Photos from our drive on Amalfi Coast

These are from yesterday's tour. The pictures say it all. The most beautiful place we have ever seen. Photos include our drive on the coast on the stops in Positano and Amalfi.

The Amalfi Coast: David Style

We took an unbelievable tour of the Amalfi Coast today. David, our driver for the day, took us from Sorrento down to Amalfi with a stop in Positano. This is some of the most amazing and beautiful landscapes we have ever seen. Imagine cliffs that raise 1,000 feet right out of the cobalt blue water. The tour ran on a winding road that was built 900 years ago and runs along the side of the mountains and cliffs with the road nervously hugging the edge of the mountainside at all elevations. David knew the route like the back of his hand, pulling over several times to allow us to get out at the spots with the best views and to take a few photos. David is a native of Sorrento and took us to the top of Sorrento where you could see both bays at the same time: The Sorrento Bay and the Amalfi Bay. Completely unbelievable! We made a few shopping stops as well. Came back to the hotel for some needed rest and then a little more shopping with Mom.

Will try to post the Amalfi photos tomorrow.

All is good. Thanks for staying in touch. We really like hearing from everyone.

Ciao!

Violet and Grace

A Room with a View

We left Rome this morning. We were sad to leave because we had such a great time. We took the train to Naples and met our new best friend. His name is David and he was our driver to Sorrento which is about a one hour drive from Naples. He will also be driving us on a tour of the Amalfi Coast on Wednesday.

Although we missed Rome and were happy to see Sorrento. What a place!
Violet: "I think I died and went to Sorrento!"
Grace: "This is the nicest hotel room I have even seen or been in!"

We are staying the the Hotel Minerva Sorrento. You can check it out here. Our room overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Vesuvius. Speaking of Mount Vesuvius we went to the Pompeii ruins this afternoon. The rain seemed to have followed us from Rome but we still had a good time. Our guide Antonio took us through the site ruins and explained the history of the Pompeii culture. It was amazing and more than we could have imagined. Lots of good history on this trip. Our teachers would be proud.

Check out our photos from Pompeii and the view from our hotel.

We have to go but look forward to posting.

Ciao!

Violet and Grace

P.S. Soldaddy seems to have misplaced his camera battery charger. So the rest of this trip will be documented by iPhone!

Little did we know that the best pizza in Rome was served right across the street from our apartment. We saw lines of people at waiting to get into Pizzerita Baffeta every night. So we gave it a shot. We were not disappointed. The pizza was awesome. We sat next to a Norwegian couple who gave us both Norwegian kroner (coins). Soldaddy mentioned that his grandparents were from Norway, but could not remember Nana Solberg's hometown. Anyway we had a good time talking about Norway and Norwegian traditions. The proprietor of the restaurant was a character and extremely camera shy!!!!

Caio for now, Headed to Sorrento tomorrow!


Violet and Grace

Governo Vecchio equals Park Avenue

There's lots of cool shops and boutiques on the street right outside of our apartment on Governo Vecchio. It reminds us of Park Avenue in Winter Park. We hit the shops tonight and made a first big purchase on the trip. ITALIAN SHOES!

Ciao!

Our Last Day in Rome

Well it started off a little crazy. We had the morning booked for a walking tour through the Colosseum, the Ancient Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. What do all of these have in common? They are all outdoors. We woke up in the morning to rain and it never stopped. We braved it through the Colosseum and portions for the Forum, but decided to cut our losses and save up our energy and health for our afternoon tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peter Basilica. Not to be disappointed, we met our tour guide Guido at the museum and had an awesome four hour tour. It was great to see all of the things we had read about, including the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's La Pieta in St. Peter's. Check out our photos from the day.

Why is Violet Sad? The Answer

Well you all guessed correctly. We were on our way to the Spanish steps on Sunday night and stopped by a small trattoria for dinner. Right after we place our order Violet screamed and looked up in the sky and by that time it was too late. The pigeon had already done its damage. Our friendly and attentive waitress quickly took Violet inside and helped her clean up. Violet returned to the table a little embarrassed. But she took it like a champ and we all had a good dinner after all.