It was an easy ride from Rome to Naples (about three hours on the slow, but very cheap train) and then it was a quick transfer to a commuter train that took us out to Sorrento, a small coastal town. We decided to stay here because one, we had a recommendation for a hotel, two, Pompeii is too far for a day trip from Rome by train and three, we might be able to squeeze in a visit to the famed Amalfi Coast.

The hotel was about a 15-minute drive from Sorrento and they were pretty good about shuttling us up and down (probably because we were the only guests)! One look from our balcony and we knew we'd made a perfect choice. Greeting us from across the Bay of Naples was a clear view of cratered Mount Vesuvius.

What was not so clear to us was why about 50 men were dressed as women, parading through the streets of Sorrento waving hula hoops covered in tissue paper. We came across this strange site after we had been shuttled into the town for dinner. What we could glean from bystanders is that it had to do with Italy's Carnevale. There was not much else going on in Sorrento so, after our pre-dinner entertainment and filling our bellies, it was time to rest up for the next day.

The next morning a half-hour train ride delivered us to the gates of ancient Pompeii – the site where thousands of unsuspecting citizens were suffocated by noxious gases when Mount Vesuvius exploded on the morning of August 24, 79 AD. That day an enormous area around the volcano became engulfed by mud, flames and burning stones that eventually hid Pompeii and its sister city Herculaneam from sight after it piled up almost 60ft deep (hence the well-preserved ruins).

Some people tried to flee, while others stayed in their homes hoping that would protect them from the destruction. The bodies of those who chose to remain and others who could not outrun the destruction were found by archaeologists some 1,700 years later. Archaeologists have been working hard and now Pompeii provides some amazing ruins which give a comprehensive snapshot of a day in the life of the town.

An entire day could be devoted to a Pompeii visit – even if like me, you're not obsessed with ruins – but we decided to cut our visit to about three hours. The reason? My travel buddy's mother was leaving in two days and we also wanted to visit Amalfi, which is a town further south than Sorrento, in the same day. According to the bus schedule given to us by the tourism office, this should not have been a problem. Ha!

So, after the CliffsNotes' tour of Pompeii we stumbled back to Sorrento and found the bus stop. My travel buddy, trying to be helpful, went to buy bus tickets for Amalfi in the newsstand nearby and we were all set for the 4 p.m. bus. Well the time came and went with not a bus for the coast in sight. After waiting about 15 minutes I finally asked an off-duty bus driver what the deal was. "Oh, didn't they tell you a rock has fallen on the road between Sorrento and Amalfi blocking the entirety of it? Oh and because of the new roadblock, getting to Amalfi requires taking a bus right up to the rock and then walking two kilometres to the bus stop on the other side!"

Well that information might have proven slightly helpful earlier in the day especially since the trip would now take two hours, not 45 minutes, and we could not do the trip in a day let alone an afternoon. Why no one told us, i.e. the tourist office whose job it is or the woman in the shop selling the tickets is anyone's guess. What we were not going to do, though, is lose the €12 we spent on the useless bus tickets. Just a little FYI for anyone thinking of visiting this town, though Sorrento claims to be one of the most touristed towns in Italy, everyone from shop assistants to hotel workers are incredibly miserable people (or maybe it was us?).

As an example, when we returned to the newsstand to explain what happened and apologise that we would not be able to use them, the woman behind the desk immediately started yelling at us and berating us in Italian for buying the tickets. As if it were our fault the road was closed! She picked the wrong foreigner to mess with though. My Italian, and the swearing lessons I received from my Italian friends, came in very handy and we walked out of the shop with our money.

A second example of the lack of hospitality? Determined not to be deterred by the bus problem we sought refuge on the ferry dock hoping one of the fast ferries might be running to Amalfi. Again we were met with some of the most sour-faced assistants ever seen and no amount of 'good afternoons' were going to do any good.

Again we were thwarted because the last ferry left a good 15 minutes before we arrived at the dock (this we received from her after a good ten minutes of grilling. No one wanted to give us any information apparently). So we finally conceded defeat – and I decided never to return to Sorrento – and resigned ourselves to dinner in our hotel and an early morning start to climb Mount Vesuvius.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it up Vesuvius because whatever flu-like sickness I had in Rome, came back two-fold and I was bedridden. Of course, the one thing I had never done when I lived in Italy and I was too sick to do it! My travel buddies tried to make me feel good about it when they returned. Their report: good idea to do, but not worth extending your stay to go there. First it requires a bus ride and then a half-hour hike before you are staring down into the crater. I don't know, it sounds pretty cool to me and I definitely want to go back to do just that.

