Tuesday, 19th of November
Day One-Hundred and Eleven: Pompeii – Cicerale
Having driven to Pompeii from Rome the previous day, we simply had a walk around new Pompeii and ate pizza.
In the morning we got up pretty early and headed to the gate of Pompeii so we could get into the old town and have a look around. It had been recommended to us that we get a tour guide to take us around, but after around an hour of waiting to create a big enough group to make the tour a reasonable price, we gave up and instead got an audio tour. Because we were under 25 years old and European citizens (still, thankfully…) we managed to get our tickets for £2 each rather than £15, which was nice, especially because the place itself was a little bit of a disappointment to me, to be honest. I had this picture that I’d drawn of Pompeii a long time ago, I’m not quite sure why – maybe too many historical and fantasy movies that paint a mysterious and magical world of the past, so I was expecting this ancient town upon a mountain that boasted amazing views. There were a few nice places in the city, but it definitely wasn’t how I imagined it to be. Plus I had a splitting headache and it was raining, which I’m sure didn’t help. But I’m glad we went anyhow.
We reached our next Workaway hosts at around 5 pm, so all was getting dark. We knew they were a Dutch and German couple of fifty-four and fifty-eight years old who practised permaculture, sustainable living, medicinal herbs (all things that we would really like to do in the future) plus they’d had good feedback from previous Workwawayers, but still, it’s always nerve-wracking meeting new people. But again, there was absolutely nothing to worry about, they turned out to be so lovely and welcomed us with open arms and pasta and broccoli cooked in their own homegrown olive oil and garlic – it was delicious! We also met their pets Luna the rottweiler, Google (yes, like the search engine) the terrier and Mitsu, Jimmy, Mimi and Minnie the four cats – Mitsu being the mum and the other three, her babies.
We were shown to our own private apartment, which was absolutely beautiful, it had been recently built by Gianni, Linda and some Italian builders and they had done a fantastic job. We then had some limoncello made fresh from the lemons they grow on their land (it was gorgeous) and talked until it was almost midnight and we thought we had better get some sleep so we were ready to help out in the morning.
Wednesday, 20th of November – Thursday, 28th of November
Day One-Hundred and Twelve – Day One-Hundred and Twenty: Cicerale
The twelve days that we spent in Cicerale were some of the best of our trip!
In the morning, when we finally got to see the place in the daylight, we were taken aback by its beauty and all the hard work that Gianni and Linda had put into the place so they could make their own food, medicines and even some cosmetics! On that same day (the day after we arrived) two other Workways joined us, Markus and Yvonne, a German couple who had been living in their Fiat Ducato campervan conversion with their little Jack Russell x (Nellie) and seven cats and kittens (Minnie, Emmie, Mickey, Tubsy, Julie, Lottie and Ellie). All who were absolutely adorable, especially the four kittens who were just five-months-old. Their mother was a rescue cat from Spain who got herself pregnant so Yvonne and Markus unexpectedly ended up with seven cats, but they all get on so well and are super cute.
The jobs we were doing for the week were split between us – the boys (Reece, Markus and Gianni) were building a shed from scratch. This meant laying the foundations, putting in beams, building the roof, cladding the sides and then laying the roof tiles before finally fitting the doors. This is their progress in picture form:
The girls (Yvonne, Linda and I) spent the week gardening and making a wooden chalet that was next to Linda’s house – which was previously being used as storage – into a small apartment. This meant making a bed from recycled wood, putting up shelves and generally making the place a bit more homely. We also helped the guys out where we could – collecting stones for the foundations and painting wooden slats for the shed.
We found some pretty unusual insects whilst we were collecting stones, including a praying mantis, a stick insect, leopard slugs, green grasshoppers, stinky bugs (or shield beetles) and a little tarantula! Reece even spotted a scorpion under a log pile whilst he was in Cicerale!
This is how Yvonne and Linda and I made the bed… We used some old shelves, table legs and a couple of doors instead of the base to make a full-sized double bed for the wooden chalet.
The mornings before working were spent eating great fresh food. Gianna was once a pizza chef in the Netherlands with his own pizza company, so he was an excellent baker and every day he made us all fresh sourdough bread from wild yeast that had been growing for the last couple of years. They also source their flour from a mill that still has the licence to produce flour in the traditional way which allows the flour to keep all its natural nutrients (nowadays the milling takes out most the nutrients and so vitamins are fortified into white flour- this happens in England too). We also had some delicious jams, all from fruit just from the garden, and some gorgeous spreads that Yvonne made from legumes and vegetables. Yvonne and Markus are vegan, so we had a very eye-opening week to the amount of delicious food you can make with just vegetables, grains and pulses! One morning Yvonne made some vegan latte macchiato’s from oats, hazelnuts, walnuts and cashews and delicious Italian coffee.
