Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Viva Italia - Day 5 Continued

*All Viva Italia blog entries are re-written from the journal I took with me on our awesome vacation to Italy.*

10/25/2011


Y'all...Sorrento is probably one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been!!!! The view from our hotel room is breathtaking. Getting to the hotel, however, was a little difficult. The local train that I was worried about really wasn’t that big of a deal. Pretty similar to Marta. However, it was PACKED. We were barely able to get our bag onto the train and had to stand for most of the trip. It was a long ride – over an hour. Josh and I weren’t able to stand together either, which made it a little scary. This one older man got my attention, pointed at his eyes, and then at me – telling me to watch my purse for pick pockets. There was also a woman, well - girl really, on the train begging while holding a baby. Josh told me that he read that pick-pockets in Italy will carry around a baby doll and pretend it’s real. Then they’ll pretend to trip and throw the doll at you and pick your pocket or steal your purse while you’re freaking out about them dropping the baby. But this was a real baby. And the girl didn’t drop him or throw him. Thank goodness!

When we arrived in Sorrento, we had no idea where our hotel was or how far it was from the metro stop. Luckily, there was an info desk. I went up to it and did my usual, “English?” to see if the girl working there spoke English. Turns out she’s from Florida. :) I asked her how far the hotel was – it was far. BUT, there was a shuttle and it was arriving in 10 minutes – how perfect! Josh and I have this international traveling thing DOWN! :) We got to the hotel (beautiful, beautiful, beautiful hotel and views!!) checked in, took some pics and then took the shuttle back to town to get some lunch. We had a hard time finding a place that was serving food (since it was like, 3pm by this time) but we found a little mom-and-pop place and had some awesome pizza!

Hotel in Sorrento - not really much to look at...but the door behind the curtains - that led to a balcony with the most amazing views ever!!


The floor in the hotel room.


The bathroom...with the bidet. :)



The VIEW!! And thanks again to my boss at work for letting us borrow the company camera for Italy so we could get these awesome pics!
   








The hotel


Olive tree at the hotel.


A sign in the elevator. We decided it said you couldn't wear pants in the restaurant. :)
 


After lunch, we just strolled around Sorrento. Right in the middle of the city, in an area that wasn't touristy at all, we saw these two murals and a sign that said "Free Entry" in English. We couldn't figure out what it was, but we decided to venture in. It was a lemon grove!! Right in the middle of the city!! It was soooo pretty and so quiet. We stroolled around for a while, hand in hand, just taking in the sights and enjoying the smell of the lemons. We were the only people there - it was very romantic. At the end of the grove was a little stand with a woman selling limoncello made from the lemons from that grove. We got to try a sample - mmmmmmmmm!! And of course we bought a couple of bottles! The grove was such an awesome unplanned surprise. One of my fav memories from our trip. :)



 






After walking around for a while, we caught the shuttle back up to the hotel and took a much needed nap. When we woke up, we didn’t feel like taking the shuttle again, so we decided to eat dinner at the hotel…bad idea. It was the worst meal yet. It was 25 euros per person too. Our 1st course was pasta – which was pretty good. Then Josh had seafood (fish with too many bones) and I had lamb – which was SO tough and overcooked. And they only gave me a butter knife to eat it with! So that was disappointing...

 
Chug!

Just kidding - see, it's not even opened. :)



One of my most fav pics from the entire trip!!!



Shrimp heads...gross...


Cute gatto at the hotel.




Tomorrow is our full-day Amalfi Drive Tour! So excited!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Viva Italia - Day 5

*All Viva Italia blog entries are re-written from the journal I took with me on our awesome vacation to Italy.*

10/25/2011

Arrivederci Rome!

This morning we slept in, packed up our bags, took a cold shower (hope our next hotel has better hot water and water pressure) and walked about a mile with all of our luggage to the train station. One of our bags was HUGE so I was dreading this part, but it wasn’t too bad. However, today it was hot hot HOT in Rome. Thank goodness I wore a short sleeve shirt – I was so sweaty when we got to the train station. Ew. The station was kind of confusing, but we finally figured out where to go. We were on platform 9 and ¾. ;) Just kidding. We were on platform 10. The first class cars are nice – way better than the plane. I’m soooo nervous about the small local train we have to take from Naples to Sorrento. I’ve read reviews about how yucky and scary it is and about pick pockets. Hopefully it won’t be any worse than the subway in Rome. (We though we saw a pick pocket in the subway there, but it was just some guy’s friend messing with him!)

One quick story I forgot to write about before –
On our tour of the Colosseum, an older lady thought the tour guide said the ancient Romans played football there. She asked if they played it on the sand. The tour guide has said the shape of the Colosseum is like a modern day football stadium. They didn’t play football back then. Bless her heart! :)

And one thing I’ve learned –
Girls: always make friends with the women in line with you for the bathroom. When you get up to the front of the line and there’s no toilet paper, they’ll be nice and let you borrow a tissue they brought with them. Already happened to me twice! Now I’ve learned to carry my own tissues. :) And don’t forget your euros – it’s almost never free to use the bathrooms.

I'm on a train!

Obligatory stoic picture looking out the window. Too bad we hadn't left the station yet. :)

Writing on the train.
(I love that cute old Italian guy sitting behind me in this pic.) :)
I'm so clever...
Shakespeare couln't have put it better himself!

I'm a word-play genious!

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Josh said, "Holly, you're so beautiful!"
  
So then I did this!


And I guess I should include one pic of my cute hubby. :)