The drive to the south of Italy
Just as the cities in the north are filled with international tourists the south is filled with Italians heading to the sea to manage the heat this country gets over summer. Boy is it hot. Temperature wise probably similar to Sydney but humidity way more. Still completely worth it specially when I look at the rain Sydney's winter is bringing.
Our drive from Tuscany was a long one and if you're driving and thinking 'oh I'll take the scenic route' don't there isn't one even if the map shows it. Anyhow despite the disappointment of no sea view and a good half hour halt right in the middle of the freeway, the long 7 hours drive didn't feel so long with two drivers. Specially since once again we got very lucky with our lunch stop.
We took the exit closest to our freeway so we wouldn't get lost and it was a small town called Caianello and we were directed by some lovely locals to an agroturismo restaurant called Bernardino Lombardo and it was yum. The freshest ingredients, probably grown right there, we were so full for just €10. One of the best tomato salads I've had. Honestly it was just tomato, olive oil, and salt and it was delicious. If by any freak chance you are driving along Tuscany down south go to www. berardinolombardo.com. You won't be disappointed.
The minute we passed Rome though we could see the change. It is such a different and well poorer part of the country. While driving on the freeway overlooking the cities you can see how cramped it is suddenly there is no sense of space, people cramped in the heat, graffiti everywhere. I'm glad I made it further south cause it sure is a different place, people just seem more... real I think. The rest of Italy as in the north has a lot of European in it. Like people in Milan, Paris, Zurich similar in a way and then here along Napoli, Pompeii and Amalfi it's 180 degrees.
Along with the dressing the driving changes as well. It's simply crazy. There is no concept of lanes or indicators and above all that the roads are super thin along the hills. I have to say driving further than Tuscany probably a bad idea. But we made it and without a scratch thanks to some team work - brilliant driving and instructions :)
Making our way down a steep hill we made it to our lovely resort on the Sorrento side of the coast in Vico Equense. Le Axidie was lovely, suggested by a friends mom it was definitely full of Italian families but the people were lovely and most helpful. That night we decided to of course try the hotel restaurant despite having bad experience with hotels. And we were right places with good views serve average food. Just like our hotel in Tuscany this place too had pretty ordinary food and of course over priced. But the saving grace sure was the spectacular sunset and wait for it - the dolphins. Yes we saw about 3-4 of them jumping around playing in the ocean pretty much right in front of us with the sun it's beautiful deal yellow-orange.
We slept early thanks to the exhaustion from the drive and also since we had to go drop the car off in Napoli and we wanted to head to Pompeii before then.
