Italy (Oct 6 - Oct 12, 2023)

Oct 6

This was my first travel day of the trip. From Madrid, I took a flight to Naples with a 2 hour stopover in Malta. Malta’s airport is quite average but the lounge was awesome! As I mentioned in previous blog posts, having Priority Pass is a huge blessing if you’re going on lots of travel.

When we landed in Naples and moved into our Airbnb, we realized that Naples is incredibly different than Madrid. Notable differences include:

• Dirty: Naples has a huge problem with waste management and disposal. There is garbage strewn everywhere on the streets and garbage bins are overflowing with waste. The smell is almost unbearable at times
• Infrastructure: Naples is a bit more rundown compared to Madrid. Sidewalks are not paved well, roads have potholes, etc.
• Chaos: One of the first challenges we encountered was crossing streets in Italy, since cars don’t really follow traffic laws and wait if a pedestrian is waiting to get on a zebra walk. Fortunately, I had experience crossing chaotic roads in India so I was able to manage it. Napoli is a lot more chaotic in other aspects as well (tickets, queues, etc.) so be prepared.
• Dangerous: I personally didn’t have any issues with safety but I can definitely see how others would find the city unsafe. Be sure to keep your valuables on you at all times in a zip-tied fanny pack. Don’t use your pockets as pick-pocketing is rife in this city.

This was a bit of a culture shock for me but I slowly got used to it. We just got dinner at a pizza place (not amazing) and gelato (Il Gelato Manela is insane, get the cookies & cream gelato!).

Oct 7

This is our Amalfi day! We started off by taking an early morning bus from Napoli Varco Imarcolleta (it’s their bus station) to Bomerano. Google Maps doesn’t have up-to-date information so we had to rely on SITA SUD schedules that we scoured for online. These buses are also not clearly marked at the station so we had to rely on broken Italian with a bus driver to figure out which bus to get on.

Once we got to Bomerano, we started the Path of the Gods hike. The Path of the Gods guides tourists from inland Amalfi peninsula all the way to Positano. I personally thought it was an average hike but it had some pretty decent views of the Amalfi coast and Positano. The hike (if starting from Bomerano) is mostly downhill, with dozens of stairs at the end to Positano. If you’re worried about your knee health, you might want to start in Positano instead; going downhill on these stairs was not a good experience. The hike was also very touristy so I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted, but it was overall not too bad.

We got into Positano and suddenly realized that it’s not worth more than 2-3 hours. It is a very beautiful and colorful town but it is incredibly packed with tourists and is generally quite expensive. We got lunch there and got an early ferry out of Positano.

Now, there are several different ways of exploring the Amalfi Coast: car, ferry or bus. I would strongly recommend against cars. We personally saw the roads between the towns and they are downright scary. I would consider myself moderately experienced in driving and I would never take a car there. Furthermore, the roads have lots of bus drivers, who are experienced but also very dangerous to drive along with, as they take some insane risks in order to accommodate the size of the vehicle. The bus is another way to navigate but be prepared to pray for your life as you gaina first hand knowledge of your bus driver’s risky manoeuvres. The fastest mode of transport with the most comfort is the ferry. I personally think it’s the best as you can move along speedily and doesn’t cost too much (€10 is the usual price). You can book ferry tickets in advance at Travelmar.

We took a ferry to Amalfi, which is also a skippable city. It is nowhere near as pretty but it is a central transit centre. We mainly wanted to get to Ravello, which we heard was quite nice. We found a bus, bought tickets at a nearby tabacchi (tabacco shop) and got in. This maneouver costed us 1.5 hours, even though a drive is only 20 minutes. The reason is that buses are no longer directly traveling between Amalfi and Ravello and instead are taking a roundabout way of getting to the town. It’s a very nice and pretty drive but if you’re short on time, you should probably use a taxi or a minibus (which are right next to the bus stand to Ravello but are not advertised very well).

Ravello was my favorite town on the Amalfi coast, mainly given its lack of tourists. We explored the old town streets and got tickets to Villa Garden, which has an exquisite castle and garden overlooking the coast. We caught part of the sunset there, did some more exploration, crashed a wedding happening in Ravello and started to head back to Amalfi. The buses/minibuses are quite infrequent in Ravello so we grouped up with some strangers and hailed a taxi back to Amalfi. We then got a ferry to Salerno, ate a quick dinner, took a train back to Naples and crashed.

Oct 8

Today was our Pompeii day. We first went to the central station in Naples and caught a train to Pompeii. The station was incredibly confusing because the signage wasn’t really consistent, so we were later than we wanted to be in Pompeii.

After we got to Pompeii, we realized how scammy the place is. There are lots of tourist traps as you walk towards the Pompeii sites. There was even a tour guide who looked like an innocuous neutral navigator but straight up pointed to the wrong direction to Pompeii. Whatever you do, buy tickets before you go to Pompeii and just keep marching straight towards the security gates; do not stop to entertain the charlatans on the way.

Pompeii itself was alright. The Roman town is pretty well preserved but the lack of a guide made it hard to understand what I was exactly seeing. I would recommend getting a free audio guide so you can explore Pompeii and get more information than I did.

