She said:

Traveling as a pair, for 60 days, we have gotten into many routines . I am not sure we realized it as much until our pair turned into a threesome for 8 days. During Fred's time with us, he experienced the following ChAlli sayings or routines: "travel day", "laundry day", "blog time", "budget time", and my favorite, "travel face". These are the things that keep us organized, clean, well-documented, and most importantly, they make us laugh (especially during the times when we have been walking for a while with packs on and one of us starts to get grumpy).

So as we packed up and headed to the Amalfi Coast, Fred got to experience what we refer to as "travel day". We have a packing system that takes no less than one hour (Chad prides himself on his organized/efficient packing skills; I just pack and pray mine closes). Then, we look over our papers to decide where we are going, and the best way to get there so we don't have to walk further than necessary. Then, we take the cheapest method of departure because time really has no impact on us . I am pretty sure Fred would have chosen to take a cab to the train station; however, doing his best to accommodate our budget and adopted style of travel, he agreed to take the steaming hot, graffiti subway instead. On the train to Rome he was rewarded with air conditioning and good conversation with a girl of the same name, Frederica.

We arrived to Sorrento via Ferry, along with about 100 school kids on a field trip. The town was bustling, and the bus to get up the hill was packed. We prayed that Franco was still expecting us at the B&B Fred "booked" before we arrived. We went to his restaurant to check into our room, and while we waited, we were given espressos and invited to come back later for dinner. We did, and it was like eating at a family member's house, good food with personal service from the host. We checked out the local Sorrentine nightlife and were amazed at how packed the streets were at 2-3 a.m. (mostly local kids and tourists at the English pubs that seemed pretty plentiful in Sorrento) .

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at Franco's restaurant with cappuccinos and freshly baked bread (from somewhere else I think). Fred went down to the marina where they rent chairs for tanning (there really is no beach in Sorrento), and Chad and I did some exploring, and then had some "blog time". When Fred returned, he announced he had met two women who may be joining us for dinner that night. We got ready for dinner and halfway through the meal, the women arrived. One woman recently moved to Naples from Russia; the other was a Naples local - both very eccentric, both nice enough. They were nice once we got past our meal that is. First, they informed me that no one in Italy eats chicken (as I was eating), and told Chad that he was eating his pizza all wrong (and then proceeded to take his knife and cut it up for him). Then, they refused to drink our "vino a la casa", this was the shit wine. Needless to say, they only ate dessert so I suspect they didn't like our choice in restaurants either?! Nonetheless, the night was very entertaining and we checked out some "better" wines at a local wine bar . We went to bed laughing, and got ready for Positano in the morning.

Wine sidebar: We have had great fun discovering and tasting wines of every region we visit. More than not, we get the wine of the house and are pleased with the quality and taste. Now, we are no wine connoisseurs, and I can't say that all the wines have been high quality per se. But we really don't care about the fancy stuff, we have found that ordering the drink/wine of the region (usually the wine of the house) has enhanced our tasting experiences of all the different places we visit.

We woke up and began our journey to Positano. In reality, it is only about 30-45 minutes away from Sorrento. The guidebooks tell you to take the bus there for the views, and then take the ferry home. We listened and were horrified at how many other people did also. It was a fight to get a spot on the infrequently arriving bus, and ended up almost being killed by an Asian mob of tourists in the process . As miserable as the ride was, the books were right, and when we weren't being thrown around by the hairpin turns, the view was awesome.

When I was in Positano eight years ago, it wasn't even as close to being as crowded as it is now. The streets were packed, the stairs were grid-locked, and the rented beach chairs were almost required to have somewhere to lie in the sun. Fred and I got chairs and enjoyed some tanning time and swimming, Chad went exploring. We met up for lunch, and went back for more swimming and lounging before heading back to Sorrento. The ferry home was also very crowded, but being on the open water versus a crowded bus is much more pleasant. Unfortunately, I don't have great things to say about Positano this time around. The one thing I will say is that the town is still very beautiful despite the crowds. Apparently, there have only been a handful of building permits given in past years in an effort to preserve the beauty. I was very happy to hear that...

