Day 3 in Sorrento & Train to Venice - 18 September

Today was our last day in Sorrento. We enjoyed our last breakfast at the Hotel Regina, from the restaurant on the 4th floor, sitting on the balcony and looking across at Mount Vesuvius. I don't think I've mentioned the great service at breakfast, the Maitre having Princess cruise experience around New Zealand and Australia. He remembered me every morning and there was always gluten free bread and a small cake for me. The breakfasts have been included at all our hotels, and consist of fruit salad and fresh fruit, yoghurt, cereal, bacon, scrambled egg, sometimes baked beans or sliced sausage or grilled tomato, toast, a variety of hams and sliced cheese, sometimes hard-boiled eggs, cakes and pastries of many different kinds (good job I'm gluten free!), coffee, tea, a variety of juices. There's not much need for lunch after this.

After breakfast we strolled around the old part of Sorrento, filling in time until our transfer with Drive Amalfi at 2:30 pm. Everything was really close to our hotel. We walked down to the old port, which was very picturesque, then up and down the narrow alleyways which had shops beginning to open. Before long it was starting to get crowded with tourists.

We popped into an optician's shop and I asked if they could tighten the screw on one side of my glasses (it was getting a bit loose and I was scared it would come apart). Sure enough, it needed lots of tightening - phew! I bought a couple of scarves, and we had a light lunch, followed by a gelato. This was a special treat for me that David had discovered - a sign advertised Coeliac products, including a cone which they assured me was crisp. We each chose three different flavours, including Limoncello. Very nice!

We headed back to the hotel, and not long after, Raphael arrived to pick us up, half an hour early. There was a bit of a scramble as Jan and Steve weren't back yet, but it all worked out and we were soon on our way to Naples to catch the train to Venice.

The drive was pleasant until we were within a kilometre of the Station, and then we found ourselves stuck in the worst traffic jam I'd ever seen. Buses and cars trying to get into, out of, or around the station. Our driver kept calm, and we did arrive in plenty of time for our train. He helped us in with our bags and checked the correct platform for us.

David and Steve heaved our bags up on the racks above our seats(!!!), and we settled in for the five hour journey, with brief stops along the way in Rome, Florence, Bologne, Padua, and finally Venice at 9:40 pm.

It was an easy 5 minute walk out of the station, and to the Hotel Abbazia (a restored monastery). Our room is tiny and could do with updating, but it's much better than the last Venice hotel we stayed in during our 2009 trip. There is a proper bathroom (not down the hallway) and we can fit both suitcases in, although one is in the relatively spacious bathroom. We are on the second floor and there is no lift, but the stairway is good and there was a porter to help with luggage. There is a lovely courtyard outside our window. Very pleasant!

Trip to Naples & Day 1 in Amalfi - Thursday 12 September

We were up early this morning after a restless night, worrying that we might not wake up in time to be at Termini Station to catch our fast train to Naples. After breakfast together, a taxi was called and appeared within 5 minutes. It's only a 15 minute walk to the station, but slightly uphill, over rough footpaths, and trying to avoid the pedestrians heading to work would not have been a good way to start the day. A lot of those people seem to have breakfast out, and the cafe we ate at was always flat out, most people buying pastries and coffee - not very healthy! We have a theory that they might stay thin on a diet of cigarettes because everyone seems to smoke!

We loaded into the comfortable van and were soon at the station, where we waited about 40 minutes for our train. There were obviously lots of tourists travelling, and some Americans asked us how to know what platform our train would come to. We were on the same train, as it turned out. We were in a second class carriage that was largely empty and very comfortable. The train had free wifi and sped along at 299 km per hour, and we arrived in Naples in just an hour and a quarter. It was great to relax and enjoy the scenery along the way.

The weather was very murky with low cloud, and the summit of Mt Vesuvius was obscured, so we had to miss the opportunity for Jan and Steve to go up and look at the hoped for views (as we had done in 2009). There was a downpour as we left the station. We were met, as I'd organised by someone from Drive Amalfi, who took us on the hour and a half journey to Amalfi in his Mercedes van. The road was incredibly steep, windy and narrow, but it was great to see the weather starting to clear as we made our way down the other side to Amalfi.