When we got back from Naples from Pompeii, I went to check out the Naples Archaeological Museum after a stranger we met on the train strongly recommended it. It was completely worth it, because many of the artifacts in Pompeii are actually in this museum. I listened to an audio guide as well and it made the visit a lot better.

Afterwards, we went to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michelle, a famous Neapolitan pizzeria. I personally find that Neapolitan pizza is a lot lighter than American pizza but not significantly better. This pizzeria had a ticketing system to get a table but also a line to get takeout. I personally think its better to sit down since takeout pizza is not as good as fresh, out of the oven pizza.

Oct 9

On this morning, we took a train to Rome. After we checked in to the Airbnb and then checked out the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We tried to get tickets for these attractions but tickets were already taken up by tour groups and scalpers so we decided to walk around the attractions instead. There is also a major road built by Mussolini called Via del Fori Imperialli which has a bunch of old Roman attractions. We then got a lunch at al42, an experimental pasta place. This had some of the most incredible lasagna that I have ever tasted.

We then walked to Trevi Fountain and Piazza Noveno. While neither of these attractions are particularly noteworthy, the walk was very worth it. There are ancient Roman monuments everywhere in Rome, so this walk showcased a lot of those hidden gems (eg. Marcus Aurelius’ column).

We also went into the Pantheon, which I was very impressed with. We didn’t buy tickets beforehand but it is only a 20 minute wait to get in when we tried. The history of the Pantheon is really fascinating and it’s awe-inspiring to realize that Romans with basic engineering and math skills (compared to what we know now) were to able to build such a massive structure.

We then got dinner at Osteria La Sol Fa, which has some incredible pasta and Romanella wine.

Oct 10

We woke up early this morning to get in line to the Vatican Museums. We tried to get tickets beforehand but we couldn’t due to scalpers. This meant that we had to wait for up to 3 hours to get inside the museums. We also realized midway through that we weren’t following the dress code so we bought some €10 jeans and changed in a McDonald’s.

However, I still think the wait was worth it. The Vatican Museum was by far the best art museum that I have entered. I was also using my free audio guide app so I got a good overview of all the history in the Museum. Highly highly worth it, but try your very best to get tickets beforehand or go with a guided group.

After the Vatican Museum, we checked out St. Peter’s Basilica. We didn’t go inside but the outside was very pretty. We then got lunch at Scialla The Original Street Food, which had very cheap but high quality pasta. I then took a break because my feet were pretty destroyed after all the days of walking. We then got dinner and crashed.

Oct 11

I decided to do a solo trip to Florence on this day. I took an early train from Roma to Firenze which was a beautiful train ride in the morning. I will never forget the Tuscan hills in the early morning mist. Eventually, I got into Florence, checked into my hostel and went for a walking tour.

The walking tour was awesome. The tour guide walked us around lots of different parts of Florence that many tourists don’t really go. He told many stories with the architecture and nearby structures weaving a tight narrative. For lunch, I went to All’Antico Vinaio, a very famous sandwich shop. All the ingredients were super fresh and the sauce paired so well together. The lineup was long but it didn’t take too long until I was at the counter to order.

After lunch, I took a tour of the Uffizi Gallery, the old Florentine government offices. This was an excellent art gallery because it went through the evolution of Italian art from Middle Ages to Renaissance. This was easily a 2 hour maneouvre but it was such a great art gallery. Afterwards, I went to Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, which was alright compared to the other gardens I visited.

I then checked out Piazza Michalangelo, which is a very popular sunset spot. I got some great pictures but that plaza is incredibly crowded. After, I took a walk around the river and got some great sunset views of the Palazza Vecchio. I then went to Trattoria Verdi to get a good piece of steak (Florentine meat is very famous) and got gelato (Florence is the birthplace of gelato). Afterwards, I crashed at my hostel for an early morning flight back to Madrid next morning.

Tips

• Amalfi
  • Look at SITA SUD schedules rather than Google Maps to navigate Amalfi
  • I would recommend doing a lot of research on Amalfi transportation and restaurants before you go. Google Maps is not great at all
• Pompeii
  • I would strongly recommend doing Naples Archaeological Museum with Pompeii
  • The train is incredibly confusing. You want to take the Circumvesuviana train or the L1 train. Do adequate research of transport before you go as the Naples station is not at all clear. Also, allocate enough time to physically print out your ticket at the station as there are usually line ups
• Rome
  • Tickets for Roman Forum and Colloseum are hard to get. I would strongly recommend not trying for the Roman Forum as you can get pretty good views outside of the area.
  • Get tickets for Roman Forum and Vatican as early as possible; otherwise you will have to wait hours in the hot sun. This is the time when guided tours may be your best bet
  • Rome is best explored via walking, so consider getting a walking tour
• Vatican City
  • Make sure you pay attention to dress code before you go! There are cheap markets around to get clothes but it’s not ideal
• Get Rick Steve’s audio guide app
• Florence
  • Get walking tours here! The city is small enough so you can cover a lot of history during the walk.