All roads lead to Rome.

There’s nothing quite like a trip to Italy - the food, the wine, the crazy Italian’s!!! Nevertheless, we have had a wonderful time hanging out in the warm Italian sun and spending as much time as possible eating pizza.

Our first stop was Sorrento. Sorrento was to be our jumping off point for the Amalfi Coast, a place we had both not been but heard plenty about. We arrived late afternoon and headed to Bec’s famed restaurant with the massive steaks, but found they now came with a massive price tag and opted for pizza – which Jarratt quickly fell in love with! We then spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets and sampling far too much free limoncello. We ended up feeling a little guilty and purchased some in the shape of a cello…. A lemon cello! Haha.

The following day we boarded a bus for the Amalfi, which was spectacular!!! The villages (Positano and Amalfi) we visited are almost impossibly perched in between rock cliffs and yet a public bus was still able to navigate and get us there. Each town was filled with cute coloured houses each one more unique than the last and had steps rather than streets to reach the beach. We spent the day lunching in Amalfi and swimming at Positano’s beach before we headed back to Sorrento for some more pizza washed down with a local red and a beer. Guess who had which :)

The next day we headed to Naples via Pompeii. Having both visited Pompeii before and being very impressed, we decided what’s 10 euro between friends and decided to head back for another look. We weren’t disappointed, plus we got the opportunity to play silly buggers – which you all know we love. Afterwards we headed onto Naples, or Napoli – for those in the know ;). Having spent the last 2 weeks lazying around in the Greek Islands and on the Amalfi, Napoli made us feel more alert than ever. With the scooters whizzing dangerously close past us and the Mafia types lingering in doorways and by our pockets. Unfazed we spent the next two days tasting the best pizza EVER (Yes! Better than Sorrento!) and visiting and working it at all the local sites.

Our final day in Napoli saw us board the ferry to Capri. It wasn’t til we arrived on the isle of Capri that we met her – our host, Maria. (For you Mr Wyatt ;)) Meeting us at the port, she soon whisked us away into Anacapri and gave us the fantastic news that after 5pm on ANY day you can swim for free in the famous blue grotto. Which you better bet your bottom dollar we did!!! We finished our only night on Capri with (more) pizza – a Caprese and Capricossa (Hey :) when in Rome?) and watching the sun set. The next day we spent the better part of the morning hiking uphill to Villa Jovis and catching our train to Rome. And while all roads may lead to Rome, boy do they get there slowly!!!!! We arrived into Rome, quite late, hungry and just a little frazzled having spent 6 hours on a train ride that was suppose to take 2 and a half.

The next day we slept in (Yay for Bec), and headed into town around 11. We spent most of they day getting some cheap thrills, taking in the Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the outside of the Colosseum – which are all free! We also had the worlds best Gelato (apparently!?) at San Crispiro, but at 4 euro a hit, you’d want it to be pretty amazing and it was! Day 2 in Rome saw us wake early (Yay for Jarratt) and head into Vatican City, or should we say Tour Group City! I swear tours are fantastic if your on one, if your not – not so much! We then spent 3 hours shuffling our way through Vatican Museum until we reached the Sistine Chapel. There we spent our time taking in the amazing fresco’s and being amazed by the complete disregard for rules. We watched as almost every tourist pulled out their cameras and began snapping away at the roof. Never one to miss out on anything Bec followed suit. Afterwards we headed to St Peter’s Basilica where with the millions we queued to see the cavernous interior, the resting place of the popes and Michelangelo’s superb ‘Pieta’. Afterwards, we headed towards Piazza Navona for some lunch in beautiful winding streets of Trastevere and a quick viewing of the Pantheon. On the way home we both had to giggle that Rome during the Summer (or at least definitely August) was surely filled with more tourists carrying maps of Rome than actual Roman citizens. Our final day was spent swimming in the hostel pool, planning the rest of our trip and having a pretty amazing steak dinner.

Next stop was…. The Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre, home of pesto, is also home to some of the best coast scenery in all of Italy. Having been a little savvy and wise, in order to avoid paying inflated prices for next to nothing accommodation, we booked an amazing hotel right by La Spezia train station. La Spezia which is 5 minutes from Riomaggiore (the first of the five villages in the Cinque Terre) runs regional trains to the Cinque Terre every 6 minutes – so as you can see, very clever indeed. We spent the next 2 days, taking in 3 of the 5 villages and catching up with some old summer travelling friends. It was a great way to end Italy, which can be comically chaotic one minute and stunningly beautiful the next – we were thankful to have ended on a high note.

We are currently in Nice, which is nice – but like always…. We’ll tell you about that later.

Love you all … see you VERY soon.

Bathing at Amalfi.

At Pompeii with Mt Vesuvius in the background

Jarratt ... being Jarratt.

HUGE pizza in Napoli

A-MA-ZING!

On the top of the world.... or at least Capri!

Heading into the Blue Grotto (at Capri)

What an amazing experience!!!!

After our swim in the blue grotto - google it for some pictures to understand how amazing it was to swim in!!!

Tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain - will we ever return to Rome?

At the Vatican Museum, St Peters in the background.

At Vernazza (the middle and prettiest of the 5 villages) in the Cinque Terre.

Amazing Riomaggiore - So pretty!