Addio all'Italia!

Our Final Morning in Italy

It seems like for most of our trips we always have an early-morning flight, leading to a short night of sleep. Not so in this case.  We were reversing our original itinerary on the flight back, flying from Naples up to Munich, and then connecting for our onward to Dulles.  Our flight to Munich didn't depart until 1:15pm, so we did not have to rush in the morning. The two other couples who were departing the tour in Sorrento had such early flights, and their airport transfers were very early.  One couple got picked up at 4:50am, and the other at 6:30am.  Our self-booked transfer wasn't until 9:30, so we had time to enjoy breakfast at a leisurely pace. The rest of our tour left at 8:00am, so we waited to go down until they had gone.  We'd said all of our good-byes the previous night, and did not want to be source of slowing down the group with yet more farewells.  It gave us time, too, to finish watching the presidential debate, which we'd started to watch the previous night.

On paper, the trip from Sorrento to the airport in Naples should only take about 30 minutes, but having witnessed the traffic at times, I was skeptical.  Our driver showed up early, which was fine, so we loaded up, departed, and promptly got stuck in traffic. I fired up Waze on my phone and immediately saw that there were two accidents just within Sorrento proper, which had thoroughly confounded traffic, as there are no real alternative routes. I wasn't worried, yet, about the delay, but in the end, it took more than 90 minutes to reach the airport.

As we'd seen in Milan, Italy needs to invest some money in their airports.  The Naples airport was small from the outside, and quite dated.  It seemed obvious that the airport was not equipped to deal with all the new crowds generated by the influx of low-cost carriers now flying there.  We headed toward the Lufthansa check-in and encountered a huge line.  Upon closer inspection, however, we realized it was for a different airline, but the airport had so little room, and the line could not be directed elsewhere.  We pushed our way through and straight up to check-in, which was a painless affair.  We'd packed all of wine and booty, along with our now smelly clothes, into the three bags and everything went through without a hitch.  We even had about an hour to kill in the lounge before they announced boarding.

We only had a 75-minute layover in Munich, which would be fine, if we were on time.  The fact that our flight was announced as boarding right on time was a good sign.  We made our way to the gate, got in line, saw the sign announcing boarding, but when I looked out onto the tarmac, there was no plane.  I fired up my phone and saw that the incoming flight from Munich had not even arrived.  Why exactly they announced boarding for a plane that was still in the air is still beyond me. I fought my inner demons and tried not to get anxious about our connection, but it was a challenge.  The plane pulled up to the gate about 10 minutes later, and they deboarded via stairs, even though there was a jetway right there. As they were still getting off, they began to let us through the check-in gate.  We went through, but then stood on the other side, still with no place to go.  About 15 minutes after that, they let us walk out onto the jetway, but then we just stood for another 10 minutes or so, with nowhere to go.  It was all very odd, and the Lufthansa app still showed us departing on time, even though we'd already blown past our departure time.

We did eventually board, and we ended up leaving about 40 minutes late, but either by creative padding of the schedule or favorable winds, we ended up only being 25 minutes late into Munich.  We arrived, of course, at the last physical gate, with meant we'd be walking for a while.  We had to clear immigration and another security check, too, so we'll just say that our pace was brisk through the airport.  We approached our ultimate departure gate about five minutes before boarding, but in the final checkpoint, Katherine was notified that she was flagged for a random security check.  I was carrying all of our bags at this point, so she had nothing on her, but they still took their time checking her out.  Nonetheless, boarding was delayed about 15 minutes, so we had plenty of time and pretty much walked right onto the plane. We had the exact same seats on the plane as we had on the flight over.   The flight itself was very pleasant, and Katherine slept for a good chunk of it.

