If you really want to tour some place in Europe and do it right, you should get a guide. So many people have told us that. But we did not follow their advice. It's OK with us if we "didn't do it right", we just wanted to do it ourselves and it's so amazing that Google maps makes it possible to do so.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Touring a city like Rome without a guide
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Saluti a Roma
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Our Hostel in Rome - just 2 blocks from the main train station: Roma Termini |
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Jim took advantage of the communal kitchen at the hostel to make us breakfast |
The second night we were there was game night. We got together in the garden with one of the volunteer staff, and a few other guests. We answered some trivia type questions, drank some wine and got to know each other. What fun.
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The Colosseum |
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You could fill your water bottles for free with still water or frizzante! Also notice the phone charging stations. |
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Spanish Steps |
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Trevi Fountain |
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Vatican Museum |
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Famous fresco - Philosophers - by Raphael |
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The Tiber River |
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The Pantheon |
Monday, May 09, 2022
Right train, wrong train, no one cares
I don't understand the business model of train travel. There's no one to check you in, there's rarely any signage on the train itself about it's destination or schedule. It's up to you to look up your destination and see what time and what platform your train will be on.
We were a little late into Naples, and therefore rushed, but I don't know if that made any difference. We studied the Departures electronic board and our train was not there yet, so we found a seat (on the floor - as the train station has no provision for waiting) Finally, we see our train number, headed for Rome and we do our best to find that platform. We approach someone at the gateway to the platforms, show him our tickets and he points - that way.
We got on the train that he pointed to, even though there was no identification, and got settled. We really like train travel. It's so comfortable. You can just sit and watch the view go by. And, it flew by. We were on our way to Rome! For our first time. After 30 minutes or so, an attendant came by to check our tickets. Jim showed her his phone and she looked confused. She said, Italo, pointing to the screen. Uh, so what's Italo? Well, come to find out it's another train company. The train we were on was run by TrenItalia, not Italo. The tickets we bought were for Italo. Ooops. We asked "Is this train going to Rome?" She said, "Yes." So, Ok, what now? She shrugged and walked off - we didn't see her again.
We made it to Rome.
Sunday, May 08, 2022
Herculaneum
Named after Hercules, this is the other city besides Pompeii that was destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Most people have heard of Pompeii and would plan to visit there to experience this history. We learned that Herculaneum is actually better preserve, but mainly, it was on our route.
The main difference we learned about the preservation is that, in Pompeii, those who excavated and restored the site used a technique to inject plaster into the places where the skeletons were found. This acted like a mold and the results are more lifelike figures of all the people who perished in Pompeii. Herculaneum did not use this technique. The skeletons are still in their natural state and therefore, provide more scientific history.
Think about it ... if you visit a cemetery, there may be hundreds of lives represented there, but they are from different places and they died at different times. In Pompeii and Herculaneum, you have thousands of people all killed at the same time. Their remains give us a picture of a moment in time for entire families - the children, parents, grandparents, etc. Scientists studying these sites were able to learn a lot about the culture in 79AD.
If you're interested in learning more, that means me :-) Here are some links:
- The website for Herculaneum Archaeological park
- Wikipedia page for the Eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD
- A travel site compares Pompeii and Herculaneum for sightseers
We had a nice day on our visit, a bit overcast, but then it wasn't too hot. It was interesting to see Mt. Vesuvius in the background.
After walking down and down the long walkway, the first sight is the rooms full of skeletons. It's hard to imagine the horror.
Jim on the streets of Herculaneum |
We really like our bags from Rick Steves. |
Saturday, May 07, 2022
Amalfi Coast
Towns built on steep hillsides. I've heard about Cinque Terre and the Amalfi coast from friends for many years. Cinque Terre is in the north and will have to wait until a future trip, but Amalfi was in our sites for this trip. At the front desk of our hotel, they had information on a boat tour that would take us to Amalfi and Positano. Capri and the Blue Grotto is also nearby, but we would need another day for that.
We signed up for the boat tour, using the Hotels' service because a bus would pick us up right at the front door. The drive to the boat was interesting - spectacular views were so common that even the parking lots had them!
It was a nice day for a boat ride, not too hot, not too cold. The tour guide told us when we were passing by rocks said to be the place where the sirens lured Ullyses with their singing to crash on the rocks.

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An interesting fountain, eh? |
Friday, May 06, 2022
Ferry to Sorrento
Ferry ride from Naples to Sorrento. That's Mt Vesuvius out our window. |
Once we got to Sorrento, it was a bit of a hike to the bus station where we would catch a bus up the mountainside to our hotel.
The first part of the walk |
We had to walk up all these steps! This is the one place I took advantage of my carry-on's ability to be used like a backpack. |
Thursday, May 05, 2022
Naples
When the taxi dropped us off at our hotel we stood on the sidewalk for a while, looking around for a sign for Bovio Modern Suite. We saw none. hmmm, I remember this hide and seek from the last time in Europe. Sometimes there is a little door (the one for people), inside a big door (the one for cars), and once you're thru it you see a big courtyard and lots more doors. We opened one such door and went wandering around - still no sign for Bovio. We went back out to the sidewalk and Jim scoured the walls until he found a phone panel with a button for Bovio. He pressed it and someone answered! We heard a buzzer in a nearby door and we opened it and went thru. Shortly a woman appeared at the end of the courtyard and waved us in. Here is what it looked like from the inside as we went out the next day. The light you see in the distance is the doorway back out to the street. It's very Harry Potter-ish, a neighborhood inside another neighborhood.
And, here's what our room looked like
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The breakfast room. |