Though I was still not feeling great, we had to pack up and get back to Rome the same day so my travel buddy's mother could get her flight the next morning and we could continue to Venice. After one more night in Rome, – and arrivederci to his mother – we were on our way to Venice! It's about a five-hour train ride to the top of Italy, but we figured from here we could take a ferry to Greece (our next stop) and, well, everyone has to visit this water-logged city.

Most people recommended staying for one night, but I would highly recommend at least two. We had another amazing hotel right on the water though far from the Grand Canal, the main water vein in the city. I'm actually glad we did not pay more for that location because I would say it's overrated. Anywhere you stay is close to the water and the Grand Canal is never far.

We decided to conquer Venice on our own so we retired our map to the bag and set off to wander the city. Honestly, it's probably the easiest way. The small, winding streets, no matter how many times I had tried to refer to a map, made no sense whatsoever and we were not alone.

People would pop out from the tiniest streets with the most dazed and confused looks on their faces, look for the ubiquitous signs for the Rialto Bridge or San Marco Square, shrug their shoulders and set off hoping it was the right direction this time. We decided we were not in a rush and joined in.

Our first day there began with a ferry to Murano, a six-island cluster in Venice's lagoon that since 1292 has been reserved for glass blowing factories. Really one of the more unique firefighting inventions, Venetians hoped that only this cluster would go up in smoke if any fires got out of hand! We were immediately shuffled into one of the factories where we were the only two watching a glassblower create a horse in about five minutes.

Then it was off to the store attached to the factory for the required oohing and aahing over the pricey items. Unfortunately, they picked two poor backpackers and did not get much more business from us than a wine stopper.

After returning to 'mainland' Venice, we visited the Basilica di San Marco (a must), which was built to house the remains of St. Mark. What a grave! The mosaics are beautiful and the view of the piazza from the balcony is fantastic.

We decided, however, to give the bell tower (which is across from the Basilica) a miss because it was so foggy and €8 for a view of what we could see from the ground just was not worth it. There is also the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace), but at €12 to go in, we decided the museum was a bit out of our price range. Instead we meandered by the Bridge of Sighs, which is free to see from the outside and is named for the sounds prisoners would make as they walked through it to their deaths. Further strolling took us over the store-lined Rialto Bridge (another must see) and I was captivated by the oldest journal store in Venice – Rivoaltus Legatoria.

After two days we felt satisfied by our tour of this glass-and water-bound city. We booked a ferry, which conveniently left from Venice's port and would arrive in Patras, Greece in two days. It was the cheapest available transportation and we thought it would be the most fun. The ferry left at 7 p.m. so by 4 p.m. we left our hotel and caught the water taxi that would take us to the port.

As we neared the port (which took 45 minutes by ferry) my travel buddy suddenly remembered that he left his watch in the hotel room! What a time to remember. Because I could not carry our two massive backpacks and our carry-on bags, it was up to me to sprint back to our hotel before the ferry to Greece left!

I later found out that what I did was basically a 'marathon' through the city. I was crossing bridges like a mad woman, sprinting through tiny streets with my eyes ablaze, madly trying to read signs towards San Marco Square, tripping over tourists and all the time trying to seem totally composed. Ha! I finally arrived at the hotel in 30 minutes out of breath and dishevelled.

After frantically explaining to the manager the problem, he called all the maids who had been on that day and we found the watch conveniently left in their cleaning closet (obviously hoping we would forget it). After grabbing the meddling little timepiece I gave up the idea of trying to negotiate the streets of Venice by foot again and jumped on another water taxi just praying I would arrive at the ferry terminal in time.

After further time spent grocery shopping for our ferry ride so we did not have to buy overpriced ferry food, I found my bashful and watchless travel buddy at the ferry port. Luckily (or maybe unluckily for my travel buddy) I had caught my breath at this point and, well, we eventually boarded our Greece-bound boat with 30 minutes to spare.

Next stop: Patras, Greece.