Sep 24, 2007 - Naples Archaeology Museum

We had both sets of grandparents watch Josh today so we could venture out to Naples to visit the Archaeology museum there. The place Karen had been unable to visit for one reason or another in the last 3 trips. We took a 9:25am train (Eurostar) and arrived right on time (what the heck?) at 10:50am. We immediately walked to the Michele pizza place recommended by everyone. We got there at 11:15am and the place was half empty. All the books said there is usually a line and we should be prepared to wait. Not with us! It was great. It was about...

Aug 29, 2007 - Napoli and the Amalfi coast: Ahhh Italy . . . we love you!!!

What can we say about Napoli? Its difficult to go back and sort through the memories. For certain they bring a smile to our faces. A couple things must be mentioned. Right away we met a very nice girl from Japan, named Asako. We bumped into her on our overnight ferry from Patra, Greece (which dropped us off on the eastern side of Italy) and then discovered, about a day later, that she was taking the same bus we were to Napoli. If we thought we were adventurous before meeting Asako, we thought so less afterwards. She was at the end of two...

Aug 22, 2007 - Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful locations we have ever seen. We arrived early and took in an amazing sunrise from our balcony, illuminating the impressive city of Naples. Once it was time to go, we headed out for a day of visiting three different locations along the coast: the Island of Capri, the town of Sorrento, and the historical ruins of Pompeii. Our morning started with a fifty-minute boat ride to Capri. Capri is an impressive little 5.5 square-mile island that has served as a retreat for many, from Russian rulers to...

Aug 10, 2007 - Naples - a note from Roma and Venice

We are stating at the Ramada - New Europe Hotel on Via Galileo Ferraris across the street from the Train Statione and a bus terminal. A great location to take our day trips from. Naples is not Venice by any means. A lot of street vendors from Asia and Africa selling every thing from fishing poles to wallets. Trash pick-up leaves a lot to be desired. Crossing the streets with a traffic light or no light with cars, buses and motor cycles run in many directions but mostly on the street. Still we are enjoying a great adventure and as the saying...

Aug 8, 2007 - Pompei

naples is worse. just trying to cross the road is a nightmare. they have no road markings, so cars, scooters, taxis and buses just tear along flat out all over the place. Went on the train to pompei this morning. It,s such a huge site, it would take days to see it all , but we spent a couple of hours there. pretty amazing stuff. The skys have been blue the whole cruise and the seas so calm, you sometimes cant feel the boat even moving. we drew the short straw and got the early dinner sitting of 5.45!! we mostly miss it because by the time...

Aug 2, 2007 - Napoli

Well we went on a 10 hour tour to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri. It was a gorgeous day and not too hot. We don't want to leave our vacation but we are glad to go home. Last night we won the Newly Wed Game and received free spa treatments then we had a lobser dinner for our last formal night. I can't complain... except we got killed with the Euro exchange the whole trip. It's about 8 pm so our bags our packed and we leave the ship at 8:30 am tomorrow to fly home. See you tomorrow!!

Jul 19, 2007 - Naples, Italy

We docked in Naples at 8am and saw a lavish pier featuring a beautiful marble terminal building. The Bay of Naples extends from Cumae to Sorrento and is one of Italy's most beautiful. It is the second most improt port in Italy next to Genoa. The city has 350 churches but also has Mafia roots and is famous for giving the world pizza. We left Naples and traveled to Popeii. In 79 AD Mt. Vesuvious erupted shaking the ground as far north as Milan and in an instant Pompeii and Herculaneum were lost beneath 30 feet of boing lava and ash. It is...

Jun 29, 2007 - Tour to Naples

After we left Pompeii we went to Naples. It was only a bus tour with a few stops where we could get out. We went to this one place called Galleria Umberto. It was really nice inside. There were no doors it was just open air with big glass ceilings. There was a married couple getting their pictures taken inside. From there we drove by a castle. Then our guide took us to a hill on the coast that gave us the perfect post card view of the city. While on the hill we were informed that the real estate market on the hill is outrageous. The current...

May 24, 2007 - Naples - Italy exit point

Our time in Italy has been great and our ride to the Naples airport proved to be a fitting end to our time here. The taxi diver put on a tape of Dean Martin and sang along to¨"That's Amore" for the duration of the ride. As he said when we got out of the cab: "Ciao Italia"!

Apr 29, 2007 - Atrani - Amalfi

April 25 Arrived at Atrani, a little village about 1km around the corner from Amalfi on Anzac day. It was also a public holiday in Italy, Liberation Day (from which occupier we're not sure). A bit of an effort to get from Ischia to Atrani, first a ferry to Naples, another to Sorrento and then another to Amalfi, then the walk to Atrani. Stayed in a lovely hostel (more like a pension) with views up the hill. Not much on the go for the rest of the day, just a walk to and around Amalfi with dinner in the square at Atrani. Peter's eating is...

Apr 24, 2007 - Ischia

22 April Sunday Well we were up at 4.00am to get here from Prague, but the most interesting thing about getting here was seeing Naples at 9.00am in the morning and what a shithole it is! People say avoid it like the plague, and we tried but we had to catch a bus through it. Famous for being the birthplace of Pizza, but also for muggings, driveby handbag snatchings and the light fingered pickpocketer, we could see why. The place was graffittied so much you could not read any signs. The place was full of rubbish that you could not see where...

Apr 22, 2007 - Amalfi Coast

What a crowded and disorganised place! The beached are grey and crowded, the roads windy and crowded, the towns small and lacking decent shops. It is the most overated place we have come across in Italy so far. In general the Amalfi Coast has its moments but we would not come back, it must be horrible during summer high season. The train from Naples is this rickety old tagged thing that winds along the coast throught the mountains stopping everystation which are about 2km apart (some even less). We booked a cabin in a caravan park through a...