Our last morning in Rome we decided to visit the daily market at Campo di Fiori. We didn't buy anything but we enjoyed walking around and checking out the vendors. We got lunch in the square which as I mentioned before has a lot of restaurants catering to Americans. After three days of delicious pasta, we both were craving salad which is not a common item on an Italian menu. The restaurant we choose though had exactly what we wanted.
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| Pasta |
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| Beautiful flowers even in November |
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| Balancing out all that pasta |
After lunch we had some time to kill and the weather was beautiful so we walked along the Tiber River before catching a cab to head back to the hotel and grab our bags to go to the train station.
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| Vatican in the distance |
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| The Tiber |
We had tickets on a 2:45pm train to Naples and we had booked first class tickets and enjoyed the 45 minutes ride on the high speed train. I had read in our guide books and on multiple blogs that to get from Rome to Sorrento, you take the train to Naples and then switch to the regional commuter train, the Circumvesuviana and it would be another hour. Simple right?
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| 270 km/h or 172 mph! |
When I read local regional commuter train I was thinking something like in New York or DC like this
The process of getting on the train was exactly as described. The problem was it was 4pm at this point and apparently a lot of people commute from Naples to Sorrento. We waited in line to purchase tickets and then tried to catch the next train, which was an "express" train, and it was so crowded we couldn't get on with our luggage. We waited 30 minutes for the next train and that point the platform was getting really crowded and the husband was not pleased. It was the one part of the trip he did no research on, as he kept pointing out.
When the next train came we were determined to get on and shoved our way with everyone else onto the train even with all of our luggage. Of course I had read that the Circumvesuviana was a haven for pickpocketers which we were ready for, plus we stuck out like a sore thumb as the only tourists on the train. The husband keeps a dummy wallet in his back pocket while traveling and sure enough someone went after it while we were boarding, which didn't help his mood. We managed to stake out a place next to a luggage rack and we stood on the packed train next to our luggage. Since we missed the express train it took close to an hour and a half to go 36 stops and was uncomfortably crowded almost the whole trip. Needless to say that neither of us was in a very good mood when we finally pulled into the Sorrento station.
Instead we ended up on this
The process of getting on the train was exactly as described. The problem was it was 4pm at this point and apparently a lot of people commute from Naples to Sorrento. We waited in line to purchase tickets and then tried to catch the next train, which was an "express" train, and it was so crowded we couldn't get on with our luggage. We waited 30 minutes for the next train and that point the platform was getting really crowded and the husband was not pleased. It was the one part of the trip he did no research on, as he kept pointing out.
When the next train came we were determined to get on and shoved our way with everyone else onto the train even with all of our luggage. Of course I had read that the Circumvesuviana was a haven for pickpocketers which we were ready for, plus we stuck out like a sore thumb as the only tourists on the train. The husband keeps a dummy wallet in his back pocket while traveling and sure enough someone went after it while we were boarding, which didn't help his mood. We managed to stake out a place next to a luggage rack and we stood on the packed train next to our luggage. Since we missed the express train it took close to an hour and a half to go 36 stops and was uncomfortably crowded almost the whole trip. Needless to say that neither of us was in a very good mood when we finally pulled into the Sorrento station.
Luckily there were plenty of cabs outside the train station and we made our way to our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised that we were upgraded to a room with a terrace overlooking the water. The view was amazing but we were starving and not easily distracted. We asked the concierge for a recommendation and headed to a place in town. We got locally made cheese and meats and pizza. It was easily the best pizza I've ever had. Mine was suckling pig and mushroom and it was to die for. After a few beers and all that delicious food we were in much better moods then we had been on the train from hell.
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| For some reason this cracked me up |
The important lesson learned that day is when going from Rome to Sorrento DO NOT TAKE THE CIRCUMVESVIANA. If you are not looking to drop the high cost of a private car for that trip, I noticed advertisements for coach buses from Termini in Rome to the Sorrento station, I would recommend looking into that. The other option is taking a ferry from Naples to Sorrento, which we did on the way back. It was nice but you'd have to find your way from the train station to the port. I cannot begin to imagine what that train ride is like in the summer when the trains are full of tourists and their luggage in addition to a normal weekday crowd.
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