24th Sept to 26th Sept - Pompei/ Amalfi/ Napoli
I think Italy hates me. Apart from the very cranky weather, there were things like:
1) Wrong train. Wrong stop.
Upon reaching the Napoli Centrale station, I had happily carried all my barang barang on board the local train to Pompei Scavi. But like a few other fellow tourists, I took the green line instead of the blue line and ended up 2 stops away from the intended. So I had to wait for another half hour to go back to the previous station and waited yet another half hour for the right train to get me to Pompei Scavi. I had planned to reach there by 10.30am initially but ended up being there only at 12 noon.
2) Ignored
As I was queuing up for entry ticket to the Pompei Archeologoical site, one Italian guide was asking the queue if anyone wanted to join a English tour. I raised my interest as he walked by and he totally ignored me!!! Maybe all my energy had been consumed by the luggage I was carrying, so my call-out ended up being just a mouse squeek to him and he didn't hear me. So, being rather pissed from carrying heavy luggage all the way and having being ignored, I opted for the audio guide instead.
3) Caught and drenched in rain not once, but freaking 3x
After walking for a mere 10 mins, I was really hungry and did a pit stop at the one and only cafeteria within the site.
After finally finishing up my pizza, I rushed out only to be stopped by the heavy rain. And it had to be at a time when I left my umbrella in my backpack at the luggage storage - the first time i decided not to bring an umbrella along in my sling bag coz it hadn't rain for weeks. Yup. It's the time where i really cursed and swore. I would have waited for the rain to stop but I was worried that I would miss my coach to Amalfi so once the rain turned into a mere drizzle, I continued with my exploration within the site.
But damn. It rained not once but THREE times!!! The later 2 were even heavier than the first and they happened so sudden that there were no shelters to hide under - remember, i'm in the ruins. The best shelter that I found was under a make-shift scaffold in the middle of nowhere, and where quite a number of us hid under. But oh, it was not totally fool-proof. There were so many holes in the scaffold that it only kept us a bit drier.
4) Lost. Again.
Even with a map and an audio guide, I kept getting lost within the Pompei site. Took me quite a while to find the brothel.
5) Rainy day. Yet again. Amalfi.
So, after leaving Pompei Scavi and reached Amalfi, I thought I was ready for the glorious view. But tada! Yes. There came the rain again. And it was like just half hour difference between me checking into hotel and out to the pier? And it did not stop there. For the 2 days I was at Amalfi, it rained throughout the night and into the morning. Even if the sky finally cleared in the afternoons, it started to drizzle without warning again. And just when the sky finally decided to clear up, I had to leave Amalfi for Naples. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!
6) Rain + choppy sea = no boat to Grotta dello Smeraldo
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
So there you go. Above are the reasons why I think Italy hates me. Or maybe just Pompei, Amalfi and Napoli.
Now, for some recap on how I tried to make things more interesting for myself inspite of the above reasons. After all, I had made so much effort in making to these places. I really shouldn't let all these negatives get to me. At least not so soon and as long as I could still stay sane.
So, here are the slightly more positive things that I did or come across:
1) Coach "adventure" from Sorrento to Amalfi
Despite the weather condition that clouded the true beauty of the amalfi coast, it was quite a roller coaster ride with all those bends throughout the entire 1.5 to 2 hrs coach ride. And not forgetting the roads were so narrow that in a lot of instances, I could just reach out a finger to touch the glass on the oncoming coach from the opposite direction. Kudos to the coach drivers who got us safely up and down those bends :)
2) Treated myself to an expensive dinner by the sea
First time I had dinner by the sea, outside of SG. Best part was that I didn't have to worry about getting all sticky with the breeze. :)
3) Took the open top bus ride from Amalfi, along the coast to Minori and Mairoi in the rain.
Since it was drizzling non stop and I was too tired to walk up and down to visit the different towns along the coast, I opted for the open top ride in the rain. And I was the only passenger on board :P And as we head back to Amalfi, the drizzle stopped and I past by a newly wed couple on a horse wagon. How sweet. The return trip cost 6€.
4) Had super sour lemon sorbet and ice cream
It seemed that lemon's a crucial ingredient in all their local cuisine. Almost all restaurants had something lemony in their menu. Gelato as well. This particularly one (4.50€) that I had tried, sold pure lemon flavours only. Sibei sour siah. Sour until my hole face cringed into like dunno what like. But damn shiok.
5) Had potato dumpling, sorrento-style in tomato and cheese
ERh... not a fan of this but hey, it's an experience nevertheless to try something local. Instead of tasting like potato, it really tasted like our Chinese plain tang yuan.
5) Pictures of Amalfi in the heavy rain
Since I could do nothing else when it started to pour heavily, I decided to cover myself with my leather jacket, steady my umbrella and tried to grab some shots. Come to think of it, I supposed the people at the bus stop thought I was crazy to be standing out there in the rain.
