Point A to Point B - the Italian Way

We have become very adept at catching public transport - trains, trams, busses and ferries - since being in Italy. We’ve become experts at reading timetables, navigating streets to find particular stops and knowing where to validate tickets (because it’s not enough apparently to purchase a ticket - you have to have it stamped or punched in order to make it valid otherwise you can cop a mighty big fine).  It’s actually not a bad way to get around when things run to plan. What we have begun to learn is that things rarely go to plan here and very few people in the know really know anyrhing at all!!  Tonight I write this sitting on the floor of a SITA bus that is full to the brim with people trying to make their way from Positano to Sorrento. The reason that the bus is so full is two fold - the busses aren’t running to time because there has been a rock slide on the usual route so busses have to be diverted and also because they are running less busses because it’s winter and  there are less people touring around. I would hate to think how many people they cram into a bus during the summer.  This morning before we took the bus from Sorrento to Amalfi (we had to take the bus because the ferries don’t run in winter) we tried to catch a train from near our hotel to  the bus stop to try to rest our weary feet before another day of walking thousands of steps. Good plan - if only it worked. We waited for the train for over half an hour only to be told it was “in retardo” for at least 20 minutes. So off we trotted at a good pace into town only to see the train pass us by 10 minutes later..... 

Oh yes and if you drive a car or a scooter - don’t worry about indicating or rules about giving way, if you need to overtake then just do it - even if there is oncoming traffic - there’s always room. And those white lines that pedestrians cross at - only stop if there is someone walking directly in front of you otherwise drive straight through - those pesky pedestrians can just wait!! 

But seriously it’s all part of the adventure and it’s teaching us the Italian way - don’t stress, a timetable isn’t carved in stone (or Italian marble), it will be what it will be, another bus or another train will always come (even if you have to wait a few hours!!)