Sorrento and Pompeii - Italy 3

---

This blog covers three days , one at Sorrento where we met sister in law Sandra, Jill who I used to work with at the Jobcentre in Clay Cross and two friends who were cruising from Palma to Sorrento, from Sorrento to Rome, from Rome to Barcelona and from Barcelona back to Palma. We drove in to the town over what can only be described as the most frightening roads in the country. It took some considerable time to travel between Amalfi and Sorrento via small mountain towns, the roads hairpinning all the way between one town and the next. Fast travel seemed impossible . When we arrived we parked close to the harbour in what seemed like the most expensive car parking we had ever used. It cost 20 euros for a couple of hours. Walked up to the Foreigners Bar in the town for coffee. Fabulous views across the bay. It was pleasant to sit talking to the girls and catch up on news from home. After a pleasant morning we moved on intending to visit Vesuvius however an accident on the way prevented us from completing our journey. The roads in this area are congested with no opportunities to find other side roads to by pass problems. Once stuck in a road jam you either sit there for hours or turn round and go home. In this case we chose the latter rather than the former. It was too hot to sit in the car waiting for the accident to clear . Felt better to go home, sit on our balcony, watch the world go by and drink italian wine.

Pompeii was the next stop on our list of places to see an do. Having watching programmes on Pompeii and Herculaneum I was looking forward to seeing the real thing. Set out early and found excellent parking close to Pompeii . Bought a joint ticket with Herculaneum and Oplontis which cost around 20 euros. Noticed the station close by and with hindsight realised that we should have used the train to travel to Herculaneum later in the day. Sions tip : Because of lack of parking near Herculaneum use the train!!! Pompeii is amazing without the crowds - go early walk to the furthest point and walk back slowly to get a taste of what life must have been like in Pompeii before the eruption. The sight of Vesuvius in the distance is always an ever present reminder of the danger then and the danger now to Naples and its surrounding area. It felt like a sleeping dragon waiting to be woken at any moment. We had decided to go to see Herculaneum but struggled to park and in the end had to give up on that one - they say you should always leave something to go back to and perhaps Herculaneum is one of those places.

---