We set our earliest alarm of the trip so far for this morning, 6:00 AM. We need to be on the road by 7:30 AM, and needed to complete our suitcase packing and transition to train mode, where everything needs to be inside our luggage for our train ride from Rome to Naples later this morning. This was going to be our longest and most complex travel day for the trip, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time to make our train connection in Rome in case of unexpected problems driving to the station.
I actually woke up a little early, I was thinking about all of the information we needed to have for today’s travel. After showering, I woke Stephanie up so she could get ready. We needed to go to the breakfast room at the hotel to pick up some of the packaged breakfast items that they have out all the time. These were the items that they had shown us when we checked in yesterday. We knew we were leaving before the start of the official breakfast time, and they had told us to get any available items we wanted before we left. We also needed to take back the ice pack we had borrowed yesterday to keep our cheese cold since we had no refrigerator in the room. I picked up some small packs of cookies, some kind of dried toast in small packages, and jelly. I also picked up the one banana that was in the fruit bowl. Of course, I forgot the ice pack at the room the first time I went, so I had to go back, and that is when I remembered the yogurt that was in the kitchen refrigerator, so I picked up two small containers on my second trip there.
We had our makeshift breakfast in the room and finished packing up the suitcases. I went out to the parking area in back and brought the rental car from there to a spot nearer to our door. We loaded everything up into the car and were heading south to Rome by 7:25 AM. We needed to get to Rome, stop for gas near the rental car return, return the car, and walk to the Termini Train Station to make our 11:47 AM train to Naples.
Google Maps showed us that it was a 2 hour 20 minute drive to the Roma Termini Station where we are dropping off the rental car. Our drive started off slowly as we exited Assisi, and headed through the larger town of Perugia. There was a considerable amount of morning traffic in Perugia, and we had about 5 km of stop and go traffic on the highway until we got past the congestion at the main exit that almost everyone else was taking into Perugia.
From there, the traffic was pretty good, and the speed limits were either 90 kph or 110 kph for most of the way on the SS3 Highway. There were several areas of construction where they diverted the opposing traffic to one lane on our side, or vice versa, making the highway two lanes instead of the normally divided four lanes, and those slowed us down some because of the slower speed limits.
A portion of the drive nearer to Rome was on the autostrada A4, and the speed limit there was 130 kph, so we made better time. There were also three lanes, and the large trucks, for the most part, only travel in the far right lane, and are restricted to 100 kph speed limits. We knew the A4 was a toll road, so when were exited the SS3 to merge onto the A4, we had to go through a ticket booth and get a ticket for the toll we would pay later, based on distance traveled.
We were on the A4 for about 35 km and we approached the toll collection gates. We knew we wanted one that was not an automated pass, so we headed for the signs indicating “coins”, to pay either by cash or credit card. They were unmanned pay stations. We had no idea how much the toll would be, but we had accumulated quite a large amount of euros in coins. We inserted our ticket and the toll appeared on the screen as 4.50. Stephanie handed me the toll amount in several coins and I dropped them into the coin receptacle. For some reason, it indicated that we only paid 4.20 of the 4.50 due, even though we had put in 4.50 in coins. We tried to put in an additional 0.30 in coins, but they just slipped through without registering. Then we tried a 0.50 coin, and the same thing happened. Of course, without paying the full amount, the gate would not open. Then someone came on the loudspeaker and we tried to tell them that the machine would not take our coins. Of course, they were speaking in Italian, and we did not understand. We then tried the credit card slot, but it did not have a green signal on indicating it was active, so that did not work either.
I was getting frustrated because there were now a couple of cars behind us, and we had already been there several minutes. Someone again spoke to us through the speaker, telling us to take the receipt that came out, and we did, but the gate did not open, then another receipt came out and the gate finally opened. We are not sure what happened, but were glad to be through the toll gate.
I was now not sure if we needed to take the exit immediately to the right or continue on the A4, so I headed to the right, and sort of cut someone off as I slowed down to try and get to the exit, but it was too late, and we did not make that exit. We had not really discussed the route before we went through the toll gate. I got so caught up in the toll issue that I was not sure where to go once we got through. We realized needed to continue on the A4 anyway, so all was good. It was a terrible experience. Maybe next time we just pay with a credit card, or use bills for payment, apparently there is some issue with using coins. We have had coins rejected in other ticket machines before, for no apparent reason. FOLLOW-UP NOTE: There is a little story later on in a Positano Post about the two toll “receipts”, and what they actually were.
