Then there were three
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Rome marked the closing of this chapter for team Busabout, with a majority of the crew embarking on separate missions around the continent. Em and I were not ready to hit the big lights of Florence, and young Greig still had time to kill before he was New York bound. What were the remaining three to do? Hello spontaneity. Two buses and three trains later we were in Sorrento, southern Italy.
Needless to say, this place is amazing. Forget the tourist factor (heaps of Americans and Brits), Sorrento is a beautiful town and the people here are so friendly. Sorrento is built along the cliff face that surrounds the bay of Naples, and you have a great view of Mt Vesuvius - the volcano that blew its top to bury Pompeii ages ago.
Accommodation was a dag. After being in camp grounds that had all the mod cons, we were placed into a camping ground that resembled one at home. Our first two days were in this classy green cabin (no. 2 two, camp fortunata, mint), then we made the upgrade to the Hilton suite - now we had a shower and our toilet and even our own patio thing with a table and chairs. Speaking of the toilet, this piece of machinery was classic. You flushed the thing then when it refilled it made this crazy, vibrating moaning sound that could be heard outside the cabin. Avoid flushing after 11pm!
Sorrento was the first place that we had visited in Italy, thus far, that served fantastic Italian food - the type we had imagined and craved since arriving. As such, this was the first place we embarked on the customary three course meal. Warning to the weight conscious, you eat a lot of carbs in Italy, so much so that one could run the risk of gaining weight (2kgs for Timmy and climbing). It's a good thing we walk everywhere.
We did a day mission out to the island of Capri, the ancient playground for the well to-do Roman empire, and still is for the wealthy. We took a tour around the island via boat to see some of the sights, namely the caves and grottos that surround the coastline. The water here is beautifully blue and clear, and had the weather been more favourable we would have jumped in. Capri is worth a look should you be in this part of Italy.
We have been trying to arrange a seven day sailing trip around the Croatian islands prior to arriving in Sorrento. However due to a computer system 'glitch' our bookings were lost - technology! Oh well, we will go there another time as one of the beauties of being on this side of the world is tat you are never far from anywhere.
We also ventured out to see the buried city of Pompeii. The city was a lot bigger than we all expected, and we were amazed at how much was buried, let alone how much they have managed to recover. You could spend hours here, and we did. It was fascinating to see all the Pompeii ruins and we all agree that this is a must see, and only a 30 min train ride. After Pompeii we came back to the Hilton and jumped in the pool to make the most of the nice weather . . but not for long as we heard the thunder and a minute later it was pouring with rain - again!
One thing all the shops sell in Sorrento is the liquor limoncello - it's everywhere. So, we were quite stoked after lunch one day when we got a free taste of it. For the boys they are given the hard stuff, and the girls are given the creamy version of it. It's definitely worth a try.
Labels: Travel
posted by Tim @ 12:58 pm,
