Amalfi, Praiano, Positano, Sorrento and Capri in Italy
Travel to Naples
My first "exercise" vacation....I was convinced by a friend to take a hiking tour in Italy. Not having spent much time on the coast when I was in Italy last, I didn't mind coming back and checking out the area. Since the coastal towns are out of the way, I was happy to have found decent flights into Naples. My first non-United itinerary for the year, I headed out to Italy with a stopover in Munich on Lufthansa.
I haven't been on Lufthansa for a few years and my last memory of the service was a super hot journey. On this trip, the temperature was warm but not chocolate melting hot. There is a new class of service "premium economy" now in the plane. So we went back to three class plane without having a true "first" class. Airlines must feel that there is more of a market between economy and business than first class. Although I was able to select my seat for free (by waiting until the day to check in), I did not choose correctly despite looking at seatguru.com several times. I was in the row behind the "bulkhead" row of economy. Not knowing that there was actually no wall in front of the front row of economy and last row of premium economy, I would have chosen that seat. In addition, certain seats on the aisle have rigid armrests (similar to exit row seats). In a 2-4-2 configuration, it was better to sit in the middle because you can actually raise the armrest in the middle. Also, because I was a row of four and the front row is a 2-3-2 configuration, my aisle seat had its own dedicated screen that you pull out of from under the armrest. The distracting thing is that the tv for my seat mate was also in my peripheral vision and I had to really focus on my screen and pay attention to my movie. I was surprised that the economy food was actually edible. For dinner, I had chicken with fried rice that was good. For breakfast, I had an egg muffin with tater tots and spinach. Surprisingly, the tater tots were edible.
Once in Munich Airport, I discovered that I cannot change flights like flying standby because I didn't book directly with Lufthansa. So if you want to be able to upgrade, change your flight, etc, do not book through codeshare. You should book directly and may pay more for that convenience. So I stayed inside a Senator Lounge for six hours until my flight to Naples would take off. The Senator Lounge is nice enough. I had to leave the international terminal to the domestic terminal and the selection of food was filling. I did enjoy the waffles with vanilla sauce. I think I was more impressed with Frankfurt's lounges. On the bright side, there were showers in the lounge I was in and spent a pleasant afternoon working.
Upon arrival at Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli, I was able to breeze right outside since I did not check in any bags. It took a second to find the taxi line and grabbed one to the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo. I was given a parlor room which on the surface sounds nice but I don't always enjoy the murphy bed setup. Overall, it was a nice bed and the room was a corner suite size. I felt that they could have had larger furniture for the setup. I went to the terrace restaurant in the morning for the continental breakfast. It was a good selection of food and I could have opted to get some hot items but I didn't care for pancakes or the sausages. I did try to order a poached egg but it never arrived which worked out as I became full fairly soon after ordering it.
I had the day in Naples and had hoped to grab a pizza and pastries before heading out on the train. Unfortunately, the time it took to get a prepaid sim card blew away the plan. Lots of shops are not open on Sundays and the closest mobile companies where not available. So I walked a bit out of the area and was stuck behind customers obtaining new service at the Tim store. For 35 euros, I was able to get a data/phone sim card with 30 GB data. So, I was able to stop at Pasticceria Popella ordering some cannolis, fiocco di neve (buns with cream inside and chocolate candy icing), and sfiogatelle (which I had cold few days later which was not impressive but likely due to timing).
Looked onto Google and figured out a route to Amalfi. The first leg was the subway to Napoles Central station. The subway station was not the easiest to figure how to get tickets but I watched someone buy from a working machine and figured it out. At the station, it was easy to figure out how to get train tickets for Trenitalia. I opted for the first class section since it was 2 more euros. I wasn't sure which gate to go and luckily the sign posted Salerno was the first gate I saw. The crowd in the 1st class cabin did not seem to take kindly to me or they were just generally grumpy group. As luck would have it, the average age of the train car was about 20 years my senior and I don't know if that played into the chilly stares.
At the Salerno station, I did not realize that you have to buy a bus pass before boarding the SITA bus. Luckily, the bus was running late and I was able to figure out the bus stop location and there is a "tabbaci" store that sold passes inside the main terminal. I followed the bus on my google maps and saw when I was supposed to jump off but it was not necessary as the last stop was in Amalfi.
Amalfi
Checked into the Albergo Sant' Andrea and was treated warmly by the owner with a cappuccino. The room was as described on Priceline. The room faces the piazza and cathedral which can make it pretty noisy. If you want silence, bring earplugs. I did not mind. Outside of that, I had no problems with the room and even the tiny shower in the bathroom. The breakfast was plentiful and the assortment of breads/pastries was good.
