Part IV European holiday - water, Rome, water

I have really enjoyed reliving this holiday by posting...there were so many memories I had forgotten about, until I started re reading my travel diary.  Week 1 saw us living it up in Paris, week 2 saw us exploring the hills of Switzerland and then last week we moved onto Venice, Florence and Sorrento, which is where I left off....


DAY 17 - JUNE 8 SORRENTO

Phew another day down.Surprisingly we slept in until 8am to be woken by a knock on the door for our breakfast.  We changed our plans of ferrying it around the coastline with unfavourable 40 knot winds blowing, and opted for a walk around the area.

 

Our host gave us a map of the area so we headed up the hills behind Sorrento. It was just as you would imagine it, full of lemon orchards, olive trees and farm land.  We followed a path to an ancient ruin on the cliff overlooking the ocean, such a rugged coastline it is!

We headed back for lunch and then slept for a couple of hours....just because we could!!  The nightly ritual of finding something to eat began and we found another calzone for 2 euros, which was awesome and topped it off with a gelati. 

Hopefully we can catch the boat to Amalfi tomorrow because we are running out of time here.  Funny how a small daily routine of going to the grocery store and doing laundry has crept into our travels, but it does keep the homesickness at bay.

Andrew is loving waking up to the daily chocolate croissant, and so am I for that matter.

DAY 18 - JUNE 9 - SORRENTO

I headed out for a quick walk before breakfast.  The weather wasn't the greatest with overcast skies and wind but we headed off to the marina anyway. 7 euro to Amalfi which is about half an hour away, it is only a small town but apparently very beautiful.  Along the way you can see these amazing houses that they have built into the cliff faces...spectacular!!

From here we caught the bus to Positano, about 40 mins - the bus trip that I thought was going to be my last...my golly gosh it is so hairy at times and apparently one of the most dangerous roads in the world!!

Positano and the road along the cliff in the distance

Positano is also very small and exclusive, full of restaurants and small boats on a pebbly beach. Bit exy in the food department so lucky for us we had our bread sticks and tomato!

At 3pm we caught the 1.5 hour bus back to Sorrento, along the windy road - could not wait to get off that one.  I couldn't watch at times even though it was the most amazing coastline I have ever seen.

Full day so quick dinner before early to bed.  Off to Rome in the morning...


DAY 19 - JUNE 10 - SORRENTO - ROME

Alarm at 6.20am, so I could get in a quick run before we leave on the train with a day of travelling.  We are hanging to get to Santorini to relax and spend time near water,  so we had good news that we can arrive 2 days earlier.  This leaves us 1.5 days on Rome - not a problem!!

The view from St Peters

We arrived in Rome Matisse B & B at around 1pm, went straight to St Peters in Vatican City.  We paid 4 euros and walked up the 320 stairs to then dome that Michelangelo painted, then onto the top for a view of the city.  This church is amazing - the history, the stories, the people, the everything...and I am not religious.  I cannot fathom how they built it so long ago with the resources they have.

From here we went past the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and plenty of shops!  Rome is extremely busy, with tourists and I think I would go mad here if I stayed any longer.  Tomorrow is the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum and we will have seen everything we want to in this city.

Dinner was pizza and Andrew had has first pasta dish of the trip.  A week and a half to go.

DAY 20 - JUNE 10 - ROME

The Colosseum

Slept in until 7.30am and then had our cornflakes and set off for the Colosseum via the roman ruins.  All very confusing this roman v catholic history - but I am starting to get the gist of it.  After this we headed back via the shops and enjoyed a 2 hour kip. 

The walking shoes were back on for a city wrap up of walking the streets and visiting the Trevi Fountain - be very nice to have in your backyard!  I bought a nice shirt for 22 euros which is not cheap but different.

Well our last day in Italy before Greece tomorrow and it will be nice to have a nationality change.  We are going to see the Trevi Fountain tonight as it is just around the corner from where we are staying and admire it with a gelati.  How to Rome in a day - soon to be published!!

DAY 21 - JUNE 11 - ROME - SANTORINI

Half an hour walk to the train station was an effort with backpacks so that doubled as our exercise for the day.  We caught the airport express to the international terminal and checked in for the flight to Greece.  The plane was delayed an hour which apparently pretty common...it meant we had to run to the next terminal to catch our 3pm.  The flight to Santorini was in a small plane, about 40 minutes.

We were greeted by our hotel pickup who took us to our stay of 3 nights in Fira, Hotel Anemomilos,   Nice place with a pool overlooking the ocean. We headed off for a walk up the Caldera side for about 1.5 hours taking in the view and getting plenty of snaps.  It is nothing short of spectacular and the housing is beautiful. 

Chicken gyros for dinner and the weather is a nice 30 degrees without the humidity.  Really nice people.

JUNE 22 - JUNE 12 - SANTORINI

Perivolos beach

Woke around 8am, did some washing and headed up to hire a scooter for 10 euros for 1 day.  It turned out to be a buzz box but ok.  We first went around to Akrotiri with a view back over Fira, then headed over to Perivolos beach which has black, black sand but beautiful clear water.  Next it was on to Perissa Beach and on towards Oia on the far end of the island. 

Fairly easy to get around with only a few roads, so you cant get lost! Oia is magic with postcard views and nooky shops.  Spent heaps of time taking in the views.

From here we headed back for a rest and dinner before a walk down the donkey stairs (about 660 of them).  Found out about a great little day trip we can do tomorrow around the surrounding islands.  Great day and cant put into words the views that we are experiencing here.

TBC - next week, the final week (phew) Greece and homeward bound!