Venice, Rome, & Positano Trip Report

Old Aug 3rd, 2007, 05:35 PM
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Venice, Rome, & Positano Trip Report

Hi,
First I want to say thank you to everyone who responded to my previous posts with great information for planning my trip to Italy!
Here goes with my trip report. I absolutely loved Italy.
Day 1
Arrived Venice from airport and took the bus over the causeway into Venice. It was raining heavily this day and we just weren't feeling like the boat. The bus was fine. It was a larger coach and you put your suit cases underneath. I think the ride was about 45mins. but it went by really quick. We got off the bus and followed the crowd to Piazzale Roma water taxi stop. We bought our tickets for the taxi and no one ever bothered to check them. We couldn't figure that one out the whole time! Our stop was Zattere to get to the hotel. The hotel was right around the corner from the stop. We actually stayed in a convent. The name of it is Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli (www.donorione-venezia.it) It was in the Dorsoduro neighborhood which was a great location. The convent was very clean, and very spacious. There were three of us and we had more than enough room. Also, they have a restaurant around the corner. We went there the first night since it was almost 6:00pm when we checked in and still raining. It was called Ristoranted San Trovaso. I had the pesto pasta and it was good, but maybe not great. There are a lot of other restaurants just around the corner and on the water front. Also a Gelateria on the same block as the hotel. I think this may have been my favorite Gelato place in all of Italy, but definitely in Venice.
Day 2
Had complimentary breakfast at hotel. It was fine, nothing spectacular, but it seems that is the norm w/Italian breakfast's. We headed towards St. Mark. There were a lot of great shops along the way. We decided to take a Gondola ride since the weather was perfect (and would be for the rest of the vacation). I don't remember the name of the Gondalier's we used. But they are near a really beautiful Best Western! And is was great, we went through a lot of little canals and of course out into the Grand Canal. Then we made it to St. Marks, walked around saw the crazy people that let the pigeons flock all over them. Don't mean to offend anyone, but that is just crazy! The restaurant Florian was absolutely beautiful. And they have lovely music playing. We did not stop for a drink there, but on my next visit I definitely would, just for the ambience. We were going to go in St. Mark basillica, but the line was really long. We walk over to the water and walked for a while. Then we decided to get some lunch. I belive it was called Snack Bar da Piero Mauro Caffetteria. I am reading it off of a photo I took. It was so good. I had the little pizza like looking thing in the glass case. It is so small inside, but if you can find it definitely eat there. We walked all over after that. To the rialto bridge and hit the markets at the rialto. They were okay, lots of cute souvenire type stuff. It is very busy in this area. Then we just sort-of walked all over the place more. It was nice. That night we went to the opera at The Scuuola Drande di San Giovanni Evangelista. It was okay. The singing was good. The set and costumes, not so much. It is not an opera house, it is a church. It was something to do, but I don't know that I would reccomend it. We at dinner late that night somewhere on the way back to the hotel. Don't remember the name.
Day3
We took the water taxi to Murano and Burano. It was nice, they sort-of felt like smaller versions of Venice. I found a glass ring I really liked in Murano that I couldn't find anywhere else. And apparently Burano has the best/oldest Gelateria, which I missed out on. It is a nice half day trip. We came back to Venice and got off on the first stop. The water taxi's are very slow and we didn't feel like riding all of the way back. We stopped for dinner somewhere on the way back. Don't remember the name. It was still early so we went back to the room to rest for a bit and then we went to the restaurant down the street from the hotel. I don't remember the name, but it is the first one on the corner on the waterfront. We had some desert - canoli's not so good. And then some lemoncello - very good. I also tried the bellini - not so good. It is really a nice place to sit and enjoy the beauty.
Day 4
Last day in Venice. We went back to St. Marks basilica. Of course the line was long again, but we decided to wait it out. So here is the deal, if you want to go in just wait out the line. It is really a lond line, but the wait is only like 15 mins. This basilica wasn't my favorite, I wouldn't neccesarily reccomend going in, but everyone is different.
Then we had to head out. We caught the water taxi to the train station. And took the 2:00pm train to Rome.
I will continue with Rome later as this is getting really lengthy.