The evenings we spent cooking different vegan and vegetarian meals, and then we talked and laughed so much into the night. It did get a bit chilly on the terrace as it got later, but we just pulled up a gas heater and all was well. It was like Christmas every evening with all the great food we made.
On the first Friday we were there, Yvonne, Linda and I went to the market to get some food for us all for the week (we bought fresh cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, aubergine, fennel, apples, olives, rice, lentils and mung beans), and whilst we were out we went to visit the olive mill where Linda and Gianna get all their olives made into Extra Virgin Olive Oil as well as the flour mill where they buy all their flour and a carpenter to pick up some wood stain for the shed. On the way back we nipped into a bar where Linda treated us to an Aperol Spritz which came with some aperitifs!
Unfortunately somewhere during our little trip to the market, Linda had her purse stolen which contained all her ID cards and some cash, so we all pretty upset about this. We did our best retracing our steps and calling some of the market vendors, but it wasn’t to be found! This is such a shame as pickpocketers and thieves just like this give this beautiful country a bad name. But we did have a lovely time just the three of us out of the house before this happened.
Friday, 29th of November
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-One: Cicerale – Napoli – Cicerale
On Friday, Reece and I took a day trip from the Workaway to go to Napoli! Way before we started planning the trip, maybe eighteen-months before, the idea was that we would move to Italy for 6 months and get jobs teaching English as a second language, and Naples was the one place we quite fancied moving to. But then Reece had the idea to get a campervan and travel the whole of Europe instead – which I was very happy to do! Anyway, both of us were excited to see the city, and we weren’t disappointed.
Napoli wasn’t as grand as some of the other places we’ve been to in Italy, and around the edges, it was pretty dirty, with rubbish scattered all over the floor and some strange smells floating around in the air, but the centre had the great Italian charm to it that I think everyone falls in love with. With its tiny winding streets and beautiful cathedrals, markets selling Christmas gifts and fantastic food, we really enjoyed Naples. Plus, we had fantastic weather which we were very grateful for after a week with so much rain. During our pretty short time in the city, we made it our mission to enjoy the Italian food and drink as we knew we were leaving Italy in just a few days, and we definitely did that. The prices were also unexpectedly cheap, so we went all out with a margarita pizza each (whole pizzas for €2!!), coffee’s and croissants, an Aperol spritz on the go (these were only €1 and very refreshing) and ricotta/white wine cannoli for dessert.
After walking around Napoli a little more and taking in all the sites, we went back to Cicerale. I was pretty tired so I fell asleep on the train back, but it was nice to get home. We got back into the apartment, and I was just about to put some dinner on when I heard a knock on the door. It was Markus, and he arrived with an invite for pizza. Yes, we know, we had already had a whole pizza that day, amongst other food. But when in Rome, right? So of course, we said yes, and the six of us went out for pizza in the next village! It was a little restaurant, but the owners were friends of Gianna and Linda, so we got brilliant service and the pizza was absolutely amazing! We started off with a garlic pizza to share between us all, then Yvonne, Markus and I went for a vegan pizza (interestingly the two most famous pizzas in Italy are vegetarian – the margarita — and vegan – the marinara) which came with grilled courgettes, tomatoes, aubergine and some other veg on top, and it was absolutely delicious! Reece had a margarita topped with chilli peppers which he said was also very tasty. Afterwards, they brought to the table some limoncello and some sweet liquor which tasted a lot like Jagermeister. We all had a few shots each and then headed back home. Linda and Gianna were kind enough to take up the bill!
When we got home, more shots were on the cards in the form of grappa, which is a very strong clear Italian liquor made from grapes. We all stayed up till around one in the morning just chatting, laughing and drinking.
Saturday, 30th of November
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-Two: Cicerale – Salerno – Cicerale
For our final day, we had all planned to go to Salerno to see the Christmas lights, which was supposed to be quite a spectacle that people from all over Campania come to see. So, after eating breakfast, I had a little more chilled out morning whilst Reece, Markus and Gianna continued with the shed. It gave me a chance to catch up on some work I had to do and also this blog (well, the one before about Rome).
