Pompeii & Amalfi Coast, Italy

Ruins, Rugged Coastline & Tiny Beach Towns

Pompeii Lives

We had heard a great deal of positive talk about the Italian Amalfi coast – rugged little coastal towns set against the back drop of beautiful ocean views.  Bendy and winding roads that take you from town to town perched on the edges of sheer cliff faces.  Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

Well, couple that with the possibility of seeing the historical ruins of the town of Pompeii – yes, the town wiped off the map by Mt Vesuvius and its volcanic eruption – and a chance to visit an ongoing archaeological dig site.  A once lost Roman city still under the shadow of Vesuvius looming eerily in the background has a rather magnetic pull to the knowledge seeker within me.

Winnie and I planned a full day trip, leaving Rome very early in the morning with the view of seeing the ruins first, then the main towns of the Amalfi – in reverse, starting with the furthest destination and working them back (so we could marry up bus schedules). 

Our itinerary looked something like this:

Train: Rome to Naples

Train: Naples to Pompeii

Train: Pompeii to Sorrento

Bus: Sorrento – Sorrento (circular via the whole Amalfi coastline)

Train: Sorrento to Naples

Train: Naples to Rome

Rome, Italy

The grand capital of Italiano! 

We finally reached Rome, the capital of Italy. We’d heard great things about this city, and couldn’t wait to get out and explore it. After checking into our Hostel, the Yellow; we were ready with map in hand, the major sights circled and a route planned out.

First stop was the Colosseum, we made it there in about 20 minutes of walking, and saw the masses of tourists both hanging around the Colosseum and waiting in line to get in. There were loads of people dressed up as Roman Warriors & Gladiators, waiting for tourists to take photos with them. But I had heard the story of my brother and his girlfriend getting stung 40 euros for getting a photo taken with them when they visited Rome last year, so I was not about to make the same mistake.

Pisa, Italy

Leaning around Pisa!

Pizza-Pisa!

So, after a short train ride from Florence we headed straight for the tower.  We found it just after dark and took a few photos.  

It really does Lean at a rather dramatic angle.  It stands proud of the surrounding Duomo and its out-buildings.

Winnie trying to simulate the lean.

Florence Gelato Tour, Italy

Welcome Back ETD Readers!!

Are you ready for some Gelato goodness?

When we arrived in Florence and headed to our hostel we had a few issues, so we changed our plans and decided to stay the extra night in Pisa instead. We spent the day in Florence, while our bags were stored at the train station.

We looked at the map and saw that there was not much to see/do in Florence, so while we had a buffet lunch, we looked up some nice gelato places to taste the best gelato in Florence. What better to do than a gelato taste test fest!!

Bologna, Italy

Destination Bologna!

Fast Cars & Coffee!

Bologna is a quirky city, and its one of my favourite Italian destinations.  There’s something for everybody – motoring enthusiasts can head to the home of Ducati, Ferrari and Lamborghini; foodies can duck into any one of the local cafés, restaurants or bistros; and students (or budget travellers like us) can find numerous cheap eats and amazing coffee at ridiculously low prices.  Believe me or not, but the best part of Bologna is that although there are museums, you get a real sense of history just from wandering around. 

After arriving at Bologna’s main train station, we jumped on a number 25 bus and headed to our Air BnB accommodation, staying with Eli S and his Spanish girlfriend, which was luckily in a very central location (with respect to the cheap eats and coffee bars).  A quick introduction and a new map, with a new planned itinerary and we were off out into the city once again. 

Our itinerary for Bologna was simple:

Eat, Drink and Relax.

We were given some recommendations by our host, Eli, but decided to be adventurous, choosing a coffee shop at random.  As luck may have it, we struck gold.  There was a plethora of cakes and local fancies to soften even the hardiest sweet-tooth, and there was a small queue.  Locals were standing at the bar, ordering their “fix” of coffee and drinking it.  The place smelt amazing, a balanced roasted coffee aroma coupled with the delicate and pleasing perfume of delicately sweet pastries.  To start our day we ordered a couple of savoury pastries (a spinach one and a mushroom one) and the coffees.  The coffees we ordered were one large Café Ginseng and a Macchiato.

Venice, Italy

Buongiorno, ETD Readers!

Let me take you on a Gondola ride…

We arrived in Venice on a sunny day and walked through the cobbled streets to our hostel. Our first impressions of the hostel weren’t great. We were greeted by a typical Englishman who had a hairstyle like he’d walked out of a Japanese Anime movie, and put our bags in a small luggage room. We glanced at the rooms which were bare and only had 3-4 single beds in them. No bunks, no tables, no lockers or anything. The hostel provided dinner as part of the price, so that is why we chose it. But other than that, it didn’t offer much else, except for a decent location. We borrowed their hostel map of Venice which looked like it had had better days, and headed out to explore the main streets, canals and the main square.

Verona, Italy

Ciao e Bentornati!

“..Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…”

Verona.  A “public place”, the location for William Shakespeare’s tale of love and sadness, and the next destination for WinGaz to visit.  This seemed like a great place to delve deeper into this literary classic and see if the town lives up to it’s reputation.

As Verona was going to be a short overnighter for us, we were hoping to spend a few hours walking the city’s streets and seeing for ourselves the place where Juliet spoke those timeless words:

“Romeo.  Romeo.  Where for art thou Romeo?”

Milan, Italy

Buongiorno, ETD Readers!

Home of Pizza, Pasta & Gelato!

our first gelato experience! OMG!

Next stop: Italiano, baby! First up on our agenda was Milan. We headed on another train from Nice to Milan, with a short stop over in Ventimiglia. Where Gaffa had his first taste of Italian coffee, and I opted for a hot chocolate – which was just awesome! It was very thick and full of chocolate-y goodness.

In Milan we stayed at another AirBnB place. It was very close to the centre of Milan, within walking distance to all the major sights. The apartment was up on the 7^th floor, and the elevator was very very small. Gaffa and I only just managed to fit in it with our massive backpacks on. It was one of those older style lifts where you have wait for the lift to arrive and then open a second door to get in – hilariously, the inner doors opened inwards which made getting them shut and open again tricky since we were oversized and just able to squeeze in!