Sorrento and first day in Rome

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Thursday, May 29
Sorrento/Pompeii, Italy
We decided to visit the ruins of Pompeii today rather than Isle of Capri. Our main interest on the Isle was the Blue Grotto but the tide was high in the morning hours and access to the grotto restricted.
We walked to the train station in the center of Sorrento, about a mile, and caught the train towards Naples. The ride to Pompeii was about thirty minutes. The station is just outside the main gate to the ruins.
We were not impressed with the support of the staff at the gate area. As suggested by RS, we asked for a free map in English after paying 11 euros each for entry. We were told that none were available. So, I bought a book for 8 euros. Then trying to use the book, I found that it was poorly organized and its numbering system did not match the numbers on the various buildings.
Anyway, we managed and the site itself is well worth the effort to visit. It is amazing. And it is larger than I expected. It is truly hard to believe that it was buried for hundreds of years. The eruption took place on August 24, AD 79. It stayed a mystery until the 1600s when it was discovered by accident, and excavation began 1748. It was a booming Roman trading center of 20,000 people.
There were many curious discoveries in these ruins. One was the presence in some of the homes of pornography. We even spotted some of it in one house, the Casa dei Vetti. In one doorway, Jackie was reading the RS book about the home of two Pompeii bachelors as I was looking inside. Then she said to me, “Do you see a painting of a man’s penis on the wall?” Sure enough, just to the right of the front door, there it was. I had not seen it originally. We busted out laughing. This painting shows this guy standing up, dressed, but with this enormous penis out and being held up with a cord out in front of him. Another tourist came up just then to take a look and saw what we were laughing about. She joined in the laughter and called for her husband and kids to join in for a look.
One stunning sight was the numerous plaster casts of the victims and even a dog. When the site was excavated, they developed a technique of filling voids found in the ash with plaster which created exact copies of the long gone remains. Spooky, that was. There are also a couple of interesting outdoor amphitheaters and a coliseum on the property. There is still excavation work continuing to this day on the site. And, Pompeii is not the only lost city. There are others nearby but we did not have the time or interest to see them.
Our only mistake was deciding to leave from a second exit at the east side of the site. It turns out we had to walk about a mile around the property outside in a round-a-bout manner. But we made it back to the train and back to Sorrento. After a nice lunch at the Foreigner’s Club, we walked back to our hotel and had a break.
Around 7:00 pm, we took the car out for a drive over the mountain to see Positano. It is a similar village to Sorrento on the south coast of the Sorrento peninsula. It is the northern most village of the Amalfi Coast. After a few photos we drove back. The scenario is world-class there.
For dinner we chose another RS recommendation. This was Ristorante Delfino. This restaurant was located just below our hotel and directly on the water front. We had a great meal and listened to some good music played by a 3 piece band. It seems everyone here plays the same few songs. They love to play “I did it my way” by Frank Sinatra. We have heard this song from everyone. Even the street musicians play it.
Overall, this entire visit was a perfect ten for RS. We stayed on the Via Capo at Albergo Settimo Cielo (means “Seventh Heaven), ate at the scenic Hotel Restaurant La Tonnarella, and the above mentioned Ristorante Delfino. Thanks, Rick.

Friday, May 30
Sorrento to Rome, Italy
We woke in the morning rested and ready to jump back in the car for another leg of our journey. We returned up A1 to Roma. The drive took a little longer than I thought due to heavy traffic. A lot of construction along the way slowed us but as you might guess, I picked up a lot of time where there was no construction. We arrived about 1:00pm.
Driving in Roma is not fun. If we did not have a GPS, we would never have found our hotel. Plus, we would likely be divorced by now. Jackie hates maps and I can’t drive and read maps at the same time. So, the GPS has saved our marriage. Anyway, when we got close to the Best Western Piccadilly Hotel, Jackie jumped out to find it while I waited against a curb. She came back and directed me the last 200 yards. She went in and got directions to a nearby garage. We’re paying 18 euros a day but I’ve heard worse.
The hotel is a short walk to a Metro station, San Giovanni. This makes it real easy to get around.
After getting into our room, we decided it was a good time for doing some laundry. There was a very nice place nearby called “Bolle Blu.” There is a chain of these in Italy. It was staffed by a very friendly couple. The man could speak a little English and seemed proud to help us. We paid only 12 euros to wash and dry all of our dirty clothes. We were so happy. Time had run out on this smelly lot.
Later we took the RS walking evening tour called “Night Walk across Rome.” It started at Campo de’ Fiori and ended at the Trevi Fountain. Our only problem, we wanted to buy the Roma Pass cards which is a three day pass on all public transport plus free entry to any two sites, such as the Colosseum or the Forum, and discounts at all others. To buy, we decided to walk from the hotel to the Colosseum Metro Station where they are on sale. Good idea since it looked so close on the map. Bad idea in reality. It turns out that the walk is about one mile; some of it up hill.
Once we got the tickets, we then proceeded to the starting point of the walk. That added another mile. Somewhere along here is when Jackie developed a blister on her little toe. Well, we had not yet even started the mile-long “romantic night walk.” But, she’s a real trooper and finished in style. We had dinner in the Campo de’ Fiori area and then walked towards the Trevi. On the way we passed by the impressive Pantheon. This church, from the Ancient Rome days, is breathtaking. I have never seen anything like this. In fact, no one has since it is really one of a kind. We are to visit the interior on Sunday.
We stopped nearby to have some gelato (ice cream) at Roma’s most famous gelateria, Giolitti. I am not sure what flavor that I chose but it was wonderful. Jackie said it was too sweet so she ate only half of my cone….just kidding, only a couple of bites.
Then we ended this walk at the Trevi Fountain. I had left my camera in the car when I parked it so Jackie got a little bent that we could not take proper pictures. I used my Iphone camera but don’t know yet how to download these so I have them but you can’t see them. We plan to go back there tonight to take some more photos and maybe half of Japan won’t be there. Seriously, I have never seen so many Japanese. From here we walked to the Barberini Metro Station and back to our hotel.

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Photos

Jackie readies for the day
Another great view from our hotel

Pompeii
Tom near the entrance in the ruins

Cast of person lost in ruins
These casts were fasinating and eerie.

Another Cast
This guy was upright when found.

This looks like porno
R. Steve's guide says this is not really porno but some way to show wealth.. well, hard for me to agree. Sorry for the pun.

Brothel
This was the bed!! Rock hard solid. Another pun.

Mount Vesuvius
View out the window of one home. It was only five miles away.

Colosseum of Pompeii
This would house 30,000 fans. About half the size of the one in Rome.

Positano Sign
Note the hand writing on the right of the printed sign. Looks like viagra has made it to Italy.

Positano
Great view. I focused on the foliage not the beach. It seemed to work okay.

Comments

[Andrea and Rich]

Driving In Rome
I bet my story of Rich leaving the kids and I in the car at the round about really makes sense now! Enjoy Rich and Andrea