In its heyday in the 10th and 11th centuries, Amalfi was a powerful maritime republic, rivalling Venice and Genoa. It has kept its medieval feel and is very quaint even though it's very 'touristy'.

Our hotel, Hotel Residence, is right across the road from the waterfront, and in the main hub of Amalfi, with all the shops. We have a lovely room on the second floor, that looks out across the waterfront. Most of the day there is lots of traffic and hoards of tourists, but it's already quietening down at 6 pm.

The hotel recommended a great place for lunch, right on the waterfront. It was amazing - great service, great food, and (yay!) they knew straight away about Gluten Free! David had a tuna salad, Jan had a big dish of a variety of shellfish, Steve had an interesting plate of various fish pieces, and I was able to have a tasting platter of 3 dishes (tomato and cheese, risotto, fish and potato in a fresh tomato sauce), plus dessert - all especially put together for me - it was amazing, and the sorbet I had was the best I've ever tried.

After that we went for a walk 'around the block', except it turned out to be up dozens (100s?) of steps and up the back of Amalfi. I wasn't keen on going up further and further with no end in sight, and we headed down into the piazza. That left my legs shaking like jelly, even after we'd got down. We wandered through the very crowded main street that heads up from the waterfront, marvelling at all the small shops selling a range of goods, including Limoncello, varieties of pasta, pastries, gelato, clothes, tea towels, tourist items and much more. Eventually we sat down in the piazza, overlooking the beautiful cathedral and belfry, and the guys enjoyed a couple of beers while Jan and I sipped some Limoncello.

In the evening we tried another recommended restaurant, and ate outdoors in another square where lots of people were out for the evening. Every so often there would be an enormous BANG that made everyone jump. It was a canon being fired from the jetty, out to sea - some sort of festival for Saint Maria that was being celebrated today. There was a brass band playing and a bit of a parade that we could watch from our balcony.

We enjoyed a lovely meal of entrees, which were still surprisingly large. I have never liked shellfish, but was feeling A+ Adventurous and chose a seafood risotto which turned out to be delicious. David enjoyed home made lasagne.

Back at the hotel, we noticed the canon fire was increasing in frequency, and next thing we're on our balcony looking out at a fabulous fireworks display played from the jetty - very exciting, and I managed to capture some of it on video.

Now we're looking forward to a quiet night and hoping for a fine day tomorrow.

Travelling by train to Prague

We were out the door of our hotel at 8 am. The cost per room of 115 Euros for the night was inflated by another 25 Euros occupancy tax. We had been going to walk with our luggage to the station, but decided to get a taxi as the bags were heavy. The hotel had a taxi that could take the 4 of us for 10 Euro so we were happy with that. We were approached at the station by porters and refused their help. But in the end another one looked at our tickets and then ushered us into a Business Lounge, presumably because we had First Class tickets. We wouldn't have known about it otherwise. There were free drinks and snacks there (we had turned down the 28 Euro per person breakfast offer of the hotel!).

We were escorted to the train by our porter, who took all the very heavy suitcases, insisted on heaving them onto the train, lugging them to our compartment, and hefting them by himself up onto the luggage racks above our seats - then he demanded a large tip! We were in a compartment with 6 seats, no one else with us, with room to stretch out - so that was good. Jan and I later looked at the second class carriage situation (that we'd originally been booked into, before changing to the first class carriage we decided on just before we left home). It was ok, but a lot more crowded, much less leg-room and smaller seats, plus we wouldn't have been seated anywhere near together. We were glad we'd paid the extra.

There was a dining car, where we could sit at a table if we wanted to. I could have had a GF omelette if I wanted but settled for one of my GF muesli bars while we all had a coffee and the others bought long rolls filled with ham and cheese that were brought around to our carriage - no food included on these first class fares! This train and the facilities/services was no comparison to the one for our trip to Amsterdam.

The area just out of Budapest was very scruffy and had enormous amounts of graffiti, but before long we were out in the beautiful countryside and saw the Danube that we'd been sailing along. Some of the journey was back part of the way we'd come on the boat, getting to Bratislava just after midday, and apparently there was a stop at Vienna but we somehow missed that. On the train journey, we passed through 4 countries - Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic. It was very pictureque and pleasant, though David started to feel a bit queasy with motion sickness towards the end.

