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Jules

February - April 2024
Italy/Croatia '24 Read more
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  • TravelerJules
    Day 1

    Italy/Croatia 2024

    February 29 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Early morning start for 0700 flight to Naples. (We had 2 days in UK to get over jetlag and buy shoes!)
    Easy flight and arrived to sunshine. Met our driver who took us to our first stop, Minori, on the Amalfi coast. Amazing views as we climbed up and up, round incredible hairpin bends. Mt Vesuvius looked huge; terraced row upon row of lemon and orange trees. All covered in nets but fruit very visible.
    After 130 steps we arrived at our home for the next few days. Beautiful view from our terrace.
    Slipped right into the culture - aperitivo time followed by freshly made pizza. I can recommend the local wine!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    1
    Day 2

    Minori

    March 1 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Got to grips with the coffee maker - well, sort of! Definitely a forerunner of today's models.
    Set off on foot to explore neighbouring Maiori. This involves hugging the edge of a very narrow road (still mostly 2 way traffic) around the cliff edge. Not for the faint hearted but definitely a way of life here as people trek back and forth. Sadly we missed the market but we had a good wander around, sheltering in doorways when it absolutely poured!
    We are in low season so everything is relatively quiet and not a lot of restaurants etc open. One can easily imagine how busy it soon will be. That said we went into the local deli in Minori and had the most amazing sandwich. The baguette was crammed full with fresh cut ham, mozza, tomatoes and arugula. Bursting with flavour! We enjoyed that on a seafront bench.
    As you can tell, we are slowing down!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
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    Day 3

    Amalfi

    March 2 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Bus adventures! Missed the first as we had no ticket. An hour for the next one so purchased tickets at Tabacchi then went for coffee and cake. Good choice.
    Opted to get to bus stop 20 mins early. Good idea as the bus arrived 5 mins later. A hair raising, hairpin drive with fabulous coast scenery. Do NOT drive in Amalfi!
    Lovely stroll through tiny side streets and passages to avoid the definitely touristy area of the main street. Everything printed with lemons or the name. Two way traffic thru what appeared to be a pedestrian area. Crazy, delightful chaos.
    Found a great spot for lunch - home made vegetable soup, fish and lemon potato croquettes and a glass of local rose vino.
    Checked out the impressive cathedral from the outside only & walked the waterfront.
    Bus home, picked up supplies for pasta and salad. People so friendly and helpful.    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    Day 4

    Ravello

    March 3 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Hung out the washing and hoped for sunshine. Off to Ravello which meant two buses, lots of hairpin bends. Almost 1.5 hrs in Amalfi for connection but a beautiful day and a lot more locals and tourists about. Standing room only on the bus and packed!
    Ravello is high up and "the most elegant of the small cities of the Amalfi coast". The views are amazing, particularly from Villa Rufolo. In the summer they hold classical concerts here which must be fantastic. There is a huge auditorium on the hillside, not unlike the Eden one in UK.
    A beautiful, serene place and we were able to appreciate that serenity virtually on our own.
    We opted to take The Lemon Path back down to Minori. It took us well over an hour to negotiate countless steps and beautiful views, glimpses of private gardens and endless lemon trees laden with fruit.
    Legs like jelly we headed to our favourite aperitivo bar. The two glasses of Prosecco were divine!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
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    Day 5

    Cetara

    March 4 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Our 35th wedding anniversary. Pouring rain which cleared so set off via bus for Cetara. A small fishing village , along the coast from Salerno.
    More hair raising twisty roads; Richard was behind the driver so had full view of every sheer drop as we turned! A female cyclist was holding us up for a while as she blithely pedaled along, one hand on phone, holding a conversation. Even the driver was floored!
    Rain stopped exploration so we ducked into the tiniest of restaurants. Only ones there, plus one chef and 3 assistants!
    Lovely pasta with walnuts, anchovies, olives, pine nuts and ricotta. Richard had pasta with mussels. Excellent. Time for beach combing and a few sea glass finds before heading homeward.
    Dinner out at La Botte altho not able to do it justice after lunch.    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    1
    Day 6

