Italy Day Sette

We didn't like this day very much. It was filled with grueling traveling. We left our beautiful agritourismo at 8 a.m. Because it was early, we didn't get breakfast and didn't get to say goodbye to Eva, sweet little Olivia and Mossimo.

Once again we had to drive through Florence which just as awful as before, and it was worse because we were afraid of missing our train. To save money, we took the slow train to Naples, and slow train is an understatement. We departed from the small (and dirty!) train station in Florence, but fortunately had time to grab a sandwich before we left, otherwise we would have been crazy hungry (I become rather horrific if I miss breakfast).

The train was running 40 minutes behind and it seemed like we stopped in every single small town between Florence and Naples. Our source of entertainment on the train was an old Italian couple that really wanted to talk to us and didn't want to accept the fact that we didn't speak Italian. They would bicker at each other, then try to tell us about it, then the wife would tell her husband that we "no conprende." To the very end of the ride, he tried to talk to us.

Scott started talking to the other person in out compartment, and she told us she was a historian for the Vatican archives. She told us she was writing a book about spies in the Vatican during World War II. We told her the story should be made into a movie. We can't wait to read this book!

The Naples train station was very dirty and from there we had to catch another train to Sorrento. We got a good look at the Italy no one tells you about--very dirty and covered with graffiti. It was almost third world. The train was rickety and did not feel very safe.

The Sorrento train station was not much better. The town around the train station is busy and unclean, and with dread, we found our hotel. The gate was locked, no one answered the buzzer, and so I called the innkeeper's cell number. I had trouble understanding him and he kind of hung up on me, and then out of nowhere, here comes this Italian guy on a bike, "did you just call me?" He was very nice and carried my very heavy suitcase.

Hotel La Magnolia far exceeded our expectations. It was small, but well decorated, very clean, big rooms, more amenities than most European hotels, and a veranda. We loved it! And within a few minutes, we loved Sorrento!

We went to dinner at a restaurant on the water called Ristaurante Delfino. We shared calamari (best I've ever had), I had gnocchi with shrimp and Scott had lobster ravoili. Yum! A little pricy, and the hike to the restaurant was quite a workout, but so worth it!

We strolled along the narrow streets of Sorrento, tried lemoncello, came back to the room and said goodnight to a long day.

For our review of Hotel La Magnolia on Trip Advisor, click here.

For our review of Ristaurante Delfino on Trip Advisor, click here.