Friday 8 November 2024

We are heading to Sorrento today for some off-season RnR, so off to the Napoli Centrale Treno Statizione. A good coffee and a corneto then to the tap on turnstile for the trip down the coast. Oh dear, the trains are on strike. A nice man directs us around the corner to the buses. Oh no, the busses are all booked out but the nice man there tells us that the ferries go each hour to Sorrento.

Ah, we know where they are, as we caught a ferry to Ishica. So, down to the tram stop – they’re not on strike, thankfully and down to the Port. On we hop and tap the machine with a little graphic of a credit card. Not working. Tram is packed. At the second to last stop on get the Police. 'Tickets please,' they say.

We point to the little machine and explain our dilemma. Next we get a lecture on reading instructions before we get on trams. You have to find a tabachi and buy your ticket there. But what about the tap screen on the little machine. No!

No sense of humour either, but polite. The nice policeman pulls us off the bus, show his badge, demands passports and asks “card or cash?” A bribe? It’s Italy after all. But no, it’s a legit fine of €110.

Flashy pays and senses Lady P is about to argue. Steam is coming out her ears but she resists and we head off to the departure hall for the ferry. We buy tickets at the big windows that say ‘tickets to Sorrento.’ and sit down to wait the two hours for the ferry.

The 60 metre long departure hall has one toilet. It is broken. Flashy walks into the Port precinct looking for la toiletta and finds a café, where in order to use the toilet, he buys a beer. The toilet has no seat. The floor is wet. There is no paper. Wonderful Napoli.

The ferry arrives and as Flashy’s watch's second hand hits the 12 of 1.00 pm the ferry departs for a 45 minute cruise on dead flat, blue water to beautiful Sorrento.

The weather is still warm and clear and Sorrento is still busy. It would be madness in the summer.

On arrival, more arguing with taxi drivers who, shock – want €20 to take us up the hill to our BnB. The price of a cocktail, for f**k sake. But no, Lady P spurns the easy solution and finds a group of fellow travellers also arguing with said taxi drivers and they wander off to find a €4 bus fare. This drops us at the door of our villa. One of the rooms – large, clean, good kitchen, lounge and separate bedroom – is our home for the next five nights.

Off to the nearby clifftop hotel for a sunset cocktail (Sorrento prices a bit of a shock €30. Makes a taxi fare look  cheap – just saying!), then to a supermarket for some chicken, fruit and veges so we can have a proper meal. We amuse ourselves watching ‘Emily in Paris’ on the TV.

Roof top terrace with expensive cocktails. Nights are getting chilly.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Sunday 24 and Monday 25 November 2024 A big couple of travel days on the train from Nice to Paris which was a comfortable six hours on the TGV. Our Paris station, Gare de Lyon was a taxi ride to our overnight two star hotel within walking distance of Gare de Nord, because we are departing there on the Eurostar to London tomorrow.  This was another good train trip at just under 300 kph and 2.5 hours. Alyssa was waiting for us at St Pancras and we had a long and lovely lunch in Searcys Brasserie and Champagne Bar, a very nice and well presented restaurant within the station. Very reasonable bill at the end – until you realise it’s in pounds! The train to London Bridge, then to Marden in Kent was seamless and Johnny collected us for the 20 minute drive to Kilndown, where we will be house sitting with Truffle the naughty dog for a couple of weeks. It has been interesting to reflect on the various train journeys we have taken throughout Italy and France. One of the great advant...
Read more
Image
  Thursday 14 November 2024 We found a wonderful little café today for breakfast with the locals. The cruise ship Americans with the little bloke with the flag on the stick – he gets around, eh? They went elsewhere. Excellent cappuccino, cannolo and ham and cheese roll.  Then a painful hobble around the outside walls of San Gimignano ended with a coffee and the purchase of a shirt in the local market. By this time, it was almost lunch and our mate Kevin, from La Chaine des Rotisseurs in Cairns, now living half the year in Florence, arrived to collect us.  We are now back in three layers and puffer jackets because despite the clear blue sky, the temperature is in single figures and the wind and shadows are, how shall I put this?   Very bloody cold! Lunch was at Bottega Torciano, a 10 minute drive down the road. It specialises in Florentine steak. That is a 1.5 kg T-bone, cooked rare. We shared this and had some healthy grilled vegetables and potatoes – about three...
Read more
Image
  Thursday 7 November 2024 365 days since we departed Cairns today. It seems like a fast year over four seasons. Today was also another warm, sunny day. I’m not sure what this will mean for the coming European summer, with the floods and such. Plus, what will the Trump win mean? Today we caught the train to Pompeii to do a guided tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum with an archaeologist guide. Very scientific of us. Not just a guide, but a real archaeologist! There were 20 in the group, mostly Americans. And the cruise ship mob were there as well – mostly Americans too. Our guide was, according to Lady P, a bit of a hunk. He also spoke heavily accented English ten to the dozen, which meant you got brain strain trying to pay attention to the excellent content he was delivering. Nonetheless, the Pompeii tour was excellent – again without the summer crowds. A break for lunch before the bus to Herculaneum. Both cities were covered in 15 metres of volcanic ash and mud, killing all l...
Read more