We debated a bit on what we wanted to do for Christmas. We weren't sure if we wanted to stay in Rome and leave Christmas Day or leave Christmas Eve and spend the whole day in the Almafi coast. We decided to leave on Christmas Eve, so we could spend Christmas Day relaxing. The day before, we checked the train times and found the route that we needed. We double checked everything because things change on Christmas Eve. Before we left Rome, we checked again. We checked with the train guy when we bought the tickets. There was going to be no troubles getting to Sorrento. So we thought. We first had to take a train to Naples, then switch to the Circumvensia (which is like a subway) to get to Sorrento. We got to Naples just fine. We went downstairs to catch the other train, and it had closed for the evening. We went to a ticket office and found out it closed at seven, even though the schedule online said that there was a train leaving at 9 for Sorrento on Christmas Eve. The ticket guy suggested we get on the train that went to Solerno, which was on the other end of the Almafi coast and we might have better luck getting to Sorrento there.
We hope back on the train and get to Solerno. The city was completely shut down. Not a soul. We weren't sure what to do since we had pre-booked and pre-paid for our hotel in Sorrento. We talked to a taxi who said he couldn't take us to Sorrento because he needed to watch a football game in 30 minutes. We called family and were having them help us find a hotel in Solerno, to no help. Gavin went running across to the one hotel we could see, directly across from the station. Luckily, they had a room open.
The view from our hotel room, overlooking the train station.
Across the street from this Christmas tree was a church that held Midnight Mass. I really enjoyed watching people walk to church at midnight and listening to the bells going off.
The next morning, we decided to try and get to Sorrento again. We talked to the ticket people and they told us we had two options. We could take a bus along the Almafi Coast to Sorrento, or we could take the train and switch to the Circumvensia in Pompei. We waited for the bus to come, but it never showed, so we ran to the train and hopped on. Once we got to Pompei, we were told that the other station was about 2 miles away.
Halfway there, we found a restaurant open, so we decided to stop and get lunch. The family sitting behind us hired a guy to sing them some folk songs during their meal. It felt a little like A Christmas Story when they are at the Chinese restaurant at the end.
Gavin spent a lot of the meal on the phone with Hotels.com trying to work something out.
We finally found the other train station and it is closed for the day.
We weren't sure what to do. There was a camping place nearby that was open and the guy there had a friend that ran a car hire and was willing to drive us. He wanted to charge us a lot more than the original agrees upon price, but we were able to talk him back down a little. Our first view of the Almafi Coast.
Once we got to the hotel in Sorrento, we had to wait 20 minutes in the lobby because someone had to take us to our room. We kept telling the lady we could find it ourselves, but she told us we were staying off property. The guy finally shows and we walk 20 minutes to the outskirts of town. They had put us in their "annex", which was a town house. We hated it out there. There was no phone, no clock, no blankets, no hot water, no television, nothing. We were all alone and had no way to contact anyone should something go wrong. We walked the 20 minutes back to the hotel to complain, but there was really nothing we could do about it.
Once we got to the hotel in Sorrento, we had to wait 20 minutes in the lobby because someone had to take us to our room. We kept telling the lady we could find it ourselves, but she told us we were staying off property. The guy finally shows and we walk 20 minutes to the outskirts of town. They had put us in their "annex", which was a town house. We hated it out there. There was no phone, no clock, no blankets, no hot water, no television, nothing. We were all alone and had no way to contact anyone should something go wrong. We walked the 20 minutes back to the hotel to complain, but there was really nothing we could do about it. Before heading back to our room, we walked around the city center. When we first got into town, the streets were pretty empty. However, at night, everyone came out and went to the coffee and pastry shops. It was crazy. The streets were so crowded with everyone chatting and having fun.
Here's the main living room to the house. I think there was 4 other rooms than ours.
Our room. One of the main reasons Gavin chose this hotel was that it was close to the train station and the city center. Also, that it had really cool, modern decor. As you can see, that is not what we got.
To say the least, our Christmas in Italy wasn't quite what we expected. :)
Here's the main living room to the house. I think there was 4 other rooms than ours.
Our room. One of the main reasons Gavin chose this hotel was that it was close to the train station and the city center. Also, that it had really cool, modern decor. As you can see, that is not what we got.
To say the least, our Christmas in Italy wasn't quite what we expected. :)
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