Stressful beginning, amazing end

DAY 12

Today was another train travel day for us, a long one, but this one didn’t go as smoothly as the first one. After eating breakfast (and taking some leftovers with us to use with our leftovers from last night for our lunch today), and getting our last views of the Cinque Terre, it was time to head to the train station to catch our first train, which was taking us to Pisa. At Pisa, we were supposed to have a 15 minutes layover until our next train that was at 10:32; however, things got tricky. We got on our first train on time, but there were some points along the way where we stopped for an extended period of time, which ended up causing delays. Initially they said it would be an overall 10 minute delay, then it turned into 15 minutes, and by the time we got to Pisa to catch our second train, it had been 17 minutes and we missed our second train. At this point I was half freaking out, half calm, as I know this was out of our control, but it could still mess up the whole day of travel. We kind of assumed the next train was another commuter train and there would probably be another one soon enough, but the timing had to be right to catch our third connection, which was definitely not a commuter train and we couldn’t afford to miss. 

At Pisa, we looked at the board and there was another train to Florence at 10:54 and another at 11:12. Since our last connection would be from Florence to Naples (a 3-hour ride) and was at 12:17, we needed to get there as fast as possible. We were initially going to have a 45 minute layover there, but now it was looking like we’d be cutting it super close again. The 10:54 would get in Florence at 12:07 and the 11:12, which was an express, should get us in at 12:01. We talked to the station agent and he told us to get on the express. At this point, I was beyond anxious and stressed and this would be an unenjoyable ride. I knew once we got in and got on our third train, all would be good, but if we didn’t, I wasn’t sure what would happen, except probably a meltdown from me. 

When we got to Florence, that train was also late so we checked the board and sprinted to our next platform which included going down stairs and then back up. We got there at 12:14, one minute passed our actual departure time. In what seems to be the pattern here, this train happened to be delayed by 10 minutes so we made it. Out of breath, and in relief and shock, we were able to board our train to Naples. Sigh. Crisis mode averted. 

We had first class tickets on this train which was roomier, and to our surprise had snacks and drinks, like on an airplane. For a three-hour train ride, albeit expensive, it was worth it. We got to Naples at 3:15 like we were supposed to, then had to find our driver for our 1.5 hour drive to Sorrento. This part of the trip was a whole ordeal, but we made it. 

We got to the hotel and quickly got settled so we could explore the town on our own. It was once again, super hot and humid out, but we knew there wasn’t a ton on our checklist to see so we weren’t in a rush. We set out to see the Cathedral of Sorrento and found it immediately. Both the fàcade and the inside were beautiful. Then we walked to Piazza Tasso and walked around that area and treated ourselves to real lemon slushies. Lemon is a big thing here and these slushies are sold at a lot of places and did not disappoint. They were both sweet and tart and cold. So so good. I want to try an orange one tomorrow. From there, we wandered up and down a bunch of side streets looking in stores and such. Limoncello is everywhere here and we went in one giant store and they gave us samples of limoncello, creme de limon, and creme de melon (cantaloupe) as well. They were all pretty strong (even burned going down) and not really something I would drink on the reg, but fun to try, especially here. We wandered all along the streets and finally hit the end of the main area and thought we were headed in the right direction, but got really confused so headed back to the center to get our bearings before going to the Marina Grande. It was a steep walk (yes, another one) down to the marina but beautiful down there from the boats to the water. We strolled around there a bit before heading to get dinner. We went to some really cute restaurant in town and their patio was in a lemon garden. I had ravioli with pesto (yes, also again) and it was great. 

After we ate, we walked back to the hotel and saw an absolutely amazing sunset. It was pink and purple and just lit up the sky. It was pretty unreal. It was just the perfect ending to a day that started off to a rocky start. There’s not much a good sunset can’t cure and although we were way over our stressful travel, this sunset ended the day on such a positive note.