Our plane from Naples to Munich FINALLY Arrives

Bay of Naples, and Island of Capri, as we departed

Our flight from Munich to Dulles

Oktoberfest-themed Flight

We arrived into Dulles a little before 8:00pm but we breezed through immigration -- the new facial recognition for Global Entry worked like a charm, and we literally walked through without even slowing down.  Unlike before, all three of our bags arrived, and were in fact some of the first to arrive.  I had the Uber ordered the minute the last bag arrived, and by the time we walked out to the pick-up area, our driver was pulling up. It was seamless, and we were home in under 15 minutes.  Chip was, needless to say, very happy to see us.  We have a new dogsitter who took care of him while we were gone, but he was nonetheless over-the-moon happy to have his people home.  The late arrival was helpful, in that we went straight to bed, so it was a noneventful return from an amazing memory-filled trip.

Capri Style!

This was Wednesday, and the last full day of our tour.  This was essentially another built-in rest or do-what-you-want day, but we -- and the vast majority of our group -- signed up for the optional all-day tour of the island of Capri.  We knew Capri sat in the Bay of Naples, but it sits too far west for us to see it from our hotel.  We were blessed with another cloudless day as we all piled onto the hotel's shuttle bus to bring us down to the ferry port in Sorrento, which was not too far from where K and I had eaten dinner the night prior.  As we were boarding the bus, I saw an e-mail saying it was time to check-in for our flight the next day.  As we were sitting there, I started the process, but then got an error saying they couldn't check us in for the final leg of our trip -- Munich to Dulles.  I looked closely and saw that the Business Class upgrade -- which I had secured months and months ago -- was not showing.  I was puzzled as to what was happening, but then I saw an e-mail from the night prior, from United Airlines, saying that they had reissued our ticket.  Long story, but we purchased our tickets from United, but all of our flights were operated by Lufthansa.  I used bonus points from United to upgrade us on all of our flights.  As best as I could tell, United reissued the ticket -- for unknown reasons -- and that kicked out our upgrades.  I jumped on a text exchange with United, trying to figure it out, but I lost reception as we started down the cliffside toward the port.  While I was trying to get this sorted, Johnny was talking to us about what to expect that day, that we'd meet our local guide down by the ferry, the boarding process, etc., but I heard very little of it.  I was just trying to avoid a hassle at the airport the following day, so I was trying to get this ironed out before we got on the ferry for the 30-minute crossing to Capri, during which I presumed I wouldn't have cell or internet access.

Johnny had "warned" us that our local guide was "very passionate," and he never knew him to not be talking.  Sure enough, when he met us as we got off the bus, he was already talking a mile a minute.  He was a real character, but they often make the best guides.  I tried to resume my chat with United, but it was futile, not to mention that it was the middle of the night back in the States, so I was certainly dealing with the proverbial B-Team.  The ferry to Capri was very large, and while it could accommodate cars, none boarded.  We later learned that cars on Capri are very limited, and those that do much pay exuberant taxes.  As we boarded, I gave up on texting and elected to call United, which I did.  I got an agent while we waited to depart, I explained the situation, but she was essentially useless.  I knew more about the upgrade and ticket rules than she, and I had to force myself to give her grace.  As we were talking, the ferry embarked and I was resigned to losing the connection at any time.  To my surprise, we remained connected the entire time.  In the end, however, she ultimately told me there was nothing she could do and that I'd have to deal with it at the airport.  That annoyed me no end, but as we were literally standing on the ferry, waiting to disembark in Capri, I went to the website and tried to reprocess the upgrade.  To my surprise, it went through immediately, which was a shock, especially so close to departure.  In the end, it was a very easy fix.  All that said, when we finally got off and were standing on terra firma again, I was relieved, especially as Lufthansa texted the new boarding passes.  My mind was clear and I was ready to return to full tourist mode.

Docking on Capri

On the dock, we could already see how incredibly beautiful an island Capri is.  All around looked like a postcard.  We split into two groups and boarded minibuses which were to transport us to Anacapri, which is the highest point of the island, and the second largest concentration of residents and businesses.  We drove up steep switchback roads, and though our guide was on the bus in front of us, we could still hear his commentary through our Whispers, which was nice.  He explained the history of the island, its deep roots with the Roman empire, and our rough schedule for the day.  He cautioned us, as had Johnny, that it was going to be very crowded, and that they were doing all they could to arrange our day such that we would limit waiting and encountering lines.  At our first stop, Anacapri, we had the option to take a solo chairlift to the physical highest point of the island.  He would give a short walking tour to those who did not go up, and for those who did, he'd meet us and provide the same tour when we came down.  Everyone would have time, regardless, to shop and get something to eat for lunch.