The next day was reserved for Pompeii. Chad was beside himself with excitement to be amongst "old stuff" again (he is not the tanning/lounge chair type). Although I had been there before, I was sure there was something I hadn't seen last time and was looking forward to re-visiting it again. We decided instead of taking the guided tour, we would use an audioguide and old faithful (Rick Steves) walking tour . The size and preservation of this city amazed me all over again. Anyone who's been there knows what I am talking about. It is really unbelievable how much has been excavated and preserved from so long ago. We watched a special on Pompeii before we left about the day of the eruption and how the people were killed instantly by the pyroclastic flow. When you see the plaster casts of the people of Pompeii, literally frozen in that moment, you can't help but get that eerie feeling and imagine what it must have been like. The blistering heat cut our visit to about two hours and Fred took off for some beach time. Chad and I headed for the site of the crime, Mount Vesuvius.

We boarded a bus and began to ascend 1,000 meters where we would be dropped off and left to hike the remainder of the way (about 30 minutes to the lip of the volcano). A tour guide gave us some history on the bus before we arrived, and although I tried to pay attention when she spoke in English, the A/C and brief relief from the heat knocked me out cold for the 35 minute ride to the top (Chad filled me in on what he got before he also fell asleep) .

When we arrived, we immediately began our hike up the volcano. It was like walking up dry sand mixed with different sized rocks. When we got to the top, we were given details of the volcano and some insight into the intense monitoring system in place to detect for possible future eruptions. Apparently, the evacuation would include about 750,000 residents, so needless to say, precision is extremely important because a false alarm would be bad! The guide gave Chad and I some souvenir volcanic rocks and after some independent exploration, we headed down. By the way, that stuff is not so easy to walk up, but walking down is much harder. I am pretty sure I almost slid down about 20 times and caused a rock slide of my own! Chad thought is was pretty funny...

When we lived in New York, it was always the ongoing joke between the neighbors (Fred and Jared) that Chad and I did not appreciate the finer dining establishments that NYC had to offer. They called us bohemians and joked at our lack of knowledge of the "places to go" for scenes and good food. Although we begged to differ, it continued to be the joke. When we got back from Vesuvius, Fred declared it "date night with Fred" and insisted on buying us dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town. We tried very passionately to refuse, but to no avail. So, we got dressed up and went to a beautiful and historic restaurant we had read about in one of the guidebooks . Dinner was amazing and we enjoyed multiple courses and a fine bottle of wine. Fred was very generous as we really wanted to contribute, but this clearly was not in our budget. Again, thank you Fred!

For our final day on the coast, we debated going to Capri versus renting a boat which Fred really wanted to do. I have been to Capri before and was not impressed last time with the prices, crowds, over-rated blue grottos. Once Chad read about it himself, especially the price of the ferry just to get over there, it was a no-brainer. We felt bad because we weren't sure if Fred really wanted to go, but he ended up negotiating a pretty good deal on a small motor boat instead. So we grabbed some sandwiches and drinks and headed out to sea. We stopped at a few coves to jump in the water, explored some desolate beach areas, and Fred even climbed some rocks in search of a cool discovery. It was a nice sunny day, and I am pretty sure both Chad and Fred enjoyed being "captain" as they took turns navigating .

The next morning we hopped the train back to Rome and said our goodbyes. It was a fun 8 days traveling together, but I will say that it was an adjustment going from two to three. It probably wouldn't have mattered who it was, it was just a change for us after traveling solo for so many days. We also realized that we are doing something here that someone really can't understand by joining us for only 8 days. We don't expect them too, and learned that on the flip side, we have to remember that if we only had 8 days, we may also just be looking to decompress and not necessarily "see it all" as we have had the luxury of doing. So, we hope Fred had a good vacation and appreciate his attempt to travel EuroChalli style. Off to Greece where we will meet the next, very special guest bloggers, Jamie and Bill!

Fred Said:

As we sailed into Sorrento from Naples, I knew travel day was close to an end . We arrived in this small but bustling resort town and searched for Franco. Sweet Franco was the owner of the B&B we were to stay at and was our ambassador to Sorrento and fine food for the time we where there. After checking in, we proceeded to set the night ablaze... Italy style. We enjoyed a meal w/ Franco at his humble restaurant, then flowed into the streets with our bellies full.

Bellisimo footnote: Sorrento is a beautiful town, perched on cliffs, but with no beaches. The of Vesuvius and white pants, white linen shirts, and white sandals abundant.

