This was our first ever visit to Italy. We stayed at a bed and breakfast close to the Rome airport. We were picked up by retired couple running the place and taken to a very nice Italian home. We were treated like family. Even though it was 10pm by the time we were home, they not only let us use the family kitchen but actually heated what we had and brought to the dining table. The next morning, they took us to the airport for us to rent a car, get some cash at the ATM and allowed us to come back with the rental car to pick up our bags even though they had a family lunch planned.
The rental car was a Puegot 308. It was a very short 10 min drive to Ostia-Antica. Parking was free and we used Rick Steve's audio guide and had a fantastic visit. Driving was very easy because they drive on the right as in the US and police do not bother to issue tickets. Yet I did not face any crazy drivers. Traffic was moving just fine. We rented another apartment in Masa Lubrense just past Sorento along the coast. Once we drove past Naples, the road was narrow and I wished that I had a smaller car. Parking was a challenge on a small street. More than that, we had to walk for 3 minutes on a 1 foot shoulder while traffic was zipping by and go down 2 flights of stairs into the apartment. The view was fantastic but parking and taking bags into the apartment was an adventure. If I did more homework, I would not have picked that place.
The next morning we drove to Sorento harbor, parked there and took a ferry to Naples and spent a day there including lunch at a famous Pizza place called L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele which serves just 2 kinds of thin pizza. We were lucky and got seated right away at 11:30am. It took 45min to get Pizza Margherita but it was just 6 euro each and fantastic. One was probably enough for 2 people. This was where Julia Roberts was shown eating in the movie Eat, Pray Love. I did not know that until I got there. This place was more than 100 yrs old in the same family. My wife was impressed that they have Michelin rating.
We then visited the Naples National Archeological Museum which was opened in 1750 and had exhibits from Pompei and Herculaneum dating back to 0050.
I did not drive in Naples but it is easier to drive in Naples than in Sorento for sure. Parking may be a challenge but there were paid parking lots.
We took the ferry back to Sorento and the next day drove to a Pompei and found a huge Carrfour supermarket where we stocked up, left the car in the parkign lot and walked 10 minutes to the ruins. We saw a long line but an excellent guide met us and we skipped the line and had a fabulous tour for 2hrs. I highly recommend a guide. We then drove to Herculaneum and arrived there just 2 minutes before they closed the ticket counter. We joined a tour group and had an excellent 90 min tour.
When we left for Rome at about 5:30pm, it was Tuesday after the Easter Monday and apparently a holiday too. The Google nav guided us off the freeway on another route which was not bad at all. We arrived at the airport around 9:30pm, took a taxi and were in a great apartment which was 5 min walk from Trevi fountain. That would be the next blog folks.
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