Transfer from Rome to Amalfi Coast

It is an early start for us as we are leaving Rome for Naples by train. We say good-bye to our comfy apartment and take the Metro to the station. It is a complete shock as to how busy it is on a Sunday morning and I briefly coach Tanya with a “just shove in and push your way past the door” , big roller bags sitting on peoples toes we back to back each other as we have been warned about bad pickpockets on the Metro. All ends well, we take the Frecchiarossa from Roma Termini, a train that speeds up to 300km/hour and gets us to Naples in just over an hour.

Tanya has prepared for this day with a good dose of Travelcalm and tolerates the trip quite well while I smile benignly.

We have decided to splurge on a personalized transfer from the Napoli Centrale station to Praiano where we will be staying for the next 5 days. This seems a more sensible approach instead of another short train ride, a bus to Sorrento and then a transfer to another bus for the windy trip along the coast.

It allows us for not much extra to do a stop at Herculaneum the other city that was covered in ash like Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79A.D. Our driver Pasquale waits for the 2 hours we visit and in fact this way we end up spending less than taking a dedicated trip from Praiano back here and we only have to do the squiggly road once.

Herculaneum is not visited as much as Pompeii so it is quite easy to enter and the condition of the dig is very impressive. Even some mosaic floors and wall frescos are preserved.

It is still slowly being excavated and a very generous donation from an American multimillionaire keeps paying for the works. By now Tanya is very “calm” and she takes great care navigating the cobbled streets and sewer lines of old Herculaneum.

As arranged Pasquale arrives to take us the final leg of the journey. It is a little overcast but still the road is spectacular as it hugs the lip of the cliffs.

We arrive to the 182 steps that take us from the road level to our home at the La Praia end of Praiano. Our apartment is the one with the brown wooden shutters. Every room including the kitchen have the azure view out to sea. The feature image for this is post is the view from our balcony.

We move in and I go out for a quick explore to discover that the restaurant we were recommended to eat at is at the foot of our steps. I quickly make a reservation for the evening.

This is a real treat, we start with a little aperitif, Tanya tries the local version of an Aperol using Limoncello as  a base and I go for the  “ No sleep” berry smoothy with fruits of the bosco  ( forest).

The menu has really too many choices that we want to pick so we think we will have to come back. Tanya chooses a risotto with prawns and I go for the homemade pasta with Grandma sauce made of seafood.

We have been given the best table in the house and as the sunsets over the water we decide that this is too good to pass on dessert. Tanya picks the warm chocolate almond torte and I select the nougat semi- Freddo over which we exchange knowing glances of delight with the waiter.

That ends a perfect day and its only a short walk and a few stairs home.