Vincenzo picked us up in front of the hotel (we DIDN'T have to try to figure out where the tour started this time...it was GREAT!!!). Already in the van were Tammy, her husband Dennis, and their teenagers Chase and Ann. Tammy's family was ANOTHER group that was on many of our tours, and, as was the case the day before, delightful and fun to get to know!
Vincenzo wove his way through rush-hour Rome traffic, and eventually we hit open highway. The speed limit is about 100-120 MPH in Italy, so we CRUISED toward the coast. I was in the very back of the van with Duane and Jim, and was GLAD...sitting in the front seat, with traffic, and narrow roads all day, I think I would have been a little stressed out!
We made a couple of stops along the coast (pullouts...some with just a tiny space to park your car, and others with fruit and vegetable stands). It was a GORGEOUS drive, but again, the roads were NARROW, and there were a couple of times that we have to stop for awhile and even back up for tour buses and trucks. Vincenzo was a very good driver!
Our first "official" stop was Amalfi, a resort town (and a bit touristy). We had about an hour to explore. Duane and I saw an enormous set of stairs leading up to a church, so started there. The origins of the Cathedral of Amalfi date to around 596 A.D., with additions in 1100 and the mid 1200's. Renovations, acquisitions, and other additions occurred, off and on, over the next EIGHT centuries.
After touring the cathedral, we headed up the main street. Duane found an AMAZING gelateria, which boasted "the best lemon sorbet anywhere". The owner was correct! I've NEVER had a fresher, zestier, refreshing sorbet in my life. Just writing about it is making my mouth water!!!
After buying a tacky magnet for my brother-in-law, (we do that when we go somewhere new...I have QUITE a collection from his trips with my sister and her family, and he has a similar collection from me! I often wonder WHAT these shop owners think when we buy them...because they are TRULY hideous!!), we headed back to the van to continue the tour.
Our next stop was Positano. What an AMAZING town! The villas climb the side of the mountain like vines, and are colorful and gigantic, and beautiful. Many movies have used Positano as a backdrop (we just watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" last night, and I'd forgotten that parts of it were filmed there...totally cool to recognize spots that were used in some of the scenes!!).
We had lunch at a place that Vincenzo recommended (I think he gets free food there if he brings groups in!) called Ristorante Buca di Bacco. It was very good, and had an open deck that looked out over the ocean. Jim and Marilyn sat at the table next to us, and we enjoyed chatting with them while we enjoyed the GORGEOUS view!
After lunch we looked around the beach/pier area, Duane found a pastry shop and had a lemon tirimisu (the Amalfi coast is, apparently, know for their lemons. Their primary export, I believe, is limoncello, a liquor made with lemon peel, alcohol, and sugar), then hiked up one of the streets to see the view from a little higher up. It was a beautful place!
We met the van awhile later, then headed off to Pompeii. I remember learning about Pompeii in elementary school, and was FASCINATED with the story...Mt. Vesuvius erupting in 79 A.D....killing many of the towns inhabitants...burying Pompeii (and nearby Herculaneum) in ash and pumice...the town being forgotten for centuries (the "hall of maps" in Vatican City, in fact, doesn't include Pompeii because the maps were painted during the time that it was lost).
The town was rediscovered when a work crew was digging to build a channel (or road, or something), and the town has been in the process of being excavated since. In fact, there are still parts of the city that are still to be uncovered (through a combination of lack of funds, and, well...that's basically it...).
I've also always been fascinated with the body casts...how someone noticed a cavity in the hardened pumice and ash, poured plaster into the crevice, and realized that it was the impression of the people (and a dog), whose physical remains had long since decayed and disappeared. Very stark reminder that the whole area is the final resting place of people who were just going about their lives when it erupted.
I can't remember the name of our tour guide, but he has been giving tours of Pompeii for decades. He was very knowledgeable, and it was a great introduction to the lives of the people in Pompeii. We saw the baths, a bakery, a pizzeria, a villa, the forum, and various other ruins. My only complaints about the tour were that it was too short, and that we didn't have time to explore on our own. There were several things that I wanted to see, villas, other public buildings, but there just wasn't enough time (and some were closed for renovations). I bought an overlay book of how things looked THEN, and how they look now. When I get a chance, I'll have to explore through the rest of the city through it!
The raised stones in the streets were used by citizens to get across when it flooded.
Three stones indicated a main thoroughfare. Axles and cart widths were standard, and passed between.
Original "fast food". These counter top holes held terracotta jugs of soup, hot foods,
beverages, and citizens would buy "to go" items.
Original "beware of dog" mosiac on floor of citizen's villa.
Since many couldn't read, this let them know to watch out!
Flour mill. Slaves (and some sort of work animal...mule...ox...) would attach wooden
poles through the hole in the side, and walk in circles around the contraption.
Flour came out the bottom, and was gathered on the flat surface at the bottom.
Pizza (and other breads) oven...just like today!
Public well/fountain. Pompeii had underground pipes, but they were made of lead, so many
citizens died early from lead poisoning. There was also a lot of insanity as a result of the lead.
Mt. Vesuvius still looms large over the ruins of Pompeii
We didn't get to see many actual artifacts (like the bread that was still in the ovens of the bakery, or other personal effects of the citizens of the city) because they are in museums in nearby Naples, and around the country. We DID, however, get to see some of it on a traveling exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota a few years back in St. Paul.
Pompeii is in danger of falling into further ruin because of a lack of funding. It's a UNESCO site, but they've told the powers that be that they will pull out if Italy doesn't do something to secure more funding and get things back on track. They also need to figure out how to better display and protect things. Our guide was concerned, and pointed out that the floor that we were walking on in the baths was the original tile, and that it was slowly disintegrating with all of us walking on it. I hope they get their act together and figure something out. Pompeii was amazing, and hope that it's there for centuries to come!
After the tour, I bought a lemon granita (like a slush), at one of the tourist stands outside the gates of Pompeii. Again...zesty, fresh, and COMPLETELY amazing! I tried another granita later in Venice, and it was not even CLOSE to being as good! YUM!!!
After the Pompeii tour, we got back in the van, and headed back to Rome. It was a MUCH LONGER trip than I remember, heading back, and this time I was in the front seat with Vincenzo and Tammy. 120 MPH is a little scarier in the front seat!!!
We got back to Rome around 8:30, Duane and I met Marilyn and Jim at Splendor for a late dinner, and we FINALLY got to bed around midnight.
Sad that it was our last night in Rome, but off to Florence in the morning!!!!!!
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