In the morning we grabbed the first bus back to the coast and looked around for awhile. We had about an hour to kill before we had to be at the marina for our ferry, so we strolled through the streets. As we soaked up the morning sun and the beautiful scenery, Sarah came up with a brilliant idea: gelato. So, at 8:30 in the morning, we put on our fat girl swag and grabbed our favorite gelato flavors and walked back to the marina. As I mentioned in my last blog, Italian men are not shy about pursuing women, so honking is expected when you're walking on the side of the road. However, what we were about to witness only happens in the movies, not in real life. As we shoveled gelato into our mouths, Katie said she spotted our taxi driver. Unbelieving, we turned around and to our surprise, there he was! We were shocked to see him, but we imagine he, too, was probably surprised to see us alive. Our imaginations ran wild as we discussed the thoughts running through his mind. Seeing us on the complete opposite side of the city than where he dropped us off with all of our stuff eating gelato at 8:30am, he probably assumed we backpacked all night, searching for an escape from the ghetto. Filled with gelato and joy, we headed to the ferry. Unfortunately, because of the rough waters, our ferry wasn't going to leave until at least 11 but that wasn't even a guarantee. Our hearts sunk as we realized our brilliance failed us and we would be forced to return to the sketchy part of town to catch a train to Sorrento. Even if only for a few moments, I dreaded the thought.
The good news: the train to Sorrento was only 4 euros! As we went downstairs to the platform, we realized why: graffiti all over the beaten up train. Well, at least it was taking us away from Naples. On the way to Sorrento, a little old man sat by us. At first, I assumed he was just as sketch as the train he seemed so familiar with, but as we traveled from slumps to quaintness, I realized he was the adorable Italian grandpa I had envisioned meeting on my travels. As our train made its way through the countryside, we caught a few glimpses of the beautiful coast and villes along it: absolutely breath-taking. At last, we arrived in Sorrento, our humble hometown for the next few days. We decided to spare ourselves the stress of getting caught with 5 people, we would fess up to the bed and breakfast and pay the fee. However, at first the attendant was hesitant, saying she could get in trouble if caught. However, with some sob stories and euros, she agreed and ended up being quite friendly and helpful. We explore Sorrento the rest of the afternoon and found our way to the coast: even more breath-taking as the salt water crashed on the rocks and splashed us in the breeze.
For dinner, more pizza. We then found a gelato shop with every flavor imaginable. Not only was the landscape incredible, but the shop keepers made the experience that much better. Filling the scarce voids after our large pizzas with gelato never felt so right.
Our stay in Sorrento was not limited to just exploring that town, but also included a day trip to Capri and to the Amalfi Coast (noted as the most beautiful coast in the world). So, the next morning we woke early to catch a 15 minute ferry to Capri where we would explore another quaint ville. We arrived to the island around 10 in the morning. Originally planning to explore by foot, we soon realized it was not logically plausible. Winding streets up 400 meter cliffs just didn't sound like the most fun thing in the world, so again, we paid for the public transportation, leading us to the same conclusion: still glad we didn't walk that. If you thought the water was clear 5 feet from it, imagine realizing that it's still crystal clear from 400 meters. The view was unbelievable, but the thing I was most excited for was soon to follow. After lunch (nutella and bread and potato chips, food fit for royalty), we made our way down to the marina and found the sole beach where we set up camp to tan. But first, I had to get in that water! Without a second thought, I ran in, soon realizing why the crazy Americans were the only ones in the crystal clear water: it was ice cold! After we all got in, we laid out for awhile. But then we came to a realization: we had to change somewhere, and we weren't about to walk into a shop in wet swimsuits and blindingly white skin. So, we found a giant rock to change behind. Feeling extremely scandalous already, we also came to the realization that the people winding up the cliffs we bused up were probably enjoying the view of the coastline... and of the crazy American show. Slightly embarrassed and freezing cold, we walked back up to the streets and grabbed a cup of coffee.
With 4 hours to kill before our ferry departed, we decided to try and find the other side of the island, so back to the bus we went! If we thought the main side of the island was the most beautiful thing in the world, we were about to change our minds. We found a little beach there as well and decided we had to get in the water again. Some lady was snorkeling: we could do it, too. But alas, where to change this time? As we pondered, the little old lady approached us and asked us to look away. Able to put 2 and 2 together, we realized she was just about to change out in the open-- evidently what we did earlier wasn't as scandalous as we thought. So, we followed suit and jumped back in the water for some pics. Afterwards, we took some time to let the scenery sink in and let the peaceful feeling it left fill our souls. All worries I could possibly have were forgotten there. I've never experienced a place I've felt so stress-free before. After some pizza for dinner, we hopped on our ferry and grabbed more gelato from our favorite place and made our way back to our bed and breakfast to prepare for Amalfi, but of course, we had to try the night life in Sorrento first. Turns out the night life in Sorrento on a Tuesday night was the crazy Americans. After a little while of just the 4 of us dancing, we decided to head back and get some sleep before the hour and a half bus ride to the coast.
Another beautiful scene awaited us in Amalfi. We spent our afternoon soaking up the sun, playing in the water, and loving our lives. This is what vacation should be like! But alas, we would have to leave Italy behind us and head to Spain soon. So, we embraced our last night in Italy to the best of our ability: pizza and 3 scoops of gelato-- in a chocolate dipped cone. We would miss Italy, but what Spain had to offer us would be comparable. Completely different, but definitely some stiff competition.
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