Siena to Positano (21 July - 28 July)

21st July 2008

Summary: Siena - Palazzo Publico, Duomo, Museo 'dell Opera Metropolitana, Il Campo

Early morning train to Siena followed by a 20 minute hike to our hotel. Strolled down to Il Campo (the main square that gently sloped inwards like a bowl) and checked out the Palazzo Publico which contained lots of nice frescoes. Then trekked over to the Duomo with black and white marble layered like a zebra. This time I preferred the interior, especially the hundreds of popes heads peering over us (Geoff was doubtful there had been that many popes but his wikipedia search confirmed there have been 256 since St Peter). Went into the Museo 'dell Opera Metropolitana which had religious artwork and a beautiful terrace with great views over Siena and the Tuscan countryside. Went for a walk to the fortress (don't bother), passing some medieval fountains. Went into San Domenico where we found St Catherine's finger and head (a bit disturbing). Sat on Il Campo for a picnic dinner of bread, salami and cheese.

Practicalities: 8:10am-9:38am train to Siena. Stayed at Albergo Cannon d'Oro, room 34.

Food: antipasti buffet lunch, picnic dinner on Il Campo.

22nd July 2008

Summary: Assisi - Basilica de San Francesco, Rocca Maggiore

Caught our first long distance bus, enjoying the usual 80s bus music (including Men At Work). Had another 20 minute UPHILL hike to our hotel. Assisi is famous as the home of St Francis. It is also a seriously well preserved (and cute) medieval town. Had lunch then headed straight to Basilica de San Francesco. The exterior of the basilica was nice though modest, but combined with it's setting on the edge of town with Umbrian countryside as a backdrop it was simply stunning. The interior had two levels and contained lots of frescoes as well as the tomb of St Francis. There were many pilgrims visiting and ambiance vigilantes saying 'shhhh' into a microphone every 5 minutes. Also explored the museum attached. Walked up to Rocca Maggiore which is a fantastic castle on the hill behind Assisi. After dinner strolled back across town to watch the sunset behind the basilica, although the tranquility was marred by some entertaining Franciscan monks singing and dancing in the courtyard with a large childrens group.

Practicalities: 10:30am-12:30pm bus to Assisi. Stayed at Hotel Il Duomo, room 1.

Food: Yummy pizza at I Monaco. Chickpeas again for dinner.

23rd July 2008

Summary: Rome

Spent most of the morning on trains and buses. Finally made it to the hotel at Campo de Fioro and the room was lovely. We have been to Rome twice before and seen most of the sights so our main aim was just to wander and do a bit of admin. Tried to go to our favourite restaurant for lunch but it was shut for holidays (again) so went to the place next door (again). Walked to Trastevere to try and find the latest Iran Lonely Planet - no luck, why isn't Iran a more popular holiday destination? Wandered back over to the Pantheon for gelato (Geoff called work) and had a home "cooked" dinner, ie €2 panini, on the rooftop terrace of our hotel - great views over Rome rooftops which we had not seen before. Really felt the heat today.

Practicalities: 8:23am-10:24am with one change but can't remember where (Foligno?), plus it was running 1 hr late by the time we got to Rome. Hotel Campo de Fiori, room 304.

Food: pasta for lunch, and more chickpeas for dinner.

24th July 2008

Summary: Rome - Parco Leonardo shopping mall

Discovered our laptop (aka 'the hairdryer') had died because we'd been working it too hard the previous night, which changed our itinerary. We headed out towards Fiumicino airport to a large shopping mall which reminded us of Eastgardens (to explain to the Londoners - Eastgardens is a shopping mall in Sydney). Luckily we found a new and improved version as a replacement. Spent the rest of the day trying to get Windows to speak English instead of Italian with no luck, but I think we'll get by. As a break we walked to Largo di Torre Argentina to watch the pussy cats.

Food: canned lentils and salmon on the rooftop terrace. If you haven't tried it, give it a go.

25th July 2008

Woke up in the middle of a nightmare where I was mopping the floors of an enormous church while Gareth from The Office was painting the ceiling. G went to mass at Opus Dei global headquarters in the morning, while I went for a walk to the Catholic global HQ (the Vatican). Getting off the train at Napoli was like arriving in another country. We had a pleasant walk to the hotel, dodging traffic (no traffic lights anywhere), piles of rubbish and flattened pigeons. I had been warned about Naples train station but I had expected the city to improve the further we got from the station. It did, but only slightly. The look on G's face as we found our hotel was priceless. The entrance was a cross between a derelict building and a construction zone, however the hotel itself was perfectly fine. We popped into the Duomo and then walked to the Archaelogical Museum. The museum had a great collection of mosaics from Pompeii and other towns. It also had some huge and impressive sculptures. G's mood picked up considerably after a good meal not involving lentils or chickpeas.