On the way we checked out some of Rick Steves' tips and warnings about getting taxis in Prague. Scary stuff! We arrived in Prague on time at 4:18 pm (having left Budapest at 9:25 am) and followed Rick's advice of where to find an ATM at the railway station (David withdrew 5000 Koruna, because Euro is not the currency here - that equates to about NZ$336). We avoided the taxis there because of Rick's warning, but couldn't find one across the road where he suggested we look. We did, however know which two taxi companies he recommended (saying the others operated like Mafia, and Marion had warned us too), and luckily saw a good taxi coming our way. Jan flagged it down. I asked how much to take us to our hotel, and that matched with what Rick recommended as a price (300 Kc). He did struggle to get all 4 big suitcases in the back and almost gave up, but we managed, and were happy for him to make the price 350 Kc because of the big load with four passengers. His car struggled over the bumpy roads, up towards the Castle District where we were staying. The traffic was horrendous and the trip took half an hour. He was very nice and pointed out a few sights, so we ended up paying him a well-deserved 400 Kc.

Our hotel rooms are unusual, ours is smaller and in the newer part of the hotel, the Barrows' is bigger and in the older part. They're on the ground floor and we're on the first, with a nice view of the street, and double-shutters that will hopefully keep out the noise. We did have a few steps that David had to get our luggage up, and the lift is very small.



The hotel receptionist was lovely, and we found out that breakfast is included and the internet wireless is free. She recommended a lovely restaurant just along the road, where we again sat in the open air and had a really lovely meal. I handed over a gluten free Czech language card and everything was fine. It was a lovely, warm evening and had been a hot day.

Back at the hotel, we managed to Skype Andrew, and found that FaceTime works too! Tried to call Michelle but she was already at an 8:00 am lecture. No good calling Ross, he won't surface before midday. If you try to Skype or text us, please keep in mind that we're 10 hours behind you :-)

Travelling to Amsterdam

We checked out of our hotel early this morning, anxious to get a taxi to get us through the morning rush hour to the Gare du Nord to catch our high speed Thalys train to Amsterdam. As it was, we got there more than 2 hours ahead of time, and used the time to read what Rick Steves had to say about Amsterdam.

The train left on time at 10:25 am and travels at 300 km per hour. We travelled through Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam and then arrived in Amsterdam.

The scenery on the journey consisted of flat, open countryside, farmland with small villages, wind farms, and the building style changed very quickly from the French style, to a Dutch style. Unfortunately, the weather had deteriorated to rain.

















We travelled First Class, which meant we had nice seats with a table for our group of 4, free wi-fi, and a lovely meal, most of which I guessed I could eat - minus the bread and the pasta. I made up for that by having 2 of the small bottles of Chardonnay! It didn't take long to have an effect though, and by the time we had to get off the train I was laughing and giggling and barely able to see what was going on around me! Drunk in charge of a suitcase! The walk in the rain along the main street to our hotel, the footpath teaming with people as well as the rain, soon sobered me up though - luckily Steve led the way, as I was incapable! Thank goodness our hotel was so close, along the main street - the Hotel Roode Leeuw.

We had a short rest, we had a quick look around the area near the hotel, then headed back along the road to take a look at the Sex Museum. I won't post the picture I took in there! Very interesting though! Then back to the hotel to change for dinner which we had in the hotel's brasserie, looking out onto the crowded street. We even saw one girl collapse directly in front of us as she was trying to get on the tram with a friend - her legs turned to rubber and down she went, banging her head. David thinks she must have been having marijuana or something and overdone things. Anyway, we had a set menu of 3 courses for 29.95 Euros each and all agreed it was the best meal we had had so far on the trip. They didn't bat an eyelid when I asked for gluten free and my meal included everything it was meant to except some bread.

After dinner we went for a walk around the (in)famous red light district. I wasn't brave enough to take photos of any of the ladies standing in the windows (and found out later that this would have been frowned upon anyway). Jan and I did wonder where the windows with men were! The streets were crowded with people, all gawking like us. Steve had a 50 Euro note in his pocket, but didn't get around to spending it :-)