We woke up just minutes before the announcements sounded, alerting us that we would be arriving in Bari, Italy. Getting off the ship was a bit of a zoo, with everyone trying to navigate their way down the narrow stairwells with their big luggages.
Luckily, Croatia being part of the EU meant we dodged any customs or immigration drama. The timing of our arrival worked out perfectly to catch the bus from the harbour to the Bari train & bus station. We would be taking the bus from Bari to Naples, to continue adventuring through Italy. The bus ride was only 15 minutes, and we had a few hours to kill before our bus, so we picked up some breakfast at a local bakery.
We didn’t have the best sleep on the floor of the ship, so both of us were feeling seriously grumpy and tired. Although we were at the train/bus terminal, we could only see where people were boarding the trains. There didn’t seem to be a designated area at the terminal for buses. Eventually, we asked an employee where the buses boarded, and she vaguely pointed in the direction.
We finally realised that there wasn’t a regular station for buses, just the stretch of road behind the train station where buses would pull over on the side of the road to pick up passengers. We waited and waited as buses came and went, but there was no sign of ours. It was already 20 minutes past the time the bus was supposed to arrive, so we were scared we were waiting in the wrong spot. There was an Italian couple standing nearby that was also on our bus to Naples, so they called the bus company to confirm whether or not it was arriving. They said the bus was late, but on its way.
Finally, about 40 minutes after the expected departure time, our bus pulled up into the “terminal” and we boarded. The bus was super luxurious and comfortable, with bathrooms on board and big comfy seats that reclined really far back. After suffering through too many horrendous Balkan buses, this was a huge treat.
But we quickly realised that even with an upgrade to the bus, there was unfortunately no upgrade to the social awareness and basic manners of general Europeans. Lowkey team Brexit now!! (this is a joke don’t cancel me). In almost every single European country we’ve visited, so many people are just so incredibly inconsiderate when it comes to public transit. People would watch videos or listen to music on full volume with no headphones, take calls on speakerphone, or just generally be loud and obnoxious.
Italy was no different. There was a big group of Italians at the back of the bus that were blasting music and laughing and yelling at each other. There was a man sitting the row behind us that kept taking calls on speaker phone and playing TikTok on full volume. Do Europeans not learn the concept of inside voices? Do headphones not exist in Europe? The pervasive lack of consideration in public spaces has been such a theme throughout our European adventures.
We finally arrived in Naples completely exhausted after an overnight ferry and long bus ride. We hopped on the local bus that took us a few blocks from our accomodation, and we trekked with our heavy the last 10 minutes in the hot Italian sun. We arrived looking absolutely feral, drenched in sweat and just generally dishevelled from our long journey here.
We decided we were way too exhausted to go out exploring, so we just walked to a nearby grocery store and bought ingredients for dinner. Our one saving grace was the premade bottle of Aperol Spritz we got from the store. Tastes like euro summer!
We had met a friend named Andrea using the Couchsurfing app. He was unable to host us, but he invited us out on a boat trip with him and his friend to Capri the next morning. Although we were understandably nervous about getting on a boat with a random man we had met online, his Couchsurfing profile was filled with amazing reviews from other surfers. We felt assured that he was real and not a serial killer, so we made plans to meet up with him the next day.
The next morning, we packed up our bags and walked to meet Andrea. Him and his friend Marco picked us up and drove us to the harbour. Marco had a little rigid inflatable boat, so we loaded up and went on our way. Andrea gave us lots of facts about the area, and we were surprised to hear how many volcanoes were in the region. We had obviously heard of Mt. Vesuvius, the most famous one, but apparently that entire region of central/southern Italy is covered in volcanoes!
It should’ve been a beautiful ride, but it was a super hazy day. Andrea kept pointing in certain directions, pointing out that Sorrento was over there and Capri was over there, but we couldn’t see anything through the haze. It looked like we were just driving into nothing, until all of a sudden the island of Capri appeared before our eyes.
The island was beautiful! There were so many gorgeous little villages built into the side of the cliffs, and we saw tons of mega yachts and fancy sailboats sailing by us. Andrea said that he had seen Cristiano Ronaldo here with his family in the past, and Capri was frequented by lots of A-list celebs.
Marco pulled into a protected little harbour with a few other boats and dropped anchor. We made little sandwiches for lunch, and then dove into the crystal clear waters. The water was a little chilly for my taste, but it was a nice hot day so I could quickly warm up in the sun. Saz might as well be the little mermaid, as she spent basically the entire day floating in the ocean.
We enjoyed some Aperol spritzes and snacks on the boat, as we chatted with Marco and Andrea and read on our Kindles. It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon of swimming, sunbathing, and enjoying the beautiful Italian coastline.