After a crazy car ride to Agropoli and a train, we reached to Salerno around 4pm, which was perfect timing as we arrived just before the sunset and it was quite a spectacular one that night. We had a steady walk along the coast, where they had a big wheel and also some little penguin lights on the rocks which were very sweet.
Then we entered ‘the Zoo’ which was a small park filled with the most amazing light sculptures of all different animals, from monkeys to flamingos to elks to elephants, it was like nothing I had ever seen before!
Then we simply spent a few hours walking through all the streets, which were filled lights, music, little shops and stalls, beautiful churches, a nativity and many many people. We walked and talked and gawped at everything around us until we got hungry again and went to a pizza place where we ate calzones!
We then did a little bit more walking and eating before heading to the train station where the last train of the evening was supposed to leave around 10pm. We got to the train station and we were a little confused as we couldn’t find the ticket office, but we weren’t too worried as Linda had checked the timetable a couple of days ago and we had plenty of time. Or so we thought. We somehow accidentally split up, Linda and Gianna found the ticket office whilst we were waiting outside where the train platforms were. Markus found Linda and Gianna, and unfortunately, we were met with bad news. The last train had already left, about half an hour ago… The next train going south wasn’t until 6am. Uh-oh. We all quickly checked different route options – maybe other trains, coaches, buses – surely? Nope, nothing until the morning. So, it was either a €100 taxi or staying up until the next train. It was a Saturday night after all. But we were all pretty tired, Yvonne and Markus had their animals at home in the van and Reece and I were planning on leaving in the morning. We got a drink and asked some locals to see if they could come up with another option. No, that was it.
In the end, we decided that the best option would be to simply split the taxi three ways and get back home that night, which is exactly what we did. The drive to Agropoli where the car was parked was an hour in the car (it was only 30 minutes on the train) and if you have ever been driven by an Italian, you will understand when I say that the car ride was quite an experience and I can’t say it was the best one. Exhilarating, for sure, but there was also quite a lot of genuine fear too… I had planned to get a little kip but after the first 10-minutes of aggressive overtaking, swerving and some good ol’ brake slamming, I decided that wasn’t an option. We reached the car at around midnight and then it was just a 25-minute car ride home with Yvonne in the boot as 6 people don’t quite fit in a 5 seater car!
I really feel like we have made such good friends here and I will be so sad to leave. I wish we could stay longer, but everything must come to an end, and so we carry on to the Almalfi coast tomorrow.
Sunday, 1st of December
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-Three: Cicerale – Ravello – Minori
We had a lovely last breakfast with everyone and then Reece and I packed up the van, which surprisingly takes quite a while given how few possessions we brought with us and then we left with parting gifts of fig jam, a candle and also some of Linda and Gianna’s organic olive oil that we bought. Both of us were pretty sad to be leaving, but we were grateful for the amazing time that we had had in Cicerale.
And then we were off to the Amalfi coast! I think the drive to the Amalfi coast through the outskirts of Napoli was some of the most hair-raising driving that we’ve done (well Reece has done, I daren’t go anywhere near the wheel in Italy) and how we came out of that without a scratch I have no idea, but we did anyway. We reached the coastal road of the Amalfi at around 2pm, and we were heading to Ravello, a little village just up from Amalfi that was recommended to us by my Nan who had been to Ravello many summers. We had planned to get there for lunch, but the views from the road were just so beautiful and we must have stopped every 15-minutes to gawp and take a picture as we just couldn’t believe how gorgeous it all looked. The road was pretty narrow and windy with lots of blind bends with quite a few huge tourist buses coming towards us, so I’m sure you realise how terrifying it was to both drive and be a passenger on this road, but what we were seeing made up for it all. Plus, we only have a little camper, so it could have been worse.
When we realised we were going to miss lunch, we decided to stop at a bakery in Minori that Gianna had recommended to us and get a cake – we went for a pistachio cheesecake and it was gorgeous.
Then, I took a look at places we could park in Ravello, but there was barely any, and the few there were, were all very expensive. I had a quick look on Google maps and it told us that it was only a 35-minute walk to Ravello, as opposed to a 25-minute drive, so we decided that we would stay where we were for the night and just walk to Ravello – it should be a nice walk along the coastline, right? We set off at around 4pm, so we had around an hour of sunlight left, so I was hoping we would catch the sunset from Ravello, which was said to have amazing views. What Google maps didn’t take into account was that the walk to Ravello was all uphill. And it was not a steady incline. I have never ever walked up so many steps. Ever.
This was me at the start of the walk, in the beautiful daylight just at the beginning of the steps. It had a sign to Ravello, so we knew people must walk to the village often.