We continued on the A4 for about 25 km and finally exited for Rome. We were on a busy street that was backed up by one stop light, so it took us several minutes to go about 2 km. Then the traffic eased once we got past the intersection with the stop light. We knew there was an Esso gas station on this road from our pre-trip research, and it was only about 7 km from the car return, close enough to fill up with fuel before we returned the car. It was sort of hidden by some construction barricades, but we made it into the station at the last second. We pulled up to a pump, apparently a cash only pump, and the attendant said cash only, which was OK. We filled up and paid, we were not even sure how much the gas was per liter, but we put in Euro 28.70 of fuel, and paid the attendant. In the end, the cash payment was probably easier than paying with a credit card. The only possible issue was that we did not get any type receipt for the gas purchase if we needed one to show the rental return attendant where we filled up with gas when we returned the car, which we have sometimes been asked for in past rentals in Europe. FOLLOW-UP NOTE 2: Not getting a receipt for the gas ended up being a great mistake, we will explain later in another Positano Post.
We drove the remaining distance to the rental return, and it was a little nerve racking, the roads were narrow, sometime wide enough for two “lanes”, even though there were no lines, and some places where cars were merging together into one lane from two, due to limited space. At one point, there was a police car behind us with lights and siren going. I was not sure if we had done something, or they were just trying to get by on the way to an emergency. There was not really anywhere to pull over, so we just kept going, and they eventually passed by. By that time, their siren and lights were off.
We finally made it to the garage for the rental return, but since it was full, we could not get the ticket machine to give us a ticket to go through the entrance gate. We tried to push the button several times to get a ticket to open the gate, and finally someone spoke through the speaker, in Italian of course. I don’t know what they said, but I said “Avis” and a ticket popped out, and the gate opened after we took it.
We knew we needed to go to the fifth floor to drop off the car, and there were some really tight turns going up the ramps from floor to floor. When we got to the fifth floor, it was hard to get to the Avis area, there were cars parked everywhere, and not all of them were in parking spaces, some just in the main passageway. We finally got close to the return desk, and tried to park, but we were blocking the passage for cars that were now behind us, they were just trying to get out of the garage, not dropping off a rental car. We finally pulled up through a very narrow gap and found a place to leave the car that was not blocking anyone, but just barely.
An attendant came out to check in the car, but he said his “system” was down and he could not log in to check us in electronically. His only solution was to give us a manual receipt, which was just him writing down the return time and date, the mileage, that the gas tank was full, and that there was no damage to the car. He did show us something on his phone that appeared to be an attempt to log into Avis, and he did seem to try to login, and it would not work. He then signed what he had written on the back of our rental agreement, telling us he would input the information electronically as soon as the system was operational, and we would then receive an email confirmation. We really had no choice, but I was a little concerned because we were supposed to be credited some initial charges for fuel that we had already been charged if we brought the car back less than full. We really had no choice, we needed to catch our train to Naples. FOLLOW-UP NOTE 3: This was perhaps our biggest mistake of the trip, which again will be explained further in a post for Positano.
We took the elevator to the bottom of the garage and headed to the train station across the street, and up about two blocks. We entered the station, and took an elevator up to the next level. Unfortunately, this was not the main station, it was just a few platforms for regional trains that was separate from the main platforms. We headed back down the elevator, and walked farther up the street and finally entered the main train station, sort of, it was a department store at the station that we had to walk through to finally emerge at the platform area of the main station.
Once we finally made it to the platforms we still had about 80 minutes before our train departed. We went upstairs to the area where the signs indicated the WC (bathroom) was and found quite a few eateries. The bathrooms were on one end, and it was Euro 1.00 per person to enter. We took turns, one of us needed to watch the luggage. At least they were really clean inside, so that makes up for having to pay.
We had time, so we stopped off at a sandwich counter and purchases two sandwiches and a bottle of water for lunch. We had some left over potato chips with us, and we sat at a table and ate. The sandwiches were really good.
