Day Five: Naples to Positano

Aaahh, Naples! We were gone from the dirty city on the bay by 9 AM on day five. We had to get up early to get started packing and get to the train station. We decided to bus it back to the station because walking with our large packs was a bit hairy in the city. There was a quick breakfast of toast and some very fresh oranges, a bit of coffee and off to the bus. After a little run in with some local color who seemed to want to give us a hand with our backpacks, we were at the train station.

The Circumsuviervuieusia (YES, that was how you pronounced the name) (actual spelling from Molly: Circumvesuviana) train was the slow commuter train from Naples to Sorrento. Look, the train! Oh, and some more Graffiti, imagine that in Southern Italy.

From Sorrento, it was a long slow bus ride along a very crooked road. We were soon riding along the coast of one of the most beautiful places I have seen. For Colorado people: imagine Red Mountain Pass with no snow and lots more ocean. Cool.

Our road to Positano. A little Graffiti in the bus may have ruined one or two pictures. The top left is a view of Sorrento from the top of the hills and the rest are of the Amalfi Coast. Soon we arrived in Positano, where we would spend the next three days. The total population of the town was a thousand, and a total of six tourists in the low season of February.

Once we arrived in Positano, we realized that I got us off at the wrong bus stop and we had a very long walk downhill to our hotel. Positano is town for walking, and there are a million stairs that take you everywhere.

To get to our hotel we started walking down the road, till some local showed us the short cut. A million steps that led down, and down, and down and some more and a few more steps . . . . .

After the twelveth or thirteenth seperate sets of stairs, I had to take Molly's purse cause she was beat. But I sure look tough, don't I!

Look! More steps. And the purse is now tucked away on my backpack in a much more masculine fashion. At this point we had to start hiking back up to get to the hotel.

The hotel was Amazing. There couldn't have been ten guests in the whole place, so we snagged a great room with all the best views. This was view one.

This was view two.

The room was huge, even compared to our apartment here in the city. There was a shower, a jet tub, two sinks and the bum washer. But the views were the most amazing part! The hotel made the trip, thanks Molly's folks.

After check in, it was time to explore the city and get some lunch. It was a nice quiet day with a warm sun on our shoulders, so we sat outside at the one of two open restaurants and ate some mussels and buffalo mozzarella with cherry tomatoes with the ocean behind us and Positano above us. Who could blame us for enjoying a three hour lunch?

We strolled out to the beach and threw rocks into the sea. There we sat and took pictures of Positano and just relaxed. It was great. We will put up extra pictures later on to show how cool this town is. After awhile, we got up to head home to shower up and take a nap. On the way back, we ran into a model shoot. Yes, I took pictures. I will put up some of those later on.

That evening, we went to a wonderful dinner (our best in Positano) at the other open restaurant up in the hills over the city. We didn't understand a word of the Italian menu (Cody had forgotten his pocket translator book), so the waiters had to read the entire thing to us. The coolest part was we got a ride to the restaurant by the owner and back by one of the chefs. It was nice being one of the only tourists in town!

European Tour: Day Four

(Molly Post)

We woke up early on our 4th day in Europe - since we only had one day in Naples, we wanted to make sure we saw everything we could. The hostel was very helpful. They gave us a map and marked all the cool places to see on it. Basically, Naples has a lot of castles/fortresses.

We started around 8:30 and made our way to a fortress, Castel Nuovo or Maschio Angioino (everything had two names), which was next to our hostel and across from the main port (where ferries go to Capri & Sorrento). It had a large open square in the center with all the rooms branching off on different wings. The two main sights were the Chapel, which had disintegrating frescos on the walls, and a large hall that is now used for City Council meetings. There was also a small museum with some artifacts from the 1300's. The coolest piece was an ornate metal door that had a canon ball protruding through it - the story: when it was being transported, the ship was besieged and a cannonball struck the door making a big hole!

As I said, the fortress was right next to the water, so it had some amazing views of the Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, and the Amalfi Coast (it was a little hazy the morning we were there, but still beautiful). Cody spotted Mount Vesuvius...

And a close up of the old volcano...it looked like the clouds were parting right over the peak.

And one of us...

From there, we made our way to the highest point in Naples, to the Castel Sant’Elmo, which was supposed to have the best views of Naples. We took the Central Funicular to the top of the hill (right in the center of the city) and walked to the castle. Naples is not well marked for tourists, so we had to use our sense of direction and guess which streets would take us to the castle. We made it and went straight to the top for the fantastic views. A few pictures from all sides of the castle are below.

It was very cold at the top, especially with the wind blowing, so we only stayed there for about 30 minutes before heading back to the funicular. Of course, we always have time for a picture of Cody sitting on a canon!

