Spring Break '05 | Day 5

With school on break for Shana, she had planned a vacation with us to the southern part of Italy. After a late start we made it to the train station and purchased our tickets at one of the quick stations--which I have mastered by now. The Intercity train stopped in the Roma Termini station for us to make our connecting train to Naples. On the train to the Napoli Centrale station, I broke out the iPod shuffle for some music. Shana took one ear bud as I took the other as we sang along like dorks to each song that came up. LOL!

After a long ride to Naples we bought the local train tickets to Pompeii. Unlike the Trenalitalia lines, this transport was more like a subway tram that went along the side of the southern coast, riding the hills and rolling under the mountain tunnels. At Pompeii we bought another set of tickets before heading into the ruins. At a sideway stop we had lunch at an orange/lemon juice stand with all of us ordering this sandwich of cheese and raw bacon that was preserved in a salty base complemented with herbal leaves. It was a good lunch but by the time we finished and stopped by the ticket counter for the Pompeii ruins, we found the place closed for the day. A quick change of plans got us on the next train to Sorrento.

In the small coastal city of Sorrento we found a good currency exchange before heading into the heart of town. After a short walk, Shana’s heavy bag became a heavy burden and we swapped out for my lighter pack. Further along our stroll she had an inkling to buy this bag of sugar-coated donuts in the shop window. I paid for them and with a first bite we sunk our teeth into a hard pastry and that was the end of that. At some point we made our way around to the hostel in time for check-in and later, happy hour next door in the adjoining bar. Making good use of the time, we got online to book a hostel in Rome. For happy hour we drank more than any of us should before heading out into the town.

Clumsily wondering the streets we found our way back to the center of town and a most excellent seafood dinner at the Ristorante da Gigino. It was at this restaurant that Shana met a few guys that wanted to take us around town. After dinner we went back to the hostel to drop off my bag and later to meet up with our new friends, this scooter gang, who would show us around. Shana and I rode on the back of a scooter while Dustin tagged on to another guy’s scooter as we raced up and down the steep hills of the city. After a few swigs of wine near the sea, they took us back to our hostel.

Trip-O-Meter
Activity: 3 | Energy: 3 | Friends: 3