Aug 24th/25th Amsterdam for One Whole Day!
Ange met me at the airport in Toronto and we left for Amsterdam. We had a HUGE plane (2 levels!) but sadly it was a bit older and didn't have the tvs in the back of the seats. The food was great... the best part was the free wine! We left at about 6pm and arrived into Amsterdam at about 7am, and despite our best efforts we didn't sleep much on the plane and so we were pretty exhausted. Once in Amsterdam, we figured out how to get a train into the city. Once there we took a picture of the map so that we'd know approximately where to go. (You know me, I love my maps!) Our first impression of the city wasn't great - there was garbage everywhere and people were cleaning up. We trekked through the streets, Ange dragging her suitcase and me with my backpack. We unknowingly went straight to the Red Light District and were greeted with sex shops and signs proclaiming live sex shows etc. We found our hostel (just meters away from the edge of the RLD) and Ange was thrilled that it was a "Christian" hostel. I was just happy for a place to drop my bag off. Because it was so early we couldn't go to our rooms yet... so we stored our luggage and started on our adventure around the city. I won't go into details of the whole day but some random thoughts were these:
- Cafe: Coffee shop.
- Coffeeshop: Pot bar
- "I have now forseen my death and it's going to be hit by a giant dutch person on a bicycle". Seriously, those people are tall and even taller on their bikes. I think I almost died 15 times. These people talk on their phones, carry their groceries and hold their babies while biking - all at once!
- I love european coffee. Er, Koffie when in Amsterdam.
- the RLD is weird - you'd glance in a window and see a woman in her undies thinking it was a mannequin... then she'd move. Even stranger at night.
- Amsterdam is beautiful with it's canals and funny leaning over houses.
- It took us a whole day to find out where the i amsterdam sign was... we didn't have time to get there at night but got there the next morning before having to go to the airport.
- you definitely need more than one day there - with all the museums etc one day is just not enough.
Aug 26th - Amsterdam to Rome to Naples
This was a day of planes, trains etc. We left Amsterdam in the early afternoon and flew to Rome. We had great sandwiches on the plane and amused ourselves by staring at this guy that was across the aisle that totally looked like an Elmira boy. Being total creepers we even took pictures of him. Upon arrival in Rome we got our luggage and overheard a guy saying he was going to Termini (the main station) I befriended him and we joined forces in getting ourselves to the city. After getting on the wrong train, and then getting on the right one (which required running down and up stairs with our luggage) we made it to the city. Once there Ange checked her luggage so that she wouldn't have to take all her stuff with her to Sorrento. We checked the board and found our platform and settled in to wait... or so we thought. Our departure time came and went... I chalked it up to italian trains being late... but then we got worried. I went in search of help and while I was gone Ange made friends with a random stranger who informed me that there was a board that showed the platform to go to. He took me to the ticket counter and spoke to the woman and she informed me that our train had indeed arrived and that we'd missed it. Thankfully we were able to get one the next one at a cost of 4 Euros more each. We parked ourselves near this massive sign and then waited. Finally got on the train at 7:50pm and headed for Naples. Got to Naples around 10pm (not ideal! It's sketchville for sure!) and had to catch the local train to our hostel which was located just outside of the city. Someone must have been looking out for us because the train condutor was fabulous and made sure we got to our stop. Believe me when I say trains are not my forte!! Once off the train we followed the directions given by the hostel and headed down the hill. I didn't wanna go too far down the hill in the event that we were going the wrong way. Stopped at a gelato stand and asked, and then got the best gelato. Finally made it to our hostel around 11pm and were STARVING. The girl at the desk said that nothing really was open but we could go to Mc Dog's... so we went to figure out what that was... basically a hotdog stand. I got a "semplice" dog... which was the basic... with Ketchup and Mayo on it. *gag* While standing there this truck drove by spraying a mist that smelled SOOO bad. We asked what it was and the guy told us it was insecticide. How gross is that!?
Aug 27th Naples to Pompeii to Sorrento
When I say I'm not good with trains, I mean it. We left the hostel in Naples and headed to Pompeii. We got on the train and were counting down the stops. We got to Torres de something or other and I confidently said "Okay! Next stop is us!" However, the minute we left the station the scrolling words in the train said "Prossima Fermata Bonnevescra" (or something like that)... and I panicked! I looked at the route map and realized that we were on the train that branches off instead of going to Pompeii! We got off the train at the next stop and then had to ask the random old men at the station whether we could get back to the Torres de whatever to get to Pompeii. After a painful conversation it was decided that we could... One helpful guy decided to take us personally which wasn't really that great cuz he kinda made uneasy. Once back at Torres de whatever, everyone at the station looked at our giant bags and pointed us to the correct platform (Binario in Italian). Apparently we stood out. Can't imagine why. Once (finally) in Pompeii we left our bags with the random stand (fairly certain they'd be gone when we got back) and headed towards the unearthed city. We rented audioguides and wandered around for 4 hours. The place was HUGE!! Way bigger than I expected. It was amazing. The plaster casts they made of the people that were ducking for cover were just mind blowing.
Eventually we were exhausted and decided to continue on to Sorrento to our hostel. We got back on the train (thankfully there was only one option) and upon arrival in Sorrento started trekking to the hostel. The hostel was AMAZING. It was an old converted church that had a beautiful open courtyard and a rooftop patio. Words can not describe. Even though we were in a 12 share room, it was huge and clean and had A/C... We showered and got changed and then were going to head out for dinner but were enticed to eat at the hostel since the prices were good and we were too tired to walk anywhere. Got some delicious gnocci (I think it was my first time eating it actually) and made friends with a brother and sister from Perth, Australia. We went upstairs to explore the rooftop patio and had some drinks. Made plans to hopefully go on a tour of Capri the next day and went to bed. Well, I did - Ange stayed up with the boy from Perth since she was pretty convinced she'd found true love. Thankfully I had his sister, Natalie, to talk to!
(more to come in another post)
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