Summary: Naples - Duomo, Museum

Practicalities: 12:49pm-15:30pm train to Naples. Hotel Duomo, room 104. The number of times 4 has appeared in our hotel room number (4 out of 7 hotels) is starting to worry me.

Food: Huge pizzas at Di Matteo. I had four seasons, G had a calzone.

26th July 2008

Summary: Mt Vesuvius, Pompeii, Sorrento

Got one of the first trains out of Naples to Pompeii, at which point we decided to do Mt Vesuvius first so hopped on another 1.5 hr bus - including a 25 min stop so a guy could try and sell a busload of people his book on Mt Vesuvius. Fortunately it was a lot cooler and cloudier than we were expecting, as the walk up to the crater was reasonably challenging. We were able to appreciate exactly how large Naples was, it just seemed to sprawl into the horizon. That is when we could see anything, as half the time we were in a cloud and couldn't see much at all. Walked halfway around the crater (as far as you could go) and then returned just in time for our bus back to Pompeii. Pompeii was amazingly well preserved. We enjoyed exploring the ruins, and in particular the murals and mosaics at Villa dei Misteri. Unfortunately they ran out of maps (!!) and it's a huge site so we got a tad lost at times. Trained to Sorrento, checked in and went out to explore. Nice enough but extremely touristy and busy with traffic.

Practicalities: 9:06am-9:37am Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi, 10:15am bus to Mt Vesuvius, returned to Pompeii at 13:55. 16:47 Circumvesuviana to Sorrento. Stayed at Villa Rosa Sorrento, room 2 - nice room though noisy with traffic and neighbours.

Food: espresso (strong) and pastries near the hotel. I was just admiring the lack of fuss with the takeaway coffees in disposable plastic cups covered in foil, when they put them into a big pink heart shaped box along with pastries, chocolates and juice for a local beau to take to his girlfriend. Very small lunch of free bread topped with yummy tomato puree at Mt Vesuvius, from organic tomatoes grown on the slopes. Dinner in Sorrento at Da Gigino - proscuitto e melone, shrimp, artichokes e rucola, green gnocchi with shrimp, homemade paperdelle with vongole, shrimp and asparagus (that's a lot of shrimp!).

27th July 2008

Summary: Positano

Did another small exploration of Sorrento while G went to mass. Went down to the waterfront where people were paying a fortune to sunbake on deckchairs on the jetty, or else cramped up on the free beach of dark, volcanic sand. Coogee beach (Sydney) seemed like a much more appealing option! Still, the water and view looked nice, and it was hot. Caught a bus to Positano along with lots of other day trippers. The bus drove along narrow, windy roads up and over the hill, with great views over Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. It dropped us off at the top of Positano where we trekked down lots of stairs and fortunately stumbled across our hotel (the only map we had was GPS on G's blackberry). Positano is literally a vertical city! After lunch wandered down more steps into town to find the best spot for a swim. Eventually went for a dip in a small gravelly cove a few minutes away from the main beach.

Practicalities: 12:30-13:20 bus. Stayed at Palazzo Talamo, room 9.

Food: lunch near the hotel - bruschetta, salad of buffalo mozarella+tomatoes+basil. paperdelle bolognese and pasta with eggplant. sandwiches on our balcony for dinner.

28th July 2008

Summary: Ravello, Amalfi

Caught the bus along the coast to Amalfi, again winding along the coastline with crazy hairpin bends and stunning scenery. From Amalfi caught a open-topped bus up to Ravello which sits high above Amalfi. Explored the gardens of Villa Cimbrone which had great views of the coastline and terraced mountains full of olive and lemon trees. Headed back to Amalfi where we had a quick wander and lunch. Decided we preferred Positano as it was quieter and had less traffic (on the flip side Amalfi didn't have so many friggin' steps). Went for another swim back in Positano and then had our first GELATO for four days.

Food: lunch at Ristorante La Perla in Amalfi - bruschetta, pasta with monkfish and green beans. chickpeas on the balcony.