Dined at Ristorante Amalfi Il Chiostro and had the pasta with seafood. Salty to my tastebuds but better than my last experience of Italian food in Rome. I also tried their dessert but was not impressed.
Had dessert at Pasticceria Pansa Andrea. The first visit I ordered some shortbread cookies, tiramisu, and something that looked like madelines but had cream inside. The tiramisu was not very good but I liked the other items. The second visit I had the pistachio gelato which was amazing.
While in Amalfi, I did hike from Ravello to Amalfi via Atrani. In Atrani, I ate at Mistral and was happy to have caught the restaurant still serving. Many local restaurants closed down between 3 and 5 pm and I arrived around 2:50 pm. I ordered the diavoli pizza. I enjoyed the pizza overall and was happy to conclude that the food isn't "awful" in this trip.
Praiano
Initially, I was supposed to hike from Bomerano to Praiano but had to grab a bus from Amalfi to Bomerano. Apparently, I missed the bus by 15 minutes and the next one wouldn't arrive for two hours. Mental note, make sure the bus runs frequently. Not wanting to wait, I jumped onto the Sorrento bound bus and went directly to Praiano. I figured I could do the walk backwards from Praiano to Bomerano. Checked into the Hotel Onda Verde and was lucky enough to be their first week open for the tourist season. The hotel has been in operation for about six years and the views are amazing. To get to the reception, there is an elevator at the small parking lot and you go down about six levels. I enjoyed my stay here and the views are great. After having lunch at Ristorante Franchino, I attempted to do the hike to Bomerano. The hotel front desk pointed out how to walk through town to the trailhead for the Pathway to the Gods trail. After wandering through the town, it took about an hour even though it wasn't far. The elevation of the town meant that it was like climbing twenty floors and after finding the trailhead, I was too pooped to try to walk to Bomerano in the end.
The next day, I attempted to hike the Praia Valley. This time, I opted to take the local bus towards the trailhead. The bus line I was able to catch would only take me 3/4 of the way but it beat trying to do those stairs again. Went out on the trail and didn't do the full complete path but was happy to do most of it before turning around. I lost the trail and the weather looked inclimate. It ended up drizzling once I was back in town so it worked out.
At Ristorante Franchino, I ate breakfast both mornings, a lunch, and dinner both evenings. The convenience and quality of food drew me back. The breakfast is a nice buffet of hot and cold items. I was pretty impressed with the selection given that breakfast was included in the room rate (nicer than the Renaissance). For lunch, I had the pasta with squid ink and clams. The first dinner, I ordered the sea bass and it was delish. The second dinner, I ordered the scampi linguine which had prawns and baby squid. The squid made the pasta dish salty but it was still tasty overall. I also ordered the chocolate cake with coconut in first dinner and the semifreddo rocher in the second meal. The house wines were also tasty.
The other restaurant visited during this stay was Trattoria da Armandi. I ordered the linguine with mussels and dessert of tiramisu. The pasta was good and I was surprised on the strength of the coffee taste in this tiramisu. It did feel like it was soaked in coffee rather than just infused. I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not but it did feel authentic.
Positano
My stays are getting shorter now. Overnight stay at the Albergo Savoia and strolled around town. It was raining steadily and the hike from Praiano to Nocelle was canceled. Positano was definitely more upscale and bigger in size than Amalfi and Praiano. After getting gelato at Bacco di Bucco and Collima Bakery, I visited the Grand Spaggia. The pathway to the beach/ferry terminal is lined with stores, market, bakeries, and restaurants. You will not want for something.
Collima Bakery is both a bakery and a sit down restaurant. The rules for restaurants must be different in Italy. The eating area is an enclosed tent on the block and the waiters run across the street to the kitchen to get the food. I enjoyed the pizza as well as their desserts and gelato.
Sorrento/Capri
Hopped on to the SITA bus to Sorrento. My companions traveled with me since the ferry from Positano to Capri was canceled. I was able to throw my luggage in my room at the Hilton Sorrento Palace before getting onto the ferry towards Capri. The hotel had contacted me months earlier informing me that my room was for single occupancy and that it faced the mountain. They must get a lot of issues if it warranted an email. They didn't respond to any of my emails and I assumed it would be fine. I was "upgraded" to the garden/city view and the room was super spacious upon arrival.
