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Herculaneum So it has been a while since my last blog… cut me a break… I have been on vacation with la mia familia.
Anyway my last big trip of my Italy adventure was to a region to the south called Campania. Saving this trip for when it got warmer we were all excited. We left Saturday morning bright and early and after a bus, metro, and 2 hr train we arrived in Napoli. If you are not familiar with Napoli let me paint you an image. We get off of the train and are stuck in the bustle of people in the station with no clue on how to make our way to Sorrento other than it must be from somewhere inside of the train station. Everything looks a little dirtier or maybe I just saw it that way because of what I have been told. I noticed also that the people there carry a little bit extra weight than those up north by Rome. Now a “pro” at Italian it’s no time before we ask for directions and find our way to the Circumvesuviana (I think that’s how you spell it). There is a small local train that
Bakery Urns
Herculaneum runs around the bay of Napoli and runs from Napoli to Sorrento bypassing Herculaneum and Pompeii. While waiting for the train this homeless lady around 40 years old makes her way into the station. With only the black filth and underwear that she was ripping off she was moaning and flailing her arms. Good first impression of Napoli huh. Realizing our good decision on going straight to Sorrento we hopped the next train to paradise. Arriving in Sorrento was a 180. This town has beachy feel and colorful buildings of yellows, oranges, and other pastels. Tropical markets man the street and palm and flowered tropical trees line the streets and piazzas. It’s clear that Sorrento is purely a tourist paradise and its sole source of income. Finding our hotel with little ease (yes, I said hotel not hostel) we grabbed a bite to eat before we returned to the Circumvesuviana to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. We ate at Aurora 1898 which is an old pizzeria and we were not disappointed. We each got our own pizza and dessert to boot. Jordan and I got the Delizia al Limone which is a spongy cake covered in creamy lemon sauce while Laura
Building
Herculaneum got the same but covered with pistachio sauce. After, I went to Herculaneum while Laura and Jordan went to Pompeii since I would be visiting Pompeii the following week with la mia familia. Although lonely I had a good time wandering Herculaneum. It has been excellently preserved since it has been covered in 60 meters (roughly 180 ft) of mud. The frescos on the walls are still vivid with color and it’s easy to imagine how life used to be back then. After about 2 hours I meet up with Laura and Jordan who also had a good time discovering ancient Pompeii together. We walked around the narrow streets of Sorrento looking into shops and shopping for lemoncello. After catching the last of the sunset over the bay we walked down to the Via Marina Grande along the Sea. We literally ate over the sea on a platform and hate to say it but only had mediocre seafood, calamari for me, at Trattoria da Emilia.
The next morning we woke up and caught a jet to the island of Capri off the peninsula of Sorrento. This beautiful island is graced with beautiful cliffs and green and blue water
Colonade
Herculaneum as clear as air. As soon as we arrived at port, Marina Grande, we got hooked into what we thought was a boat ride to and inside the Grotta Azzurra for 13 euros. We jumped on the small boat and took off around the island. We arrived at the Grotta Azzurra to find that we had to pay an additional 10.50 to enter the Grotta Azzurra sitting at the bottom of a small row boat. Since we paid to get there we decided to dish out the extra dough and go inside. Climbing into the tiny row boat we entered the Grotta Azzurra through a tiny opening 1 meter high by 1 meter wide. As soon as we entered the grotta it opened up into a tall circular cavern. Looking back at the entrance the water was lit by the sun and the water was the color of an ice blue. A very serene blue that looked so unbelievable you had to run your hands through the water to believe it. After making our circle around the grotta and listening to our rower sing we returned to our bigger boat. As we departed the Grotta Azzurra we continued to go
around the island and not back to the port. To our surprise the 13 euros was not only to get to the grotta but also a tour around the island. On the tour we got to see the Grotta Verde (Green Grotto), the Grotta Bianca (White Grotto), the small beaches and town of Piccolo Marina, Emperor Tiberius’s cliff where he threw prisoners off, and even passed through the lover’s arch (the symbol of the island). Making a full circle around the island we arrived at port and made our way to Anacapri a small town reached by bus through winding roads with a shear drop off one side. Once there, we looked around a little bit, grabbed a bite to eat, and returned to Marina Grande to depart back to Sorrento. Rushing a little, we picked up our luggage from the hotel and departed to Napoli’s and then after a short delay caught a train back to Roma. Overall it was a great trip and a good way to end last weekend adventure.
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