Found a nice beach. Without traffic it’s about 1 hour 20 minutes away. (over an hour doesn't seem so bad when 37 miles of Naples area beaches have come up with to much bacteria...)
So we got up at about 7:30 and were getting on the road around 9:00. We needed gas though so we stopped. Randy needed a pen and nicely asked the gas station guy for a "pene". Some of you are laughing already... The correct word would have been "penna." Look it up you'll enjoy...
So a little over an hour if there is not much traffic. Today was not one of those days. There is a lot of beach traffic. 5 traffic lights can really mess with the Italians' day. It added an hour. It’s not for lack of trying either. More driving differences here. Ever seen a two lane road become 4? Better yet ever seen someone pull out into the on coming lane to pass and THEN someone behind him also wants to pass but faster so now they are three abreast into oncoming traffic. In the states this would be a guaranteed head on. Not here. Hardly a slow down. Three cars move a little right, so one is on the shoulder, the on coming car moves to his right so he is on the shoulder and they all blow past each other doing about 40 mph (closing at 80...). Left hand turning lanes are only left hand turning lanes if you want to turn left. Otherwise it is another straight lane. So we got to the beach. The parking lot was full so we did what any good Italian would do; we parked in a fairly random spot on the side of the road. Once on the beach there are tons of umbrellas and chairs to rent BUT there is also a good size spot for us to just claim a spot and put out towels, which is what we did. It is a nice beach, called Sperlonga. Very clear water. We're pretty sure the rumors of Europeans lying around topless have been exaggerated. We did see one woman walking around topless and a couple that weren't modest changing/ fixing tops but that's about it. The ride home was a little better. More of the same for some but not as backed up. Only a half hour of delay.
The pics: First two are downtown Naples. The second today's beach. The road on the side of the hill is what we came in on. This is north of Naples (vice South like Amalfi).
So we got up at about 7:30 and were getting on the road around 9:00. We needed gas though so we stopped. Randy needed a pen and nicely asked the gas station guy for a "pene". Some of you are laughing already... The correct word would have been "penna." Look it up you'll enjoy...
So a little over an hour if there is not much traffic. Today was not one of those days. There is a lot of beach traffic. 5 traffic lights can really mess with the Italians' day. It added an hour. It’s not for lack of trying either. More driving differences here. Ever seen a two lane road become 4? Better yet ever seen someone pull out into the on coming lane to pass and THEN someone behind him also wants to pass but faster so now they are three abreast into oncoming traffic. In the states this would be a guaranteed head on. Not here. Hardly a slow down. Three cars move a little right, so one is on the shoulder, the on coming car moves to his right so he is on the shoulder and they all blow past each other doing about 40 mph (closing at 80...). Left hand turning lanes are only left hand turning lanes if you want to turn left. Otherwise it is another straight lane. So we got to the beach. The parking lot was full so we did what any good Italian would do; we parked in a fairly random spot on the side of the road. Once on the beach there are tons of umbrellas and chairs to rent BUT there is also a good size spot for us to just claim a spot and put out towels, which is what we did. It is a nice beach, called Sperlonga. Very clear water. We're pretty sure the rumors of Europeans lying around topless have been exaggerated. We did see one woman walking around topless and a couple that weren't modest changing/ fixing tops but that's about it. The ride home was a little better. More of the same for some but not as backed up. Only a half hour of delay.
The pics: First two are downtown Naples. The second today's beach. The road on the side of the hill is what we came in on. This is north of Naples (vice South like Amalfi).
The driving sounds scary!! But the beach looks totally worth it! Hope you all enjoyed it!
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