Monthly Archives: September 2007

Amalfi Coast

Posted by chad on September 28, 2007 2 comments

After three solid weeks of sight seeing in some major cities, I finally found myself some sun and a beach. I’m really enjoying myself traveling, but at times it’s not exactly relaxing. I’m finding it hard to get myself to just kick back and chill, there is too much to do and see in each city.

Amalfi Coast

So I ended up staying in the town of Amalfi for three days and then decided to head up to Sorrento for another two mainly to hit up the Island of Carpi. In retrospect, I probably should have just stayed in Almalfi the whole time and done a the Capri day trip from there. Oh well learn as you go…

As you may know the Amalfi Coast is nothing short of spectacular. The beaches on the other hand are not the best. You can see in this photo all of Capri beaches are rock and with a coast line like this there’s very little beach area in Amalfi itself and that tends to be privately owned. The hostel I was staying at had a bit of beach which was designated as theirs, but the catch was one would have to walk down 700 steps to reach it. Make that 1000 if you include the extra 300 it took to get from the house to the main road. So I either opted for the super small stretch of “public” beach which was packed with cheap bastards like myself or just ponied up the 8 to 12 euro to rent a chair and umbrella.

Capri is definitely worth a day trip. I took an boat tour around the island to see some of the key spots like the Blue Grotto. Afterwards I found out there are some great walking trails which will get you to these same key spots, but instead of being confined to the boat and seeing it for 5 minutes you can pack a lunch your towel and spend a few hours instead. If I had know about this earlier on in the day I would have definitely opted for that instead.

If you are looking for a killer beach then head some where else like Kauai or the Islands, but if you like to see views like this in with your morning coffee in hand then it’s going to be hard to beat Amalfi.

Next up Rome where I meet up with John, Jeremy, and James. I’m going to need all of my energy reserves, because it sounds like we are going to see everything in double time. I may need to hit another beach by the time Oktoberfest is over.

Check out more photos…

Now Playing: The Beastie Boys – Flowin’ Prose – Hello Nasty

Napoli…

Posted by chad on September 22, 2007 None comments

After spending 3 solid weeks of sight seeing in London, Belgium, Amsterdam, Pairs, Florance, and Tuscany I felt it was time to relax a bit. The plan was to head to Amalfi for some beach time.

One way to get to Amalfi is to take a bus from Naples, so I decide to stop their for a night and ended up extending it to 3. I didn’t spend too much time in the actual city other than at night for food and heading out to the bar for a couple of drinks new friends I meet at the hostel (6 Small Rooms, great place to stay for cheap accommodations).

Mt Vesuvius

I made a couple of quick trips down to check out Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. Pompeii is an ancient roman town that was buried by the volcano Mt Vesuvius when it erupted back in (look this up…).

To get some exercise, I went and hiked Mt Vesuvius hike. Unfortunately, they bus you up most of the way, so it wasn’t all that much exercise. Now it’s not exactly easy, but if you take your time anyone can make it to the top. The views of Naples and Sorrento from up here are fantastic, but the cafe/souvenirs shop at the top tend to take away from the experience.

Now my view on Napoli itself. The people seem to live in the now. They treat their city as a garbage dump and it really shows. It’s a complete shit hole, every monument has graffiti, kids are out in the Piazzas late at night drinking and smashing bottles. It tends to makes the whole city feel much more seedy than it actually is.

If you can look beyond this, you can almost see the beauty in the city. This is probably the first time since NYC where I felt I had to double back, because I made a wrong turn down an alley way and may not like what I find if I continued forward..

Anyway, if you find yourself in Naples keep your eye on your pocketbook, check out a few key sights in the city. Make an effort to get yourself a slice of pizza (it’s where it was invented), then high tail it down to Sorrento for the night where you can relax in a nicer environment.

More Photos…

Now playing: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Details Of The War – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Toscany…

Posted by chad on September 22, 2007 None comments

Sorry it has taking so long to get you all up to date with my travels. Looking at the date stamped on these photos I seem to be 2 weeks behind. YIKES!

Well I spent two full days driving around Toscana with Allyson and her co-workers. We visited about 4 or 5 different hill towns, some super fancy hotels, and ran though all of the bike and hiking routes for their upcoming cycling trip that they lead the following week.

