Reims: one day in the capital of Champagne

Hello again!

The adventure goes on in another R city: Reims. So just a brief description: the city is considered the unofficial capital of the Champagne wine-growing region and it belong to the region of Grand Est. If the champagne is not enough to convince you to take a trip there, you should also know that the city has played important roles in the history of France, from the period of the Roman Empire to the WWII. I am not gonna provide all the historical details in here (just the main points) because I think it's better when you discover them yourself during your trip.

Transportation
Reims is located 150 km away from Paris and that's a 2-2 and a half hour trip by bus. This time I chose to go with Ouibus (departure from Bercy - you can get there with M14) and I came back with Isilines (arrival at Gallieni - terminus of M3). The price of the round trip was 20 euros.
The bus station in Reims is called Champagne-Ardenne TGV (it is also a train station) and it is situated outside the city. After arriving at the bus station, I just had to walk down the hill for 100 m and I got to the tram station. Tram B is the one which goes to the center of the city. There is a ticket machine right in the station and you can choose a one, two or 24h ticket. I paid 4 euros for a 24h ticket. You get a paper card that works both for trams and buses and you have to scan it for every trip.

Visiting around
First of all, I have to say that I have never seen a touristic city less popular than Reims. There were only some groups of tourists at the main cathedral and the rest of the city was almost empty. And believe me, the city has a looooooot of things to offer to visitors.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims

The tram left me at the Opera station, right in the center of Reims. From there, there is a 2 minutes walk to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims. I have seen many churches and cathedrals since I arrived in France, but I have to say: this one is absolutely stunning. Personally, I liked it even more than Notre-Dame de Paris (I think this is considered like a form of sacrilege or so). The original
church dates back to 5th century, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1211. The cathedral was built on the site of the old church and it was completed in 1275. For the next centuries, the cathedral served as the place where French kings were crowned during a five hours ceremony. During the WWI, the German bombardments destroyed a considerable part of the cathedral, including the roof, some of the stained glass and the bishop's palace. Nonetheless, the intensive restoration works were able to repair all the damages done to the cathedral. The works were successfully completed in 1938 and gave the cathedral the current aspect.

Inside and outside of Notre-Dame Cathedral

Next to the cathedral, you can find Palais du Tau, named like this because it has the shape of the letter T. Just like the cathedral, Palais du Tau dates back to 13th century and it underwent the same stormy history. Nowadays, the whole palace is turned into a museum and it shows mostly objects that belonged to the cathedral, a part of its treasure and statues partially destroyed by the WWI bombardments. The thing that totally amazed me about this place, besides the great architecture and the value of the exponents, was that, on a Saturday afternoon, there were barely 10 tourists in all the museum. Even if you don't read the information provided and you only take a walk inside, it is still a very nice place to see, so I don't understand the reasons behind its unpopularity.

Palais du Tau

Leaving the city touristic center, I took a walk towards Place Drouet d' Erlon. The streets surrounding the square are full of restaurants, bistros and bars, so I stopped at one that draw my attention. It was called Supercrêpes (yes, I have a weakness for crêpes). The place drew my attention firstly because it

Supercrêpes and the Catwoman crêpe

was full of superheroes figurines and all the crêpes had superhero names; secondly because they were using whole wheat flour and bio products. I took a Catwoman (it had vegetables and cheese) and I think it was one of the best healthy foods that I've ever had. They have both salted and sugary crêpes and I truly recommend this place if you plan to visit Reims one day.

Right next to Supercrêpes, I found cinema Opéra, an abandoned building from 19th century with a very beautiful facade. The cinema has been closed since 1997 due to security reasons and even though the building is a historical monument, no reconstruction had been performed since its closure.

Cinema Opéra

In the history of WWII, Reims played a very important role: the document that testifies the surrender of Nazi Germany, thus putting an end to the war, was signed there on 7th May 1945. Nowadays, the building where general Eisenhower established the headquarters of the Allied Powers hosts Le Musée de la Reddition. It is not a big museum, I finished the visit in about 20 minutes, but I found really fascinating visiting a place so full of history. This museum is even less popular than Palais du Tau, considering that you have to take a 20-30 minutes walk to get there, but I think it is worth it.