    Move to Sorrento

    March 5 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Two buses and 4 hours later we arrive in Sorrento, with sunshine. Amazing coastal scenery as we drove through Furore, Positana and more. Our lodgings are just 3 mins walk from train and bus and central for most things.
    Unpacked then set off to explore. Hard to believe I last visited here 50 years ago. It has grown and changed somewhat!
    Found the elevator to take us down to the port and got all the info on ferry's to Capri. An afternoon for sauntering and stopping to have a beer, which turned into late lunch. Lovely!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    Day 7

    Pompeii

    March 6 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Took the local train from Sorrento to Pompeii only to be told on arrival at 10am that it would not open until noon. However we could get in to see the Mystery Villa first which had some beautiful murals. Amazing that the colours had lasted so well.
    By the time we had toured the villa, everything was open - no reason given for the hiccup. It was all quite spectacular - a town that had been preserved in volcanic ash and debris since 79 AD which was found in the 1700s. It was quite beautiful with gardens, obvious rooms, earthenware - even ruts in the roads where carts would have travelled. The amphitheatre was of special interest to Richard - Pink Floyd had recorded a concert film there in the 70s (playing to an empty theatre!). There is even a gallery of photographs cataloguing the event.
    The whole site was quite moving; many areas are still undergoing restoration work.
    We were lucky the weather stayed dry - would not have enjoyed walking on all those smooth stones!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    Day 8

    Sorrento

    March 7 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    After yesterday's sensory overload, a quieter day was in order! Figured out the washing machine (so glad I brought my tech guy along - he has been invaluable,!). We explored the myriad streets in the old town and it turned into a shopping expedition. All valid purchases for my outfit on 20 March!
    Enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a nearby restaurant (note the interior festooned with hams and smoked goodies) and explored further to find some views across to the Bay of Naples and lemon gardens!    Read more

  • TravelerJules
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    Day 9

    Isle of Capri

    March 8 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    We picked a good day for the hydrofoil trip to Capri. Just 40 mins and we were docking. Rushed to buy tickets for the funicular before we were aware that it was closed for reno! Quite a long wait for the mini buses which careen around the island hairpins - and the buses are packed!
    The town of Capri was super busy with tourists so we settled for a pricey coffee (10 euro each) so we could relax and people watch on the sunshine. It was like walking down Bond St - unbelievable shops. Lots of construction/reno happening. Probably prepping for the new season. We did a walk about but very quickly caught the bus to AnaCapri which was much quieter, very few, if any designer shops and more to our liking. Found a delightful square with tiled benches to eat our home made sandwiches - cotto ham, rocket, provolone and roma toms. Perfect!
    Explored the beautiful church, had a cuppa in a cute little cafe and realised all too soon we had to head back to port, as I was ever hopeful of a dip at the little beach near the harbour.
    Sadly far too windy for a dip in the turquoise waters so I settled for a paddle. Bliss. Beachcombing for sea glass and terracotta bits was so rewarding!
    Headed home for last night in Sorrento, stopping en route for shirt shopping for Richard.    Read more

  • TravelerJules
    Day 10

    Roma!

    March 9 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Very wet day as we head to the station. First train to Napoli,then change to fast train for Rome. A total of 2.5 hours including change.
    First train was very wet - water seeping in around door frames and windows that don't shut!
    Second train a big improvement! They said fast - did not appreciate it would be 300km/hour. No, not a typo! Very smooth.
    We were in Rome and checked in to our hotel with afternoon free for sightseeing. Still pretty wet so opted for hop on/off to get our bearings and stay dry. Apologies for rough photos - taken from moving bus! Jaw dropping sights - the size and number.
    We did go to Trevi Fountain - huge crowds - mostly youngsters. Unfortunately I was not feeling great - frozen and sore throat so it was early supper and head back to hotel. Everywhere feels extremely safe, not much hassling from the occasional street vendors and lots of police cars/sirens!
    Our hotel room had BBC world news so watched that loop for a while - enough reality.
    Streets were very noisy at night, possibly due to Italy winning the rugby match in Rome today!    Read more

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