I really loved Venice. It is a great city and a really good place to start your trip to Italy. There is plenty to do and see, but not a lot of pressure to try and cram everything in. The people were great. The food was okay. I felt very safe walking anywhere. And wherever you end up staying I wouldn't be to worried about how centrally located it is as everything is so easy to get to and a lot closer than you think. We walked to the opera by ourselves at night and it was outside of the main tourist spots. I wouldn't say it was unsafe, but just very isolated.

Z


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Old Aug 3rd, 2007, 06:04 PM
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Thanks for the report - can't wait to read the rest!
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Old Aug 3rd, 2007, 07:45 PM
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Keep it coming!
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Old Aug 4th, 2007, 07:32 AM
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Hi,
I am back with the Rome portion of the trip. I am so glad to see some interest in my report. I love travel. And these reports were a great source when I was planning.

Day 4
Hopped on the 2pm train to Rome. It was about a 4 hour train ride. And it was a very inexpensive and trouble free way to get there. Also, the ride was absolutely beautiful. You get to see a lot of the Tuscan country side. Which was nice since we didn't get to go to Tuscany on this trip. We arrived in Rome around 6pm. We stayed at the Hotel Lirico, which I booked on expedia.com. It was a 5-10min. walk from the train station. You won't find a taxi from the train station that will take you that short of a distance. Now the walk didn't bother me at all, and I had a giant overpacked suitcase - I don't leave home without it! However, it might be a little frusterating for some. The area was safe, I had heard things are a little sketchy around the train station, but maybe that is in the other direction. This was fine. Hotel Lirico was okay. It was definitely older and clean, but not the nicest hotel I have ever been in. The man at the front desk when we arrived was very friendly and helpful. He gave us a nice map of Rome and of course some reccomendations. He suggested somewhere just two blocks away for dinner and after we freshioned up that is where we headed. I think the name was something like Bracco, I think that is where they send all of their guest. And the food was good. I think we may have walked around a bit and then went back to go to bed. This hotel is on the same block as Teatro dell'Opera. This is the big Opera house in Rome, however there wasn't anything going on when we were there.
Day 5
Today was our first full day of three in Rome so we decided to just walk around and check out some of the sights. We head towards the Coloseum. We passed the Church of San Maria Maggiore and went into that. Most of the churches our beautiful, but I didn't need to go in as many as we did. After that we went to the Coloseum. On the way to get into the line some people tried to get us to take a tour we opted out and then saw how long the line was and then went back for the tour. The tour starts around the corner and then you go to get in the very long line you thought you were getting out of! Actually though the line moves very quickly. And once you get in you do get through one of the other lines faster. The tour was good. You follow your guide around the Coloseum while wearing headseats. She was a little Italian lady and full of very intersting infomation. It was a little dry, but if you don't know much about the Coloseum and you don't have a book, I think you will get the most out of it with a tour. It was also very hot and it was only like May 6th, but there are shady spots to stand in. I guess the tour was about 45 mins and then you can wonder around the structure yourself for as long as you want. That was cool. This tour comes with another tour of Palentine Hill, all for one price. And Palentine Hill is right next to the Coloseum. After we wondered around the Coloseum by ourselves I think we had about a 1/2 hour before the tour of Palentine Hill. We were hungary at this time and there is not much to eat around the Coloseum. There was a "Roach Coach" (this is what we call them where I live, no offense to anyone) and that was about it. We got a hot dog which I just couldn't eat, I'm sure it was fine though. So I snacked on some chips and a soda. So if a hotdog, chips, or candy don't do it for you, make sure you have a snack of some sort with you. I usually have peanut butter crackers, but for some reason I forgot today. Then we met up for our tour of Palentine Hill. Our tour guide was Hannah from Australia and she was amazing. I don't know if we lucked out and found her, but she was really good. Her knowledge of Rome and its history is unbelievable. And she is very entertaining. I get board and my mind wonders easily, but she kept my attention the whole time. She is very enthusiastic about what she does. I did not know much about Palentine Hill before, and I wasn't planning on visitng that part, but it was so interesting. And it was great to have a tour guide to know what I was seeing. She also took us over to the Roman Forum, she didn't walk through it with us, but she gave a really good overview. And then of course we could walk all over Palentine Hill and the Forum by ourselves. I had a really nice guide book that gave a brief discription of what we were seeing so if you don't do a tour I would at least reccomend having something like that, but I really reccomend spending the extra money for the tour. Hannah (the tour guide) of course told us about other tours she did. And so we decided to do the walking tour of rome that she gave that night around 6pm? So after walking around the Forum some we decided to go back to the hotel and rest and freshen up a bit. Now this is where it got a little tiresome staying where we stayed. I don't mind walking at all, infact I love doing as much as I can while on vacation because usually it is the only exercise I get while I am away. It was a 20min. walk back to the hotel and then a 20min. walk back to meet up with the tour. We met up with the tour and again Hannah from Australia very interesting. We met at the Victor Emmanuel monument so she told us more about the Forurm and then we went to the littlest church ever and by many other important places (can't remember them all) and we went to the Trevi Fountain. It was nice, but insanely crowded as I'm sure it always is. She took us to a great Gelateria, so many flavors, very good. Then to the Pantheon, unfortunately that was closed. Then onto Piazza Navona. The tour was 2 1/2 hours and she went into depth on everything we saw. It was great. She reccomended a great place for dinner. It was just down from the Piazza Navona it was called Navona Notte. Very good, very reasonable. The pizza was great. It was pretty late at the time so we walked back to the hotel and went to bed.