We elected to do the chairlift, which was amazing.  There was a very short line to buy our tickets to ride up, but by the time we left a couple of hours later, the line stretched for several blocks.  As I mentioned, it was a solo chairlift, which I have never seen.  The views from the ride up were spectacular, and only surpassed by the views from the panoramic station and restaurant at the top. 

Katherine on the chairlift from Anacapri

After we all made our way back down the chairlift, we reconvened and our local guide took us on short walking tour, including over to another spectacular viewpoint, this time on the eastern side of the island, with commanding views over to Mt. Vesuvius.  In our free time before we were to all meet up again and take the shuttle buses down, K and I found an nice outdoor cafe with great views, where we had a quick and very tasty lunch.

Views from Anacapri

When we all gathered to reboard the shuttle buses, the scene around the central bus depot was drastically different than morning.  There were now throngs of people arriving and milling around, and -- as I mentioned -- the line to mount the ski lift stretched out of sight.  We again split into two buses and rode down to the actual center of Capri, the town.  It was a proper little city, with crowds to match.  There were loads of toney hotels and spas, and every conceivable high-end department store.  Capri is known to attract lots of wealthy Gulf Arabs and the millionaire/billionaire set that sail the Italian coast in their yachts, dozens of which were clearly visible anchored around the island.  In and amongst all this wealth were just as many tourist shops.  We were told that celebrity sightings are a daily occurrence, but usually in the evening, given the daytime heat and crowds.  It was now, by the way, very warm, and we did everything we could to stay in the shade whenever possible.  

As up in Anacapri, we had free time in Capri proper, a short walking tour, and we choose if we wanted to participate in an optional tour.  In this case, it was a boat tour around the island, of which we availed ourselves.  Before the boat, we walked down A LOT of steps to reach a beautiful botanical garden, again with wonderful views out to sea and the azure water.  The heat was catching up to us, though, as we were very careful to seek out the shade and keep drinking water.

About half of us elected to take the boat tour, which we reached by taking a funicular from the center of Capri, down to the main port, which is also where our ferry docked.  Our group did not fill the tour boat, so other tourists (mainly Italian) filled the empty seats.  Our local guide came with us and made an arrangement with the boat crew that he would provide commentary via the speaker system.  To accommodate the other guests, he did everything in English and Italian.  The tour itself was really enjoyable, with some incredible views.  The sea was rather rough on the windward side of the island.  We didn't so much feel the seas, but rather could see the magnitude of the waves as so many other boats were in the area, and they'd bob in and out of view, as the waves raised and lowered us, and did the same to the other vessels.  

Our Boat Tour Around Capri

We were hot when we got back, and with about 30 minutes to kill before our ferry we were not in the mindset to shop, so we had some "adult beverages" with another couple from our trip.  It was the perfect cherry on the outing.

Our ferry back to Sorrento was about half filled, and we were a much more somber group on this leg, with most of us sleeping.  We bid farewell to our guide back in Sorrento, and two shuttle buses from the hotel met and took us back up the cliff.  If we had more time, it would have been a perfect day to cool off in the hotel's pool but, alas, we did not.  Tonight was our farewell dinner, even though the tour did continue on to Rome for three more nights.  Still, given that three couples were leaving and given the itinerary in Rome, this would be for the "gala" farewell meal, which we have had on all our Gate1 tours.

