Day 06: Rome to Sorrento

Sadly it was time to leave Rome. I fairly early and made my way to Rome Termini train station. I purchased a ticket for the fast train to Naples that would take just an hour to travel the nearly 200km.

On the train to Naples...

Once I arrived in Naples, I quickly made my way to the Circumvesuviana station to catch the train to Sorrento. The journey took about an hour and there was some great scenery on the way.

Having arrived in Sorrento I got my bearings and made my way to my hotel for 2 nights, the Grand Hotel La Favorita. It was spectacular! Having only opened in May it well and truly lived up to the website pictures and the mostly positive reviews on TripAdvisor. My room wasn't ready, so I was sent up to the rooftop pool for a complementary welcome drink. This alone made me want to runaway to Sorrento and never come home.

My "welcome" drink...

The view from the rooftop pool...

Once my room was ready, I went and freshened up before trekking back to the train station for the trip to Pompeii. And all I can say is wow... I spent most of the afternoon wandering around the ruins. It was quite amazing to think this bustling town was stopped in its tracks following the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD.
I toured the ruins by using a self guided audio tour that I'd downloaded before I left home and it gave a very good introduction to the site.  Now for a little bit of Pompeii picture spam...

The Circumvesuviana train...

 

 

 

 

Modern-day Pompeii in the background.

When I got back to the hotel, I went for a swim in the rooftop pool. The water was freezing, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a tip in the rooftop as I don't know when I'm ever going to be presented with such an amazing location again. Then it was off to explore Sorrento at night.  After dinner I had my obligatory gelato fix.  Tonight's flavor was Cappuccino, and given mum loves anything coffee flavored, this one was for her. And yes, I've been doing my best to have a Gelato every day and I've been trying lots of different flavours.  I know it's bad, but when in Rome...

 

 

The hotel entrance at night...

 

Gelato time - Cappuccino and thinking of mum...