Day 6
We decided to meet Hannah again for her Vatican tour. The best way to get there from our hotel was to take the subway. It would have been over an hour walking and we would have sat in traffic if we took a cab or bus. We caught the subway at the train station stop. Just a five minute walk (w/out the luggage). It is Termini station and we took the A line to meet the tour at Cipro - Musei Vaticani. I use public transportation in every city I visit and I do well in the city and prefer living in the city, but this subway left me a little perplexed. So maybe give yourself a few extra minutes so you don't have to rush. And the subway in Rome is insanely crowded, worse than NYC, probably comparable with Londons. Especially in rush hour which if you go at 8:00 in the morning like we did you will be pack in. Okay, moving on, we met the tour in the subay before you get all of the way out they were waiting for us. Also, you can take snacks and water into the Vatican. I highly reccomend doing this. The line to get in the Vatican was crazy long, we probably waited at least a 1/2 hour. I don't think this can be avoided, it's just what you have to do if you want to go in. The tour took us through the Vatican musuems which were interesting, it was getting a little lengthy for me. Then to the Sistine Chapel which was amazing. However, having said that, they pack you in there, ask you to be quiet, but everyone is chatting. It was amazing, but it is ashame it isn't a little more peacefull. I think we had 15mins to wonder about the chapel as we like. Then we went onto St. Peter's basillica. This was truely amazing. Like nothing else I have ever seen. And this is where this part of the tour really paid off. If nothing else I highly reccomend having a tour of the basillica. There is so much in there and it is so interesting and beautiful. And Hannah was so enthusiastic about it and I think she goes there at least once a week. This Basillica makes everything else look like small potato's. It was really incredible. This is where the tour ends and then you can do whatever you want while you are in the Vatican. You can go back in the Basillica, go to the museum shop, go to the crypt, go up to the tour/overlook, etc. We went into the museum shop and we were hungary so we went to eat and did not go back in. I think we were just really tired. I kind-of wished we went back for more, but the lines were long and we just weren't into at the moment. It is really a long day, so prepare yourself. We took the subway back to the hotel to rest for a while. And then went back out. I really wanted to go into the Pantheon so we needed to do that before it closed. It was really cool. And the information from the tour the day before was very helpful. Hadrian? and Rapheals tomb are both inside. After this we went to a hotel that was right next to the Pantheon, Albergo Sonata?, and went to the roof for a drink. I'm sure this hotel cost a little more but is was very nice. A friend reccomended going there for a drink and I think we would stay there next time, it was a nice location. I reccomend at least going to the roof for a drink. It is a different view of the Pantheon and really nice views of the city. After that we went back to the Piazza Navona and shopped some of the art vendors there. Then we went back to Navona Notte for dinner. Again very good. then back to the hotel.
