18/06/2017 Amy woke me up by slapping me in the face, had a quick shower and then walked down to the train station. Managed to catch up a little sleep on the train but not enough. Walked through Venice to arrive at our apartment with James and Jill arriving soon after. Stocked up on beers from the supermarket and had one before going to find Pete and Pei. They were at a cute little bar where we had 1 bottle of wine before finding a place for dinner. Had a decent pasta dish except that Ragu didn’t mean what I thought so it was bolognase. Shared the news of our engagement over a bottle of prosecco. It was already pretty late by the time we left but we still managed to find a late night bar which even had some nice beers. Walked home through the empty streets and went to sleep.
19/06/2017 Woke up tired but not hungover. Had a banana for breakfast and went out to meet Pete and Pei at the Rialto bridge. Did a little walk to visit some touristy spots and then planned to visit the bevitore except it wasn’t open. Instead we got beer, meat, cheese and bread from the supermarket and sat down to have a picnic. Went back to the apartment to consume some of the beers in the fridge. When it got late enough we went to get some dinner. Stopped for some cicchetti at a recommended venue, but skipped the recommended restaurant as we all wanted something cheaper. Got myself a tasty 4 cheese pizza. Had 1 more drink at a nearby craft beer bar and then called it a night.
20/06/2017 Woke up and packed our bags before walking to the station. Since we had a few hours until the train we sat in a restaurant to get breakfast. Had s fairly average thick style pizza. Got on the train which was rather comfortable. Got to Florence and walked to the apartment which somehow was in a completely different place than Google told us. Luckily the man noticed us and called out to Hamy and let us in. Pretty average apartment compared to what we had in Venice. Met with PT and Pei at their place for a few drinks before heading to a restaurant which was too busy to accommodate us. Luckily we found another not to far away where I had an amazing steak and we even got some free limoncello shots. Then went to a craft beer place called one eyed jacks and got a few beers before moving to yet another beer bar before heading to bed rather late.
21/06/2017 Woke up very tired and did a bunch of exploring around Florence. Had lunch in a pizza restaurant which everyone seemed to enjoy but mine was falling apart and very messy which ruined it for me. After a bit more exploring and trying desperately to change my Albanian Lek we ended up back in our area so grabbed some food and bevs from the supermarket to have at our place. Probably stayed a little too long as it became very hard to find an open restaurant that could seat 6 people. Managed to find a table just before a place closed the kitchen and got a slightly expensive menu along with a giant 1.5L bottle of wine. Food was pretty good but my beef stew could have done with something to break it up.
22/06/2017 Caught the train to Naples, once again a comfortable train. As soon as arriving there I wanted to leave. People were pushing, shoving and yelling all over the place. Found the train to Sorrento which was packed to the brim and stinking hot. After an uncomfortable hour we arrived at our stop and wandered down to our accommodation. Unfortunately no one was there to meet us and trying to call them and get someone to help us was exceptionally difficult. Finally we got let in and the place turned out to be really nice, especially the air conditioning. Once we settled we went down to the beach and had a lovely swim out to a nearby boat. Unfortunately no one invited us aboard for a drink. Went to the supermarket after and picked up loads of food and some beers which we sadly had little time to get through. Went out to a local restaurant where I got another pizza which just didn’t quite hit the spot. Found a bar called jolly blu which was very cheap but the beer was shit. Then home for a decent sleep, but I just wished I had a little more
23/06/2017 Got up a little early to catch the train to Pompeii. Wasn’t paying enough attention and boarded the train going the wrong way so had to wait 20 minutes for the next one after the one we missed just pulled away from us. Got to Pompeii and did some back and forth trying to find the best ticket deal with some offers being a bit dodgy. Spent about 2 hours wandering through the ruins, missed a few things but it was too hot to keep wandering around. Went back to our station and grabbed some lunch at the tourist bar which was acceptable. Did a quick change at the apartment before going for a swim at the beach. Had a big plate of meat and cheese before walking to Sorrento for dinner. Probably didn’t need dinner at all but had a tasty gnocchi. Then walked back and went to sleep
24/06/2017 Woke up late after a long sleep and had some breakfast. Was planning to skip lunch but got roped into it. I tried to have a small meal but it turned out large. Went for a very long swim out to a giant boat but sadly the owner did not invite us on for a drink. Went back to have a shower and do some washing. Started reading the lean startup before we headed back to Sorrento for dinner. The restaurant was much nicer than previous places with the wine being much more expensive, the food not so much. The little extra charges they tried to tack on offended PT who went off at the waiter before the owner agreed to remove the cover charge. We went for a little wander through Sorrento before heading back to sleep.