Port of Sorrento!

Bustling public beach.
There's a walkway and a lift that goes up the cliffside to the town centre.

We took THE most crowded bus to the Amalfi coast. Because of the sheer number of people we would have to fight for a spot on the bus, we only made the one stop for the day.

And what an amazingly good stop it was! Positano is picture perfect.

Suuuper touristy but for good reason. Every turn around every corner is beautiful.

The water is the most gorgeous and clear blue. On the cold side but perfect for combating the heat of the August.

It was a glorious day to get in the water.

We stayed in a sweet Airbnb in Massa Lubrense, about 20 minute bus ride from Sorrento.

The highlight of Massa Lubrense is definitely a random bakery we stumbled upon. BEST. Doughnuts.  in Europe (so far) Seriously, fresh, light and full to overflowing with delicious hazelnut chocolate.
If I hadn't been so eager to bite into this one I could have taken a picture of the cute chocolate smiley face on the top :)

Alley in Sorrento before the market opened and it was flooded with people.

We were beyond excited to see the island of Capri and, of course, it had to rain and be the worst weather of our trip on that day :(

We had a delicious lunch with a great view (which would have photographed better if the weather had cooperated. Sorry!)

He's my favorite.

We walked rather than take the tram up the small mountain. (The queue for the tram was NOT happy) Even though it was overcast, it was hotter and more humid than any other day so we were dripping by the time to the top. Gross but true.

Originally we thought that the ferry office in Sorrento (where we got the tickets for Capri) was the best source of information. THEY LIED. When we bought the tickets to Capri we were informed that the last ferry back would give us only a few hours to explore. After walking around most of the island, I asked the ferry office about times back to Sorrento. We could take any ferry back! We were excited to stay, do a tour, grab a lemony ice treat and more.
Our decision to take the tour around the island and see the Blue Grotto happened simultaneously with the closure of the tours because of rough water. Figures.

I don't know which part of our trip I was most excited about: Rome or Cinque Terre.
We have heard wonderful things about both places and after some great recommendations from friends, we only ended up dedicating one day to Cinque Terre. There is really too much to do in Italy and we packed in loads in our 10 days.

This UNESCO World Heritage site is now protected to keep from overcrowding and wearing out the trails between the five towns. You must purchase a pass for walking the trails (and there are checkpoints between towns) and eventually the daily total number of people allowed to enter the towns will be limited.

Monterosso
Eat alllll the foccacia. Doesn't matter what's on it but the potato slices were surprisingly tasty! We found focaccia very close to the train station :) easy peasy.

Has to be one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done.

Vernazza

I read another blog that called Vernazza 'the pretty, popular girl in school'. I totally get that now.

Taylor was stung by a little blue jellyfish less than a minute after I took this photo. It was terrifying for both of us for different reasons. He had just watched a documentary about the deadliest animals in  Australia and a jellyfish was one of them. He thought he was about to die.
My terror lay in the fact that I might have to pee on his sting in front of the large crowd. (ever seen that FRIENDS episode??)

Luckily, Taylor was fine. I did a quick google search and found that I didn't actually have to pee on anything. We just watched as the angry red spot on his lower back swelled and then went down again. I read that rubbing the affected area with salt water helped the irritation so that's all we did. It was only a little traumatic and wouldn't stop us from getting in the water again!

The view from Corniglia.

To be perfectly honest, we didn't give this little spot much time and we didn't fall in love with it as instantly as the other towns. Maybe with more time and good recommendations we would give another go, otherwise, we would happily spend more of our time in...

Riomaggiore