A Trip Down the Italian South

It has been a while since I last blogged, life has been busy! Between flying back and forth twice to Canada in less than 2 months, attending a friend´s wedding, sneaking a weekend trip to Amsterdam, my sister´s engagement and losing luggage last week flying back to Munich - this summer has been busy. I feel like days are just passing me by, and I am trying to hold time shut in my fist. But my dismay is much like of a little child´s  of not being able to hold snow in their fists.

Today, I finally have some time to myself. And I feel like talking about my favourite part of Italy! A place we visited back in the first week of April. I know, I know, it was ages ago! I´ve been meaning to blog about Venice and the Amalfi Coast but, well, haven´t.

South of Italy - particularly the Amalfi coast and the little towns around it have always been on my must-visit lists. So when we were planning our week long Italy trip, I just had to squeeze that part in. While Rome and Florence are rich in history, the Amalfi coast is rich rich RICH in beauty.

We stayed in a town called Sorrento on the Amalfi coast, around 1.5 hours drive from Amalfi town. Sorrento is where the SITA buses (buses that run across the Amalfi coast) start. It is a lovely small resort hilly town by the Bay of Naples. However, getting there is a bit....sketchy. The train that gets to Sorrento is a local train and during late at night it feels seedy and a tad bit scary. I had told Umair about all that I had read about this train ride - Umair dismissed it saying it should be okay. And so he said to take the late evening train.

FYI - Umair was a teeny bit more scared than I was. ;)

Once in Sorrento, we realized it was a great decision to make Sorrento our base for South travels. The buses around the coast and ferries to Capri Island were all easily acceissble. And Sorrento is a charming little town.

I am a very nitpicky traveler. I can be nitpicky in general too but it's very apparent while we´re traveling because I always want to be on time, and know exactly what I want to see and do. Not to say I can't be flexible, but I wanna see what I wanna see! :) So, I wanted to get to the SITA bus as early as we possibly could, and sit on the right hand side on the bus. Yes, I had done my research as to which side of the bus gave better views. I had also read much about SITA buses being super crowded that people would  have to stand. And stand, I did not want! So, rising and shining like an early bird, we left to catch our bus. And sure enough, we were the first few ones to get on the bus, and I was able to sit on the right side! I was excited and nervous and didn't really know what to expect - I had heard the buses drove fast and crazy with sharp twists and turns, so I was a little scared too.

You can see how on the edge of the road we were!

Absolutely gorgeous, the bus ride was! And a roller coaster of an experience. Every time the bus would make a sharp turn, which would pretty much be every few seconds as the drive was constantly through the mountains, I´d clutch onto Umair´s hand for dear life, terrified. But I was mostly just captivated by the lovely views and the enthralling ride.

we had driven through all those mountains

We reached Positano, another small town on the coast, build on the hills, and it literally took my breath away. I had seen it in pictures, but seeing it out there is a completely different experience, one that I can't describe in words. Colourful houses stacked up on the hills, stunning Mediterranean landscape....I truly was speechless. Except for every 2 seconds, when I would repeat exactly this:

OMG UMAIR LOOK SO PRETTY!!
2 seconds later:
OMG UMAIR LOOK SO PRETTY!!
many 2 second intervals later, when I started 'OM-..':
Umair interrupted: Omg did it stop being pretty?! 

approaching Positano by bus

  

This was on our way back, when we stopped at Positano.

But before you get too envious of me - let me tell you that I did, after 1 hour of being on the bus, stop enjoying the ride. My motion sickness kicked in, and I felt super nauseous and was done with the ride and wanted to literally open the window and jump off the bus. Okay maybe not literally.

Finally we got to Amalfi town, and as always is the case with us and weather, it was rainy and windy! Umair must have seriously pissed off the Gods of weather at some point, because every city we visit, we get rain. And it has to be Umair and not me because....well, I'm the apple of everyone's eye. Shh, don't burst my bubble. 

Amalfi town

There are all apartments around - such wonderful views they wake up to everyday!

This is how the inside of the apartments stacked up on the hills. Must be no fun climbing for those who live at the top!