Tuscany

At times it felt a bit rushed, they had 6 days of activities to familiarize themselves with in the two days. But since they had to meet with various managers to verify accommodations, walk though each town to know exactly where important stuff was located, like food, ATMs, cool art and craft shops, so they could direct their guests in the right direction. I was able to break away and explore each area on my own. Thus it really worked out well.

The trips they run may seem a bit on the pricey side, this one was 6 days of cycling and ran around $4000. But after seeing the activities they have set up for the guest, the hotels where they are staying, some of the meals that were included, and the pure beauty of the area, it would take a lot of work on your part in planning to get something as nice as this for less money. So it looks like a pretty darn good deal to me.

For example, one of the night activities the group heads over to a winery (I don’t have the name…) and learn how to make their own Peace. It’s a type of pasta, I had it that night with Cinghiale (wild boar) sauce and it was very tasty. After that they head over to the tasting room to drink test out some of the wine, with the hopes they all buy multiple cases. Once that’s over then they sit down for a super deluxe meal. Now that is just one of the nights, there are only a few times throughout the trip which they have to fend for themselves. So yeah, pretty nice indeed.

Anyway, I was able to see some of the best spots in all of Southern Tuscany. I’m sure this is going to be an upcoming destination for a cycling trip of my own in the next couple of years.

So thanks to Allyson for letting me tag along and Raphael for introducing me to Grappa!

More Photos…

Now playing: Calexico – Cruel – Garden Ruin

Firenze (aka, Florence)

Posted by chad on September 10, 2007 None comments

Some tips from Firenze:

If you have a train ride which is going to take over 10 hours from one place to another your best do it overnight. Why?! Well you can sleep though most of it unlike an overnight flight you get your own fold out bed, albeit with 5 other people in the same compartment, this also saves your one night stay in an expensive hotel room. If you are a bit social, you may even meet some interesting people along the way… Pretty darn nice.

Firenze...
Now if that overnight trip lands you in the city say 5 hours before you are allowed to check into your hotel. Then go straight to the bathroom and clean yourself up (wash face, shave, brush teeth, change clothes, extra swipe of deodorant, etc.) Then check your bags into a locker and head out on the town.

If it’s Sunday and you find yourself in Italy then pretty much 2/3 of the city is going to be closed. So my suggestion, which is taken from a couple of girls I meet in Pairs, take one of the open top tour buses which rip though the city at mock speed. You get a pair of earphones to tune into the language of your choice and it gives you an overview of each attraction as you drive by. You can get on and off the bus at each place if you like to check it out, but I was using this to cool off, relax and check out what I would like to see in the next couple of days. If you like stay on the bus for multiple loops and listen to the tour in a different language, like Italian, you may learn a new word or two.

Okay enough with the tips for now…

I meet my friend Allyson at the train station, she was coming in from Utah and taking the train up from Rome. I’ve known her for quite some time, actually since grade school. I hadn’t talked to her since our high school graduation, but randomly got connected about 3 months ago though Facebook. Got to love geek social network software…

I wanted to take Florence in at an easy pace. We walked through Santa Croche Cathedral on the second day, had some of the best gelato in the city, and then walked for ever in the park and found a horse race track, and the velodrome which people were training on. The third day we walked though the Boboli Gardens and had more gelato, of course! We spend a lot of time just wandering though the city, and the food was just great fantastic…

I will be coming back to Florence in a couple of weeks with my friends John, James, and Jeremy (who I haven’t meet, but he’s John’s brother so we’re friends by association, right?!)

Check out more photos here.

Next up?! Tuscana: good wine, cheese, and ummm… more wine!!!

Paris Wrap Up…

Posted by chad on September 10, 2007 2 comments

I had a great time in Pairs and probably could have hung out for another few days, but it was time to move on and head out to Italy. I have finally uploaded photos from the last 3 days I was there.

Paris

I left the best restaurant to the last night of my stay. After reading Nicole’s review of Restaurant a L’Impasse I knew I couldn’t miss out. Well it took me over an hour to find the place, it’s sort of tucked down a little alleyway, but I was super disappointed once I got to the door and saw this sign! Damn, well one more thing to look forward to my next trip to Paris…

Anyone want to go?!

Be sure to check out the other photos, some great ones from the Eiffel Tower…