A taste of Southern Italy

There were thunderstorms for most of the night, which made for a restless sleep. I woke suddenly when I heard a car door slam outside and flew out of bed, thinking we had overslept and our taxi was waiting for us. When I checked the time, it was only 1:48 am. I'd managed to master the phone system and had booked a taxi the night before. We could have walked to our destination, but we had to be at the tour office by 7 am and the weather was not kind.

We had booked this 3 day, 2 night tour online before we'd left Australia and were hoping that it would be as good as the reviews said it was.

Our taxi did arrive as ordered, at 6:15 am. The taxi company phoned 10 minutes before it arrived to say our car was Londra 29. This is a security measure because apparently there are some rogue cars around ripping tourists off.

The rain pelted down as we left Trastavere and was still pouring when we arrived at the tour office at 6:40. Luckily, they were open so we could wait inside out of the weather. More and more people arrived and the room was soon overcrowded. The bus arrived promptly at 7:15 am and then the rain stopped. We didn't leave immediately because some people were late. By the time they arrived, and we could leave, it was 7:40.

Constantin was our driver, and Marco, the guide. As we set off, it began to rain again and it continued for most of our drive south. Marco gave us a potted history of the places we passed as we went.

We stopped for a break and coffee at 10:15, where I discovered that an American coffee is a long black! We left there at 10:30 and drove through Naples. There our guide for Pompeii joined us. His name was Vittorio. Like Marco, he spoke both English and German. After we'd taken our photos of Naples, Vesuvius, the Sorrento Peninsula and Capri, we set off to Pompeii, which was not more than 15 minutes away.

We stopped in New Pompeii for lunch at a family Osteria. There, we had salad, penne in tomato and cheese sauce, with grapes to follow. Back to the coach and on to the ruins.

It was overcast, but the rain held off for our tour of Pompeii. We saw so much and learned about life in Pompeii before Vesuvius erupted. We spent over 2 hours walking through the ruins. Vittorio also spoke in German and English and led us through the excavated city, showing us simple homes, villas of the rich, the system of roads, temples, shops, water fountains, and of course, the 'remains' of people and animals. 

After some free time in the piazza in front of the ruins, Marco led us back to the coach, where we had to wait for another coach to arrive. Those going on to Sorrento and Capri (that included Lindy and me) were to take this new coach, while some of the people on it, who had completed their tour of the south, were going back to Rome with Marco.

Ornella was our guide into Sorrento. She also had a number of Spanish speakers on board (the Germans went back to Rome) so once again everything was described in 2 languages. She explained that we would be staying in different hotels and that we would receive instructions re where to be when. She said if the weather was bad and we couldn't get to Capri (pronounced Carpree, not Capri as in the capri pants), other arrangements would be made - another excursion. We kept our fingers crossed because we so did want to see Capri.

Sorrento is across the Peninsular from Naples so it didn't take too long to get there. The coach stopped in a small piazza and Ornella called names out. That group went to a car in the small car park, with their luggage. She then called Lindy and me and walked us to the other side of the piazza and 20 feet down the street to our hotel. She left us there, with our instructions - to be in the foyer at 10 am the next morning. In the meantime, she said, enjoy the hotel and have dinner and breakfast in the dining room (all included).

What a stunning hotel the Ambasciatori Grand Hotel is. It's listed as a 4 star hotel, but we disagree - it's definitely a 5 star! We showered and changed (no jeans in this dining room!) caught up with email etc, then because we'd had such a late lunch, went to late (for us) dinner at 8:30 pm in the most luxurious surroundings. And the food! We were able to order whatever we wanted, and as much as we wanted, and the wait staff were wonderful. Heaven.