This was our first time using the water bus on the Grand Canal. The trip was easy and it was so lovely to view the architectural features of the buildings from the water. I am glad that out hotel desk clerk recommended this option of travel to the train station as it was easy and more pleasant than our airport travel experience.
The train ride took about 6 hours and the whole experience was quite pleasant. The train was clean, on schedule, and very comfortable. Coincidentally I had booked our reservation in a “quiet” car, so we all got to relax with reading material (Wendy), work/reading material (Scott), and electronic devices (kids). The scenery outside the train was beautiful, especially as we travelled through the vineyards and rolling hills in Tuscany around Florence.
We arrived mid-afternoon at the Naples train station, where we met our driver who we had made reservations with in advance to take us down to our next destination, Sant'Agnello. The streets outside the Naples train station were crazy with traffic! So glad we didn't have to navigate this on our own.
Side note – the family pretty much forgave me for the miserable water bus experience from the Venice airport once we were enjoying the ease and comfort of having a driver take us in a private Mercedes car to Sant'Agnello! The alternative to hiring a driver was a one-hour slow trip on a public train, which would have been OK in retrospect but likely frustrating upon arrival when we didn't understand the local rail systems. As our family discussed during the trip, sometime you feel grateful that you get to splurge on luxuries while other times you sacrifice to make the splurges seem reasonable.
On the outskirts of Naples, our driver pointed out the Mount Vesuvius as we passed it. Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and several other settlements. We visited Pompeii several days later and learned a lot more about the role of the volcano in the demise of the city.
We had reservations at the Hotel Corallo in Sant'Agnello, the town immediately north of Sorrento just west of the Amalfi Coast. Upon arrival, we were immediately impressed by the location of this place. Look at these amazing photos!
This amazing view was from the balcony of our room. Breathtaking!
John immediately wanted some time in the infinity pool, and all of us enjoyed cooling off (a little, it was still hot) in the breeze off the ocean.
After pool time, showers, and time in air conditioning, we headed out for dinner. Not wanting to walk or take a taxi about 2 miles into the neighboring town of Sorrento, we settled on a quaint local restaurant about 5 blocks from the hotel in Sant'Agnello, Moonlight Restaurant. I read positive reviews of this restaurant before we left for Europe and we were eager to see how the experience lived up.
Well, the food was AMAZING, and agreed by all as one of the best meals we enjoyed on our entire trip. Pictured above was grilled fresh fish (snapper, I think) and caprese salad. The restaurant had a lovely outdoor courtyard that felt peaceful, the food was fresh, delicious, and quite reasonably priced, so a super big win all around.
What a great ending to a lovey day travelling south to explore another region of Italy! I went to bed this night feeling excited about getting up the next day to explore a new place I had never visited before.
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