almost 1500 years! Machu Picchu in Peru is extremely impressive but part of the reason is its remote location hidden inside jungles. Pompeii is equally impressive (and maybe marginally more, depending on what impresses you more) because it gives you a better idea of the life of the people of this city in their time. Pompeii is one of the top highlights of our trip.
After visiting the ancient city of Pompeii, we took the train back to Sorrento and walked back to our hotel to rest. We researched a Kabab joint that's ranked in the top 3 restaurants of Sorrento. It was in a narrow street behind the Main Street so while we were making our way there, we were skeptical of its ranking. All doubts melted away once we took the first bite of our Kabab sandwich. It was so good that even before we had finished our sandwiches, we decided that we would come back here again. Instead of buns, the sandwich had two toasted naans on either side with the chicken and beef mixture with garlic mayo and chili inside. After this delicious meal, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update from the Amalfi coast, take care and ciao!
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