There are massive amounts of people that get transported to Capri and it feels like Bel Air and Rodeo Drive on Catalina Island. Gorgeous vistas and plenty of shops and restaurants to stroll around for the day. The planned hike was also canceled due to ill health with one of my companions and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll. Enjoyed a drink at Hotel La Scalinatella terrace restaurant. There are lovely views but you also have to be ok being in full sun.
Returned to Sorrento in the afternoon. I refreshed myself back at the Hilton and enjoyed a snack at the lounge before heading out for dinner at Inn Bufalito. The restaurant specializes in buffalo meat with pasta but I opted for burrata cheese and gnocchi.
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| Lufthansa Economy Row |
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| Munich Lufthansa Senator Lounge food selection of meatloaf, rice pilaf, bean stew and bread |
Once in Munich Airport, I discovered that I cannot change flights like flying standby because I didn't book directly with Lufthansa. So if you want to be able to upgrade, change your flight, etc, do not book through codeshare. You should book directly and may pay more for that convenience. So I stayed inside a Senator Lounge for six hours until my flight to Naples would take off. The Senator Lounge is nice enough. I had to leave the international terminal to the domestic terminal and the selection of food was filling. I did enjoy the waffles with vanilla sauce. I think I was more impressed with Frankfurt's lounges. On the bright side, there were showers in the lounge I was in and spent a pleasant afternoon working.
Upon arrival at Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli, I was able to breeze right outside since I did not check in any bags. It took a second to find the taxi line and grabbed one to the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo. I was given a parlor room which on the surface sounds nice but I don't always enjoy the murphy bed setup. Overall, it was a nice bed and the room was a corner suite size. I felt that they could have had larger furniture for the setup. I went to the terrace restaurant in the morning for the continental breakfast. It was a good selection of food and I could have opted to get some hot items but I didn't care for pancakes or the sausages. I did try to order a poached egg but it never arrived which worked out as I became full fairly soon after ordering it.
I had the day in Naples and had hoped to grab a pizza and pastries before heading out on the train. Unfortunately, the time it took to get a prepaid sim card blew away the plan. Lots of shops are not open on Sundays and the closest mobile companies where not available. So I walked a bit out of the area and was stuck behind customers obtaining new service at the Tim store. For 35 euros, I was able to get a data/phone sim card with 30 GB data. So, I was able to stop at Pasticceria Popella ordering some cannolis, fiocco di neve (buns with cream inside and chocolate candy icing), and sfiogatelle (which I had cold few days later which was not impressive but likely due to timing).
Looked onto Google and figured out a route to Amalfi. The first leg was the subway to Napoles Central station. The subway station was not the easiest to figure how to get tickets but I watched someone buy from a working machine and figured it out. At the station, it was easy to figure out how to get train tickets for Trenitalia. I opted for the first class section since it was 2 more euros. I wasn't sure which gate to go and luckily the sign posted Salerno was the first gate I saw. The crowd in the 1st class cabin did not seem to take kindly to me or they were just generally grumpy group. As luck would have it, the average age of the train car was about 20 years my senior and I don't know if that played into the chilly stares.
At the Salerno station, I did not realize that you have to buy a bus pass before boarding the SITA bus. Luckily, the bus was running late and I was able to figure out the bus stop location and there is a "tabbaci" store that sold passes inside the main terminal. I followed the bus on my google maps and saw when I was supposed to jump off but it was not necessary as the last stop was in Amalfi.
Amalfi
| Breakfast at |
Checked into the Albergo Sant' Andrea and was treated warmly by the owner with a cappuccino. The room was as described on Priceline. The room faces the piazza and cathedral which can make it pretty noisy. If you want silence, bring earplugs. I did not mind. Outside of that, I had no problems with the room and even the tiny shower in the bathroom. The breakfast was plentiful and the assortment of breads/pastries was good.
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| Breakfast at Albergo Sant' Andrea |
Dined at Ristorante Amalfi Il Chiostro and had the pasta with seafood. Salty to my tastebuds but better than my last experience of Italian food in Rome. I also tried their dessert but was not impressed.
Had dessert at Pasticceria Pansa Andrea. The first visit I ordered some shortbread cookies, tiramisu, and something that looked like madelines but had cream inside. The tiramisu was not very good but I liked the other items. The second visit I had the pistachio gelato which was amazing.
While in Amalfi, I did hike from Ravello to Amalfi via Atrani. In Atrani, I ate at Mistral and was happy to have caught the restaurant still serving. Many local restaurants closed down between 3 and 5 pm and I arrived around 2:50 pm. I ordered the diavoli pizza. I enjoyed the pizza overall and was happy to conclude that the food isn't "awful" in this trip.