From Amalfi, we took a bus to a town up on the hill, Ravello. It was a 20 minute curvy, jerky ride up the hill. But thankfully the journey ended before my nausea could kick in. Plus, this view would be worth any kinda motion sickness!

"OMG UMAIR LOOK SO PRETTY!!"
(in mock tone) "OMG WHERE?!"

I'm back in medieval times!!

And then we headed back to Sorrento. But no...it wasn't that simple. It was possibly the worst ride of my life. Going back, we couldn't get a seat, we were standing. And it was crowded. And my motion sickness kicked in full force. I don't remember the last time I felt so sick like I did on that bus ride. We couldn't continue our journey and had to get off halfway through at Positano. We then shared a cab from there with some very chatty Germans. But I stayed shut because I was feeling sick again. It's strange though - because I absolutely love roller coasters and other fast joy rides. I wasn't expecting to actually feel this way on a bus ride. But I suppose roller coasters are a few seconds and the bus was for almost 2 hours. 

Next day we took a ferry to Capri Island. It was as beautiful, if not more, than the Amalfi coast. But that's another post altogether. 
 

Day Trippin' to Adorable Little Bamburg

Are we talking about ANOTHER cute German city?! I know, I know the list is never ending! Germany really is the land of adorableness! 

Couple weekends ago we took a day trip to Bamburg.

It's a small city - we walked from the train station into the city and around, and were done in less than 4 hours. There were flower markets all around as we entered the old town.

It was a lovely Saturday with gorgeous weather - tons of little markets around and streets filled with people.

Canals running through the city, walking along the main bridge with lovely architecture...

The view from the bridge below of the alte rathaus (old city hall) is lovely! And the area is called klein Venedig (mini Venice). As someone who's been to Venice, no, it's nothing like mini Venice, but it's still very charming! And we did get a little lost around the city - much like you do in Venice. We took a complete detour to get to mini Venedig when it was really just 5 minutes from where we were. So maybe it is a klein Venedig after all. 

Here is the view of alte rathaus from the above bridge:

There was a cute little shop around the corner....I waited a good 5 minutes for the lady to walk away so I could get a picture but she wouldn't stop staring at whatever she was staring so hard...I wonder if she was trying to eye-steal something. Should've gone up to tell her it never works. Tried a million times. 

As if Bamburg isn't already adorable enough, there's also a Rose Garden! 

Eating out around the wonderful roses!

But we ate right in the middle of old town...by a little pond, where a little ducky was swimming away all shy because some German boys were flirting with it. After lunch we chilled around the water, video taping myself! No, we're not weird. I mean, yes we are....but this was not one of our weird moments. This was for my best friend's wedding. Umair had to video tape me for a little presentation us bridesmaids put together for her! 

I've seen too many of these burgs in Germany. Rothenburg is definitely my nummer eins! Bamburg might be the 2nd? Or maybe it's Nuremburg. I'm not sure. Too many options! But one thing I know for certain is that I like them burgers burgs! 

Quotes from The Alchemist

I had been meaning to read Paulo Coelho's much talked The Alchemist for years now, and finally got around to doing it last week. I liked the book. A lot. But I think I will have to go back and read it again because there are so many layers to the story. 

It's an inspirational tale of pursuing one's dreams. The story is of an Andalusian shepherd who goes in search of his treasure from Spain to Morocco and finally to Egypt. The locations itself had my attention - the story did not even need to be captivating for me to read a book that's got 3 of my top places I want to visit! South of Spain, Morocco and Egypt - I'd read any book based on these countries. An amazing story line and some beautiful quotes are cherry on top. 

I won't even try reviewing it, because the book is too deep and I will not be able to do much justice to it. However, while reading, I marked down some of my favourite quotes from the book, and I feel like the quotes deserve a blog post of their own!

I started out with quotes in pictures, but realized there were too many I like and too lazy I am to go through all that work. So after a few picture ones, I gave up. All pictures are my own. 

"... at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.” 

“He never realized that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dreamed of.” 

“If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

"If you pay attention to the present, you can improve on it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings."

"When you make a decision, you are really diving in a strong current that will bring you to places you never dreamed of when you first made that decision."

"...and when each day is the same as next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises."

“His way isn't the same as mine, nor mine as his. But we're both in search of our destinies, and I respect him for that."

