This morning we took the bus to Termini and then walked to a village called Massa Lubrense. The path was overgrown in some places, very lush with vegetation. We saw several different different kinds of herbs growing in the wild. Along the way, we met the cutest little puppy (black, of course) that was perfectly happy to have his belly rubbed by all 26 people. I was sure I could fit him in my suitcase, but the others wouldn't let me take him :-) We ended our walk at Marina della Lobra and had lunch at Angelo's Bar. His wife made delicious caprese salads (tomato, mozzarella and basil.) The tomatos grown in volcanic soil here are the sweetest ever! At one point while we were waiting for our meal, we saw Angelo scurry out of the ... read more

Today we did a walk through Naples with a local guide. We saw the Galleria Umberto I, built in the late 1800s as part of an urban renewal project. The marble floor contains mosaics of each of the zodiac signs, it's a very impressive building. We walked over to the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), construction began on this in 1600 and it was finished in 1843. It was so beautiful on the inside, everything was gilded and marbled, and it had the most amazingly intricate tapestries. Then we went on to the the Museo Archiologico Nazionale (National Archeological Museum) to see the ancient artifacts that were unearthed at Pompeii, a Roman town that was buried in ash by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. There are still some things remaining at Pompeii, which we would see ... read more