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The Italian Adventure with Busabout - Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast - 7-9 September
After being in Rome for a couple of days we headed off on our Italian Adventure tour down to the South of Italy. This tour was run by Busabout and when we got there we found that out of the 42 people their were 37 Australians. However despite this unfortunate fact everyone was really cool and got on well.
The first day we headed south on the bus until we reached Pompeii near Naples. Pompeii was absolutely amazing, with its well preserved houses and streets. We had a guided tour with Francesco who was absolutely hilarious, he would chuckle after everything he said and continuously crack jokes. My favourite saying of his was 'Follow Franky' and when he said his nickname was 'Franky Baby'. Another highlight of Pompeii was the brothel which was very well preserved and very explicit.
That night we got to Sorrento which is at the top of the Bay of Naples and headed into the town. Here we tried some delicious gelato from an old family business and were then taught how limoncello was made by a hilarious Italian man who made a lot of sexual jokes but at least we got free samples. After a few drinks on the cliff side we headed to dinner where we had a typical four course Italian meal. We started with the caprese salad (fresh tomatoes and mozzarella covered in olive oil) which was delicious, then for the pasta course which was just fresh pasta with a tomato sauce, then the meat dish which was chicken in a creamy sauce and all finished off with an array of deserts and some wine.
The next day was the Isle of Capri! We were up early to jump on the ferry over. Unfortunately we discovered that the Blue Grotto was shut because it was too rough that morning but they said it might open at midday so we decided to head straight up to the top first. We caught the funicular and then the public bus (which got dangerously close to the edge of the cliff on some corners) to get to Anacapri from where we got the chairlift (single person and quite fun) to the highest point on the island. The view from the top was stunning, you could see all the bays and cliffs and the cool white houses. After coming down we asked whether the blue grotto was open yet and they said it would be shut all day which was disappointing so instead we headed down to Capri town. Here we looked around the gardens of Augustus and had some food before it was time to head back to the ferry. On the way back the ferry did a lap of the island first so we saw some of the sights from the water before heading back to Sorrento. Despite the disappointment of the blue grotto we had still had an amazing day and if we had to come back to do the blue grotto we wouldn't complain as it is beautiful!
The final day of the tour was a drive down the Amalfi Coast, a crazy windy road with some really nice towns and old naval ports scattered along it. The first short stop was Positano for some pictures before heading to Amalfi. Here we had breakfast and had a look around the city before heading out on a boat tour up and down the coast a little way and we even got to swim off the boat. We also saw Ravello on top of the cliffs, our next and final stop. When we got to Ravello we stopped and had lunch and chilled out before heading into Villa Rufulo where Wagner used to play.
With that our tour was finished a few had to say goodbye to our new friends and to our guide. While we had loves the tour we were also both happy not to be doing Busabout the rest of the time like most people, as 1) there are so many Aussies and 2) you have a quite strict route and wouldn't be able to go where I've gone.
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