We went back downstairs and waited near the entry gates for the platforms, and watched as the electronic boards got closer to posting the platform number that our train we be at once it arrived. It had originated in Milan, and Rome was the next to last stop before it ended in Naples, our destination.
We headed through the gate that was posted for our entry point for the platforms, These gates are used for some ticket checking to validate you have a need to be out on the platform as a form of security, probably to keep beggars and people who want to be paid to help you with your luggage, or perhaps help themselves to your luggage inadvertently left alone out by the trains.
Our train was arriving on platform 8, and we headed out there before it was actually at the station. It was nice to finally have some indication of where the particular coaches would be, we were in coach (car) number 4, so we stopped under the electronic sign that was displaying Coach 4.
The train arrived a few minutes later, and after the people departed for Rome, we got onto our coach at the end designating where we would be closest to our seat numbers. There was a small luggage rack at the end of the car, and we placed our two big suitcases there, and headed to our seats. We had gotten opposing window seats so we would be guaranteed Stephanie would be facing forward once we knew the direction the train would leave the station.
It was a set of four seats, with a table in the middle, and no one else was sitting there for this last segment of the train’s route, so we actually got to sit side by side and have some extra room. The train ride was about 1 hour 12 minutes, scheduled to arrive in Naples at 12:55 PM. The train was one of the faster trains in Italy, but there was no information screens in the coach that showed how fast we were going. According to info on the internet, the Freccia trains go 300 kph, or 190 mph. The Italian trains, or at least not this particular train, are not smooth running at higher speeds. I was trying to do some work on the blog with the free Wi-Fi on the train, but it was so shaky that I could not use the mouse very well, it was jumping all over from the train movement and vibration. Occasionally, we had to slow down to go through a station, and it was much smoother, but at high speed, it was really rough. I did not remember ever having this problem on other fast trains in Spain or Germany.
No one ever came by to check out tickets, maybe they don’t think people get on these trains by mistake, or they have a way of visually comparing taken seats to known passengers. Other than the vibration at high speed, the train ride was good, and we made it to Naples generally on time, at least by Italian standards.
We had scheduled a shuttle service through a company called Positano Shuttle to take us from the Naples Train Station to Positano, it is just too difficult to do on your own using the slow local train and buses. The instructions they gave us were to meet the shuttle driver at Platform 18 by the Ticket office for the Frecciarossa Trains. Our train arrived at Platform 18 and when we were exiting the platform, there were a lot of drivers holding signs with names on them, but it was really crowded, and we did not think we were meeting anyone there according to our instructions. I glanced at the drivers there with the signs, but saw nothing with our name on it. We headed over to the ticket office and waited for the shuttle time we had signed up for, which was 1:30 PM, thinking that they were not yet there because it was only 1:00 PM when we got off the train.
There were other shuttle companies there, and also several people holding up small papers with names printed on them as other trains arrived. I wandered around making sure I was not overlooking something while Stephanie watched the luggage. I saw several people with lists, but none were from our shuttle company. An older man approaches us and asked if we were waiting for a shuttle to Sorrento, we told him Positano, and in very broken English, asked to see our paperwork. He then took me over to another man who had a sign with the name “Bond” on it that we had not seen when exiting the train platform, and he was our driver. The older gentlemen wanted a tip, so we gave him one Euro as a tip, and we don’t think he was happy with that amount. Oh well. Apparently our driver had been waiting for us for the 20 minutes since our train had arrived. The instructions we were provided with were just bad, no one had told us to look for someone with a sign that had our name on it, nor did the “wait by the ticket office” instructions make any sense if we were really supposed to be looking for a driver right after we exited the train. Our driver was not looking for any other passengers but us, and we had expected to be part of a shared shuttle with several other passengers. In the end it all worked out but it was just another stress point for the long day of travel.
We headed outside with our driver Rosario, and he went to get his Mercedes Van. It looked better than it rode, the suspension was shot, and we felt every bump in the road. In addition, it was hot outside, and he had only his window open for air. It was slow getting through traffic and away from the area around the train station, but after about 15 minutes of nerve wracking driving, we were on a highway. Rosario finally rolled up the window and turned on the air conditioning, which was welcome. He was very nice, and fun to converse with. He made one stop at a scenic overlook near Sorrento before heading onward to Positano.