And to sum it up, my advice for people travelling to Pompei and Amalfi:
Pompei
1) Do not take the regional train to Pompei. That's a different stop. You'll need to go to the basement to take the Circumvesuviana blue line (towards Sorrento) to Pompei Scavi. Do say it's to Pompei Scavi and not Sorrento when you buy your ticket. Otherwise, they will charge you the full fare.
2) At Pompei site, go for the guided tour instead as that would save you a lot of time and trouble. There's a counter dedicated to the tour guides so go there to enquire before you buy your ticket.
3) Should you still prefer to explore on your own, get your ticket and go to the counter at the side to collect your free map and brief guide booklet that would give you an outline on the description or history on each of the major spots.
4) As for luggage storage, it's just before the turnstiles into the site, right behind the audio guide booth. But do note that they would only accept your luggage (depending on space availability) upon seeing your entry ticket. The luggage storage is free of charge.
Amalfi:
1) Instead of travelling to Amalfi from Napoli, take the Circumvesuviana from Napoli to Sorrento (about an hour, 3.40€) and from there, take an hourly coach to Amalfi (about 1.5 to 2 hrs, 7.20€). Although there are coaches from Napoli too, the timetable's less frequent. Sorrento is a safer bet.
2) From Amalfi, take time to explore Positano, Minori and Mairoi.
You can do so by walking, if you have the stamina. Or take the local buses, open bus tours or ferries there. The view's breathtaking. But a word of caution. There's really nothing to do once there except take in the beautiful coastline and enjoy food by the sea.
3) Go to Amalfi and the coastline only during super sunny days
It wouldn't do the coastline any justice if you go in rainy or cloudy days. Really. Take it from me.
4) Go sign up for the Grotta dello Smeraldo tour if weather or sea condition permits.
5) Try out the lemon sorbet, ice cream gelato. Worth a try just to take a pix of your sour face.
6) For people with motion sickness, take your pill before heading to Amalfi. You'll definitely need it. And please, if there are no more seats left, wait for the next one. Even personally (I don't have motion sickness btw), I can't imagine standing throughout the 1.5 - 2 hrs journey along the endless bends.
If you have time, try to walk around Sorrento as well. Seemed like a nice town and I wished I had the time to do so. But well, maybe next time if possible.
*P.S.: My one-night stay in Naples (aka Napoli) gave me the creeps and certainly freaked me out. More on that next time.
1) Wrong train. Wrong stop.
Upon reaching the Napoli Centrale station, I had happily carried all my barang barang on board the local train to Pompei Scavi. But like a few other fellow tourists, I took the green line instead of the blue line and ended up 2 stops away from the intended. So I had to wait for another half hour to go back to the previous station and waited yet another half hour for the right train to get me to Pompei Scavi. I had planned to reach there by 10.30am initially but ended up being there only at 12 noon.
2) Ignored
As I was queuing up for entry ticket to the Pompei Archeologoical site, one Italian guide was asking the queue if anyone wanted to join a English tour. I raised my interest as he walked by and he totally ignored me!!! Maybe all my energy had been consumed by the luggage I was carrying, so my call-out ended up being just a mouse squeek to him and he didn't hear me. So, being rather pissed from carrying heavy luggage all the way and having being ignored, I opted for the audio guide instead.
3) Caught and drenched in rain not once, but freaking 3x
After walking for a mere 10 mins, I was really hungry and did a pit stop at the one and only cafeteria within the site.
After finally finishing up my pizza, I rushed out only to be stopped by the heavy rain. And it had to be at a time when I left my umbrella in my backpack at the luggage storage - the first time i decided not to bring an umbrella along in my sling bag coz it hadn't rain for weeks. Yup. It's the time where i really cursed and swore. I would have waited for the rain to stop but I was worried that I would miss my coach to Amalfi so once the rain turned into a mere drizzle, I continued with my exploration within the site.
But damn. It rained not once but THREE times!!! The later 2 were even heavier than the first and they happened so sudden that there were no shelters to hide under - remember, i'm in the ruins. The best shelter that I found was under a make-shift scaffold in the middle of nowhere, and where quite a number of us hid under. But oh, it was not totally fool-proof. There were so many holes in the scaffold that it only kept us a bit drier.
4) Lost. Again.
Even with a map and an audio guide, I kept getting lost within the Pompei site. Took me quite a while to find the brothel.
5) Rainy day. Yet again. Amalfi.
So, after leaving Pompei Scavi and reached Amalfi, I thought I was ready for the glorious view. But tada! Yes. There came the rain again. And it was like just half hour difference between me checking into hotel and out to the pier? And it did not stop there. For the 2 days I was at Amalfi, it rained throughout the night and into the morning. Even if the sky finally cleared in the afternoons, it started to drizzle without warning again. And just when the sky finally decided to clear up, I had to leave Amalfi for Naples. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!