Day 7
Today was nice. It was our last day in Rome and while I'm sure we missed so much in the grand scheme, we had hit all of the big sites and just sort of relaxed about the day. We got up leisurely. Oh and yes this hotel had the complimentary breakfast, which mostly consisted of pastries and bread. Again nothing spectacular, but it was at least something in your stomach in the morning. We walked to the Spanish Steps. We walked from our hotel so we ended up at the top of the steps. Walked down them and tooks some nice photo's. We walked down the trendy via condotti. Our tour guide from yesterday reccomended going to the Jewish Ghetto for pastries, so we headed there next. It was later in the afternoon so we decided to have lunch while we were there. I don't remember the name of the place, but it was on the end, near some riuns, and ancient columns that are sort-of free standing. It was very good. I had fish and it was delicious. They charge by the Kilogram. I did not realize this so it was very expensive. Looking back I should have known I could not get fish for 5 Euros. I realize now how dumb that sounds and I shouldn't even admit to it, oh well. When we were finished it was time for siesta so it was hard to find a spot to get a pastry. We did find one and tried a Canoli, it was good, but still just not right. Then we were going to head back to the hotel for a rest. I led us to the Campo d. Fiori. It was so late in the afternoon there was no Fiori. So if that is of interest to you I would go in the morning. Then I got a little turned around on the way back to the hotel and we ended up at the Castel Sant' Angelo, right outside of the Vatican! We decided to go in the Castel, which was actually pretty cool. I had my guide book with me, so that gave us a little info on it. They have a lovely cafe once you walk up part of the way with great views of the Vatican and a nize breeze. We stopped there for a Cappacino and a Lemoncello. It was nice. Then we walked the rest of the way up and there are great views of the city and the Vatican from there. Now we were so far from the hotel at this point we didn't want to walk back and then have to come back down for dinner. This is where having a hotel so far from the center was a little tough. We decided to hit some pottery stores we passed on our tour the other night. We bought some pottery and then went into another really cute clothing store called PV by Pazza Venezia located on Via del Plebiscito, 115-116. They had great stuff in there, I reccomend it. Then onto a shoe store we passed on our tour the other night. I bought two pair of shoes. Then to the 12 Apostle church. That church was okay, after you visit St. Peters, nothing else will come close. Then we wanted to stop by that little church again, but sadly it was closed. It was getting late so we went to the Piazza Navona and I bought a small piece of art from one of the vendors and then we went to Navona Notte for dinner. Then walked all of the way back to the hotel. It turned out to be a long day! But a good one to say the least.
Day 8
We got up this morning and caught the 7:45am train to Positano. We had to walk to the train station from the hotel with our giant bags.
Again, I will work on the last part of this trip at a later time, it is getting lengthy again.
I really liked Rome. The architecture is amazing and the realization of how far everything dates back is unbelievable. You need a minimum of three whole days in Rome. And if you can from Hannah the tour guide from Australia it will be worth it.
Z
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Old Aug 4th, 2007, 09:54 AM
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How does one get in touch with Hannah?
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Old Aug 6th, 2007, 12:15 AM
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topping - thank you!
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Old Aug 11th, 2007, 09:59 AM
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Hi,
I'm back with the final Portion of my trip - Positano!

-I'm not sure how to get in touch with Hannah. She did give us a broshure, unfortunately it does not have a company name on it. It just names a few different tours they offer and a phone number (+39) 328 891 51 60 and a name -R oberto.