It took close to two hours for the drive to Positano, the roads are very winding, and speed limits were slow once we left the highway near Sorrento. We had been in contact via WhatsApp texting with the person meeting us at our shuttle drop off point in Positano, Angelo, from our accommodation, Casa Alessandra. We were dropped off at the meeting point, Bar Internazionale, which was close to the property, and we waited on Angelo to show up. While we were waiting for him to arrive, we purchased a bottle of red wine from the Bar Internazionale, they sold bottles of wine along with some sandwiches and other drinks.
After about 20 minutes, Angelo arrived, and helped to get our bags up to the property, which was up the stairs from the street near the bar. He took Stephanie’s large suitcase, and I took mine. I was about to give out on the steps from carrying up the heavy bag, we had already climbed about 50 steps, when Angelo stopped headed up a short staircase at the front door of the property. He was tired, and so was I. We were both breathing heavily from the climb with the heavy luggage.
The apartment was really large inside, and Angelo spent some time acquainting us with the apartment, and then with Positano. He apparently also did tours, so he spent more time explaining everything we should try to do, including his tours. He was there about 30 minutes, and we were starting to get into information overload. He was trying to tell us about a lot of restaurants, ferry schedules, beaches and about everything to do in and around Positano. It was nice, but we just could not remember it all. Luckily, most of the information was in a book on the table. He did send several items of information to us via WhatsApp text so we had a lot of the info on our phone in case we needed it.
He finally left and we settled in and unpacked. First priority was to do some laundry, This is the last accommodation we will have with a washing machine before we head home. We started a load and spent some time up on our outside deck overlooking Positano. The views from there were amazing, and that was probably part of the reason this was a pricey place to stay. That and the size, it had two bedrooms, a full kitchen, eating area, and a large bathroom. We then visited the small grocery next to the Bar Internazionale and picked up some pasta sauce, cheese, Coke Light and another bottle of red wine for tomorrow’s dinner.
We opted to go to a restaurant, the Da Costantino, which was up the hill from our place. Angelo had recommended them as having the best pizza in Positano. We walked up not thinking about the time, and that they might not yet be open. Most of the restaurants we have been to so far seem to open for dinner at 7:00 PM or 7:30 PM, but luckily, this one actually opened at 6:30 PM. We had arrived a little early, but they let us sit at a nice table near the open windows overlooking the city. The only caveat was that we needed to be done before 8:00 PM because another party had this table reserved for that time. That was plenty of time for us to eat, especially since we were the only ones there this early.
Stephanie ordered a pizza, and I had a Calzone, which was gigantic. We also got a liter of red house wine for Euro 10.00, which was really good. About 30 minutes after we arrived, and had just gotten our food, a really big thunderstorm came through, and it poured rain, along with a lot of lightning and thunder. It was pretty to see the lightning from this vantage point that was so high up and overlooking the town below.
The power was interrupted several times as we finished our meal and then it was out throughout the whole town. They were brief outages of just a few minutes, and it was interesting to see the town go dark below us, and then to have all the lights come back on in stages.
Once we were finished with dinner, they served us a complimentary shot glass of Limoncello, which was nice and very good.
It really rained hard for quite a while both during and after we were finished eating. No new guests were coming into the restaurant because of the heavy rain. We actually even got some hail as we were sitting by the open window. Luckily, for the most part, the wind was not blowing the rain into the window, and the cool air was refreshing.
It was close to 8:00 PM, so we called over the lady who had originally seated us to inquire if we needed to leave our table for the next guests. It was raining too hard to leave but we could easily move to a different table. She told us that the party had moved their reservation to 9:00 PM because of the rain, so we had another hour to wait for the rain to subside. We ordered another 1/2 liter of house wine to drink while we waited out the storm.
At about 8:40 PM, the rain had subsided enough for us to leave and walk home. There were actually a few new customers now arriving to eat. It had been a nice and relaxing evening at the restaurant watching the storm from high above Positano. We headed home in a slight drizzle, but had brought umbrellas since we knew there was supposed to be some rain this evening, we just had no idea it would be so severe.
It only took about 10 minutes for us to walk home, it was all downhill, even though there were about 85 steps. It had been a long day, but we were happy we made it without too much stress or difficulty, just a few issues here and there, but less stressful than I had anticipated. We had a nightcap of wine before heading off to sleep at about 10:30 PM.