Our
hotel had a wonderful little patio breakfast area that felt very European. We enjoyed having breakfast ready for us rather than getting it from the corner grocery store or fruit stand.
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Breakfasting with Jodi and Rich
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We had an early start (as usual) as we needed to get back from Pompeii by 11:30 for out tour of the Amalfi Coast. We jumped on the Circumvesviana train headed back towards Naples, but got off at the
Pompeii Ruins. A short
5 minutes walk and we were at Pompeii.
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| Mount Vesuvius framed by the arch |
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| Pompeii Ruins |
It’s hard to believe that the Naples Bay use to reach this port city AND
that it could be completely covered by volcanic ash preserving it
miraculously. The map was really
hard to follow and even though we tried our best to do a self guided tour, we
got lost many times in the labyrinth of tiny streets. At one point we lost Jeff for a long time. We stumbled into a well preserved Roman
house, complete with frescos on the walls. It was easy to visualize a family living there. We saw their church, their forum, the
homes of the rich and the homes of the common man. It wasn’t overly crowded and we really could have used
another hour just to cement Pompeii into our minds.
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| Getting lost and consulting the map |
Unfortunately we had an appointment and to the credit
of our tour guide, he was there waiting for us when we got off of the train
back in Sorrento.
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| Amalfi Coast |
We
had decided to hire a driver to talk us along the
Amalfi Coast so we could enjoy the scenery and also so we could
explore some cities without needing to worry about parking a car.
Bernardo was our guide; a round, happy,
energetic fellow that became my best friend as soon as he learned I spoke
Italian.
He would start his
sentence in English so the group could understand, but two words in, he would
switch to Italian and ask me to translate.
He handed me the microphone and let me play tour guide.
His favorite thing to say was “A cosa
importante” and then proceed to tell me either something on the tour or that I
needed to open my own tour business and get rich.
The next favorite thing he liked to say was “Allora” which I
later learned everyone though he was saying my name over and over and everyone
just laughed and laughed in the back of the bus.
He loved to point out the fancy villas and homes of famous
people, he made several scenic stops and pullovers, every view was
stunning.
The road itself is
intense and Bernardo did a great job of maneuvering the tight turns and
oncoming traffic.
Our fist stop
was lunch at a romantic, cliff-side restaurant over-looking the
Mediterranean.
The food was beautifully
present and served.
We had mashed
potatoes and flying squid, a mild fish skinned and boned table-side, and the a
sea-food dish with pasta.
It was
pleasant to sit and enjoy something fancy with such a nice view.
After lunch we continued our scenic
drive until we veered up the mountain to a small town called
Ravello.
There were no cars allowed in the center of town, which was
tiny.
We were given an hour or so
to just wander and get lost.
There
were stairs everywhere nand the further we wandered down we saw signs with
directions to other towns along the Amalfi Coast.
Back in the day before there were streets for cars these
people must have had the strongest legs in all of Italy as they walked up and
down stairs all day long in their own towns and to get to other places.
There happened to be a funeral in the
little church at the center of town.
We caught the processional just as we were leaving.
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| Getting off the main drag in Amalfi |
Our
next stop was
Amalfi which claims
the church of Saint Andrew and supposedly his bones as well.
We enjoyed the church but skipped the
extra fee to see some bones, I guess we were done with relics after 3 ½ days in
Rome.
Amalfi definitely had the
stores catering to the tourists.
We tried to avoid the main drag, getting lost in the side streets.
Our drive back to Sorrento was quiet
and peaceful, Bernardo even turned on some beautiful Italian music that I wish
we could have gotten a copy of all the songs.
However, just as we returned to town Bernardo wanted to talk
Italian/American culture and politics.
My Italian only gets me so far and politics is not a good conversation
for me.
Oh well.
It was a good day and I got a real Italian
baci on the cheeks for it.
I told
my friends that I wanted to start greeting them each morning with a bacio, but
I generally forgot.
That’s a
custom I miss and could get use to doing again.
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| Bus Tour with Bernaldo |
Our
evening was a quiet stroll through town.
Eric and I found a small salumeria and got prosciutto Sandwiches after which
we walked down to the ocean overlook.
It was dark, so we couldn’t see much, but it was beautiful. The evening was finished off with a
nice gelato before bed. I can get
use to this living.
