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!

Traveling with Intrepid - Day 1 - Rome - Colosseum, Hotel Stella, Dinner, Meet and Greet and Blogger Get Together

Hi everyone! Thanks again for following my adventures in Italy! Time is flying and I can't believe I only have five days left. I have had the time of my life so far :) For those of you planning on traveling to Europe, especially women, I thought I would share what it is like to travel on a tour with a group. As you know, I was in Rome and Tuscany for the first part of my trip. I then joined a tour with Intrepid Travel which is an Australian travel tour company. I heard about them through my interview with Dave  and Deb of the Planet D and started a Twitter discussion between Contiki, Intrepid and G Adventures to see which one fit best for me. Intrepid has been fantastic on social media and helped me choose the best trip over Twitter! I then visited the Intrepid tour office in Toronto where Sam helped me select the best tour/time and plan the rest of my trip around it. I also worked with Flight Centre on Yonge and King to book the hotels before and after the tour.  They were all very helpful and the result has been one of the best trips of my life!

A bit about Intrepid

Intrepid is all about the exploring local communities. You travel with a local guide who leads you around places you wouldn't be able to find on your own. As their website says, they love "real-life travel experiences. The romance of the road, the wonder of the unknown, the thrill of the discovery" is what they try to create for their travelers. 

The trips consist of small groups of 10-13 people which makes it easy to travel together, look after each other and get to know each other more personally. This allows guides to take you to more hidden sites that are just not accessible with bigger groups. So far the experience has been one of the most memorable travel experiences and we are fortunate to have an amazing guide (Mattea) to show us around southern Italy. I have also already met some wonderful people, who I will stay in touch with and perhaps plan another Intrepid trip with in the future :) I'm thinking sailing the Greek islands next!

Day 1 - Rome, check in, meet and greet, dinner and fashion blogger get together

After checking out of my hotel in Trastevere, I traveled to Rome to check into the Stella hotel for the first day of the tour. We pretty much had the day to ourselves, so I decided to do the Colosseum and Palatine Hill/The Forum.  I also found a fantastic archaeological museum near Termini station on the way which of course I had to stop in. Onto the Colosseum! My friends who attended the wedding as well, suggested I sign up for a guided tour of the Colosseum and Palatine Hill and that is exactly what I did. Twenty-five euros for both entrance tickets and two guided tours. While I already knew a lot about the Colosseum and its history, it was really great to hear about it live as I walked through. I didn't have time to participate in the Palatine Hill tour, but walked through and took pictures. It was really worth the visit! 

After checking in, we went for dinner with the group and then I met with the talented Raluca of Latte Fashion Delicious! Check out her website here when you have a minute to see some of her amazing photo shoots.

A bit about the Colosseum

Also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of Rome. It could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. Built just east of the Roman Forum, the colosseum building was initiated by emperor Vespasian in 70AD and was completed by his successor Titus in 80AD. Later, in 81-96AD emperor Domitian also made modifications. These three emperors are recognized as being a part of the Flavian Dynasty.

The view from the hotel

I got some great shots in the Kaliyana anti-suit

More to come on their Facebook page

Dinner - Top left and Centre

Lunch - Top right and bottom

With Raluca of Latte Fashion Delicious