Inscription above the entrance of Musée de la Reddition

Monument aux enfants de Reims morts pour la patrie

When I returned to the center of Reims, I went past a monument dedicated to the children who died in the field during WWI. The monument is situated in Square de la Mission, at one of the extremities of a long promenade. Close to the monument, there is Porte Mars, the biggest triumphal arch from the Roman world that dates back to 3rd century AD. The arch had one part covered due to the restoration works, so I totally missed it. After that, I headed to Halles du Boulingrin. That's not a touristic objective itself, but the building has an interesting architecture and it hosts a covered market where you can buy fruits, vegetables, traditional products and flowers.

Les Halles du Boulingrin

In the garden of Hôtel Le Vergeur

The next objective on my list was Musée Hôtel Le Vergeur, a place intensively praised on the internet. The museum is located in Place du Forum and it provides only guided tours every hour from 2 to 5 PM including. Even if I only managed to see this museum, I could say that my visit to Reims was worth it. The building is very well preserved and all the rooms keep their original aspect and furniture. The guided tour is very detailed and it gets you through all the history of the hotel. I was

completely amazed by everything I've seen and heard in there, so I could clearly classify the museum as a "not to be missed" place in Reims. Again, the place was not popular at all among tourists and I shared my guided tour only with two other tourists. Sadly, we were not allowed to take any pictures, so I can show you only the main facade and the inner court (quick reminder, you can click the pictures to make them bigger). The entrance fee was only 2 euros, cheaper because I had a student reduction, but still too cheap considering everything it has to offer.

50 m away from Musée Hôtel Le Vergeur, right in the middle of Place du Forum, I found Cryptoportique Gallo-Romain de Reims, an underground gallery built in 3rd century AD, during the Roman period.

Inside the Cryptoportique Gallo-Romain

Cryptoportique Gallo-Romain and Hôtel Le Vergeur (in the back)

Going back towards Notre-Dame Cathedral, I arrived in Place Royale. In the middle of the square, you can see the statue of Louis XV, also known as Louis the Beloved. Accidentally, I ended up in the middle of a bikers' protest and I have to say that French people have a really nice way of protesting. After arriving all together on their bikes, the riders just parked their bikes on the whole square and sat there, chatting, sending some colorful smoke into the air and whistling from time to time. Shortly, the bikers were complaining about the new law concerning the reduction of the speed limit on secondary roads from 90 km/h to 80 km/h.

Bikers' protest in Place Royale

Leaving the protest, I headed to another not so popular museum: Musée Automobile Reims Champagne. Not so popular means that the cashier was asking everyone where they heard of the museum from. We were 7 people in the whole museum, me and a group of 6. The museum is not located in the center of the city, so I took bus number 3 from the Opera station in the direction Moulin
de la Housse and I got off at Boussinesq station. The entrance fee was 7 euros, again with a reduction for students (for the other museums I didn't pay anything). I can definitely say that I have never seen so many old cars and motorcycles all together in my life. The place is huge and I think it clearly deserves more attention than it gets currently.

          

Graffiti from the inner court of Automobile Museum

         

Inside the Automobile Museum

Villa Demoiselle

Afterwards, I walked for about 20 minutes to get to the neighborhood where most of the wine (champagne) cellars are located. The price for a tour + final tasting ranges from 20 to 35 euros, so I settled for just taking some pictures of Villa Demoiselle (one of the cellars) and then I continued my journey (also I didn't have enough time to do a tour).

The next stop was Basilique Saint-Remi, a church built in 11th century. Next to the church, there is the old Abbey Saint-Remi that had been used as a military hospital for over a century. Now it hosts Musée Saint-Remi (another unpopular museum apparently) where you can discover the history of Reims from prehistory to Middle Age. In order to get back to the center, you can take bus number 6 in the direction Gare Centre or take a 20 minutes walk like I did.

             

Basilique Saint-Remi

Musée Saint-Remi

Inside the Basilique Saint-Remi

Before my trip, the Internet told me that I should definitely just sit at a bar drinking a cup of champagne and eating the traditional pink ladyfinger cookies. Apparently, I didn't have enough time for that because I had to catch my bus back to Paris, so I just bought a 20cl bottle of regional champagne that I'll be enjoying when I'll go back to Romania.

