After Naples we still had a few days until Mama Roberts would join the party, so we made the most of it and headed south by train to the famed Amalfi coast. Trust me when I say it didn’t disappoint. Due to insane prices during still peak summer months, we decided to stay in Sorrento where we could get a nice room at a B&B in the heart of the city for much cheaper than Capri or Positano. Then we would take day trips to the other locations. At first we thought this would be a sacrifice for being on a budget, but in the end we really enjoyed Sorrento and glad we did it that way.
Our room in Sorrento sat above the main market street where vendors were selling everything from trinkets and souvenirs, to gelato and fresh fruit. Souvenirs of the region typically involve lemons as they grow by the mega tons here. Its most famous tourist vice is limoncello, the Italian lemon liqueur. You can find it in every shop you cross. We loved wandering the market streets and watching and enjoying the sounds of it from our balcony above. Our other pleasure there was beginning of our love affair with Italian gelato. We’ve heard the stories of its wonders but my-oh-my it didn’t do it justice. We probably went for a double or triple scoop a couple of times a day while there. You just can’t stop yourself. We tried to act like we were walking around enough to burn it off, but in the end we knew we were lying to ourselves and frankly didn’t care that we were.
Our first day trip was out to the island of Capri. This is an island famed for its upscale shopping, hotels, yachts, etc. So clearly it was made for us backpackers. We took an hour ferry out to the island and spent a half day there, which for us was just the right amount of time. The highlight for sure was taking the ski lift up chair up Mount Solaro. It is about an eight minute ride up and from the top you get epic views of the whole island (pictures below) while enjoying an overpriced cup of coffee from the little restaurant at the top.
Our second day trip was out to Positano, the cliffside village on the southern coast. We ventured here by an overcrowded bus on very windy roads. Once the ride was over we got our workout on as “walking” throughout the village really just consists of going down a boatload of stairs since everything is either above or below you on a steep hillside. We had a wonderful breakfast at a place overlooking the water before we made it down to the famed pebble beach to get photos and roam around. Overall the area was pretty quiet though since it wasn’t an overly sunny day for beachgoers.
We wrapped up the trip with one last night at our B&B which ironically doesn’t even serve breakfast, so I think it should just be called a “B.” We woke up excited in the morning as we were headed by train to Rome to meet mama Roberts and start her first ever European adventure!
