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La Dolce Vita – day six

A Belinda day

I’m not a religious or very spiritual man, perhaps the one thing I believe in was Belinda Carlise when she sang “True heaven is a place on earth” and today was one of those days that confirmed that belief.

We were up early to catch the 8.30 ferry from Salerno to Capri and some two hours later, having taken in Minori, Amalfi and Positano, Capri hoved into view.

The one “bucket list” item that I wanted to do on this trip was to take the famed chair lift, so having dropped our bags in our new apartment, we headed back into the harbour with the intention of heading to AnaCapri and the chairlift.

Like most places on our trip so far, the harbour was super busy with fellow tourists all trying to head inland and so a combination of long queues for the busses, some mis-remembered memories from 10 years ago, and a cavalier attitude and lack of research prior to travelling saw us decide to walk up to Ana Capri. Even though when we neared the top we were treated to some stunning views, and (again as we levelled out at the top) I gained some perverse satisfaction from the climb, it was a mistake to walk the in excess of 900 steps, rising over 1,000 feet from our sea level start.

But exhausted, hot and sweaty we did make to the top (for now!), had a drink to recoup, wandered around the small town, and then had some lunch before heading to the cable car station for the ride to the real summit. The queue was not long, the cost was 15 euros each for a return, and the journey time about 10 minutes each way. The journey was serene and scenic – in no way frightening or adrenaline inducing – but as we neared the top cloud begin to swirl in and, as we stepped off the chairlift the promised wonderful view was obscured by the cloud we were in.

Disappointed, we circled the summit; on one side the sky was clear, affording views across to Vesuvius and Napoli, but the other side remained cloaked in grey obscurity.

With no return ferry to catch, or other commitment calling us, we waited, and began to see the odd glimpse of the sea below as the cloud, temporarily, thinned. And we waited some more, and then a little longer, and eventually our patience was rewarded as the cloud shifted, revealing the island in its true beauty.

It was stunningly beautiful, with panoramic views back towards the Amalfi coast and Salerno, cloud skitting across the hills behind Sorrento, Naploli stretching out across the water to the north and Vesuvius rising majestically into the sky, ringed by a layer of cloud lower down, but it’s crown dominating the vista. It was beautiful, and Belinda is right: true heaven is a place on earth and I was in it.

Eventually we tore ourselves away, took the chair lift down and then a very crowded small bus back to the Marina Grande were I treated my aching feet to a refreshing paddle in crystal clear waters.

The only downside to the day was the prices on the harbour front. Deciding we deserved some refreshment, we sat at a cafe and ordered a couple of beers – one small, on medium, Birra Moretti – a nice beer, but nothing fancy – and were shocked that the bill came to 20.50 euros! After finding the cheapest place to buy a couple of pizzas (plastic cutlery and paper plates!) we had a stroll back along the beachfront in the dusky light. With most ferries having left, taking with them there passengers, a calm descended over the harbour front and we marvelled again at the magnificent views.

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La Dolce Vita – day five

Agropoli

Having spent our first few days of the trip exploring the Amalfi coast, we decided to have a bit of an interlude and head south to the seaside town of Agropoli, the start of the Cilentan coast and a town, we were told, frequent by the Italian tourist, but not many foreign tourists. A cheap 40 minute journey by train, we looked forward to a pleasant trip south, making the mental note to get a seat on the right hand side of the train to secure the best views of the coast. What we hadn’t reckoned on was it being Easter Monday, a bank holiday in Italy like the UK and, just like in the UK, on a warm, pleasant bank holiday everyone wants to head to the coast. The train was rammed – standing room only on the delayed (by 10 minutes) service from Napoli Centrali.

On arrival, we found a pleasant town that mixed the old and the new and we probably were the only inglese in town. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the coffee was strong.

We ambled along, looked down at the shimmering sea and spotted the most Italian bench …

We bought a big slice of traditional Easter pie, and a smaller slice of traditional Easter cake and took ourselves to the town beach to eat and chill. The food was probably better than the beach – a little crowded, the sand a grey/brownish colour, not the best, but not the worst place to sit and eat your lunch either,

before taking an early passeggiata along the promenade, which was decorated with flowers. One of the (many) pleasures of travelling to Italy at this time of year as it provides a short cut to summer. It’s like May in the UK, vibrant with flowers and fresh green on the trees and shrubs.

After our stroll along the sea front, we headed back to the station to catch a much less busy (but still delayed by 15 minutes) train back to Salerno.