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” 

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” 

"Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn’t have the courage to say “yes” to life?”

"What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream."

Back to the Middle Ages!

Remember when I talked about how I want to go back in time to the Middle Ages? My wish was granted on my birthday a couple weekends ago. That day, I found myself in a place so magical that made me want to say, 'move over Disney, Rothenburg is boss!'.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a very small medieval town and one of the very few ones that has its walls still remain intact all around the town. It is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany and has an amazing old world feel to it. It is situated along the Romantic Road in Southern Germany. Romantic Road is the name given to a 350km stretch of highway which links a series of picturesque Bavarian towns and cities. It ends at Fussen, where the popular Neuschwanstein Castle is located. 

Sometimes I think Germany and I are meant to be. If I could go back in time, before going to the 13th century, I would make a quick stop into the mid 90s and tell little Naima the following:

Present Naima: Hello little Naima, you adorable but ignorant little girl who has no clue what this world is like.
Little Naima: My mama says I shouldn't speak to strangers.
Present Naima: Well, you don't really follow through that advice later on anyway, so it's okay.
Little Naima: I'm going to go look for my mama.
Present Naima: No wait. I am here to tell you something. Something about princesses and castles and fairy tales!
Little Naima: I like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. 
Present Naima: I know honey, which is why I'm here. You know when people tell you that fairy tales only exist in cartoons and movies? Well, don't believe it! 
Little Naima: *confused puppy eyes*
Present Naima: Yeah, people don't know. When you grow up, you'll see. There's a place called Germany. It will make your dreams come true. It will have magic and castles and maybe toads... 
Little Naima: When I grow up? I want to see it NOW!
Present Naima: I forgot what an impatient little thing you were. It's okay kid, patience.
Little Naima: NO... NOW!
Present Naima: And stubborn. I wonder how my parents dealt with you. Jeez. Anyway kiddo, hang in there...someday you will! I promise! 

While I am at it, might as well go back further in time to maybe the 13th century. 

Oh look! That's the present me standing by the entrance gates of Rothenburg, back in the 13th century of course.

Peak-a-boo! Little kids must have so much fun in this town....maybe I should've brought Little Naima with me. Would that even be possible?!

It's a different world out here. A world like in the storybooks.  Every corner is like a cut out of a story book or a fairy tale.

The arcs, the architecture, everything has the perfect old world charm to it. 

There's so many towers all around!

This has to be my favourite one...

But I'm not sure why people are dressed as if they're from the 21st century. Maybe there's others who're back in time?!! Or maybe history just has it wrong and these guys were well ahead of their times. 

Even the stuff hanging by shops and walls are so cute!

Walking the wall...and peeping through the little windows that open up to the outside world to make sure we are not being attacked!

Below is the main centre of the town - Marktplatz, where the rich patricians, senators and the nobles live. Or lived. Excuse my tenses because I'm not sure myself which tense I belong to at the moment. 

The town is absolutely magical and so cosy.

And there's a well!

Oh look who I spotted, now he fits right into this world. 

image found off google. i didn't take a picture of him from my cam.

It's Rothenburg's Night Watchman! While the people sleep in deep and safe slumber, the watchman guards the town, walking around to make sure no enemy enters. However, even though he is the main security guy of the town with the main job being to protect the Rothenburg citizens, his status is not an honourable one and general public is not a fan. But I like him. He is somewhat funny and tells some interesting stories about Rothenburg. And he's one guy in this town who got his dressing right! 

The night watchman also tells me that back in the day, Rothenburg wasn't so 'romantic and charming'. It usually smelled of filth from thousands of farm animals such as goats, cows, pigs, and geese that roamed the streets. Imagine the contrast from then and now! Let's ignore the absurdity of me talking about then and now when I am currently back in time. 

I can now hear the countdown going on in the back - it's my time machine. I suppose it's time....Goodbye, you wonderful world of magic! And farm animal poop, I suppose. 

End note: I would like to thank Mr. John J. Mcloy, assistant secretary of the War, because it was due to his love for this town, that the U.S. military were banned from bombing Rothenburg during WW2! Because of him, I can now say I have found my favourite place in Germany!