Our Ferry Back to Sorrento

Arriving Back in Sorrento (Hotel Excelsior Vittoria is where the famous Opera singer Enrico Caruso live when he returned to Italy.  He was not treated well in Italy, moved to America and became a sensation, and then returned to Sorrento when he knew he was dying, and stayed here)

As we were leaving the next day, we packed our bags and each took a shower before dinner.  The presidential debate had been the night prior, so I pulled it up on You Tube, which we streamed to the TV in our room.  We were to meet in the lobby at 6:30pm to take buses to dinner.  We both got caught up in the debate and lost track of time.  At 6:27 or so, I realized that we had to go, so we rushed down to the lobby...which was empty.  We quickly went outside and didn't see anyone.  There was one shuttle van, though, departing the parking area.  We waved our arms but they didn't stop.  We weren't even sure -- at the time -- that members of our group were on the van.  What was clear, however, is that we had missed them.  I, frankly, got annoyed at this. I could not understand how they could miscount and miss us completely, especially when the three departing couples had met with Johnny when we returned to the hotel earlier, to discuss our departure instructions, etc.  I asked at reception if they knew the name of the restaurant to which our group was going.  They did not.  I went up to get Johnny's phone number and, after some fits and starts, was finally able to reach him.  As soon as he heard my voice, he realized he'd left us behind.  He said it had been "chaos," as they ended up having to split between three vans vice one bus, and I could hear the regret in his voice.  He then spoke with reception and they got a cab sent to pick us up and take us down to the city.  The restaurant in which they had gathered was in the pedestrian area of town, so Johnny met the taxi at the city gates and he walked us there, apologizing the entire time.  I do think he sincerely felt awful about the oversight. 

My previous frustrations were gone by the time we joined our table, as the meal had yet to begin.  It ended up being a really enjoyable evening, with great conversation and equally good food and wine.  It was a very fitting farewell.  On the rides back to the hotel, and then in the lobby, we said our goodbyes to everyone, exchanged contact information, etc..  It was, as always, bittersweet, but that is also a sign that we had a great group, whose company we had enjoyed.    

One of the gardens in the restaurant where we held our farewell dinner

OMG!

Sunrise over Sorrento

View of Mt. Vesuvius from our hotel room

I thought long and hard about a heading for this chapter, and "OMG" just kept popping into my head.  This was our long-anticipated "Amalfi day," and we could not wait.  We said good-bye to our original driver and bus, Marco, the night before.  The bus was too big to drive on the Amalfi road, and they rely on local drivers who specialize in navigating the very challenging drive.  Plus, with six of us not continuing on to Rome, they did not need the large bus anymore, so Marco headed to Rome with the bus, and another tour.  A smaller 40-passenger bus greeted us this morning, along with a local driver.  Johnny would serve as our local guide.  We were on an honor-system of rotating where we sat on the bus to date.  On most of our previous Gate1 tours, the guide had drawn up a daily seat-rotation map, which ensured that everyone had an opportunity to sit all around the bus, plus we get to sit by new people each day.  On this trip, especially with so many "first-timers," Johnny did not enforce it, and many people gravitated to the same seats.  K and I, however, had been rotating, so I had no qualms about getting to the bus first and snatching two of the coveted front seats, as they would afford the absolute best views of the drive.  We had not yet sat in the front-most seats.  Johnny did tell us that half way through the drive, we would have a rest stop and people on the right side of the bus (with the best views) would switch to the left side, and vice versa.  Not knowing what to expect, I grabbed the front right-side seats.  As we settled in and started to pull away from the hotel, two police cars drove up.  The woman who was being tracked was sitting behind us, and I heard her say, "I'm sure they're here for me."  We nervously laughed it off and Johnny told the driver to proceed.  About 10 minutes later, Johnny did get a call and, yes indeed, the police had been there looking for the woman.  Evidently they were tracking the license plate of the bus, and their automated plate system had tagged the bus north of Naples, which did not track with our itinerary, so the police were dispatched to investigate.  Johnny was in the front jump seat, directly below us, so I could hear his very animated conversation in Italian.  He then, very deftly, walked back to the woman and quietly told her about the call.  I could, of course, hear everything.  He explained the situation with the license plate, gave the police the tags of the bus we were on this day, as well as the plate for the other bus that would come down to bring folks to Rome in two-days' time.  The woman was understandably upset and cried a little, for which I cannot blame her.  In speaking with her at length the following day, it would appear that someone stole her identity about 10 years ago and get themselves in trouble in France.  She had no idea this had happened until she entered Italy. She was advised to follow-up with Interpol and her local police when she got home, but she was understandably stressed, and was already worried about the scrutiny she'd get when she left Italy in five-days' time.

