Oh I do like to be beside the sea, etc etc.
Up early as planned and off for the train. We decided against a whistle stop tour of the Duomo as we think we we will be coming back to Florence in the not too distant future. Its a great and wonderous city.
The next time we plan to spend a couple of weeks here. A few nights in the city and most of the remaining time "mooching" around rural Tuscany.
It is extraordinarily beautiful (I know I'm using this word a lot but honestly there is no other way to described it). Remember the scene at the end of Gladiator when Russell Crowe is walking through the rolling wheat fields. Well that's Tuscany.
We have decided to overland through central Europe next time and grab the chance to stop over in Paris, Zurich etc on the way here. Planes are cheap, fast and convenient but they don't have the charm and excitement of rail journies. I used to hate flying. Not because I'm frightened of plumetting from 30000 feet or vaporising in some huge fireball on take off but simply because its so boring. No leg room. You can't get off for a walk or just nip up the aisle to the buffet car like you can on a train I must admit its better now we have wised up and only take carry on luggage. No check in. No waiting for luggage. Plus with online check in and the wonders of the interweb you only have to suffer the airport lounge for thirty minutes before take off rather that the ridiculous THREE HOURS the airline recommends. . Give us trains any day. Its far more civilised.
Waiting outside Florence station.
We caught the 09:33 Italiotreno express direct to Napoli Centrali. Which was great as although it stopped in Rome we didn't have to change trains at Termini. Two hours fifty five minutes and an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour took us on an amazing ride through some incredible scenery into Napoli Centrali. We had played with the idea of getting a ferry from Naples to Sorrento across the bay but as we didn't know the layout of the city we took the easy option and headed down the escalator to the metro. We were aprehensive about travelling through Naples as its well known as a den of theives and pickpockets.
Before leaving the hotel in Florence the manager warned us about being out on the city streets or metro after dark. "Remove the jewels madam" he said in a voice right out of a Karloff movie. As if some desperate gangster, armed with a switchblade, was going to pin her to a wall and remove her fingers to get at the diamonds.
After we had purchased our tickets (three euro fifty cents) the ticket guy leaned closer to the glass and said "be careful downstairs, many pickpockets and thieves". Our fears were confirmed.
The metro was bouncing. People everywhere and all of them trying to catch the same train we were trying to board. We boarded the train and set off to our next destination. We arrived at Sorrento without further ado. It took just over an hour to get here. I was keeping a watch on the stations we passed as we will need to ride this rollercoaster again tomorrow to get to Pompeii, which was after all, the major reason for coming so far south on this trip. One good thing about the metro ride is that it gave us some amazing views of mount Vesuvius. As most people know I am a fan of ancient Rome. Its a hobby of mine and to see the volcano that wrought so much destruction on the 24th of August, AD 79 was amazing beyond words. Hopefully we will get chance and time to get to the crater of this sleeping Goliath tomorrow.
(Sorry no pics today as I didn't want to get the eyepod out and get it nicked).
Just had dinner and we are back in the room drinking a nightcap of Limoncello before retiring for the evening.
Looking forward to walking the ancient streets of glorious Pompeii and Herculaneum tomorrow. To me it will be amazing. To Crispy it will be another several hours of walking through rubble. Bless her.
Bare and Crispy signing of from Sorrento, not too far from Pompeii, Italy
Up early as planned and off for the train. We decided against a whistle stop tour of the Duomo as we think we we will be coming back to Florence in the not too distant future. Its a great and wonderous city.
The next time we plan to spend a couple of weeks here. A few nights in the city and most of the remaining time "mooching" around rural Tuscany.
It is extraordinarily beautiful (I know I'm using this word a lot but honestly there is no other way to described it). Remember the scene at the end of Gladiator when Russell Crowe is walking through the rolling wheat fields. Well that's Tuscany.
We have decided to overland through central Europe next time and grab the chance to stop over in Paris, Zurich etc on the way here. Planes are cheap, fast and convenient but they don't have the charm and excitement of rail journies. I used to hate flying. Not because I'm frightened of plumetting from 30000 feet or vaporising in some huge fireball on take off but simply because its so boring. No leg room. You can't get off for a walk or just nip up the aisle to the buffet car like you can on a train I must admit its better now we have wised up and only take carry on luggage. No check in. No waiting for luggage. Plus with online check in and the wonders of the interweb you only have to suffer the airport lounge for thirty minutes before take off rather that the ridiculous THREE HOURS the airline recommends. . Give us trains any day. Its far more civilised.
We caught the 09:33 Italiotreno express direct to Napoli Centrali. Which was great as although it stopped in Rome we didn't have to change trains at Termini. Two hours fifty five minutes and an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour took us on an amazing ride through some incredible scenery into Napoli Centrali. We had played with the idea of getting a ferry from Naples to Sorrento across the bay but as we didn't know the layout of the city we took the easy option and headed down the escalator to the metro. We were aprehensive about travelling through Naples as its well known as a den of theives and pickpockets.
Before leaving the hotel in Florence the manager warned us about being out on the city streets or metro after dark. "Remove the jewels madam" he said in a voice right out of a Karloff movie. As if some desperate gangster, armed with a switchblade, was going to pin her to a wall and remove her fingers to get at the diamonds.
After we had purchased our tickets (three euro fifty cents) the ticket guy leaned closer to the glass and said "be careful downstairs, many pickpockets and thieves". Our fears were confirmed.
The metro was bouncing. People everywhere and all of them trying to catch the same train we were trying to board. We boarded the train and set off to our next destination. We arrived at Sorrento without further ado. It took just over an hour to get here. I was keeping a watch on the stations we passed as we will need to ride this rollercoaster again tomorrow to get to Pompeii, which was after all, the major reason for coming so far south on this trip. One good thing about the metro ride is that it gave us some amazing views of mount Vesuvius. As most people know I am a fan of ancient Rome. Its a hobby of mine and to see the volcano that wrought so much destruction on the 24th of August, AD 79 was amazing beyond words. Hopefully we will get chance and time to get to the crater of this sleeping Goliath tomorrow.
(Sorry no pics today as I didn't want to get the eyepod out and get it nicked).
Just had dinner and we are back in the room drinking a nightcap of Limoncello before retiring for the evening.
Looking forward to walking the ancient streets of glorious Pompeii and Herculaneum tomorrow. To me it will be amazing. To Crispy it will be another several hours of walking through rubble. Bless her.
Bare and Crispy signing of from Sorrento, not too far from Pompeii, Italy
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