Another boat nearby with 5 or 6 college aged students swam over to us asking to borrow some goggles. Turns out, they were from Pompeii and had rented the boat for the day to go exploring. Unfortunately, they weren’t very skilled boatsmen and had dragged anchor and gotten completely tangled up in the rocks 8-10 metres below. They took turns diving down to try to loosen the anchor, but it was wedged really tightly. They tried for hours to get the anchor undone to no avail. They were still there trying to get it free when we left. Legend has it they’re still there…
Around 5 pm, we started our journey back to Naples. This time, Marco drove the other way around Capri so we could see the other side of the island. We passed the iconic Capri rock arch, and saw even more mega yachts and insane looking boats. We later saw on the news that Jeff Bezos and Katy Perry had been spotted in the area, I wonder if they were there!
We arrived back in the harbour right at sunset, and Andrea and Marco kindly drove us home. It was such a fun day with them on the water, and it’s always so special to meet new friends from different parts of the world.
We were absolutely starving, so we walked to a pizza joint just down the street from our accomodation appropriately called “I Love Pizza”. The pizzas were 4 euros each and absolutely massive. Naples in the birthplace of pizza and I got to try my first ever authentic Italian pizza. It was the best pizza we’d ever had in our lives! The pizza was so cheap and so delicious, Naples might’ve ruined pizza for me (lol who am I kidding pizza is pizza and pizza is delicious!!!!!).
The next day, we had a huge walking day exploring downtown Naples. We wandered though Centro Storico (the historical district), browsing through the shops and alleyways. We had another amazing Napoleon style pizza for lunch, and then continued our exploration at the beautiful seaside castle called Castel dell’Ovo, and strolled along the Napoli coastline.
We had walked almost 10 miles through the city, so we were tired and ready to go home. We showered and cooked dinner, and then decided to book an Amalfi Coast tour for our last day in Naples.
The next morning, we woke up at 6 am for our tour of Sorrento, Amalfi, and Positano. We were the first group to get picked up, and it took about an hour to collect all the guests. Our tour guide was named Roberta, and she was really friendly and knowledgeable. She did the entire tour in both English and Spanish, and shared many fun facts about the region.
Our first stop was the town of Sorrento. Roberta led us to a store to do a free tasting at a limoncello shop. It was amazing! We tried limoncello filled chocolates, cookies, pistachio butter (INCREDIBLE), pistachio truffle spread, truffle powder, etc, and three types of limoncello, each one stronger than the last.
We ended up picking up some gifts for friends and family, and then strolled through the town, taking in the sights. It was absolutely stunning!
The downside of doing a tour group like that is that we had limited time at each stop. We only had about an hour in each city, when we easily could’ve spent at least a few hours exploring the cute little towns. Roberta had stressed that it was very important that we be on time at all of our meeting points, and for good reason: the cost per hour for the van to park in Sorrento was 30 euros/hour, and Positano was 70 euros/hour!
It took about 50 minutes to drive from Sorrento to Positano, and the drive was absolutely stunning! Roberta gave us lots of interesting facts about the area, and we arrived in Positano ready to explore.
The whole town is built on a steep cliff, but it was absolutely gorgeous. The contrast of the crystal blue waters against the colourful houses and cute shops was stunning. This region is known for their lemon production, and they incorporated lemons into a lot of their food, souvenirs, and even public art and design. One of the ladies on our tour bought a brand new lemon dress in Positano and changed into it right then and there. Icon.
After an hour exploring the stunning Positano, we hopped back in the car to go to lunch. It was at a restaurant right on the coast called Euroconca, with a beautiful view overlooking the ocean. Lunch was a set meal that included bread baskets, salads, bruschetta, and our choice of gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce, or gnocchi with tomato and calamari sauce. We both ordered the tomato and basil sauce, and it was really yummy and fresh tasting.
We wrapped up lunch and headed to our last destination of the tour – Amalfi. Along the way, Roberta pointed out the Santa Caterina Hotel, which is where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent their honeymoon, one of the most expensive in the region.
We arrived in Amalfi with a mission: get some authentic Italian gelato to cool ourselves down in the summer heat. Roberta recommended trying the lemon sorbetto, so Saz got herself a lemon sorbetto while I ordered the stracciatella. The gelato was so fresh and delicious, but the sun was so strong that it was basically soup after 2 minutes.
We walked around Amalfi town, taking in the iconic blue and yellow beach umbrellas lining the ocean below. It was the perfect summer vibe – good music, nice views, and delicious ice cream.
After a full day touring the iconic Amalfi Coast, we hopped in the van to drive back to Naples. Along the way, we passed through the cliff-top villages of Ravello and Scala, but it was getting late so we couldn’t stop and explore.
Overall, our favourite town was definitely Positano. It was just so charming, beautiful, and unique with the way it was built right into the cliffs overlooking the water. But honestly, you can’t go wrong anywhere on the Amalfi Coast, the whole region is stunning.
We got home exhausted from our early morning and a long day exploring, but still had to pack for our travel day the next day. We organized our stuff, ate leftover pasta for dinner, and passed out the second our heads hit the pillow.
Next & final European stop: Rome!