All in all, I had an absolutely wonderful trip to Reims, I really enjoyed it and for sure I will come back one day to see all the things I didn't get to see this time. I recommend spending a night in there because one day is definitely not enough to see everything. So here is a list with some objectives that I didn't manage to see during my trip:

• Foujita Chapelle
• Ancien collège de jésuites
• Basillique Saint Nicaise
• Porte Mars
• Musée du Fort de la Pompelle (this one is located outside the city, but you can get there by taking bus number 16).

Thank you for reading this and I hope it was helpful if you ever plan to take a trip to Reims. Have a wonderful day! 

Rennes: a SWEET escape in the heart of Brittany

Hello there, kind reader!

Since this is the first article from the French series (and I haven't written anything for a long time), I am just gonna state from the beginning: this won't be a "what to do in Rennes" article, but more like "what I did in Rennes". So I am basically just sharing my experience hoping it will come in handy to someone.
Tip: you can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them




Transportation 
I arrived to Rennes by bus from Paris around 14 pm after a 5h trip. Spending 5h in a bus is not that bad because travelling by bus in here is so much better than travelling by bus in Romania. You have Wi-Fi, a plug-in, a toilet and a lot of space for your feet. This time I chose to travel with Isilines and I purchased my ticket online from the oui.sncf website. After buying your ticket, you can either print it or download their moblie app and import your ticket there.

For the first time I discovered public transportation in cities other than Paris, so I finally spared my legs some kilometers. They have one metro line and plenty of buses; all the necessary information is available online or at the stations. I took a 24h pass (4.10€) which covered both the metro and the buses.

Accommodation
After arriving in Rennes, I went to my Airbnb host to take my key. I travel with Airbnb because it is way cheaper than booking.com and it gets you in touch with the locals better than a hotel. I chose a private room because basically I just needed a bed to sleep and a decent bathroom. I am just gonna leave my host's Airbnb

link in here because I had a very nice experience for a pretty low price, so I highly recommend it to everyone. The apartment is located in a quiet neighborhood, 100m away from Vilaine, the river that crosses the city. You can get to the center of the city by foot (a 20 minutes walk) or by bus (a 10 minutes trip). The whole apartment was sparkling clean and the room was very stylishly decorated. Bonus points: my host was friendly, welcoming and discrete; basically I didn't even know she was there.

Visiting around
Usually when I plan a trip, I look for visiting objectives in advance, then I make a list and an itinerary using Google Maps. After the trip to Rouen, I learned to also check opening hours and prices. So I planned to start my visit with Écomusée du pays de Rennes. I took the metro from République to Triangle and then started walking. I was at the outskirts of the city and after some minutes the neighborhood didn't seem that friendly anymore. After a 15 minutes walk, I saw the sign that pointed out that I was exiting Rennes and I had just realized that I needed to walk another 20 minutes by a main road where people traveled by car and not by their own feet. Since the perspective didn't seem so friendly to me, I gave up on my first (and most interesting) objective and went back to the center.

The second objective on my list was Musée de Bretagne. The museum is located in Les Champs Libres, a building with a futuristic design housing not only the museum of Brittany, but also a Planetarium, scientific temporary exhibitions and a public library. Basically the museum gets you through the history of Brittany from the prehistoric age to present times. If you are a fan of history, I recommend assigning more than one hour to this museum. It is worth it. In the science area, I visited the Night Exposition. At first sight, you would have said it was dedicated to kids (lots of games and stuffed animals), but then I realized they had actually built a lot of interactive and friendly ways to get you through scientific facts about human and animal sleep. The ticket for both the museum and the science part was 7€ (<26 years old). The Planetarium was also included in the fee, but I should have waited for an hour for the next visit, so I just went forward with my visiting list.

The next stop was the Opera. The building was inaugurated in 1836 as a theater. It is situated in a large square (Place de la Mairie) and faces Hotel de Ville, a building equally impressive.

The most beautiful part of my visit was walking on the streets from the Old City. It doesn't cover a big area, so a little walk won't hurt your legs. Most of the streets are paved and they are flanked by lots of old houses some of which are very well preserved. I spent around an hour just walking without having a final point to get to. And there was one thing that caught my eye (and my nose and my taste buds eventually): crêpes. Everywhere. You're basically surrounded by crêpes.