We decided to go to the old city center, called Spaccanapoli, to find some great pizza from the home of pizza. We walked up Via Toledo, the main street in Naples. The entire time we were in Naples, we felt a little anxious - half the shops were always closed and there was graffiti everywhere. We were never in any bad situations, but the city has an air of (for lack of a better word) sketchiness to it that we could not shake. Therefore, we don't have any pictures of the city center, because we didn't want to bring out our cameras, especially since we were some of the only tourists in the city (it is their low season in February). The streets were all cobblestone, and the cars and motorcycles drive down the pedistrian streets and honk at people walking to move. It was an interesting experience. We found a little hole in the wall to get a pizza lunch and give our legs a break.

After lunch, we decided to walk back down to the waterfront, but not to the port-side, to the rich and fancy side. The hostel told us there was a romantic park along the water for a nice walk. However, their view of "romantic" is different from ours. We prefer less graffiti and bums, so needless to say, we didn't stay long before walking along the coast back to our hostel.

That night, we decided to have a quiet night and cook dinner at the hostel since we would be eating out for the remainder of the trip in Postiano. We asked the hostel for help finding a local supermarket...and a beauty store. The hairdryer at the hostel was broken, so I had had a wet head all day. I didn't want to have a wet head two days in a row, because I was afraid of getting sick, so I decided to buy one. However, "hairdryer" is not an easily translated word. After a few unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the sales associate, I looked desperately at Cody. He pointed at his head like a gun and made the "burrrrrrr" sound of a hair dryer and everyone in the store started laughing and saying "si si si!" We managed to get the dryer and it definitely came in handy for the rest of the trip!

We went to bed early, ready to leave Naples and head to the Amalfi Coast the next day.

European Extravaganza! Day Three: Planes and Trains!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Buses) was the menu for day three. We were up fairly early (7am, come on, we were on vacation) and out the door of the hostel to catch the bus to the airport at 9am for a noon flight. I didn't have any pictures of the Temple Bar area of Dublin yet. So early in the morning, well before anyone in Dublin was moving, we were out taking photos. Temple Bar is the artisan/nightlife/main tourist trap, but it is also a very cool old center of the original Viking city. You can even see the old fortress walls in places. Cool. And did I mention lots of pubs.

Aaaahhhh . . . Keg day at the pub. There is no cooler sight to behold in Ireland in the early morning than all the kegs that are to be picked up by Guinness. Those are three deep and twenty long, for an estimated 180 kegs. With 100 beers to a keg, that is about 1,800 beers of Guinness sitting on the street. Mmmmmmmmmmm . . . . . Ok moving on.

All the streets are narrow cobblestoned roads. Most of the time they are closed to traffic, except early in the day for deliveries. Just a little side note about cobble stones: Jess and I decided last time in Dublin that when you step on a loose cobblestone, that's where the Irish mafia just buried someone and they did a quick job and didn't use mortar. So next time in Dublin and you step on a loose stone, its dead people. We Steamboat kids are strange.

LOOK MA, More Pubs! That's a three story place called O'Neil's. Fun times!

One last time at Bewley's Coffee shop. We bought a ton of coffee and tea and "Posted" it back to the States before catching the bus to the airport.

Once in the air we had a three hour flight to Rome (which had really cool flight plan over Paris and the Alps), took a bus ride with a broken seat to the central train station, a quick stop at the Termini Gelato stand (the best in Italy) then jumped the wrong train to the right town of Naples. Once in Naples, we took the death cab from hell to our hostel. We spent more time driving down the wrong side of the yellow line than we did in our own lane. But we got there safe, somewhat sound and found our hostel in a large stinkin building. Really it smelled bad, cat pee, but the hostel was great! The people were warm and helpful and our rooms where located behind a thick steel door. Which was nice.

Ahh, Italy. Ti Amo.

Day Two: European Adventure

(Molly Post)

It was a little hard to get started on day two. The jet lag was a little more difficult for me than Cody. But we were up and out by 11:30. Unfortunately, we missed breakfast at Bewleys, so we wandered around Temple Bar for a little while trying to find someplace that served brunch all day. We found a small cafe, enjoyed an Irish breakfast, and decided to head straight to the Guinness Factory. When I lived in Dublin, I made it to the factory once...but only to the bar at the top. This time, I was determined to go on the tour. Below is a picture of the crystal clear water Guinness uses to brew their beer (it's not from the Liffey).

In the old days, they used wooden casks to transport the Guinness around the world. They had a video showing how they made the barrels - Cody was enthralled by it.

They had a wall where you could leave a comment. Most said something along the lines of "I was here" or "I love Guinness". Cody had a different idea... He wanted to make sure all tourists to the factory knew Jesse smells bad...what a big brother!

At the end of the tour, you get a free pint at the Gravity Bar - a circular bar at the top of the factory with windows that look out on the city. Below is a picture looking back toward Temple Bar.