Day 8
This morning we arrived at the train station and cought the 7:45am train from Rome to the Amalfi Coast. The train ride was only about 2 1/2 hours. We met a lovely girl from Turkey and a very nice man from Sicily. They were both very interesting to talk to. And the views are spectacular. Our destination in the Amalfi Coast was Positano. However the train does not go directly to Positano. When making my arrangements prior to traveling it seemed Salerno would be closer to Positano and therefore we should take the train there. It is the next major stop after Naples. Do not do this. I made a huge mistake. After Naples this train stops at all of the "local" stops. We should have took the train from Rome to Naples and we would have cut an hour out of our train time. And there really isn't anything to see in Salerno. In fact it is a little shady near the train station (but that seems like something that goes along with train stations). If you want to stay in more of a city in the Amalfi Coast I would pick Sorrento not Salerno or Naples. Having said that, we arrived in Salerno at 10:30am. We decided to take the Hydrofiol to Positano and it left at 10:40am. The walk was about 10mins. And again you can't get a taxi, because it is three block to the water front and then you need to walk on the pier. Of course we had our giant bags in hand which made our journey more like 15mins. And it is a little tricky to figure out exactly where you need to go. Luckily it seems there is such a thing as Italian time, where Italians sort-of seem to run on their own schedule. We arrived at the boat, bought our tickets and we didn't get on the boat more than 10mins late. And it pretty much departed right after we got on. We got lucky. If you end up in Salerno and are catching the boat to Positano try if you can to give yourself enough time for the occasional bumb in the road. I believe our train was running a little behind, so that didn't help our situation. If we had missed the boat it would have been over and hour wait for the next one. The boat ride was nice. The views of the coast were spectacular. The boat made a stop in the town of Amalfi and then on to Positano. I guess the ride was about an hour. It went by really quickly. We arrived at the dock in beautiful Positano probably around 11:45am. Are hotel was just up the cliff a bit and there would be no way we could carry our luggage up. So we got a taxi at the pier and this was a little confusing. He took one person and the luggage up and said someone would be around for the two of us, I think. We got to talking to a family that was getting ready to leave and the luggage and our other person left with out us. We were waiting for a while and then decided to hike up and hope for the best. The walk up wasn't bad, we really weren't that far up, too far with luggage, but fine for just walking. The tricky part was that at this time we didn't know exactly where we were going. I have a strange good sence of direction and we made it without any problems to find our luggage and 3rd person waiting for us at the hotel! We stayed in Albergo California (hotelcaliforniapositano.com). I love this hotel. And I can't imagine not staying there next time I return. Maria, the owner, was great. She will do anything to make your stay more pleasent and easy. The views from our room and the terrace were spectacular. The room was beautiful. Very, very clean and spacious. As well as the bathroom. There was a nice (typical Italain) breakfast every morning on the shaded terrace with spectacular view overlooking the town and the sea. You could sit inside if you want, but with the weather so nice and the views so great why would you. It was probably around 12:30 we were checked in and freshened up. We were starving as we didn't get breakfast this morning so we decided to get a bite to eat. Maria's cousin owns the place next to the hotel and I heard it was delicious, but we just wanted a little something and decided to go elsewhere. We walked around and found a cute little snack shop called La Zagara di Positano (www.lazagara.com). The sandwiches were incredible. This is a great place for a snack or a meal or a drink, whatever. We got a canoli, and these were the canoli's we came to Italy for! The only not so great thing I would have to say about this restaurant would be that it seemed quite often they were out of a certain sandwhich, but not a big deal. The food in this region would be the best we had on the entire trip. After this we decided to walk around and explore Positano. We walked to the different shops, this area is a pottery haven. We walked over to the other side of the mountain. We walked up and then down many, many steps to the seaside. One person in our group of three jumped in the water. It was a little chilly, but great. After a little while we walked back up the steps. It was a tough climb. The steps are a little steapper there than what I am used to. I think I counted something 350 steps. It seemed like more, but I don't remember. We then decided to walk back towards the hotel. We stopped at Cafe Positano for a drink and a snack. We ordered a plate of olives. They were delicious. If you eat here definitely get a plate of olives, they were like no other olives I have ever had. (www.caffepositano.it) I definitely reccomend this place. In fact we made reservation for dinner there the next night. After out snack we walked some more stopping in some pottery shops. One in particular was very nice. It was called Elisir di Positano (www.elisirdipositano.it) If you find something you like, buy it here, the man who ran the store (the owner) was incredibly nice. I think we ened up purchasing sevaral pieces. We walked back stopped in a few more places. Made our way back to the hotel. Took a shower and then ended up going back to La Zagara for dinner. It was great again. And they also had the best cappacino I had in Italy. I think we were exhausted and it was pretty late so we went to bed after dinner.