6) Rain + choppy sea = no boat to Grotta dello Smeraldo
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
So there you go. Above are the reasons why I think Italy hates me. Or maybe just Pompei, Amalfi and Napoli.
Now, for some recap on how I tried to make things more interesting for myself inspite of the above reasons. After all, I had made so much effort in making to these places. I really shouldn't let all these negatives get to me. At least not so soon and as long as I could still stay sane.
So, here are the slightly more positive things that I did or come across:
1) Coach "adventure" from Sorrento to Amalfi
Despite the weather condition that clouded the true beauty of the amalfi coast, it was quite a roller coaster ride with all those bends throughout the entire 1.5 to 2 hrs coach ride. And not forgetting the roads were so narrow that in a lot of instances, I could just reach out a finger to touch the glass on the oncoming coach from the opposite direction. Kudos to the coach drivers who got us safely up and down those bends :)
2) Treated myself to an expensive dinner by the sea
First time I had dinner by the sea, outside of SG. Best part was that I didn't have to worry about getting all sticky with the breeze. :)
3) Took the open top bus ride from Amalfi, along the coast to Minori and Mairoi in the rain.
Since it was drizzling non stop and I was too tired to walk up and down to visit the different towns along the coast, I opted for the open top ride in the rain. And I was the only passenger on board :P And as we head back to Amalfi, the drizzle stopped and I past by a newly wed couple on a horse wagon. How sweet. The return trip cost 6€.
4) Had super sour lemon sorbet and ice cream
It seemed that lemon's a crucial ingredient in all their local cuisine. Almost all restaurants had something lemony in their menu. Gelato as well. This particularly one (4.50€) that I had tried, sold pure lemon flavours only. Sibei sour siah. Sour until my hole face cringed into like dunno what like. But damn shiok.
5) Had potato dumpling, sorrento-style in tomato and cheese
ERh... not a fan of this but hey, it's an experience nevertheless to try something local. Instead of tasting like potato, it really tasted like our Chinese plain tang yuan.
5) Pictures of Amalfi in the heavy rain
Since I could do nothing else when it started to pour heavily, I decided to cover myself with my leather jacket, steady my umbrella and tried to grab some shots. Come to think of it, I supposed the people at the bus stop thought I was crazy to be standing out there in the rain.
And to sum it up, my advice for people travelling to Pompei and Amalfi:
Pompei
1) Do not take the regional train to Pompei. That's a different stop. You'll need to go to the basement to take the Circumvesuviana blue line (towards Sorrento) to Pompei Scavi. Do say it's to Pompei Scavi and not Sorrento when you buy your ticket. Otherwise, they will charge you the full fare.
2) At Pompei site, go for the guided tour instead as that would save you a lot of time and trouble. There's a counter dedicated to the tour guides so go there to enquire before you buy your ticket.
3) Should you still prefer to explore on your own, get your ticket and go to the counter at the side to collect your free map and brief guide booklet that would give you an outline on the description or history on each of the major spots.
4) As for luggage storage, it's just before the turnstiles into the site, right behind the audio guide booth. But do note that they would only accept your luggage (depending on space availability) upon seeing your entry ticket. The luggage storage is free of charge.
Amalfi:
1) Instead of travelling to Amalfi from Napoli, take the Circumvesuviana from Napoli to Sorrento (about an hour, 3.40€) and from there, take an hourly coach to Amalfi (about 1.5 to 2 hrs, 7.20€). Although there are coaches from Napoli too, the timetable's less frequent. Sorrento is a safer bet.
2) From Amalfi, take time to explore Positano, Minori and Mairoi.
You can do so by walking, if you have the stamina. Or take the local buses, open bus tours or ferries there. The view's breathtaking. But a word of caution. There's really nothing to do once there except take in the beautiful coastline and enjoy food by the sea.
3) Go to Amalfi and the coastline only during super sunny days
It wouldn't do the coastline any justice if you go in rainy or cloudy days. Really. Take it from me.
4) Go sign up for the Grotta dello Smeraldo tour if weather or sea condition permits.
5) Try out the lemon sorbet, ice cream gelato. Worth a try just to take a pix of your sour face.
6) For people with motion sickness, take your pill before heading to Amalfi. You'll definitely need it. And please, if there are no more seats left, wait for the next one. Even personally (I don't have motion sickness btw), I can't imagine standing throughout the 1.5 - 2 hrs journey along the endless bends.
If you have time, try to walk around Sorrento as well. Seemed like a nice town and I wished I had the time to do so. But well, maybe next time if possible.
*P.S.: My one-night stay in Naples (aka Napoli) gave me the creeps and certainly freaked me out. More on that next time.
Labels: Pompei/ Amalfi/ Napoli - 2010
posted by ikan bilis at 1:13 AM
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