Sorrento to Rome (Italy) JM

Feb 28, 2010;

Well its Sunday and what a great week. Yesterday it was blue sky and heat! A very nice day on the Amalfi coast of Italy! We simply loved it!

As we do many days; yesterday we walked and walked. I think we covered every foot of town and if we missed one its sure to be covered when we come back. Good shoes are a must when holidaying in Europe and especially with Barb.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning we head off to (Rome) Roma! Looks like we will leave in the morning and take the train north to Napoli (Naples) and switch trains there for the one to Roma.

Weve been warned many times to be careful in Naples as people will want our belongings and jewellery. So we will make sure we stay where the people are and not let ourselves to get cornered anywhere. In Barcelona we had to watch out for the Gypsies but they were highly overrated.

The Hostel (Ulysses Deluxe) that we stayed in this week has been very nice. Like I said before its more like a 4 star hotel with wide halls, modern fixtures, breakfast area, marble and tile and nice brass and wood trim.

On Friday we will be coming back from our tour of Roma (by train?). and then we will take possession of our little apartment that we rented for 6 weeks. You can see it here at this link: www.SorrentoGardenApt.it 

We rented the apartment because it is so much cheaper than a hostel or hotel. It saves us a minimum of $600 Euros a month from the cheap ones that we have found! Plus we can do our laundry there and it has a kitchen too which saves money and calories! The owners are a nice Italian family; Roberto, Anna Maria and their daughter Carla.

The other reason we rented this is because when Barb leaves to go back to Canada Jim (me) will have a place to call home. But who knows I might travel a bit to Greece or Sicily or something Im not sure yet.

This morning (Sunday) we had a great little breakfast and Barb's off to do laundry at the local laundry mat. No doubt she will have a story or two when she gets back. Like with our restaurants we try to go where the locals go and not so much the tourists. That way we get to meet people from the area and we get tips on what to do and what not to do and how to save money by shopping where they shop etc. After all our trip is about doing "Europe Through the Back Door" as Rick Steves calls it. This way you get to see the real thing and not the tourist thing. We often stay on the streets the locals stay on and try to stay away from the T Shirt and Bar/Tourist scene. We both want to meet and see the people for what they are really like. I think thats our favorite part of travelling.

Last night we went walking again - mostly to find a place for dinner and the 2 we had recommended to us were both closed? Some places like in Spain don't open after Siesta again until 8pm or so but I wasn't about to wait all night to eat. So we found another one that was a recommendation and ate an awesome Pizza there. As we were sitting in there eating we could tell it was getting a little busier outside. Well we had no idea!

When we got back outside the sidewalks weren't big enough t hold everyone!
They all come out at night with the parents and children and stroll! Now; I don't like crowds and line ups at all but this was fun. It looked like a busy New York street but the feel was much friendlier and more fun too.

People pushing baby strollers, others strolling arm in arm and every age from young to elderley.

It is neat to watch because our culture isnt like this and theirs is very family orientated just like the Spanish. On some streets the cars couldn't go down them any more because of all the people walking on them or standing in the middle and just visiting!

You would think that a parade had just ended and that everyone was going home but thats not the case. The shops are bustlingl Gelato, clothing and shoe shops everywhere. Add to that pizza, restaurants and bars. Most of them all open and ready to go after their siesta. Sorrento only has 20,000 people according to our reports but last night there must have been 40,000!

We finally got home and watched another rented movie from ITunes on line.

We've been able to keep in touch with our children quite well by using Skype.com on the computer and the good part is that its free. In fact I just finished talking with Hailey in Malaysia; so we had a nice chat today. Now I have to hunt down Steven and Natalie later on to see how they are.

If you know any one wanting to move to Victoria BC (Sooke) my cousin has her home up for sale as they are trying to downsize and buy a Townhome. This home is wonderful with all the right colors and layout. What a garden and yard! Wow! When one talks about location its about one house away from the Pacific ocean too - so if you know anyone I can give you her contact info; they are being more than fair with their price!

Today the weather looks to be pretty good again so we are hoping it will stay this way for a while. We deserve a break from the cold days (+6) and clouds. So the double digits like we have most days are very welcomed especially when near the ocean!

I hear Calgary has been warmer than us some days! They say the weather here in Europe is changing too and becoming more unpredictable.

I mentioned the other day that we had to cancel on Turkey as there was a Coop attempt there. Well I later found out the attack was in 2003 and they were just arresting the suspects now; so if we have my way we will still see some of Istanbul before or after Athens, Greece. Barb's not big on Istanbul so its up in the air. I like to bargain and barter so we'll see?

Italy's boos (Prime Minister?) looks to be in trouble. On the news it looks like he is up on a bunch of fraud charges. Oh, ohhh. Seems like some cultures have a lot of under the table stuff happening.

I can not believe how nice the people (Italians) are here. If at anytime you have a question they will go out of their way to help you. In fact if they cant speak english some of them will go find someone who can interpret. They are really kind. Most of them are really emotional too! They speak as you know a lot with their hands and I would love to understand what some of them are saying during some of these conversations? Sometimes they get a little loud too? Not sure how that works yet?

Another place we will be checking out is Pompeii. Its not far away. There's another one too called Herculeum (sp) which is where Hercules was born before he met Popeye or who ever it was that he hung out with (bad joke).

At last I'd like to take a boat over to Crete and some of the Greek islands with the white buildings that weve all seen. I hope we can make it? Its going to be hard to fit it all in to both our budget and time table. The good thing is we are travelling off-season which saves a lot of money!

Im not sure but I think this Blog has a place where you can sign up to follow it. That way when there's a new entry/update (if you're interested?) it will send you an email to tell you to check in on us here.

Well thats it for now. It might be a while before we have wifi again as we don't know what we will or wont have when we get to Rome tomorrow? Worse case scenario is that we will be back online likely by Saturday (after we get back to Sorrento Friday night). if we don't have any internet in Rome. PS: Rome is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world - so we are told. We'll let you know our thoughts on that soon!

Ciao
Jim for Jim & Barb.