Amalfi Coast: Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, and Salerno

On Monday, we took a train from Rome to Napoli. From there we took another train to Sorrento, a town on the coast. We had some difficulties with the train, as it broke down part of the way into the trip and had to backtrack to the last station. There, we got on a train already full, and so we ended up crammed in and standing for most of our hour long ride. Not fun. Then we got off one stop later than we were supposed to and ended up walking a long distance with our heavy backpacks to our hostile. Not great, but we had fun when we went to town. It was very touristy, but there were lots of cute little shops on cute cobble stone streets. We had lots of problems with the Italian boys in this town. They would stare at us as they drove by on mo-peds, literally turning their heads all the way around as they passed, and beeping and whistling. When Jenna and I went to a restaurant, the waiter was hitting on me ridiculously, beginning with, "can I get you anything? Food? Drink? My phone number?" Haha. jenna and I also bought some Limoncello, a lemon liquor that's really popular in Europe and is produced here. Delicious! We bought some lemon flavored chocolate too, which was sooooo delicious. The views in Sorrento were gorgeous of the sea, with big cliffs and cute houses. We could also see Mount Vesuvius across the water from us, since we were really close to Pompeii. I wish we could have gone there for a bit, but we enjoyed all the other places we saw.
The next day, we hopped on a bus, through winding passageways up and down mountains to Positano. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was a beach and the weather was gorgeous, plus narrow little cobblestone streets all up through different parts of the cliffs that we would explore. The houses were all different colors, and it was just so scenic. There were a lot less tourists here, but the stores were boutiques, a little bit out of my price range. Jenna and I spent most of our two days here hiking and relaxing on the beach. We had some delicious cappuccino and a canoli that was fantastic as well. I think Positano is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
On Thursday, we took a bus over to Amalfi. It was beautiful as well, though a bit more of a city. Our hostel was a little bit outside of the city, in Atrani, which was a really small town. We explored the cities for a while. There was a really gorgeous church in Amalfi. After eating lots of bread to save money, we decided to binge on Italian food and got some delicious lasagna and bruschetta. We also had some Nutella gelato that was so thick it was like literally eating Nutella on a cone. Yum. That night, in Atrani, we watched a small town Easter procession. The people wore all white and masks (kind of KKK like) and carried a big alter with the crucifixion of Jesus on it. Others carried torches, and we think that nearly the entire town followed this procession, chanting. It was really neat to experience.
The next day we took a ferry to Salerno. It was definitely the biggest city of all the Amalfi Coast, and we found that it was our least favorite. for lunch, we had a kebab. Kebabs are only the most amazing food in Europe. They're basically their fast food/late night food and are Turkish. They involve a pita or wrap and a ton of really delicious meat that they roast for long periods of time. Then there's lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and lots of really good spices. They're to die for. Anyways, haha, we just explored the city for a while. We found a really neat church, and there were lots of boutiques to look at. We went and laid on the beach for a while and read. I read so much english books this trip, what with all the train rides and travel time. I read the Portrait of Dorian Gray, traded it in for Witch and Wizard, and then Jenna let me read her copy of The Shadow of the Wind. The Shadow of the Wind was really amazing and I definitely recommend it. It takes place in Barcelona, so it was neat that I had seen lots of the places they talked about. And it's just really intense. The next day we hopped on a train to Bari, where we got in really late, so that we could take our plane from there to Venice. That Saturday night was spent in the airport. Fun fun.