How to end up lost and stranded in the rain with very little money and being forced to pee in the Sea

The following day we planned to head to the Amalfi Coast, which we were both looking forward to and had heard was absolutely gorgeous. The guidebook recommended taking the SITA bus from Sorrento, since it ran fairly often and was able to adeptly maneuver around the curvy 1.5-lane Amalfi Coast Road. But in keeping with our typical pattern, we arrived at the station right as a bus was pulling away, only to be told that since it's not tourist season, the next bus wouldn't be for another hour or two. As we're walking out of the station, we're approached by a cab driver who offers to take us to Positano (the first town on the coast) for "15 Euros, 1-5... cinquanta". Having just bought all-day bus tickets, we were hesitant, but decided to go for it since who knows when the next bus would have come. So we take her up on the offer and arrive at the bus stop in Positano... which she points out, but then keeps driving another mile or so steeply DOWNHILL from the bus stop to drop us off - where suddenly the cost becomes "50 Euros, 5-0... cinquanta" (about $75) - apparently cinquanta is the Italian word for 50, not 15. (Important Lesson: Learn Italian numbers before negotiating cab fare.) We begrudgingly paid the fare, she peeled off, and we were left standing at the bottom of a ghost town (everything had closed for the season in Positano) with little money left in our pockets, staring at a steep uphill to where the bus stop should be (see pic of looking up at Positano). We finally found an open internet cafe and were able to find a bus map that showed a closer stop, but still a long way uphill. We climbed up to the stop (see pic looking back down at where we had been) - I'm sure a bus had probably just come before we got there - and waited almost an hour for the next bus, during which it started pouring down rain (see pic).

We finally got on the bus and had planned on stopping at a few other towns to walk the coast for a bit, but decided to head straight to the main town of Amalfi due to the rain. We walked around the town for a bit, but the weather was not really cooperating (see pic of dark clouds over the coast)... and it turned out all the public restrooms were closed for the season. Brian was forced to discreetly pee off the end of the dock into the sea while I distracted with some ultra-touristy photo-taking moves in the other direction. Then we went back to the bus stop and waited another 45 minutes for the next bus... which we watched drive right by us and continue on its merry way without stopping to pick us up. :( So another hour in the rain, and we FINALLY were able to get on a bus back to Sorrento. Sadly Amalfi Coast, you are not our friend.

The next day the rain had moved out, so we checked out of our B&B and got back on the Circumvesuviana train north to Ercolano in hopes of climbing Mt. Vesuvius this time. We arrived at the station to find that the one shuttle of the day was leaving at noon - we had about 45 minutes to spare! When we went to pay of course, suddenly the fare chart on the desk was whisked away and we were quoted a much higher price, but at this point in the season they were the only game in town so we took it. We were joined by a male Japanese traveler who we ended up having lunch with later on. We got to the drop-off point for Vesuvius and were told we had about 55 minutes before the shuttle would leave - which is about enough time for a marathon racer to run up to the top and run back down... and we had all our luggage (our 25-lb backpacks) on us. It was tough, but we made it up to the top (see pic), and looked into the smoking crater. We were also able to see the coast and Pompeii down below in the distance (see pic). By this point we had about 10 minutes to get back down the volcano, so we ran like a Pompeiian, and luckily enjoyed a better outcome than they did, making it back to the shuttle just before it pulled away.

That afternoon we walked down to Herculaneum, also destroyed by Vesuvius, but better preserved than Pompeii. It was a vacation 'resort town' on the coast, unlike the middle-class working town of Pompeii. We actually found these ruins to be a bit more interesting, despite the area being significantly smaller than Pompeii (see pic of ruins with Vesuvius in the background, and a pic of one of the decorated walls). That evening we returned to Rome on the high-speed train and prepared for our flight to Moscow the next morning!