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La Dolce Vita – day four

Vietri sul mare

We rose to blue skies and peeling bells – it being Easter Sunday – and in following the bells to find where they were coming from, we stumbled upon a zone of street art a stone’s throw from where we were staying. We then went hunting for breakfast, many places were shut with it being Easter Sunday, but we discovered a lovely cafe where barely a word of English was spoken and we feasted on coffee, croissant and a local Pasqua (Easter) cake.

Then it was onto the Amalfi bus, but only for a short ride today to the neighbouring town of Vietri sul mare. It was a very arty (but not pretentious) town and first stop for us was a “garden” with colourful ceramics snaking their way throughout.

The town itself was pretty, and busy with Italians emerging from Easter morning services. It was lovely to wander the streets, take in the sights, listen to the lingo and stop for the occasional coffee.

We then stocked up on local pizza and sandwiches before heading down to the beach where we spent a chilled few hours, eating said lunch, paddling, reading, soaking up the sun (the bottom of my legs may have got a little sunburnt!) and just having the best of times.

Amazingly, the hike back up the hill into town didn’t seem as long as the way down and after the first gelato of the holiday, we hopped back on the bus back to Salerno. Later that evening, we went out to eat in Trattoria aRoma – the food was fine, but it deserves a mention for the comedy/drama we were treated to as the hapless waiting staff struggled to match dish with table. Our food came out (about) the right time, and the right dishes, but not all dinners were so lucky. An amusing and entertaining end to a fantastic day.

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La Docle Vita – day three

And the sun shone

After a couple of days of grey skies and brisk wind, we woke today to sunshine and blue sky, and everything looks better against a backdrop of blue. We’d got up early to catch the 0840 am ferry to Amalfi – a 35 minute journey

Straight off the boat and into a cafe for coffee and cakes for breakfast in the ever warming sun – delicious – before heading into the town to see the basilica and amble up the pretty, narrow street, taking in the ambience of the the town.

We then wondered along the road to the neighbouring town of Artrani, and this was a real gem. Chilled, beautiful, and largely devoid of tourists, we had a good explore,

and discovered that Escher had lived here in his twenties, and you could see how the town, and the staircases in particular, had inspired his work.

We then sat basking in the sunshine, looking out to sea. I could resist its pull no longer, hitched up my trousers and headed for a paddle. The sea was cold, but oh so refreshing on my poor feet.

We walked the 10 minutes back to Amalfi to get some fried vegatables for lunch (delicious)

but by now Amalfi had become a seething throng of humanity – overcrowded and any charm hidden beneath the swarms of tourists (of which, I admit, we were part) so we decided to escape, first by getting a bus up to Ravello, but the longer we waited for the bus, the more people joined us in the queue and it became obvious we would be swapping one over crowded tourist trap for another, so we cut our losses and headed back to Salerno and joined the townsfolk sat at the beach, enjoying relative calm, each others company and a couple of beers.

That evening we headed back out to eat, town was much busier, it being Saturday night – and Easter Saturday at that – we settled on an Osteria in the old town, the food was delicious, this starter of cheese and bacon wrapped in cabbage leaves being a particular treat.

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La Dolce Vita – day two

Processions

We woke to more grey skies and wet cobbled streets – it had been raining heavily but had stopped by the time we ventured out from our abode. After breakfast we ambled through the streets of Salerno and I was beginning to warm to it (although the weather was still refusing to warm me!) but we had already determined to head out of time and begin to explore the Amalfi coast. This had always been the plan, Salerno was meant as a base to explore from, and we fought our way onto a very full bus heading for Amalfi, although we would be getting off just short of this town, in Minori.

The journey (about an hour) was picturesque and exciting as the driver skilfully negotiated the switchbacks and hairpin bends, I definitely wouldn’t want to be driving this road myself!

Although taking about 50 minutes, it never felt a chore, the journey itself was an adventure, before stepping off the excitement of the bus into the calm of the pretty seaside town of Minori.

We began to explore the town, sucking in the sea air, before rounding a corner to see some sort of procession gathering at the top of the hill.

It was a treat and a privilege to watch and listen to the Good Friday procession as hooded men and children escorted the cross through the town and to the Basilica where, after 40 minutes of processing and singing, they entered for a service, leaving us to continue to explore the town.

Having lunched well on pizza slices and other treats bought from a delicatessen and eaten on a bench looking out to see, we decided to walk back along the road for ten minutes or so to the neighbouring town of Maiori.