After a day of relaxing at Marameo, a deck like beach club that jets into the Mediterranean from the cliffs, we proceeded to sip some absinthe, then join some new friends for drinks. Lemoncellos all around, we enjoyed learning about this exotic land and Italians.

Italiano footnote: Italians only eat Italian...every meal ...every day...Mexican, Chinese, burgers, Thai, sushi are very rare meals.

We went to Positano the next day, and wow, that is a beautiful town. Definitely a great place for a relaxing vacation. Then after Positano we all enjoyed a delicious meal at Il Buco, a fancy little place in Sorrento. We were all impressed with the wine presentation and use of dishes.

Friday we went to Pompeii... more old stuff...but some of the best preserved perspectives of life from 2000 years ago. I have to say it is not much different than today in many ways... ah to leave back then... the brothels, the chariots, the wall art, the earthquakes, and falling ash... That evening, we had another dinner w/ Franco and drinks with locals and some drinks with Americans at American Bar...to hear Bon Jovi in Italy is sacred.

Finally, Saturday, we rented a boat to tour the Mediterranean, an enjoyable ride, cliffs, and exploring, then we ended our last evening with a fine meal and conversation with more old people (English), more lemoncello and more vino . Then, Sunday was travel day, and farewell to the country, and farewell to the chronic couple. Godspeed Challi... there is more learning to be done, more Rick Steves to worship, and more experiences to experience...

He Said:

Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast win the award for the place we stayed the longest but probably shouldn't have. Don't get me wrong, the cliff-side verandas and blue water were breathtaking, but it was also smoggy, noisy, and very overcrowded. Out of all the amazing places we've visited so far, it just wasn't deserving of our longest stay.

The Bay of Naples sits like a backwards "C" on Italy's southwest coast, with Naples at the top, Pompeii and Vesuvius in the middle, and Sorrento at the bottom. Sorrento is on a small strip of land that juts out into the Mediterranean opposite Positano and the Amalfi Coast, with the island of Capri just off the peninsula's tip . Our cab from the Naples train station darted in and out of traffic, avoided cardboard boxes in the littered streets, and eventually got us to the port by driving in a cordoned-off lane used by city trams. From the port, we got our first glimpse of the menacing Vesuvius that looms like a sleeping giant over the entire bay, and we ferried to Sorrento, our home base for the entire region.

Sorrento dots and dashes a low cliff about 100 meters above the small port and "beaches" below. The main drag, Corso Italia, runs parallel to the water and is full of shops, bars, restaurants, and tourists. When we arrived, there were so many people in the streets that Fred commented it looked like Mardi Gras. We navigated through the mob with our luggage, Fred got to see Alli's "travel face", and we managed to find our accommodations without being run over by the herds of mopeds.

That night we went to Franco's for dinner. It's funny that none of us actually remember the name of this restaurant, but we remember it by the owner's name . He was a subtle, witty man in his seventies, very kind, definitely in charge of the kitchen, and he patted me on the back as he left our table after personally taking our orders. Finally, after nearly three weeks in Italy, I had pizza that was actually good. When you live on Bleecker Street, a 30-second walk from arguably three of the top ten pizza joints in the country, you get snobbish. It's inevitable. But the pizza in the Naples area, the birthplace of pizza, is as good as they say it is - everywhere you go. I coupled a small pie with my favorite pasta dish in the world, penne alla arrabiata, which turned out to be the best I've ever had. The tomato sauce was perfectly spiced and was mixed with just the right amount of olive oil.

After a brief bit of exploration the following day, we all headed to dinner and were joined by two local women Fred had befriended at the beach earlier in the day. To borrow a method from Bill Maher, New rule: when you're native to Russia and have only lived in Italy for seven months, you're not allowed to criticize any variety of house wine, and you're certainly not allowed to tell someone who lived on Bleecker Street for seven years how to properly eat a slice of pizza . The other girl was a kind local from Naples who took time to explain regional cuisine and many local customs. We sampled a great white wine grown from volcanic ash near Vesuvius called Greco di Tufo, and we tried homemade limoncello made from the area's infinite quantity of lemon trees, clear alcohol, and sugar.