They jump you from every corner of the street. Just give in, there is no point in resisting. I am gonna swift just a little from the topic in order to explain something: crêpes, not pancakes. If there is one thing I learned in France, that is: never ever in your life call them pancakes. For a French person this is one the biggest insults. It's like "your mom is a cunt", just worst.

Now back to the crêpes. Brittany is famous for its crêpes and I can definitely vow for that. I tried one with salted caramel butter and it was clearly the best I had ever had. They also have thicker ones called galettes. They are made from whole wheat and they are usually salted, and served with ham, cheese, sausages and stuff like this.

After wandering around for some time, I headed to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. The history of the Gothic catholic cathedral begins in the 12th century. After the west front and the tower collapsed in 1490, the cathedral went through many reconstruction and demolition stages over the next centuries and it was completed only in 1845. The two towers date back to 1704. The big organ standing above the entrance dates back to the XIXth century and was offered as a gift by Napoleon III during his visit in Brittany in 1858.

              





Next, I went to Parc du Thabor. The park is huge, very nicely designed and not that highly populated (no idea why). It's the perfect place for a relaxing stroll and
there are lots of flowers and birds to admire. Next to the park there is a small church called Eglise Saint-Melanie. I actually landed in the middle of a ceremony and since I was exhausted, I just stayed there for a while and took part to the whole thing. I really love Catholic churches and Catholic ceremonies (mainly due to the music of the organ) and even though I am not a religious person at all, the time I spent in there was like a mouth of fresh air.

Heading back to the center, I went by the Parliament of Brittany. The historical building dates back to 1665 and survived the fire from 1720 only to be partially burnt down in 1994. Nowadays it houses the Court of Appeal of Rennes.

Since I finished my objective list, I headed to my Airbnb apartment. From my point of view, the neighborhood were the apartment was located was even nicer than the center of the city. Almost all the houses were made of rock and each garden had been very carefully taken care of. There were barely two people on the streets in the evening, so everything was peaceful and quiet. By walking 100m away from the apartment, I got to the quay of Vilaine. Taking a little stroll next to the river was the perfect way to end the day.

Mont Saint Michel

On Sunday, I planned to go to Mont Saint Michel (which actually belongs to Normandy and not to Brittany). I had been thinking about this destination for a long time, so I had to do a really good planing in order to achieve my goal and avoid spending 300 euros on this weekend trip. So I decided to go by bus. This is the company that is in charge with the route Rennes-Mont Saint Michel and you can buy tickets online, from the SNCF station or directly from the bus driver (I paid 22.60€ for a round trip).


Now, what's so special about this place? Mont Saint Michel is the place with the highest tides in Europe. So several times a year, this is what happens:
 

I arrived at Mont Saint Michel at 11 am. I had to make my visit in about 2.5h in order to catch the return bus to Rennes, so I can finally catch my other bus to Paris. After arriving in the bus station at Mont Saint Michel, you have 3 options to get to the mountain: a free bus (~10 minutes), a paid charet (~25 minutes) or the classical way - à pied (~35 minutes).
Since I only had 2.5h and it was freezing cold (around 10 degrees and a strong wind), I chose the bus. Even when you see it from far away, the place is stunning. There are seagulls flying above the monastery and you feel the smell of the sea (even though the water actually belongs to the English Channel). If you ignore the military walking around with the big guns, everything is just perfect.

After passing through the gate, you can simply get lost on the tiny streets and narrow stairs. The whole mountain is actually a little town: they have a post office, a police station, restaurants, hotels and houses that people actually live in. There are also some souvenirs shops (I think 3 or 4 max), but they blend in really well (unlike shops from other medieval places such as Nessebar, BG).

You have to climb some stairs in order to get to the monastery, but the climb is not too long or too hard. Once you start climbing, you can basically get a view from everywhere and there are many paths you can follow. I even met some seagulls on my way up. I won't describe the surroundings, I am just gonna let the pictures speak for themselves.

The ticket for entering the monastery is 10€ for adults and there is a free entrance for people under 26 (and many other categories that I don't remember). Also you can get an audioguide

for an extra fee of 3€. I am a big fan of audioguides, I think it gets you through a better understanding of the things you're seeing but because I had a limited time to spend there, I decided to skip the audioguide and just do some reading at home. The history of the monastery starts in the 8th century when the first church was built on the mountain. Over the next centuries, the building was extended. 