While I was familiar with the images of the famed Amalfi drive, which is along a precarious, narrow road carved out of the cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, I was still surprised at the beauty.  The route stretches back to Roman days, as they were the first to create the pathway, which grew into the road.  The road itself stretches 50 miles, from Sorrento to Salerno.  It is very curvy and each time we made a turn, the front of the bus would essentially hang over the edge, while the driver navigated the very narrow road.  It does run two ways, to which I was incredulous, as it was challenging for two vehicles to pass, even on the very rare straight portions.  The weather was perfect, with very long-distance views available and spectacular vistas.  Johnny did a great job explaining what we were seeing, and talking about the history of the area.  There are no places to pull over, so he would slow down when possible, but we were going rather slowly anyway, so getting good pictures was not a problem.  We did make a stop at a ceramic studio, to stretch our legs, use the restroom, and make the seat switches.  We were then on the left side, but still had massive views out the huge front windshield.  

Waiting outside our hotel ahead of our "Amalfi Day!"

Sharing the road

View down to Positano 

We drove through several tiny towns along the way, and the bus driver did an outstanding job of navigating around other vehicles. He knew every inch of the bus and made it squeeze through spaces I would have thought impossible. Johnny had jokingly warned us that we'd easily be able to pick out the tourist with rental cars, as they would be completely intimidated and get themselves into trouble.  He said that many a couple go to Amalfi for the romance, but end up divorcing after a stressful day of yelling at each other in the car while trying to safely drive the road.  All I could say was that I was VERY happy to be the passenger.

At the entrance to one small town, a policeman stood at the entrance, next to a hairpin turn.  He had a radio and Johnny explained that there were patrols on both sides of the city, and they were to regulate the cars going in each direction, particularly as trucks and buses could not pass each other inside the village.  We had to wait about 10 minutes, while the policeman let scooters and small cars through. We were finally waved ahead, but very quickly we started to encounter larger vehicles coming from the other way.  I honestly do not know how our driver got through this stretch.  At one point, a smaller truck coming the other way ended up within 1/2 inch of the side of our bus, while we saw and heard him scraping along the cliffside on the other.  When we exited the opposite side of town, we saw a policewoman there, and our driver opened the door and yelled some very excited and angry words toward her.  I had no idea what she said, but she yelled right back, with a lot of stereotypical Italian hand gestures.  Johnny explained that the driver was chastising her for not controlling the cars, to which she said she was allowed to take a break from time to time.  Only in Italy!

Less than an inch from our bus, and scraping the other wall

Approaching Town of Amalfi

The bus let us off in the largest town along the drive, the namesake village of Amalfi.  Here we had a few hours to eat and explore, before we reconvened and took a boat down to the village of  Maiori, where the bus would pick us up again, and drive us back to Sorrento, up and over the peninsula, and not back the way we came.  We had a great lunch of fried fresh fish and really enjoyed Amalfi, but it was extremely full of tourists, to which we kept saying we can't imagine the crowds during the summer.

Amalfi

Duomo Amalfi

Before we went on this trip, we had watched the new Ripley series on Netflix. It was based on the book (and earlier movie), "The Talented Mr. Ripley."  It was primarily based in the tiny village of Atrani, which sits between Amalfi and Maiori.  The popularity of the series was blamed for a huge influx in tourists this year, many of whom came to seek out locales featured in the series.  We asked and Johnny explained that we would see Atrani from the boat, which indeed we did.