We ambled along the seafront, stopping to examine a range of sculptures

I particularly liked the pink spaceman, with a face of flowers …

Before sitting and chilling in a cafe, watching the world go by,and feeling the weather beginning to warm up.

We wandered some more, taking in the essence of Italy (for me, well dressed men and battered old vehicles)

… before getting the bus back to Salerno, now bathed in sunlight, and beginning to capture my heart.

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La Dolce Vita – day one

Buongiorno

We were up with (before) the larks to head to Bristol airport at early o’clock to catch a 6 am flight to Naples, and by 9 am UK time, 10 am in Italy, we were off the aeroplane and in a queue, expecting to have our faces scanned and fingerprints taken as part of the EU’s EES system but despite queuing past a row of machines, we did not give up our bio-metrics, instead 15 minutes later we had cleared customs and found the Alibus to take us into central Naples. Barely pausing to cross the road (I am getting brave!) we headed straight into the train station, bought tickets (on our trainline app) and headed south for an hour and a half to our base for the next few day, Salerno.

Our host kindly met us of the train, and drove us the 5 minutes to our apartment, a pleasant room in the old town. On the way, he did tell us that it was unseasonably cold, normally by now he would have swum in the sea, and taken his boat out, instead he was wearing a wooly hat against the cold!

Dropping off our bags, we headed out for a quick explore and my, the wind was strong and cold! The sky was grey and threatening rain (that mercifully never manifested itself) and, if I’m honest, against this backdrop, Salerno did not really sell itself. It lacked the charm of a rustic Italian town, and couldn’t make this up with the characterful chaos of, say, Naples. But coffee and cake makes everything better, and being away is better than being bored at home.

We returned to our apartment where I enjoyed a late afternoon snooze – not only had we been up uber-early, it was the first day of my Easter holiday, having only just broken up the day before from a long and gruelling Spring term. Revitalised by sleep, and bundled up against the weather, we headed back out into town to eat, enjoying pizza and tiramsu.

… before heading home for yet more much needed sleep!

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Tuscany and (no) tinsel – day 5

Arrivederci

And so the day dawned on our final giorno (day!) in Italy – waking up in Pisa, once again the sky was clear, the air a little cold, but promising to warm as the day unfolded. With a late afternoon flight, we had a morning to spend in town before heading to the airport. Not wanting to lug our luggage around with us, and not able to leave it at our accommodation (We did ask, they said no, which was fair enough. Had we been staying in a hotel, I suspect we could have left it, but we weren’t and we couldn’t) so we used “Bounce” to find a left luggage space – there were plenty to choose from – we booked and paid online, and dropped our luggage of at a cafe, all very simple and easy.

This being a strike day, we then headed to the train station to ask if the PisaMova would be working, the helpful chap at TrenItalia info told me it was a different company so he couldn’t be sure, but as it is a largely automated system, he thought it would be working.

And then a short walk to our favourite Pisa cafe for la colazione (breakfast – a new Italian word I have just learned)

… and then a wander up through town to, and across the river looking peaceful and serene as it flowed from Florence in the winter sunshine …

… and we found a sunny spot to enjoy our last Tuscan sun of the trip.

We would have happily spent all day there, but an EasyJet flight back to Bristol awaited and we headed back down to the train station to discover that it looked like the PisaMova had succumbed to the strike, and wasn’t in operation. But no problem – we took a taxi instead, which for two, works out cheaper than the PisaMova (PisaMova is 6.50Euros each, taxi fixed price from station to airport is 11 Euros – with a 2 Euro tip, it costs the same to take a taxi as to take the PisaMova.)

Once on board, the flight home was less than two hours, the bauble hung on the tree, and the hap-pea travelling of 2025 comes to an end (but don’t worry – plenty of plans for 2026 already made!)

Buon Natale, and buoni viaggi

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Tuscany and (no) tinsel – day 4

Pistoia and Pisa

We woke, again, to a crisp, clear sky and decided to head 40 minutes up the train track to have a look at Pistoia, another Tuscan town. As we speed through the beautiful countryside, we marvelled at the mist, gently rising over the fields, a spectacular winter vista. But then we began to rise, at first slightly, but definitely noticeably as we entered a tunnel. We emerged from the tunnel into either fog, or low cloud. Not sure which, but the distinction doesn’t really matter. We hadn’t appreciated that Pistoia was little- not a lot, but enough – higher than Lucca, and there was no escaping it, we were in cold, damp conditions.

