On the Road Again!

So once the week in Punta Gorda comes to an end we have to decide what to do for the other 5 nights before the flight home. Currently we have started to look further down the Gulf Coast and so I have a booked a couple of nights near Naples. but the wanderlust to see more things has started to bite and although at the time of writing there are 221 days to go. Currently I have the Fairways Inn of Naples and Wyndham Garden in Fort Myers Beach that leave a single night to look at.......

Posts that would have gone on here but sadly this blog didn't exist back then. So here's a link -  http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Campania However, what I do have are the photos taken whilst we were there and stored on Flickr .

Positano , originally uploaded by Devaldinho . On the way back up the hill to the car-park. Remarkably looking in good nick despite blisters on feet and tired joints.

Smoke from a pile of rocks not far from the top of the crater. Hardly visible so on the original picture on Flickr I had to put a note to show where the smoke is!

Weather excellent. A bit too hot at some times. Can't imagine what it will be like later in the height of summer. Driving standards are suicidal, both cars and bikes cut every corner. But views are spectacular. This one of Capri.

Final packing underway. As usual the one suitcase is looking already overfilled! At Easyjet’s prices it pays to get it all in the one. Okay, so I’m cheap and think that £16 per case is an insult after you have paid for the seat. I have the satnav setup and have stripped the power leads out of the car and ready to take with me. So what is airport’s security’s view of satnavs in their sunglasses case and a heap of wiring? On that subject. Modern life means we have gadgets and gadgets need power. To get the power we have power leads. So after the phone charger, there’s the power lead for the camera batteries (different ones so different charger doobries), then the lead for the satnav to connect it to the PC, oh yes, the PC is going to… free WiFi in the hotel….. We hope. What else, have I mentioned the phone charger, oh yes. Spare SD and CF cards for the cameras, the cameras of course, plus spare batteries. Then there’s the iPod and speakers, plus power lead. It never sto...

Slight change to the plans for Italy . I saw an offer in the London Evening Standard for www.hotels.com and an extra discount they were offering. On the site they had the hotel we were already booked in at a cheaper price before the special offer, that when calculated came out at £104 less than both www.booking.com and www.activehotels.com . This is the biggest expense we have on the trip. In fact it amounts to about 55% of the total cost. Usually when we have a flying holiday it is to a timeshare where the accommodation cost is capped at £115 through RCI. As we planned this before the credit crunch hit we are committed to going. Everything has been paid for so to not go now will cost us dearly. We’ll just have to eat cheaply! Just under 4 weeks to go.

As well as Pompeii I’ve been reading about some other sights to fit into the week… Vesuvius? Herculaneum ? Paestum ? The latter just across the Gulf of Salerno from where we are staying in Sorrento. Is a week enough? I hope so!

The plan was to get away for a few days over the May Half Term holiday to Italy, and more specifically to Naples, to visit Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Claire has been before and I have never been south of Rome . And then only once. Unfortunately, airfares were a bit on the high side as it is a kid’s holiday and so we had to cast about for dates where the weather would be t-shirts and so earlier in May was chosen. Flights with Easyjet were pretty reasonable outside Bank Holidays and so I booked and then checked on a few websites to get a hotel around Sorrento . In the end Active Hotels came up with the Casale Antonietta hotel. It looks pretty good and has car parking and free wifi! The car park will come in useful as I have booked a car. The airport to hotel transfers were pretty expensive although the train system looks pretty good, but I like the freedom of my own transport. We can always use the trains if need be. Searching the net came up with a FIAT Panda from Opodo with Hertz...