By the 14th century, due to the Hundred Years War, military constructions were added in order to enable the monastery to resist against a siege lasting 30 years. Later in time, during the French Revolution and Empire, the Abbey was turned into a prison and only in 1966 became a religious edifice once again.

Food
When it comes to food, I have to say that I love fish and sea fruits a lot, so I try not to miss an opportunity to eat in a restaurant located on a shore. This time I went for mussels with cream sauce and French fries (each trip is like a cheat weekend for me, basically that 20% of 80/20 that keeps me alive).
After getting back to Rennes, I had 2 more hours before my departure for Paris. When I planned the trip, I read a lot of good things about a traditional dessert: Kouign-Amann. It is a round crusty cake, made with bread dough, containing layers of butter and sugar folded in. With a diameter of only 10 cm, this dessert is packed with around 400 kcals/serving. The internet also provided me with a pro-tip: don't buy it from a supermarket, find a home-made (fait-maison) one in a boulangerie (I am gonna keep using the french word because nothing in the world can compare with the French boulangerie).
So I started looking for a boulangerie. Yesterday I had seen one that was selling Kouign-

Amann, but I told myself that a crêpe was more than enough for one day, so I saved the traditional dessert for today. Surprise, the boulangeries are closed on Sunday. Like almost all the stores. So I just started walking in the rain looking for a boulangerie. When I finally found one, the cashier hit me with the bad news: "we don't sell traditional desserts in here". Since it was so cold outside and it was raining so bad, I settled for a less traditional muffin and a green tea. After that, I still had a lot of time till my departure hour, so I decided to look for another boulangerie that hopefully will sell my beloved dessert. After wandering around in the rain for 20 minutes or so, I arrived at Augustin boulangerie (rue de la Monnaie) which had just run out of Kouign-Amann *tears*. The girl proposed me a Far breton, another traditional dessert. At least it was something traditional, so then I could actually say that I went to Brittany and ate a traditional dessert. The Far breton didn't disappoint at all. It was not very sweet and the texture was totally different to any cake I had eaten before. Now that my tasting buds were clearly happier, I decided to walk to the bus station since I had had 2 desserts and hadn't actually walked enough so I can deserve them.

It was raining hard, freezing cold and I managed to step in puddles three times in a row like a pro. When I was 100m away from the station, I saw another open boulangerie (L'épicerie de Joseph) shinning among all the closed shops around it. So I decided to see how my luck was doing at that time. I entered and I finally saw it, lying there, waiting for me. THE KOUIGN-AMANN ITSELF. The cashier had no idea why I was so happy and I bet neither my glycemia ever knew what hit it. After walking in the rain for about an hour, I finally got to taste the famous Breton dessert. Man, that shit was pure heaven. Rainbow in my mouth. Basically I went from a cheat weekend to a "three desserts cheat hour". But I regret nothing. 

In the end, I am going to talk a little bit about what I didn't like about Rennes. Compared to Paris, I found it more insecure. There are lots of homeless people, but in here they actually come to you and ask you for money directly. Politely, but still. Also I've seen people who were not begging for money, but you clearly wouldn't want to be closer than 20m from them. An old man who seemed to be a tourist offered to take a picture of me with a statue and then asked me if I wanted him to show me around and maybe go out that night. That never happened to me in Paris. Also most of the streets were pretty dirty. Not that Paris is the capital of cleanliness, but I find Rennes clearly dirtier than Paris. 

All in all, I could say the city is nice, but not amazing. Personally, I liked Rouen way better. Yes, it is a nice place to visit, but I think one weekend is enough to cover everything. And it is a lot easier if you have a car or rent one. On the other hand, Mont Saint Michel is one hell of a place and I am more than happy I finally got to see it. It was on my bucket list for a long time and I clearly would visit it again in this lifetime, hopefully with a better weather and without any time constraints (maybe to also see it covered by waters). After all, there was only one bad thing about Mont Saint Michel: it is very, very, very crowded. But that is understandable since it is one of the most popular visiting sites in France. You'll just have to get over that and enjoy your visit. 

