Dirty Naples, Discovering Pompeii and Delightful Sorrento

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The day started with a short tour of dirty Naples. Beneath the 'rubbish and grime' (the city could use a good clean up and a BIG gurney gun) lies a CHAOTIC but beautiful city built in the 'neo classical' style. We tasted the popular Italian cake 'rum baba' which was light and delicious.

From Naples, we visited Pompeii where time stopped for the aristocratic town with the terrible eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. As we walked the ruins, we were amazed at how a city at the height of the Roman Empire was destroyed, buried under ash and pumice and then rediscovered (by accident) in 1749. It was amazing to see the remains of frescos and mosaics, a roman bath, even a brothel (prostitution is after all, the oldest profession) and the 'ruts' left by the wheels of the chariots on the cobblestone streets.

Later in the afternoon, we visited the delightful seaside town of Sorrento. We taste tested limoncello, a liqueur with a high alcohol content but was not to our liking.

After dinner we listened to some opera being sung in the 'card house' and from the 'lookout' we watched the sun set over the the bay of Naples to music by an accordion player. We found Sorrento not as hilly and more laid back (other than Atrani) than other towns on the Amalfitan Coast ... which we liked.

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