So, I wrote a really long and detailed post about our week in the Amalfi Coast, but somehow due to the spotty wifi in my hotel it got deleted. I still have to write about Florence and our weekend in Milan, though, so I'll keep my second take on this post a bit shorter. I can't possibly write enough to sum up what a fantastic week it was, but I'll give it a shot.
I mentioned in my last post that Myrissa and I spent our first evening in Sant'Agnello swimming at our "private" beach. Diving into that water after spending four days with little relief from the heat in Rome was exactly what we needed. We were surrounded by cliffs, topped with beautiful homes and hotels on one side, and a fiery sunset dotted with sailboats and yachts on the other. It truly felt like heaven, and after an equally enchanting trip to Positano the day after, we decided to extend our stay in Sant'Agnello from four nights to seven.
After our first day in Positano, we spent 4 days at the public beach in Sorrento. Each day, we arrived in Sorrento via a 2 minute train ride from Sant'Agnello, walked around town and ate lunch, and then walked down 150 stairs to the beach. The beach area in Sorrento is very tiny, and is portioned off into several private and one public beach. Most tourists opt for the private beaches that cost about 20 euros to enter, but we decided not to waste our money and spend our week at the public beach among Italians from the greater Naples area. Some people noticed Myrissa and I were American and gave us a lot of attention, which was uncomfortable at times. Guys asked us out on dates, wanted to take pictures with us, and asked us about America. We witnessed (and tried to help) a group of high school age American guys getting picked on by a group of young Italian boys who were trying to steal their things. Suddenly a group of about 30 people were surrounding the American boys and yelling at one another in Italian, and the American boys were completely terrified, picked up their things and ran away. I noticed right away that nearly all the girls wore teeny tiny bikinis, while the guys are extremely skinny, have perfectly sculpted abs, and wear the smallest speedos possible. I'm not just making a generalization, either! Anyway, I suppose spending 4 days at the public beach rather than the private ones gave us a taste of real southern Italian culture, which was really cool.
We stayed at a hotel called Casa Susy, an pink hotel run by an adorable mother/grandmother who cooks and cleans all day to satisfy her family, who lives in the hotel, and guests. She was so sweet and welcoming to us, and every morning and evening greeted us with "ciao bellas!". She was happy to hear we wanted to stay for 7 nights, but didn't have room for us on the 5th night, so we hurriedly booked a room at a hostel in town for night #5. The hostel was filled with American college students (many from Penn State, I noticed) and was very comfortable and well run. At night, they essentially converted the roof into a night club, and we hung out there for a little bit until going to sleep. Staying at the hostel was great, but it was nice to return to the homey comfort of Casa Susy the next morning.
During our week, I noticed that the public transportation system in southern Italy is truly confounding and probably has not been updated in about 20 years. At the train stations, there are no ticket machines, only tellers, and the trains and platforms are not marked. There are no announcements about times or locations; a train simply pulls up to a random platform at some loosely designated time, and you get on hoping to find someone who speaks English who can tell you if it's going to the right place. Sant'Agnello's train station was simple because there was only one platform, but it was much harder at Naples and Sorrento were there were multiple trains present at one time. The bus system is even more confusing. There are no bus schedules to be found anywhere. There aren't any clearly marked bus stops, and when you finally find a bus stop, no one there seems to know when/if the train is coming. We attempted to go back to Positano during the week, only to wait for 20 minutes past "departure time" and find that the bus was not coming any time soon.
But, other than the confusing public transportation system, the Amalfi Coast is truly amazing. The highlight of our week was without a doubt the last day. Susy booked a tour of Capri for us, but at 9 AM that day we were told the tour was cancelled due to rough waters. Well, Susy called her friend who works at the company, said a lot of assertive-sounding phrases in Italian, and a few minutes later we were on our way to the boat. We boarded a gorgeous, small boat along with about 10 other people. The ride to Capri was breathtaking, and we met some great people from America and really sweet couple from Holland. From America, we met Kendra and Mickey, Mickey's son Nick, and Chalisa. Myrissa and I spent much of the boat ride sharing our travel stories (and other random conversation topics) with them. Before docking in Capri, the boat stopped at a few caves, and we were amazed at how the cloudless sky and sun reflected off the water and cave walls, giving the water a strikingly bright blue color. The boat stopped in a cove where the water was calm, and Kendra, Nick and Myrissa dove right into the turquoise tides. But, since I'm terrified of deep water (something most people don't know about me) it was hard for me to find the courage to jump in with them. I sat with Chalisa and Mickey and dipped my feet in, and after everyone cheered me on a bit, I jumped in and floated in the perfect water for a couple of minutes. In fact, the water was so beautiful that I jumped in twice!
We spent the rest of the boat ride to Capri laying out on the boat deck and watching the coast, in all of its paradisal glory, pass us by. We ate lunch with everyone on the island, and I had delicious pasta carbonara and a Rosini cocktail as I overlooked the picturesque landscape, home, water and boats that Capri is known for. The whole experience was quite surreal. During lunch, Kendra told us about a vacation tradition her family has called your "orchid" and "onion". Your orchid is the best part of your trip, and your onion is the worst. Before finishing lunch, each of us shared the orchids and onions of our trips, and Myrissa and I shared them from both London and Rome. In London, my orchid was seeing Wicked in the West End, and in Rome, it was seeing the Trevi Fountain at night.
After lunch, Myrissa and I took a team car up to the main square of Capri, where we bought coral and Murano glass bracelets and followed an enticing smell that led us to a bakery with the most delicious lemon and nut cookies I've ever had. On the boat ride back, the waves were quite rough and we got really wet from them smashing against the side of the boat. One of our tour guides, a hilarious Italian man who wore super short swim shorts and a tight red shirt, invited us all to dinner at his cooking school. 18 euro for a 4 course meal? I'll take it.
A couple of hours later, we arrived at the cooking school to find our tour guide still wearing his swim shorts and red shirt, but with a leather jacket on top and Vespa helmet in hand. Myrissa said he looked like an Italian version of Alan from The Hangover, and I could not agree more. We ate eggplant lasagna, homemade pasta with meat sauce, pork filet wrapped in mushrooms and a pastry, and apple cake for desert. After dinner, we spent the night in Sorrento with everyone we had met that day. We had drinks at a rooftop garden terrace called the English Inn, and talked and enjoyed the gorgeous night before going back to Casa Susy for our last night. It was really so great to meet all of you!
The next morning, we packed our (heavy) bags to leave for Florence. With one final "ciao bellas!" we said goodbye to Susy, our view of Vesuvius, our perfect beaches, the pizza place down the road, and a week of total relaxation. We left with dark sun tans, lots of limoncello, cookies, and heavy hearts, but knew we had great times awaiting us. That evening, we would arrive in Florence and just two days later, in Milan to reunite with our friends.
Thank you, Sant'Agnello, for an incredible week. I know we'll be back soon.
Xoxo
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