Travel day! Today we left our beloved Positano- very rested and very sad to go. Goodbye, Amalfi Coast, you were very good to us.
Knew we had to be very efficient today in order to make it all the way from Pasitano to Lake Como in one day. So, we woke up early to catch the morning bus from Pasitano to Sorento. However, after sitting at the bus stop for a bit with no sign of a bus, we were told by the cafe owner next to the bus-stop that "maybe the bus strike is still on." With that reassurance we decided to look for another way of getting to our destination.
The owner of our hostel is quite the authoritative woman, and she told us the best way to get to Naples via ferry, where we would catch the train to Milan.
An Australian journalist from our hostel was trying to get to the same place we were. I think he kindove felt responsible for us, and we were only more than happy to hand over full responsibility. We followed him to Naples where we had a 1.5 hr layover. You guessed it- we grabbed our bags and b lined it back to Pizzeria da Michele. (remember- the rumored worlds best pizza?! We had no choice!) We had a 20 minute wait, so we left Stew, our Aussie friend, at the restaurant and grabbed a take-out box of pizza for our train ride.
Pizzeria Da Michele is a very old establishment- this is Machele, the founder...
And THIS is Michele's son, the 89 year old current owner- when I saw him standing in the corner I wasn't about to let this photo opp get away...
Next up, we boarded the train from Naples to Milan. Now, I've been hearing all trip about the "fast trains," but I hadn't experienced one yet. When I boarded the train I knew I had found my kind of train!! This thing is NOTHING like the trains I've been riding- I'd compare it more to a very nice airplane that races along the ground. There are tray tables, food service, and optional music! I mean I'm living the life, basically. Best yet, the train only stopped in Rome and Florence before reaching Milan...
Our train- "fast train" style
Keni enjoyed the fast train so much that she got some zzzzz's
We made a stop in the Milan train station- that's about all we will see of that place as just about everyone told us not to go. We did see a lot of extremely mal-nourished women and realized we were in model-town!
Took the train to Varenna and the ferry to our hostel. Almost missed the train stop because it takes time to heave a pack on our backs and get through cable cars without hitting passengers with the packs. When we got off there were people hanging out windows to see if we had made it. I saw people laughing at me and realized my dress was caught in that dang pack! Oh well.. You live and learn :)
Turned out the last ferry to our town had already left so we had to take the ferry to the town 3km past our hostel. On the ferry, the very attractive boat driver asked us if we wanted to come up to the cockpit of the boat and drive the ferry. Well of course we said yes, but were a bit sketched out when we were greeted by 5 very drunk ferry drivers who put a sailor hat on us, told us to drive, and gave us wine out of a water bottle...(which we did NOT drink!) We drove the ferry for a bit because honestly we were probably more qualified at the time to drive than they were!
We took a taxi to our correct town, and we're finally here at our hostel! The owner placed us at a "social table" to meet other people while we ate. An american table had bonded together to celebrate their American pride on the 4th, and they all toasted us and welcomed us to their table.
Can't wait to explore this place tomorrow!!
Quite an unconventional 4th of july, but loves the American flag that greeted us at our hostel:)
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