ITALY:2002
Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Rome & Monte Cassino
This is the first site of the new "cyberheritage.co.uk/abroad" plan. It aims to have lots of photos, some text, with the idea of giving the traveller and idea of what he/she may be in for!!....and may hope to see.
SORRENTO & CAPRI:
Flew from BRISTOL Airport in the UK. Great idea, easy access, no crowds, easy parking, plane left bang on time. Arrived in Naples 5 mins early in the care of Britannia Airways. All went wrong in Naples Airport. The arrivals area looks like a disused hangar, which I guess it is, and to get there after deplaning took ages as our airside bus crawled along at 0mph!!
Things really got worse on the transfer to the resort - Sorrento - the 1.5hr trip taking 3hrs, bear that in mind, if the weather's good, all the locals head for the beaches of the Neopolitian Riveriera and park anywhere, reverse in the middle of roads and cause traffic mayhem.
Arrived at the Hotel Ascot in Sorrento hot and bothered. Hotel Ascot is simple, plain and basic. Its great, very clean, excellent service, good simple foods...a real gem, hard to find today. My partner was poorly with "gippy tummy" on arrival, they helped with breakfast in bed, cooked a special dinner menu for her, gave advice etc.
I would recommend the Hotel Ascot to anyone, good no frills..and a pool!!
Sorrento is lovely, no thugs, no boozy rowdies, all 11pm the streets are full of locals out promenading with their children in pushchairs. Litter bins emptied every night, clean streets, no graffiti. Here are some photos, its a lovely view across the Bay of Naples. You can take the fast jet boat to Capri and Ischia from here. Capri is well served, with a regular service, lots of departures, not expensive.
In the town centre of Sorrento is a great coffee bar, "Pica"...its on the main road along from the Hotel Ascot, on the Corse Italia. Its run by a young couple, Gianpaolo and Chiara, they do great Cappuccinos and sweets...pay them a visit!! Eating out, coffees, pastries etc. are not expensive, the Euro makes everything easy, and brings home how sad and wrong it is for the UK not to be in it. Like all things in Sorrento its very clean with excellent service, unlike in the UK where often you get your order thrown at you.
The jet boat trip to Capri is fast, stand on deck and hold on.....as you approach Capri with its beautiful coastline the sea is blue, warm and crystal clear and many boats of the super rich can be seen. Getting off the boat in Capri Harbour, walk down the pier, turn left among the crazy hussle and bustle of Capri harbourside and you can take a boat trip to the Blue Grotto. This is well worth it, a really very small boat takes you off the bigger boat you have been on, you side by side, and flat on your back, this tiny rowing boat then approaches an impossibly small cave in the cliff and the skipper hauls you and the boat in by pulling on a fixed rope. Its well worth it, and he sings "ol sole mio" to you and he's good. The punch up was good too as the skipper of the boat that brought us here from Capri was ignored and queue jumped many times as we waited to get a small boat. It seems he did not tip these small boat skippers, so he's at the back of the queue, the Brits on the boat just waited, and waited ...as we do, the Italians nearly punched his lights out.....PS..it`s boat no 65, if you are in a hurry, don't get on this one!!!
CLICK HERE FOR MONTE CASSINO AND BRITISH WAR GRAVE AT CASSINO