Departing Amalfi by Boat

Town of Atrani, of Ripley Fame

Approaching Maiori 

For the drive back, we headed inland and drove essentially straight north, over the mountains, until we reached the highway, and we then drove westward, entering the Bay of Naples along the same route we took a day earlier.  Essentially, we went in a big circle.  On the drive back, we had a quick stop for some "lemon slush."  Amalfi is, of course, famous for the Limoncello liquor. We had some already, and we saw the famous lemons everywhere. They are absolutely huge, and more the size of a grapefruit than a traditional lemon.  They are also much sweeter than "regular" lemons. Lemon ice is quite popular down here, and it's made by taking straight lemon juice, sugar, and water.  That liquid is poured into a metal cylinder, which rests inside a tub of ice.  The cylinder is rotated quickly, sloshing the liquid up, which rather quickly turns into frozen slush, which is then scooped into small cups.  It was so refreshing, and it was very welcome stop on the way back.

Mt. Vesuvius on the drive back from Amalfi

We arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm and elected to finally break out the swim suits we'd brought along.  The hotel had a very nice -- if not chilly -- outdoor pool, and we congregated there with several members from our group.  It was a nice way to actually RELAX, which we had not done much on the trip to date.

Dinner was on our own this evening.  Again, I had planned ahead and we had a reservation at a small, highly recommended restaurant on the waterfront.  In planning, I had realized that no restaurants were in walking distance from our hotel.  What I had not expected, however, was the topography, and I did not realize how our hotel sat perched high above the town of Sorrento proper.  I has assumed we could take an Uber to the restaurant, but when we arrived, I learned the ride-share services are not authorized in Italy.  We could ordered a cab, but you have to order well in advance.  Our hotel did offer a shuttle bus service into and back from the town, on a regular schedule.  Johnny had paid for a dedicated shuttle for our group, to take any of us wanting to go, down into Sorrento.  He was going to provide an impromptu city tour, orient folks, and then recommend restaurants for those interested.  We elected to ride down with the group -- which was nearly all of our tour.  We took the tour, but then cut off on our own -- relying on Google Maps for navigation -- and started the walk to our restaurant, which was off the beaten tourist track.  It was about a 20-minute walk, most of it downward, which didn't bode well for the return walk.  We finally reached the secluded beach area, where our restaurant was located, and arrived exactly on time for our reservation.  A table alongside the beach was dedicated to us, and we heartily enjoyed our meal and some great local wine.  Speaking of which, I wrote earlier about us bringing along that third small suitcase, to carry home wine.  We had tried to buy a bottle of wine from each city/area we visited along the way, and in the end, I think we came home with six bottles in total.  This region is known for some outstanding whites, and we enjoyed our bottle at dinner.

Deep gorge in the Town of Sorrento

Sorrento

Secluded Beach Where Our Dinner Restaurant Was Located

View at Dinner

It was dark by the time we finished.  We had the shuttle schedule and were aiming for a 9:45pm departure.  We weren't keen on walking back all the same steps we walked to reach the restaurant, so we went back a different route, which coincidently took us through the famous narrow shopping street of Sorrento, which very much felt like an Arabian souk.  We made a few stops along the way, but still managed to reach the shuttle stop right on time, where we found the majority of our group, who had the same idea as us.

Sorrento By Night

While we waited a few minutes for the bus, the sky was lighting up with heat lightning. We heard some thunder and couldn't tell if it was going to actually storm.  At the same time, Johnny had mentioned earlier that they frequently light off fireworks over the bay, and that our hotel was a prime viewing area.  I only bring this up as, at breakfast the next morning, most people were gushing about the fireworks from the previous evening.  We had no idea what they were talking about.  Evidently around 11:00pm a fireworks show started.  We had been using a sound machine app at night, to mask out any hotel noise, so we didn't hear anything.  I do remember hearing some distant booms, but in my half-asleep stupor, I assumed it was more thunder.  Oh well, we missed the show, but that did not detract from what was one of the most memorable days of this entire trip.