We also discussed fashion. Well, really, I only listened. It turns out that Prada is actually a brand of clothing, not a famous Kentucky Derby-winning jockey. We listened as Fred discussed the color white, and then our two guests dropped the bomb. As many of you know, I'm not the best dresser in the world, and, as many of you might have also guessed from recent blogs, Fred is. Well, anytime someone says that I'm dressed "like a nice Italian boy" while Fred is dressed "like a nurse", it must get posted as part of the public domain.

The next morning we headed for the bus stop for the short ride to Positano . A large queue had already formed, so the three of us sat down on benches at the end of it. Within 15 minutes the crowd had doubled in size, and as the bus pulled up, a mob ensued as elbows were thrown, headlocks were given and received, and older English women yelled semi-slurs at a group of younger Asians that had literally knocked them over to beat them onto the bus. I was seriously waiting for the brawl.

Positano wasn't much better. The small lanes were beautiful, and the architecture preserved, but at one point on the walk down, it took no less than five minutes to descend two small flights of steps containing approximately eight stairs apiece. Alli joined Fred on the umbrella-covered-chaise-lounge beach, and I headed off to explore and get some time away from the heavy-populated areas. It was nice to be traveling with a third party so I could wander off without having to worry about Alli, though I'm sure she would have been just fine on her own.

We had a fantastic dinner during which the waiter did some sort of ritual with the wine that looked like the "waterfall" during a round of the card game called "asshole", and plates were taken from us to be washed even though we hadn't even used them. Thanks to Fred's generosity, we all ate and laughed and drank good wine that came from a list that was, no kidding, about the size of the "Z" volume for Encyclopedia Brittanica . Fred had asked if there was a wine list.
"Yes, a small one," the waiter said smiling.

The next morning, we got off to an early start and headed for the ruins of Pompeii. Truly amazing. There are two different mind frames you get in when you're there, and both directly lead to similar varieties of awe. First, Pompeii should be viewed from the human perspective. It is essentially a gravesite. You see bodies that have been cast from pockets of air found within layers of hardened ash, and these people are posed for death. While you're looking at them, the audioguide describes eyewitness accounts of the eruption and people's attempts to rescue trapped citizens. And then you catch glimpses throughout the entire complex of the monstrous volcano looming above that caused so much devastation, yet at the same time, caused so much preservation.

I think it's safe to say that if it were not for Pompeii, our knowledge of what day-to-day life was like in ancient Rome would not be anywhere close to what it is today. That is perspective number two - the historical one. Pompeii is a time capsule. You can actually see how people lived in 79 A.D. You can see what their roads looked like and how they drained water. You can see how they decorated their homes. You can see the choices they had inside the local brothel. You can even see where they went to the bathroom . The only part of the Pompeian world you can't see is the roofs of their buildings because many of them were made of wood and crumbled from the weight of the ash. None of this would be possible if weren't for Vesuvius, and it's staggering to think that so much of the site is still left to discover.

Vesuvius, itself, is also a site. We climbed to the top of the "mountain of fire" and peered into the crater, which last erupted in 1944. We were told that scientists seem to think the next event is right around the corner, and we were also told that the mountain as it stands today is not the same one that did in Pompeii. Today's cone is only a fraction of the size, as Vesuvius was once an even larger volcano.

We ended our stay in Sorrento by renting a small boat and exploring the small peninsula on the way to Capri. Honestly, Capri sounded like a nightmare, and when guidebooks are quoted as saying, "Capri is the biggest tourist trap in all of Italy," I don't feel bad that we missed it . The boat was a blast, but in all likelihood, this is a day, along with our day at Positano, that Alli and I would probably not have had if we weren't traveling with Fred. We probably would have moved on to Sicily, which is something that totally slipped our minds. We didn't even mention it or think about it until we were on the train back to Rome to catch our flight to Athens. Fred, I don't know if you would have been up for a trip to Sicily or not, but there's always next time. Molto benne!

I also hope that Alli and I did a good job traveling with someone else. I know we made sacrifices in our routine, and I know Fred's trip was probably made different than what he is used to. After 60 days of just the two of us, there were three minds to make decisions instead of two, but there were also three people to enjoy good conversation and a good wine at dinner. We had a great time with Fred, but I think Alli and I are both looking forward to having a room to ourselves again for a few days until Jamie and Bill arrive in Athens. After all, we're on our honeymoon.