Sorrento

---

After leaving Rome we were ready to cruise through to Sorrento and crash...but why be so plain? Instead, we..."toured"...Sorrento for 2 1/2 hours and introduced ourselves to several store owners, gas station attendants, and taxi drivers who thought they might know where our apartment was. It was some comfort to know the taxi driver himself was lost in his attempt to bring us to our street. We also found a number of would be NASCAR drivers who watch too much Fast & Furious, and motorcycle/scooter drivers with big cahones and little brains. Perhaps the grappa is a little too accessible here! We did find our apartment though...very cute!
We took a lazy day and walked around Sorrento for the afternoon. Some neat shops -one of which introduced me to chocolate liqueur...OMG- a few shops that made their own grappa on site, and some cool glass bead jewelry shops. We're holding out for Venice for that though! We met our afternoon gelato needs and headed toward the beaches. By the time we got down to the beach we had had our fill and continued our way to the docks to check out cruises. While we were unimpressed with the boating tours, the private yachts were QUITE impressive. We got some groceries and had a good Italian home cooked meal- pesto and fresh pasta...oh, and wine! For dessert, gelato with chocolate liqueur! A relaxing day was just what we needed to refuel!
The following day we headed out to explore the Amalfie coast. Another "oh WOW!" day. Massive cliff coastline, cute towns nestled into the rock, pebble beaches, and a narrow winding road along the edge of -and through- the cliffs that dipped in and around towns. With some luck that's been a long time coming, there was no traffic at all...our neighbors spent 2 1/2 hours on their 20km trek home the day before. 
We stopped in the town of Amalfie...which has been BY FAR the creepiest town we've been in. Sketchy looking guys everywhere. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. We didn't even get our gelato fix...we settled for fresh smoothies and beetled on our way!!
It was neat to see how the big tourist areas accommodated a desire for beaches where there were none: docks with sand and chairs. In the water there were floating chairs tied in a line between docks, so there was choice of submerged or dry sunbathing. There were also game areas set up, one was a water polo "court" and another was very similar, but the nets were raised between 1-2m off the water. Again, the yachts were awesome, 50+ft boats with crews out cleaning while the owners were out and about. 
We left the coastline for Pompeii, a town with an incredible history and a huge volcano with an equal reputation. Originally, Pompeii was a Roman town. It was ravaged by an earthquake, decimated by the time the aftershock was through. A town of good stature, a rebuild was in order...it was still in progress when the volcano erupted. The entire town was lost in ash and volcanic rock, untouched until efforts were made to dig up the ancient town in more recent years. The site we explored was 2km long and absolutely pristine considering the whole city had been buried. Details down to paintings on the wall, political signs in front of businesses, and beautiful mosaic floors and walls. Houses, inns, bars, Roman versions of restaurants-including a room which would have had beds for laying down to eat-, a colosseum, huge gardens, and a massive forum. The designs were still clear in the pillars, there were in tact marble tables, and an area called the Garden of refugees where a dozen bodies were found and casted in a garden/vineyard, people who were presumably trying to flee the volcanic ash. It was an incredible experience to walk through an ancient town that was still so together. It was our first really comprehensive look at how Roman life was lived, how an entire town was constructed, as opposed to isolated castles or buildings. Cool stuff!!! 
We didn't get a chance to go up Mount Vesuvius, as we were tired and chased out of town by some mean looking clouds. A long day of exploration and a seamless trip back to the apartment made for another relaxing evening. The storm didn't really hit until around 1am...right overhead and in the mountains...it was a doozy!! The power went out...good thing there was a big bright backup light on the ceiling that goes on automatically when the power goes out...otherwise we would have had to sleep in the dark!! I woke up wondering what the heck mom was doing, who woke up wondering why I needed all the lights on to go to the bathroom. The power was restored-or the light died- about an hour later. Good thing technology is so smart! 
Which brings us to today! Moms been driving for going on 6 hours now as we trek from south to north Italy: Sorrento to Venezia. The plan is to hit up the canals in Venezia before heading west to Verona for the night. That's the plan...we try not to get too attached to plans though.
Tomorrow: return car, explore Milano. Next up, Switzerland!!

---

Comments

[Patrick]

!!! !!! OMFG!!!
YOU TOURED THE RUINS OF POMPEI??? PINK FLOYD DID A CONCERT IN THOSE VERY RUINS FOR NO ONE! It was recorded for DVD years and years ago! I would have loved to see that! You likely walked through the same areas they did! Maybe even the same area they played!!! O M F G ! Love Pat