Limoncello & The High Life

View from our pension.
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DAY 1: ASSISI TO SORRENTO

It was an uneventful trip from Assisi to Napoli, with two train changes, one in Spoleto and one in Rome.  As we approached Napoli, we began to smell this awful smell.  It was that of a garbage dump.  We were glad that we were not staying here.

We bought our tickets for the Circumvesuviana train, and boarded the train that we were told to.  We sat down in the hot train, and the doors closed.  Then, there was an announcement that our train was not going anywhere, and that we were to get onto the train on the next track over.  Ordinarily, this would have been easy enough to do, except for one small problem.  The doors were closed, and would not even budge manually.  Everyone was on the verge of panic when finally a rail worker came and opened them from the outside.  We all ran to to other, already overcrowded train, and stood in the corridor between the two doors.  The Circumvesuviana train stops every couple of minutes, and each time that it did, nobody got off.  Instead, much to our horror,  people would get on.  This happened at every stop.  Johnny and I were pressed up against the door opposite the one that would open.  We were so hot, and I being slightly claustrophobic, was beginning to feel the panic rising inside me.  We decided that at the next stop, we would fight our way off of this train.  Fight we did, and managed to squeeze out just as the doors closed.  Triumphant, we were once again able to breathe, and we found ourselves in an underground tunnel.  We had come this far, and now we didn't know what to do next.  Eventually we found a rail worker, who told us which train to get on, and where to get off and change trains.  Much to our delight these trains were not crowded at all, and we actually had seats all the way to Sorrento.

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Once we arrived in Sorrento and checked in to our accommodations, it was time for a little housekeeping, literally.  It was laundry day.  We got to the launderette, only to find that it was a lot of other people's laundry day too.  Luckily we got the last two available washers.  While we were waiting we met a nice young woman from Australia.  Then suddenly we heard some familiar accents, Canadian accents.  These were not just any Canadian accents they were west coast accents.  We introduced ourselves to these two women.  As it turned out, they were from a town not 1 hour from where we live.  Also when I told her where we were from, she asked me "Do you know so & so?"  "Well yes I do", I said.  As it turns out she is the cousin of a man that we know from our village.  What a strange coincidence.  This was especially so since we hadn't really met any other Canadians throughout our entire trip.  Now to meet someone related to someone that I know.  Wow!

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When we had arrived at the launderette there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but now suddenly there was thunder, lightening, and some of the heaviest rain that I had ever seen.  We didn't feel so badly about being stuck inside then.  We just hoped that by the time our laundry was finished the rain would let up.  It didn't and the mesh bags containing our clean dry clothes didn't do much to stop them from getting wet.  Oh well.

We wanted to drop the laundry back at the pension, and then go for dinner.  Easier said than done.  Our pension was up the hill and around the corner at the far end of town.  To hazard a guess, about 2 km away from town.  The rain had still not let up, and little did we know at the time Sorrento has a specific area in which to get taxis and buses.  A lovely lady with a small vegetable shop took pity on us, and called for a taxi for us.  Once we had the taxi, we didn't want to let him go.  We made arrangements for him to come back in 20 minutes to pick us up again to take us to dinner.  Chores done and finally able to relax, we had a lovely dinner with a bit too much wine.  By now the rain had stopped so we were free to wander the streets.  After gelato at Davide we set off to sample and buy some Limoncello and other liquors.  Much to our surprise, these stores are quick to offer up large samples of the different flavours that they make.  Limoncello of course, but also Mandarino, licorice, and others too.  After this it we realised that it was a very good thing that we were walking home.

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DAY 2: POMPEII, PIZZA & PASSEGGIATA

Up bright and early, we grabbed some breakfast and hurried to the Circumvesuviana.  We were heading for Pompeii, and with no other plans for the day, we would be able to take as much time as we wanted there.  As you can probably tell from the number of photos that this was one of our favorite activities.  We explored for about 4 hours, and still did not see everything.  It was a lovely sunny day, and quite an adventure.

Michelle walks into the amphitheater at Pompeii.
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For dinner we decided to try Pizzeria Aurora.  It was fantastic.  The pizzas are amazing!  Yes you can get the standard Margarita, but they do some very original and very tasty alternatives.  We liked this place so much that we made plans to come back the next night.  We enjoyed the Friday night passeggiata down Corso Italia, and late night shopping as we walked.

DAY 3: VOYAGE TO POSITANO

After a quick bite at a very local bar, we walked down to the port.  We were going to take a boat to Positano for the day.  As we waited in the hot morning sun for our ferry to arrive, we once again met up with the young Australian woman that we had met in the launderette.

View of the amphitheatre at Pompeii.
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The ferry came and we were on our way.  Positano is a quick 50 minute boat ride from Sorrento.  We were fortunate enough to get seats on the side of the boat that had stunning coastal views.  It seemed that we were there before we knew it.  I couldn't believe that we were in Positano.  It is gorgeous!  We wished that we had known how lovely it was before-hand.  Then we would have booked in for a night or two.  We had a splendid day luxuriating here.  Eating, window shopping, eating, and people-watching.  The only bad thing?  I forgot my bathing suit back in Sorrento.  Here with this gorgeous beach, on a hot day, and I couldn't even take a dip into the azure sea.

Archeologist continue unearthing Pompeii.
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Back in Sorrento it was dinner time and that meant pizza at Pizzeria Aurora.  My ambition in this part of Italy was to eat as much pizza as I could.  I did, and loved every minute of it.

After passeggiata, we spent the remainder of the evening at our new B&B (Casa Astarita).  Long story, but we had begun looking for a new place shortly after checking into the other pension.  We prepared for our early departure the next morning.  We were off to Roma.