Day 9
We woke up to another beautiful day in Positano. Our room, as do most, had a balcony and I could have sat out there all day. But there was a lot to be done. I took a shower and met everyone on the terrace for breakfast. Now I liked the breakfast which for me consisted of capaccino, Italian bread, pastries, and jams. Then we walked to a film shop as I need a new card for my camera. I reccomend buying an extra card before you leave home as the card I bought was 40 Euros. Then we cought the bus that took us to Montepertuso. I think this is how you spell it. It is at the top of the mountain. The bus ride was a thrill ride. You really can't imagine the edge of you seat ride with the cliffs dropping straight down on one side until you experience it. We actually didn't ride all of the way to the top, just because we got a little confused as to where we were suppose to get off. We hiked down and the views on the way down were amazing. It was a nice walk down, with relative ease. The way down led us right by the hotel, which was great. We stopped in and put our bathing suites on and grabbed our beach bags. We walked down to the beach. Once we got to the bottom we stopped at Buca di Bacco (www.bucapositano.it). This place is also a hotel which I heard is nice and it is right on the beach. We just stopped in for lunch. And sat on the terrace with a nice view of the beach and sea. Lunch here was incredible. Definitely eat here. I wish I could remember everything we all had, but I can't. I remember having a very large salad that was delicious, but other than pasta and more pasta I don't remember what the other dishes were. It was great though. After lunch we headed straight for the beach. There was a part where you could find a spot on the sand or a section where I believe you could pay to use the chairs. We went straight for the chairs, but sort-of snuck around and didn't pay. I am almost embarrased to admit that and I would have rather just paid, but I went along with the group, not that it makes it any better. I reccomend getting the chairs, it was nice to sit out in the sun in a lounge chair. Now the beach that we went to yesterday had chairs and there is a way to get there so you don't have to climb up the cliff and then down and back up some 300 steps. We didn't stay there long enough yesterday for chairs. It was great to sit out on the beach. It was May 12 and the weather was perfect. We could even go swimming. The water was a little cool, but it very nice. And very salty, so floating was easy. Also, the water is calm and very clean. You can see right through it. We layed out some more after our swim. We stayed for a while. I think it was close to 5:30 when we finally left. (By the way the beaches are not nude and I think it is frowned upon) We went back to the room to shower. I stood out on the balcony and watched the sunset over the mountain and then took my shower. Our dinner reservation was for 8:00. Just after 7:30 we started to walk up to Cafe Positano. I think we had more olives because they were so good. The wine was excellent as well as our meals. I had pasta again, and it was out of this world. We sat outside across the street. They have tables set up and we just watched the day turn into night and beautiful Positano light up. After dinner we decided to go back to La Zagara for cappacino and dessert. It was so good. There is some fruit pie we had for desert and it was delicious. And then we walked around town for a while and then off to bed.
Day 10
My Birthday! And our last full day in Positano. Today we decided to visit Capri. We decided to go with lucibello tours to do so. (www.lucibello.it) The tour was great. He took us to all of the different grottos (the green grotto, the white grotto, the little blue grotto) Normally in the summer you can jump off and go swimming, but there were to many jelly fish in the water right now. Then he took us to the main blue grotto that you always hear about. We got off our big boat and onto little row boats to go in. You do have to lay back in the boats to get in the grotto, but this is not really a big deal. I would definitely do this (if your going to capri). It was pretty cool, very dark and the water was completely lit up a beautiful azure blue. After this the boat dropped us off in Capri and we had several hours to do whatever we liked in capri. We had lunch on the water front at Caffe Augusto and it was fantastic. I had pizza and this was the best pizza I had in all of Italy. This place is not hard to find. The water front is very short and Caffe Augusto is a restaurant or two just before the funicular. I don't remember the name of the pizza I had, but I think it had sassage, pepporoni and bacon? It was out of this world. After lunch we took the funicular to the top. We walked in the different shops, and took pictures. The views were beautiful from here. Then we got gelatto and headed back down in the funicular. We had some time to kill so we went back to Caffe Augusto and sat on the waterfront and had a drink and they kept brining us food. Little appetizers of all sorts. I don't remember what they were. And maybe they recognized us from before. We didn't pay for anything but what we actually ordered. They brought us two or three little dishes and they were really good! After that we needed to head back to the boat. There is a sort-of candy market by the pier. So we filled up a bag of candy and head to the boat, which we almost missed. I don't even think we were late for the boat, if so not even five minutes. So on that note try and be 15mins early for the boat departure. The excursion is not cheap and it would have been a bummer to pay for the hydrofoil to get back since our ride was taken care of. We stopped at a few places on the way back and then arrive at Positano. It is really beautiful coming into Positano. Probably the most beautiful of all of the little towns. It was late in the day. The boat trips starts at 9:30 and I think when we returned it was 6:00. We made our way back to the hotel and took showers and then head back to the other side of the mountain to a restaurant right next to Caffe Positano. We had made a reservation there two nights ago, on our first day. The name of this restaurant is Ristorante da Vincenzo Positano. I don't have a website but here is the info. 172-178 Viale Pasitea, (+39) 089 875128. I had the homemade pasta of some sort and it was out of this world. My all time favorite meal in Italy. This restaurant is a must and look for the homemade pasta on the menu, it was incredible. We had a nice bottle of wine, and appetizers. It was a full meal and very good. There is a three or four piece "band" that goes around from restaurant to restaurent playing music. That was great and very fesitive. We sat outside and they played inside and outside. We ordered capaccino and desert. And the restaurant brought out my dessert with a candle and sparklers and the band came over and played Happy Birthday and the entire outside was singing. I don't really like that much attention, but it was very nice and very memorable. It was very late by the time we finished and I think a little after midnight we headed to bed. It was really a great birthday. I can't think of a better place or way to spend it.