And then there were more steps and more, and then even more! Then the 35 minutes slowly crept into 40, 50, 60 minutes…
It took us two hours to reach Ravello and by the time we got there, the sun had gone down, which was such a shame. But we couldn’t be too disappointed as the views on the way up there were breathtaking.
The town itself was very pretty and quaint and as we were walking around, even though it was dark, we got the sense that we were very high up and there were valleys all the way around with more villages nestled amongst them. Unfortunately, we had somehow managed to visit Ravello during a bank holiday, so everything was closed, even the restaurant we were hoping to have dinner in. We did find a little cafe that was open on the main square, so we each had an overpriced hot chocolate, which was disturbed by the sound of fireworks. We asked the waitress what was happening and she explained that on the first Sunday of December, the town celebrates the opening of the Christmas season. So we went outside to see what was happening and there was a small crowd of people gathered around the Christmas tree watching the fireworks, there was then a procession with choir singing and music which was quite lovely to watch.
Afterwards, we then began the long walk back home, since it was now all downhill we got back down much quicker. Halfway down we stumbled upon the most impressive view of a firework display over a castle which was perched on a cliff over the sea.
Since we had worked up quite an appetite from all the walking, we went to a pizza restaurant in Minori and ate pizza and drank wine which ended the night perfectly.
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-Four: Minori – Amalfi – Positano – Sorrento – Vico Equense
In the morning, we woke up after a reasonable night’s sleep on the seafront and then decided to get a coffee and a croissant at the bakery we went to the day before. We thought it would be very expensive, but since we stood up to drink and eat, it was a very reasonable price and was certainly the best coffee and croissant we’ve had – and that’s saying something as we’ve had some pretty delicious Italian breakfasts.
After breakfast, we had a quick walk on the beach before jumping back onto the windy coastal road!
Wow, wow, wow, I don’t think we’ve ever said this word so much in such a short space of time! The views were incredible and each town we went through had so much character. We drove through all the popular places such as the Amalfi and Positano, which were beautiful.
We reached Sorrento around 2pm, which was a place pretty high up on the list to visit but I don’t either of us believed that we would actually make it there in our little Papaya after all our setbacks. It was a special place to Reece in particular, as Ravello was for me because of my Nan, as it was a town that his Grandfather had loved dearly and had visited often. It was a gorgeous town on the coast with amazing views across the cliffs and a lovely town centre.
We looked for places nearby to sleep for the night and we found a spot near a place called Vico Equense which had a private beach near it and views across the ocean to the port of Napoli and Mount Vesuvius. We had a peaceful night sleep there.
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-Five: Vico Equense – Latina
This is the view that we woke up to the morning after staying in Vico Equense – it was pretty nice!
After another coffee and croissant, which was nowhere near as good as the one we had the day before, we set off back up North to the port of Civitavecchia, which was just above Rome. The drive kept us on our toes, as we now expected from Italy, and we made our way almost four hours north. We reached a town called Latina and parked in a car park just outside their local police station, which made us feel a little safer as it didn’t seem the most secure town ever (especially when we heard what sounded like gunshots not too far away from the van). But we still practised our bad Italian/Spanish/English mixture at our local pizzeria and had our last pizza out of our time in Italy. Then we went back to the van and had a pretty good nights sleep.
Day One-Hundred and Twenty-Six: Latina – Civitavecchia
I can’t say either of us were thrilled to leave Italy, although both of us were looking forward to getting to Spain to see Reece’s parents and have a little taste of home during Christmas time.
Italy was, well is, just absolutely magnificent.
I know a lot of people say they love Italy, but I suppose I wondered how different from the rest of Europe it could be. But wow. Italy is different. There is something just a little bit magical about the place. It’s like all the beautiful paintings of the coast and grand buildings come to life around you and the atmosphere is fantastic and the food even better. Plus, our time in the mountains both in Tuscany and Campania were brilliant and the views were just amazing. It is just a little slice of heaven.
But I do love Spain and Spanish and the country will always have a special place in my heart from living in Madrid, so I look forward to going back. But we will miss Italy.
The final day we spent driving from Latina to Civitavecchia where we were getting the ferry to Barcelona – we couldn’t bear driving back North all the way through France when we were so far down Italy, so we booked a ferry instead. The ferry was leaving at 11pm, but we got there around 8pm and just chilled in the back of the camper watching Netflix! As soon as we got to the cabin, we just got into bed and slept until morning.
Beyond Horizons 