We decided to hoof it back to the hostel along the Liffey. Along the way, Cody remembered the Oldest Pub in Ireland was right around the corner. We couldn't miss that! There is a hotel over the bar...maybe that's where we will stay on our next trip...

After trying a few half-pints of beer, we made our way back to city center.

Before dinner, Cody wanted to check out the Smallest Pub in Ireland, which is near St. Stephen's Green. It is very small - maybe 20 people can fit standing. Steps take you down to a small room with a miniture bar. We enjoyed a pint there before heading back to Temple Bar.

For dinner, we went to the Quays (pronounced "keys"). The food was delicious, but the service was a little slow. Cody kept me entertained as we waited for the check.

We finished off the night at Gogarty's with a little music. It was our last night in Dublin and we both were sad to be leaving, but our excitement for the warmth of Southern Italy was growing.

Day One: European Adventure

As many of you know, Molly and I took off for Europe for my birthday. The plan was to be gone for ten days and to see as much as we could while escaping the cold and the big city. A break from New York was much needed.

The planing for this trip started last summer sometime when we decided that spending my birthday out of the city would be a great way to turn the big 30. The plan was to fly into Dublin and then make our way down to Italy and warm sun. We were not exactly sure where we would travel and how we were going to do it, just leaving was the important thing. Originaly, we wanted to end up in the five towns of the Cinque Terre which is located on the northwestern part of Italy's coast. We were going to hike from one town to the next on a trail that connects the five, but after a little research we realized that it was going to be very cold with the winds off the ocean and the nothernly latitude. We switched towns and chose the Amalfi Coast instead. Located just south of Pompeii and Naples, it is know for its lemons, grand vistas, and houses that are built into cliff walls.

We left New York at 8:00 PM on Friday. Both Molly and I were able to get out of work a little early so that we were able to get to the airport a little early and enjoy some dinner before the five hour flight to Dublin. The flight was quick - we took Aer Lingus and flew direct into Dublin where we caught the bus and headed into the city center. Both Molly and I have spent a lot of time in Dublin - she lived there for four months and I have traveled there enough times to know the city very well. We got off the bus at Trinity University and headed down to the Temple bar area where our hostel was located.

The hostel is located right next to one of my favorite pubs, Oliver St. John Gogartys: good food, good music, and good pints. Unfortunately, it has become a very touristy spot, but that's ok, it was still fun. Our room was not going to be ready until later in the afternoon, so once we checked in and dropped off our bags, we headed to Bewley's coffee shop. Bewley's is one of the oldest businesses in Ireland: a coffee shop, resturant, local literary center. James Joyce and Samuel Beckett used to enjoy the friendly confines. Plus, the coffee is really strong, which is what you need when you plan on making it through the first day with jet lag.

We enjoyed a very slow breakfast, trying to figure out what the heck we wanted to do. Molly and I decided that the best thing was to take a slow day, go and visit her old house and send emails to people to let them know we made it safe and sound. A stroll through St. Stephens Green and a stop at the Barge were important.

The sun was shining so our walk was great. When in Dublin, with no place to go, pubs tend to be a nice place to call home. At the Barge Pub, we were able to rest, enjoy the sun and get adjusted to being in a forgein land. I was very content.

Yes, pints of Guinness may have been consumed on this trip. But in our defense of mid-day pints, it was chilly outside and it is always warm in the pub. We were just doing what the locals do: breakfast, lunch and dinner at the pub. Next we headed over to Mollys old house on Fortesque lane. It was just a short stroll away.

We were not all that sure who was now living in the house, or wether it is still owned by the people at University College Dublin, so we didn't knock on the door, but Molly did listen to the door and look in through the key hole. The spot where the bulldozer ran into the house and chipped the bricks is still there.

Her house was down what can only be described as a somewhat sketchy alley, but it was a nice place.

From there, we decided to take one of the City Bus Tours, which makes stops at all the main sights around Dublin. It was the perfect way to kill time, see some of Dublin, and sit down when we were fighting off sleep. After riding the bus for nearly an hour, we were both about to pass out from exhaustion, so we got off and went back to the hostel. Luckily, the room was ready and we took a much needed nap before dinner. Our room was a cozy hostel room with bunk beds and a wonderful view of the pub (it was a little loud at night, but we were so tired the first few days that it didn't matter).

After our nap, we embarked on a mini pub crawl. We went to some of our favorite pubs in Temple Bar: Gogartys to watch some Ireland/Italy Rugby (Italy won), the Old Stand, O'Neil's for some carvery food (with three kinds of potatoes: mashed, roasted, and cream!), The Auld Dubliner, and, of course, we finished the night at Gogartys with some good Irish music.

Considering the jet lag, we did pretty well for our first day - even made it until 10 PM before collapsing.