Pizza Pizza Pizza

Casey writes:

Fortunately for Italy, they DO make amazing pizza! And after spending a week travelling through Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Capri, I can undoubtedly retract my first impressions of this country. The cities are crazy. The coastline is stunning. The history is fascinating. And the people are simply lovely.

Richard and I have spent six months visiting the many not-so-travelled parts of the world, so suddenly being in Italy has in some ways been a shock. We travel on a strict daily budget, don't splurge our money, and appreciate the opportunities we've had to merge ourselves in different cultures without feeling too much like tourists. Here in Italy however, we cannot escape the mass construction of tourism. Walking through the alleys of Capri, we stand out. We are not carrying a Luis Vuitton handbag, we don't have designer clothes and we haven't had plastic surgery. The tourists here are a whole new breed, and we've endured the same surroundings in Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast as well. I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to see this simply beautiful part of the world, and to see how 'rich people' travel, but I am not sure I quite fit this mould of traveller!

Naples is dirty, hectic and fascinating. The old town streets are narrow, with scooters whizzing past you in every direction. The churches, monuments and ancient buildings are lovely, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the National Archeological Museum. We had a scrumptious pizza along the famous 'pizzeria street', meandered past all types of shops, and admired the relaxed coffee drinking culture indulged in by regular groups of older men, who gather for their daily gossip sessions. The tour of Napoli Sotterranea - the maze of tunnels built 40 metres under the city - was a great insight into the history and workings of the city. We crawled through tunnels barely wide enough for a human, saw how the space was used firstly as an aqueduct and then an air raid shelter, and marvelled at an ancient Roman theatre that was discovered in the basement of an old woman's house (she was given a hefty sum to move out so that excavations could take place). Our walk towards the Naples waterfront was interrupted by our curiosity. Peering over a walkway down to the road below, we saw a mob of people gathering, plenty of police vehicles and a huge posse of riot squad police with shields. We stood watching with other intrigued locals as roads were blocked off; something was obviously brewing but after half an hour of stalled action, we wandered off and never found out what culminated.

I was so excited to be at the site of Pompeii after seeing so many images of it in school textbooks over the years. To stand amongst the ruins of Mt Vesuvius' eruption of 79AD was quite haunting and the intricacies of the old city were immediately apparent. We battled hordes of tourists in the humid weather, but it was worth it. From there we headed up to the crater of Mt Vesuvius, for sweeping views of the Gulf of Naples (except we were shrouded in cloud) and a leisurely stroll around the rim to admire the volcano's grandeur.

When we jumped onto the internet a few weeks ago to book a hostel in Sorrento, we nearly fell over backwards at the price of even the cheapest accommodation! So, after much research, we settled on a simple B&B in San Agnello, a thirty minute walk from Sorrento and only twice our daily accommodation budget, which was a bargain compared to the posher options down the road. To be fair, the seaside views here were simply breathtaking, but so were the prices for food and drink! Our day trip from Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast was lovely. Squashed onto a public bus with other paupers who also couldn't afford to stay in Positano or Amalfi, we weaved our way along the narrow coastal road, arriving for lunch in Positano. Our bus only collided with two other vehicles along the way, leaving significant scratches, which I thought was quite an achievement given the cliff top roads were barely wide enough for two scooters to pass each other, let alone a bus. Lunch at Le Tre Sorelle (courtesy of my friend Adele's recommendation) on the Positano waterfront was exquisite and our meal of pasta was a nice change from our over indulgence in pizza from previous days. On the bus again and to Amalfi, we enjoyed the quaintness of this town clinging to the rocks overlooking the wonderful blue water, and we left the shopping drag full of Luis Vuitton wielding women and visited the Cathedral of Amalfi instead. In the one complex we saw the Cloister of Paradise, the Basilica of the Crucifix, the Cathedral and the Crypt containing St Andrew's skull and bones.

The island of Capri. Where do I start? This island of dreams is famous all over the world. But in all honesty, I could only ever afford to stay here in my dreams. It has breathtaking landscapes, amazing architecture and is in every sense a rich man's paradise. For us though, a relaxing boat ride circumnavigating the island, plus six hours to meander around the pretty streets, eat some pizza and drink some limoncello, was sufficient to ensure we returned home with most of our cash still in our wallets.

Back in Naples for a day before our ferry to Palermo (oh goodness please let it be better than the last ferry catastrophe), we visited the lesser known ruins site of Herculaneum. Smaller than Pompeii, but in many ways more fascinating, because unlike Pompeii which was crushed by the weight of the volcano's ash, the buildings here were  just flooded with lava so they are extremely well preserved.

We've loved this small section of Italy that we've seen in a whirlwind few days, and now can't wait to get to Sicily for a final onslaught of Italian culture, food and history.