BUSABOUT- Southern Italy Tour

Three days, the pristine Amalfi coast, and a historical tour of Pompeii with a group of twenty-something's.... Our first ever BUSABOUT tour seemed like the perfect way to see the southern coast with ease. Of course, things don't always go to plan. And as we learnt in the last 3 days, things especially  go to plan in southern Italy. 

I should preface this story by saying that it was an awesome 3 days, some of the best scenery we have seen so far, and a group of really easygoing people. But it took us a while to get to that point. 

Basically, the BUSABOUT gods weren't looking so kindly on us as we chose possibly the worst time to travel. It just so happens that the last three days have been ferragosto, an Italy-wide festival where the entire country shuts down to celebrate religion and the start of their summer holiday break. The peak of this public holiday was going to fall on the last day of our tour, meaning we wouldn't be able to complete our tour that day. The solution? To do the tour in reverse. This was supposed to mean about a 5 hour drive from Rome- Amalfi Coast, a stop at Positano, a boat tour along Amalfi, and a visit to the small village of Rafello, and heading back to Sorrento to check out the town we would call home for the next 2 nights. 

We had passed Naples and had been under the mountains that marked the start of the winding coastal roads, when suddenly we were stopped by a boulder. Yes, a 'boulder' had apparently fallen on the road, blocking the only access to the Amalfi coast. Our trip came to a grinding halt, and we spent about 2 hours stopped on the side of the road, waiting for the 'boulder' to be moved. Luckily, we were stopped next to a restaurant meaning we at least had something to pass the time, and a few of us came to the conclusion that the 'boulder' was caused by the restaurant, looking to gee up their business. 

After a few hours we were back on the road, and our BUSABOUT guide tells us that apparently the boulder was a bit of a mystery, and to this day no one knows whether it actually existed or not. We made it to Amalfi, and had time to do a boat tour along the coast and see all the houses of the rich and famous people who have villas on the Italian coast and the beautiful little towns along the way. Things were going so well, we even had Galdiator playing to get into the theme of Italy, although our guide said we wouldn't get to see the whole of the movie. We showed her. The whole population of Italy seemed to be on the Amalfi coast that day. 

It took 10 hours of sitting on the bus in the worst traffic I have ever seen before we finally made it to Sorrento to the campground we would call home the next few nights. It was 11pm, we hadn't eaten since the breakdown near the restaurant, and safe to say we were all staving. But, since they were running on Southern Italy time, they didn't share the same sense of urgency for food. Eventually I got a plate of €4 euro gnocchi that was possibly the best I have ever eaten. Or maybe I was just hungry and delirious. 

After that the trip seemed to go a lot more smoothly, so here's what we saw and learnt from our trip:

*italians are CRAZY on the roads.. The winding roads around the Amalfi coast are literally the width of a car but yet they are 2-way. If 2 buses were approaching, one would have to reverse around bends over steep steep cliffs until there was enough room for both to pass. So glad we were not driving! (Just look at the photo below with the two buses and see how close they are....)

*the Isle of Capri and the towns around it are beautiful, although it was strange having big pebbles instead of sand, and people sitting about 2 centimeters from you on the beach.

*the area of Amalfi has the best lemons ever, and it's amazing how many things they can make with lemons. We tried Limoncello, an after-dinner alcohol that you are meant to sip and it acts as a digestive. I'm not convinced about that one.

*the Blue Grotto (a cave where the light reflects off the water to create this brilliant blue colour) was fantastic to see, but those guys running it are absolute geniuses for working out they can row a boat in there and let people swim and they will pay €19 euro for it! we did it on the cheap and opted not to swim, but it was still great to be inside the grotto

*Pompeii was a great site to see (and it seems those ancient Romans loved their brothels), but I was a bit disappointed to hear that all the stories I've heard about Pompeii saying that you get to see bodies petrified from the ash are not true. They are just plaster casts made by archeologists.

All up, a great three days, topped off with another 2 nights back at a campground on the outskirts of Rome where we got to meet some fun people.

Next up- Our time with an Italian family.