Praiano
Initially, I was supposed to hike from Bomerano to Praiano but had to grab a bus from Amalfi to Bomerano. Apparently, I missed the bus by 15 minutes and the next one wouldn't arrive for two hours. Mental note, make sure the bus runs frequently. Not wanting to wait, I jumped onto the Sorrento bound bus and went directly to Praiano. I figured I could do the walk backwards from Praiano to Bomerano. Checked into the Hotel Onda Verde and was lucky enough to be their first week open for the tourist season. The hotel has been in operation for about six years and the views are amazing. To get to the reception, there is an elevator at the small parking lot and you go down about six levels. I enjoyed my stay here and the views are great. After having lunch at Ristorante Franchino, I attempted to do the hike to Bomerano. The hotel front desk pointed out how to walk through town to the trailhead for the Pathway to the Gods trail. After wandering through the town, it took about an hour even though it wasn't far. The elevation of the town meant that it was like climbing twenty floors and after finding the trailhead, I was too pooped to try to walk to Bomerano in the end.
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| Hotel Onda Verde King Room |
The next day, I attempted to hike the Praia Valley. This time, I opted to take the local bus towards the trailhead. The bus line I was able to catch would only take me 3/4 of the way but it beat trying to do those stairs again. Went out on the trail and didn't do the full complete path but was happy to do most of it before turning around. I lost the trail and the weather looked inclimate. It ended up drizzling once I was back in town so it worked out.
At Ristorante Franchino, I ate breakfast both mornings, a lunch, and dinner both evenings. The convenience and quality of food drew me back. The breakfast is a nice buffet of hot and cold items. I was pretty impressed with the selection given that breakfast was included in the room rate (nicer than the Renaissance). For lunch, I had the pasta with squid ink and clams. The first dinner, I ordered the sea bass and it was delish. The second dinner, I ordered the scampi linguine which had prawns and baby squid. The squid made the pasta dish salty but it was still tasty overall. I also ordered the chocolate cake with coconut in first dinner and the semifreddo rocher in the second meal. The house wines were also tasty.
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| Seafood pasta and chocolate dessert at Ristorante Franchino |
The other restaurant visited during this stay was Trattoria da Armandi. I ordered the linguine with mussels and dessert of tiramisu. The pasta was good and I was surprised on the strength of the coffee taste in this tiramisu. It did feel like it was soaked in coffee rather than just infused. I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not but it did feel authentic.
Positano
My stays are getting shorter now. Overnight stay at the Albergo Savoia and strolled around town. It was raining steadily and the hike from Praiano to Nocelle was canceled. Positano was definitely more upscale and bigger in size than Amalfi and Praiano. After getting gelato at Bacco di Bucco and Collima Bakery, I visited the Grand Spaggia. The pathway to the beach/ferry terminal is lined with stores, market, bakeries, and restaurants. You will not want for something.
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| Albergo Savoia King Room |
Collima Bakery is both a bakery and a sit down restaurant. The rules for restaurants must be different in Italy. The eating area is an enclosed tent on the block and the waiters run across the street to the kitchen to get the food. I enjoyed the pizza as well as their desserts and gelato.
Sorrento/Capri
Hopped on to the SITA bus to Sorrento. My companions traveled with me since the ferry from Positano to Capri was canceled. I was able to throw my luggage in my room at the Hilton Sorrento Palace before getting onto the ferry towards Capri. The hotel had contacted me months earlier informing me that my room was for single occupancy and that it faced the mountain. They must get a lot of issues if it warranted an email. They didn't respond to any of my emails and I assumed it would be fine. I was "upgraded" to the garden/city view and the room was super spacious upon arrival.
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| Hilton Sorrento King Room |
There are massive amounts of people that get transported to Capri and it feels like Bel Air and Rodeo Drive on Catalina Island. Gorgeous vistas and plenty of shops and restaurants to stroll around for the day. The planned hike was also canceled due to ill health with one of my companions and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll. Enjoyed a drink at Hotel La Scalinatella terrace restaurant. There are lovely views but you also have to be ok being in full sun.
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| Capri Island |
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| Dessert at the Hotel La Scalinatella |
Returned to Sorrento in the afternoon. I refreshed myself back at the Hilton and enjoyed a snack at the lounge before heading out for dinner at Inn Bufalito. The restaurant specializes in buffalo meat with pasta but I opted for burrata cheese and gnocchi.
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