So what did we do? Find a cafe of course! Everything is better after Italian coffee and cakes.

Becky liked this cafe for the pastries …

I liked it for the view and company!

To be fair, Pistoia was (is) pretty,

there was a colourful market, a sculpture I didn’t find the meaning of, and plenty of shops selling pretty things

but we couldn’t get away from the cold and damp,

so after a few hours we headed back, briefly to Lucca

Our flight is 4.40pm tomorrow, and our original plan had been to stay in Lucca for one last night and then head to Pisa in the morning, have a mooch around the city before heading to the airport. But a couple of weeks ago we discovered that tomorrow (Friday 12 December) was a day of general strike in Italy, and we can’t guarantee that the trains will run, so we said “Arrivederci” to Lucca

and “Ciao” to a much warmer Pisa where we would spend the night

We headed out as the sun set, took in the lights and a street market, buying a Christmas bauble memento

and I was delighted to once again spot an original Fiat 500

We headed up to the tower – it wasn’t lit up – bit the space was pretty, and we both liked the sculptures of two horses …

Before enjoying a delicious last supper, a pleasant stroll back across the Arno to our apartment, ending the day much warmer than we had begun it.

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Tuscany and (no) tinsel – day 3

Lucca

When we first discovered Lucca in April ’24, one of the things we fell in love with were the wide city walls that encircle the city. They are a wide, tree lined boulevard that encircle the city, about 5km in circumference and are perfect for a stroll, a cycle or a run. So after a breakfast of – yes, you’ve guessed it! – coffee and pastries, we set of to walk all around the town.

It was very pretty, some trees had lost all their leaves, some were still a delicious autumn yellow, and some were falling from the branches, giving the feel of a warm autumn day rather than the mid-December day it was.

And some of the leaves were massive!

As we walked, the sun came out, the coats came off, and we found a bench to sit and soak up the sun and the ambience in this tranquil, beautiful space.

Having circumnavigated the city, it was time to have some lunch and we went to a little restaurant that we had discovered on our first visit. The food was squisito – Italy does do food so much better than anywhere else. We shared two dishes, home made ravioli, and a pork focaccia sandwich, before completing perfection with a tiramisu pudding.

Having decided that we hadn’t walked enough steps by now, after lunch we headed up the bell tower of the church near our apartment. 3 euros each, and 270 steps up …

to the top of the bell tower

It was worth it, the views were magnificent

and in this one, you can see where we were staying (the red arrow marks the spot)

And then it was time for afternoon cakes!

It has been a holiday of chilling: eating delicious food, in beautiful surroundings, just watching the world go by. Holidaying at this time of year, we probably have spent more in cafes on coffee and cake than in, say the summer, as what else do you do? (Its a hard life!!) But to counteract that, not many people want to/can go on holiday in early to mid December so flights and accommodation have been cheap – we’ve spent about £300 in total for the flights and accommodation for our five day trip (and that’s in total, not each)

And as night fell, we set out to once again enjoy the festive lights of Lucca. The streets were much quieter than they had been on Monday night, but the lights no less beautiful.

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Tuscany and (no) tinsel – day 2

Florence

Day two of our Italian travels and it was up early to catch a train to Florence which was, of course, beautiful. First stop was our favourite cafe (how pretentious is that, to have a favourite cafe in Florence) for breakfast of coffee and cakes, before heading out to wander the streets under a clear blue sky, and ever warmer sun.

We didn’t get our artistic hit from the Uffizi gallery, instead seeing our works of out on the street. We saw and “collected” a lot of Clet Abraham’s “No Entry” signs – playful and fun, and adding a purpose (if you needed one) to just walk the streets of the city

We also saw a few iconic images of iconic images with added googles:

and there was other street art if you kept your eyes open:

and Becky was particularly keen to find some work by Kraita317, with his distinctive style:

She was particularly happy when we stumbled upon a complete picture

It was a beautiful day in a beautiful city, and by the afternoon the sun was strong and warm – what else could one do but sit on the banks of the Arno, drink coffee and soak up some December sunshine:

By nightfall, the city became even more beautiful and magical, if that was possible. A spell binding city, and possibly better seen under the December sun (and night) than in glorious spring sunshine, but accompanying hoards? (https://hap-pea-travels.co.uk/italy/the-italian-job-day-5/ )