so i am pretty sure i am mixed up on my days here. but you don't know that. so, just go along with me here. and, i really think the picture above is funny, so i threw it in. dan and i are really working on our self portraits. this happens to be a great one i think!
after we left florence, we took the train down to napoli (naples). mind you i was terrified to go here. dan just kept warning me about how wicked it was. more on that later. but just know i was very nervous! once we got to napoli, we had to switch from the main train line and get on the sort of local train called the cirumvesuviana. i don't quite know how to describe this train. i am sure dad would have some good adjectives to describe it. it was ghetto. to say the least. dan had been to the train station in napoli plenty of times. but, it has been years since he had been. and of course, it had been remodeled. we still figured out where we were going. then, we had a little unwanted help. a man practically grabbed mom's bag out of her hand and started leading us to where we needed to go. dan couldn't get rid of the guy. i would say the only plus about him was he cut to the front of the ticket line to get our tickets. he went through the 'security' with us. i use that term very lightly. he didn't have his own ticket, but they still let him through. when we got down to the platform, he wanted 10 euro (about 15 bucks) from dan AND dad for him helping us. i was so mad! he was such a con artist. he seriously would not leave dan alone. i wanted to punch the old man! dad gladly handed his money over. but dan and i were ticked. in the end, he got a little money out of dan and we made it in time for the PACKED, hot, stinky train. it was another 30 minutes til the next one. so i guess the euro he got out of us was sort of worth cutting to the front of the line because we barely made it to the train and didn't have to wait another 30 minutes! my first experience in napoli did not prove to be good. i was nervous to go back!
i don't know why i didn't get any pictures of the outside of this train. but, you won't have a hard time imagining graffiti. that's about it. this train was rickety, packed full, stinky, hot, and not fun with all our luggage. we were headed down to sorrento. the last stop on the line. it was about an hour ten minute ride. or in this case, stand. there were 30+ stops along the way. did i mention earlier we were there with some record heat temps? it was warm. after a few stops, a few people started to get off the train and i felt less like a sardine. i didn't carry anything except chapstik in my pocket, for fear of pick pockets. i wouldn't even let mom. i was just worried. luckily i think i overreacted a bit. but, safety first!
we finally made it to sorrento. it was beautiful!! right on the coast. lots of cruise ships come here. it was quite the touristy little town. and little it was. we walked, yes walked, to our hotel. we actually stayed in this fantastic little bed and breakfast. i would go back there in a heart beat. in fact, the only place we would stay again of all the places we stayed! i'll post some pictures of it later.
we took a bus here:
this is the town of positano on the amalfi coast. it was gorgeous! the cities on the coast are just built in to the side of the mountain. it is incredible. i know mom would never like to live here though. it was stair heaven! stairs anywhere and everywhere!
the only way to travel the amalfi coast is by bus, or private car or taxi. i'm pretty sure you could not have paid me to drive it!! it was very pretty, but also a little nerve racking!
part of the road on the amalfi coast highway. the highway was built in the 1800's. it really is amazing. the bridges and turns. i think even with technology today it would be difficult to build. but almost 200 years ago! wow.
if you look closely, you can see how close the bus is to the building and to the sidewalk! it was crazy.
i wonder how many times the building has been hit! i had the perfect seat in the bus. the very back. it was the only seat that had a small window that opened. i was able to open the window and stick my camera out and take lots of pictures. it was great!!!
dan and i at the top of positano. our first stop.
the beach at positano.
don't they look excited!!! this was even before we had to walk back up!!! imagine the after photo!
dan running up the stairs from the beach to the bus stop. he made me sick!
we took a boat from positano down to amalfi, another city on the coast. 
we had decided to take the boat all the way back to sorrento. the lady in amalfi told me we had to stop in positano and buy our tickets separately. so we went back from amalfi to positano. when we went to buy the boat tickets, the man told us there were no boats to sorrento that day. i was ticked. reason being, i knew the bus would be packed. the bus stops in amalfi first, then positano. we would have just taken the bus from amalfi had we known there were no boats to sorrento. long story short, we hiked back up to the bus stop and waited. and waited. one bus came. only a few people were able to fit on. then it was full. we waited more than an hour for the next bus.
there were only 4 people behind us that fit on. but, we were standing. we stood the entire hour and ten minutes back to sorrento. that was after standing over an hour waiting for the bus to come. it was awful. we were packed in like sardines yet again. i mostly felt bad for mom and dad. there were a bunch of teenage girls (german i think). they were not very accommodating to the older folks on the bus. and not just mom and dad, but the others too.
this is the bus pulling up to pick us up. the road is so narrow! look how close it is to dan! amazing.we survived though. i really want to go back to the amalfi coast one day. it was one of my most favorites spots on the trip.
