Getting to Sorrento

Well, today was the first misadventure of the trip (not likely the last). We left our BnB after waking up at 10:30 - which we thought was 9:30 (wrong time on our phones), and missed breakfast. No worries...I still had bread, cheese, olives, salami, oranges, and mineral water in my pack from yesterday's foray to the market in Naples. So, lunch in tow, we headed off on foot, dragging our suitcases behind, to the port where we were to catch the ferry to Sorrento.

Well, things are never as easy as they seem on Google. The port turned out to be a mile of different ports, and there was absolutely NO signage...so, I said to Nick, "just follow those people with suitcases"....so we did, and we ended up at a port where the ferry was that goes to Ishia. There we asked where to go to go to Sorrento, and in incomprehensible Italian we were told, blablablablabalbalbalbla and pointed in a vague direction. So, we dragged out bags another 500 meters to the next place which was clearly the "Cruise" port. There we asked and were sent to the "screw the tourists" ferry...NOT! So we left there, and continued dragging our bags and eventually found a port where the real ferry was and purchased our tickets.

The ferry ride was uneventful, and I was looking forward to just going to our hotel and vegging. It was not to be so. At the port in Sorrento, the tourist information booth seemed the best place to go to get directions to our hotel. She did not speak much English, and her directions were less than clear. So, we got a a public bus and got off at the train station where (as best I could tell) we were to catch the OTHER bus to where we were going. Only problem was the bus she said we would find "down the stairs and to the left" with the name "via Nastro Verde" written on the front was not there. So I asked the driver in very bad italian, l'autobus per via Nastro Verde?" He said "Si", and on we got. An hour later we were in a small seaside village - NOWHERE NEAR OUR HOTEL (not even in the same vicinity) and the road just ended. So we did what all good travellers do when completely lost...we went to the nearest bar and ordered wine!

After wine, I asked again how I might get to where I needed to go, and after much more incomprehensible instructions, we boarded a bus, got off at some town to transfer to another bus, that after one hour of waiting on the side of the road, never came, and eventually we hailed a cab. By this time, my Italian is much better for having had to ask so many times, and I easily told the taxi driver, in Italian, Andiamo a Hotel Vue d'Or, Quanto costa per andare? We arrived at our hotel (which was only a few kilometers from the Sorrento port), 7 hours after arriving in the port. On the bright side, we saw some lovely coastline, cute villages, lemon groves, and best of all, vastly improved our non existent Italian!

Our room is great...it has a bidet! A very sturdy bidet. You know what that means? Time to wash my underwear! Bidets are the best for washing out clothes, and being the seasoned traveller I am, I have small packets of Tide at the ready!

After hanging my undies on the balcony, we then went downstairs for a lovely meal - I had veal, Nick had grilled fish, and we shared some grilled eggplant. It was VERY good, the service was wonderful, and overcoming my fear of speaking bad language, I told the waiter, "La cena era ottima."

Nick remained calm throughout our misadventures, and tolerated my lectures regarding the value of these sorts of experiences. It is the misdventures that you inevitably laugh and talk about years later. It is the times you are lost and scared that you push yourself outside your comfort zone and try to speak a different language, and it is through misadventure you learn your capacity as a traveller. Best of all, you see that usually no danger happens, people are generally good, and things are never really as bad as you imagine them to be. That said, I think tomorrow we will stay put here for a "down day" and enjoy the incredible view.

For those of you wanting to take a "budget" trip to the Amalfi coast, I recommend this hotel. It is a three star, only 70 Euros a night, every room has an amazing view, the food and service is great, and best of all...it has a bidet!