Day 11
The last day of the trip. We got up, took showers and had breakfast. Did our final shopping. Bought a lot more pottery that would need to be shipped home. Bought some lemon soaps and some lemoncello to take home. I bought a beautiful water color. Our train didn't depart Salerno until 6:30 so we had some time. We had lunch at Ristorante Le Tre Sorelle on the beachfront. It was very good and I enjoyed our meals. However, the people sitting next to us had mussels and they looked delicious and they said it was delicious. So if you happen to like mussels, I reccomend that. And I reccomend eating there. We walked around a little more and then it was time to leave. Maria had arranged a taxi for us at 3:30. The drive through the coast was a thrill ride. The cars fly on those cliff side roads. Our taxi driver was pretty good though. We arrived at the station just before 5:00 and had a good 1 1/2 to kill before our train left. The station didn't really have anywhere to sit. So we walked to a little cafe across the street and bought some waters and soda. It seemed a bit shady though so we left after 20 mins. We went to the water front and found another little place to sit and have a drink. We order some gelatto as well. Spent a good 45mins here and then headed back to the station. This wouldn't have been so bad except we had to drag our luggage with us, and we were just at the end of our trip. When we got back to the station our track was still not posted and we wanted to be there and ready since we had to lug our heavy bags up the steps. I asked someone and he told us so we went up to the track probably 10mins early to wait for the train and of course the train was 10 mins late. None-the-less the train came we got on. The views were lovely. We had some wine and drank that on the way up. We arrived in Rome around 9:45. Tonight I booked a hotel in Fiumicino near the airport. Finding a cab to take us there was not easy and I think our cabby tried to screw us a bit, but we did get there around 11:00 and we were starving, so we ate in the hotel restaurant. We had mussels because they look so good earlier today. And they were delicious. Fiumicino is a fishing village so it was a perfect place to hae seafood. The hotel was Club Isola Sacra and it was a little funky. Next time I would pay the extra money to stay at the airport Hilton.
Day 12
Departure day. Our flight left at 12:00 which isn't terribly early, but seeing how we needed to be at the airpot by 10/10:30 I was glad we were near by. We took our showers and then had breakfast at the hotel. They provide a shuttle for a small fee per person to get to the airport which was at most 15mins away. We found our check-in, did that and then headed off to our departure gate. Boarded our plane and we were off. Our wonderful Italian vacation had ended. And with a layover in London we would soon be home.

Well that is all. This trip was wonderful. And anything that I said that might be negative was small potato's compared to how great everything was.

Some things about the Amalfi Coast.
Personally I could stay in Positano for a week. There are so many things to see and do. And I could have had another couple of beach days. Not to mention seeing some of the other towns and maybe a visit to Pompeii.
Capri was nice and I am glad we went, but I liked Positano so much better. I hear Capri is really nice in the evening when all the daytrippers are gone, but even so, I still think I am first and foremost a Positano fan.
Last but not least, I wish we did our last day a little different. Not sure what I would change, but since we had to be checked out of the hotel by 11:00 (we could store our luggage there) and didn't catch our train until 6:30. I would just like to re-arrange that a little.

I can't image going back to Italy and not visiting Positano. Although, there are so many other places in Italy that I would like to see. And in the world for that matter. Italy was amazing though.

I think that is all. For those planning trips I hope yours is as wonderful and memorable as mine.
Thanks,
Z
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