If you got until here, I kindly thank you for your patience and I hope I managed to provide you with useful information. Also I am open to any questions and suggestions related to the topic. Have a nice day! 😊

Discovering the Amalfi Coast

When we decided we were going to visit the Amalfi coast, I tried to find out as much as possible about our future destination. All those "things to do in X" helped me, but I wasn't able to find all the necessary information in one place. Also, people's opinions were very different about the same objective so it was pretty hard to choose whether you would be visiting that certain place or not.
Our journey lasted 7 days and we chose to spend our nights in Agerola, at La Casa Dei Nonni. The owners lend the whole house (4 bedrooms, kitchen and 2 bathrooms). The house is situated on a pretty high level above the see so the view is stunning; all the bedrooms have balconies and they face the sea.
                         

The view from the balcony of Casa dei nonni

The access road is kinda difficult. The villa is situated almost 1 km away from the center of Agerola, but the road is very narrow and the inclination of the road is very big.
We didn't spend much time in Agerola, we only took a short walk during the evening of our arrival. There is a belvedere place set up and we got to see Salerno at night from there.

Salerno at night seen from Agerola

We traveled to Italy by airplane and we landed on the Capodichino Airport in Napoli. Agerola is situated 50 km away from Napoli and we decided to rent a car. There are many bus stations in front of the airport and there are little slates with the destination and the price on them. 200 m in front of the airport there is another bus station and there comes a bus every 15 minutes that will take you to the place where you can rent a car. There are 6-7 companies in the same building which makes things easier for you. The prices vary depending on the number of people, the number of days and the type of car you want. The first thing you need to know is that the roads, either on the coast or into the cities, are very narrow. You could use the littlest car you can get. Next, you need a gps. There is no way you can get through without one. Then you need a credit card for the rental. Most of the companies don't accept a debit card or even if they do, you will have to pay the assurance and that amount of money it is not refundable, no matter if you damage the car or not. Firefly is the cheapest company, but you have to make a reservation because, otherwise, they may not have cars available when you get there. The lowest prices in the others companies vary from 350€ to 450€ for 6 days. You receive the car with a full tank and you also have to return it full.

The traffic in Napoli looks like this:

And the road on the coast looks like this (the video is on fast forward, we weren't driving that fast):

Let's go to the visiting part now.

Amalfi - the town is nice, but not very impressive. There is a harbor with lots of boats from the cheapest to the expensive ones. There is no sand on the beach, just little rocks. The temperature was not high, we didn't get to swim so I can't tell you anything about the quality of the water. There is a nice square called Piazza del Duomo and there you can visit the Saint Andrew Cathedral for the moderate fee of 3€.

The town of Amalfi

Piazza del Duomo

Museo Diocesano Amalfi - Saint Andrew Cathedral

The stairs from the parking to the square

Ravello - If you head Salerno, after leaving Amalfi, you will see signs leading you to Ravello - the town of music. Our GPS didn't find it so we had to take the traditional way. Once we got there, we visited Villa Rufolo, created in 13th century. The entrance fee is 5€. The construction is impressive, the gardens and the view are stunning. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but this is a place you must write down on your list if you plan to visit the Amalfi Coast. We didn't get to visit Villa Cimbrone, but I heard it is also a nice thing to see.

Piazza del Duomo  

Villa Rufolo

Positano - clearly the most beautiful town on the coast. This is exactly how you expect the whole country to be. The streets are narrow, the buildings are very well taken care of, the slates with the name of the streets and the number of the houses are handmade and the houses are painted in warm colors. We didn't visit anything specifically, we just walked on the streets and the experience was unforgettable. The parking is pretty expensive: 5€ per hour. If you're interested in shopping, there are lots of shops who sell flax clothes and leather shoes. As far as the beach is concerned, there is little sand and lots of tiny rocks. The water is clear and there are small waves from time to time. If you're looking for snorkeling, you may be a little disappointed because the water is a little puddled and there is few fish. From Positano you can go for a boat tour of the coast. Also, you can go to Capri Island and there you will find bigger beaches. The road takes 50 minutes and the price is 35€. 

Positano

Grotta dello Smeraldo - the internet says the cave is in Positano. Actually, it is in Conca dei Marini. If you're headed to Positano, you will see signs on the road leading you to a lift that will take you to the cave. The ticket is 5€. When I was looking up for stuff to see along the coast, I saw different opinions on the emerald cave. Some people said it's awesome, others said it's a waste of time. Now that I saw it, I can say the cave is spectacular. But if you want to see the wonderful, blue color you will have to visit the cave on a sunny day. The sunnier the day, the bluer the blue. :)

The emerald cave

Fiordo di Furore - when you're about to exit Furore (towards Positano), you will cross a bridge and at its end you will see a sign pointing you to the right. There is no car access, you can only go on foot to see the fjord. There are some stairs and a little alee that will walk you along the fjord. It will be hard to find a parking spot because the main road is pretty narrow so get ready to walk 200-300 m on foot. It's a nice thing to see in the summer because if you go there after few rainy days, you will only see some puddles and an abandoned beach.

