Traveling with Intrepid Day 7-8 - Amalfi

Happy Wednesday everyone! This is the last of my Intrepid Travel adventure posts in Italy (click on the Intrepid label to see all). The final two days of our trip were spent in Amalfi. Unfortunately we had rain for the majority of the time, but we did get one morning of sun where we visited the beach and explored the little town. It's hard to say whether we really experienced Amalfi fairly because the rain definitely affected everyone's mood. I did thoroughly enjoy the day we spent in the sun at the beach and the coastal views were amazing. Some of the others explored the "Walk of the Gods" with our guide Mattea and visited other towns nearby, but I found the winding roads nauseating, so caught up on my relaxation and enjoyed my very large hotel room! We also had some fantastic meals - you can see my amazing scampi dish below.

After our amazing trip we all headed back to the train to go back to Rome. My tickets were all booked thanks to Nicholas at Flight Centre. We all said goodbye to our amazing guide Mattea who was patient, helpful, knowledgeable and always understanding no matter what the situation. Thank you Mattea!

My friends and I all had at least one more day in Rome, so we all agreed to get together one last time in Trastevere. We went shopping, had dinner and enjoyed one last amazing evening in Rome. Sad to part, but we are planning on another Intrepid Travel  adventure soon as there is no better way to see a new place! 

Thank you Intrepid and Mattea for an amazing adventure. Thanks also to Sam at Intrepid in Toronto who helped book the tour, make sure everything was organized and patiently answered all of my questions :) There were so many things I would not have experienced on my own and the friendships I made will last a lifetime.  Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions at all about taking a tour!  Buon Viaggio!

Positano

Lentil soup on a rainy day

Amazing Hats

Amalfi from afar

One morning of sun! We took to the beach :)

I'll always find a beach wherever I am 

Love the old buildings

Amalfi is known for their stationery/paper making

Little town next to Amalfi

Scampi Dinner 

Amalfi in the evening 

Our amazing guide - Mattea 

Saying goodbye to everyone at the station

Back in Trastevere - The ring I bought from a street vendor

Owls - Wisdom!

Buildings in Rome

Sad to say goodbye

Everything ready to go back to the airport :( So sad!

Traveling with Intrepid - Sorrento and Capri!

Happy Friday everyone! Just a few more posts to go on my Intrepid trip in Italy. Still adjusting to Toronto time and getting back into the swing of things. 

As I mentioned in my post the other day, Sorrento was one of my favorite cities in Italy. This tour included two full days in Sorrento, so we decided to venture to Capri on the second day. It was one of the most memorable days of the trip, after Pompeii of course! 

The day started off with rain and we were worried we wouldn't be able to see very much. Magically though, as often seemed to happen in Italy, the brilliant sun came out and we were on our way around 11 am. We took the 20-30 minute ferry ride across to the island of Capri where we were met by a wonderful man who was selling private grotto tours on his boat. The large "Blue Grotto" was actually closed due to high tide and rough sees, so he insisted he could show us the smaller grottos that the large tour boats could not. I would highly recommend this as we had the boat to ourselves, a private tour and peace and quiet from the tourist scene for only a few Euros more. He took our photos, took us to a "white grotto" cave, showed us shapes in the mountains, where famous politicians and celebrities had stayed and the famous statues. It was so relaxing to be out on the water and to see Italy this way! We spent a few hours on the island of Capri before heading back for some shopping (where I purchased my beautiful leather baby below) and lunch.

We had a few hours of downtime before heading out for a gelato making seminar with Mario at Gelateria David back in Sorrento. He showed us how gelato is made and even explained how we could make our own gelato. He also provided us with little certificates and recipe cards to take home with us.  Mario made lemon gelato for us during the demonstration and I have to say it was the best gelato I have EVER tasted! Yes, Gelateria David is THE best place for gelato in Italy, in my eyes! 

Intrepid excels at taking you to unique places and providing experiences with local communities. This is something I just couldn't have found on my own!

After gelato, we had a dinner and ended up spending the later evening in the piazza at one of the cafes. Great friends, amazing setting and a wonderful experience. Couldn't ask for anything more!

See the boats below? This is where you catch the boat to Capri!

Couldn't get enough of the setting

View from the dock

Busy Capri

Our amazing guide!

Can you see the sitting statue?

Up above you can see a patron saint statue

Great friends!

The pictures do not do the blue water justice!

A smaller version of the blue grotto :)

I didn't notice this until after!

As you can tell from these pictures - the sun started to come out!

Wearing my Kaliyana Anti-Suit jacket

Lunch!

My new leather baby from a local shop in Sorrento

Gelato time with Mario!

Gelato King

Mario and I 

Mario's lovely wife

Fantastic local restaurant where we had dinner!