Fiordo di Furore seen from the bridge

Pompei - the old town is golden. You can get there by following the signs with "Pompei Scavi", but it's better if you use your GPS because they forgot to put signs in many intersections. The best idea is to take a whole day to visit the ruins because the town is HUGE. Also get some comfy shoes because you are going to walk A LOT. Don't take flip-flops or sandals because you are going to trip easily. The ticket price is 13€ (you only get a reduction if you're an art student) and if you want to see the museum, it costs an extra 2€. I recommend you first visit the ruins and after that the museum. Also you can take audio guides for an additional tax of 6.50€. They will help you understand what you see and it's easier to listen and watch at the same time than to read and watch after you finish reading. You can consider bringing your own headphones because the ones they give you will make your ear hurt (also there is only one headphone). They will also give you a map together with your audio guide. As far as the old town is concerned, I can only say you have to see it AT LEAST once in this lifetime. Its greatness is impressive, everything you see there will make your jaw drop. 

Pompei Scavi

Naples - the biggest disappointment of this trip. Just like the new city of Pompei, everything is miserable. There is garbage everywhere and everything smells like pee. The traffic is infernal and it's a miracle if your car doesn't get scratches. There are many things to see in Naples, but the way the city looks like will be a total turn-off. If you are travelling by car or you rented a car, you should park it in the parking of the harbor because you will hardly find a spot anywhere else. We wanted to visit the underground city and we had a hard time finding it. The signs that will lead you there are those with "Galeria Borbonica". Anyway, after we walked in all the directions for 15 minutes, we finally succeeded, but we found out it was closed. Apparently it is open only during weekends so plan your trip wisely. We only managed to visit Piazza del Plebiscito, Fontana di Santa Lucia, Castel dell'Ovo and Castel Nuovo. Neither of the castles was in good condition. Only the entrance gate at Castel Nuovo was impressive. The narrow streets between buildings are full of different smells which vary from fish to pee. The buildings are slowly falling apart and no one takes care of them. There were many other objectives to be seen such as the Archaeological Museum, the Dome of Naples, the Castel Sant'Elmo, etc, but, as I said earlier, the misery of the city was a total turn-off.

Piazza del Plebiscito

Entrance gate at Castel Nuovo

Baron's Hall curently used as City Hall - Castel Nuovo

Skeletons found in Armory - Castel Nuovo

Fontana di Santa Lucia

View from Castel dell'Ovo

Caserta - it's an upcountry city and we didn't find many tourists visiting Caserta. Compared to Napoli, the city is clean, with decent traffic and decent drivers. Here we visited Casertavecchia, the old town which was truly amazing. Paved streets, old houses, painted house numbers, lovely places. It's a little piece of history. The only disappointment I had in the old town was that the castle build around 800 AD was not open for visitors. In the new city, we visited Reggia di Caserta, palace designed by Luigi Vanvitelli. The entrance fee was 12€ and students had a reduction of half the price. The palace is huge. Personally, I liked the stairs and the first two rooms (they had simpler decoration since they were intended for security - haleberdiers and soldiers). The other rooms were very goldish and they didn't have too many pieces of furniture. The audio guide is not worth (5€) because you don't listen to any historical information, but you only find out who painted every fresco of the palace. The park was inspired by the one in Versailles, but it is kind of dull. It is 3.3 km long so be wise and rent a bike because otherwise you're going to say goodbye to your feet. The fountains are spectacular and pretty well taken care of. At the end of the park, there is a big exotic garden called Giardino Inglese so save some energy to visit that too.

Casertavecchia

Reggia di Caserta

Giardino Inglese

I really hope sharing my experience in Amalfi Coast will help you plan your journey as well as possible. Thank you for reading and I am open to any suggestions and remarks. Have a nice day! :)

P.S. - Only few Italians speak English.