Italy Part Nove

Today we got up early (early for us anyway) and took the filthy train to Pompei.

Pompei was a city built around 600 or 700 B. C. In 79 A. D., nearby Mount Vesuvious erupted, suffocating all the residents and burying the civilization in volcanic ash.

The residents didn't understand what was happening, so instead of evacuating, they went into their homes, which ultimately killed all of them. Vesuvius is the mountain in the photo below. It's still active. The last eruption was right after WWII.

The city remained buried until the 1700s. Modern city planners were digging water wells when they discovered the buried city.

Excavation began, and even in 2010, one-fourth of the city remains un-excavated.

We used a private guide that pointed out a lot of interesting things. He was pretty funny and really loved to talk about Pompei. We were glad we used him because we were able to ask questions and get lots of detail that the audio guide wouldn't give. Pompei appeared to be a fairly sophisticated city.

They had running water, sewage system, cobblestone streets,

businesses and homes. Some of the homes were pretty extravagant, with mosaic floors, multiple stories, dozens of rooms, and frescoes on the wall, which are still there today. The volcanic ash helped preserve a lot of what we see today.

In the mosaic above, there was writing that said "beware of dog" in Italian. Pompei was a port city, and catered to sailors with hotels and restaurants. You just never think about a restaurant in ancient times, but the photo below is an ancient buffet. The cook would drop the pot of food into the little circles below, a fire kept it warm, and patrons would choose what they wanted to eat. Cool!

Back in Sorrento, we ate leftover pizza and had gellato at Gellatiria David. Yum! Very nice owner, too.

We took a two-hour bus ride along the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi town. The drive was absolutely beautiful!

However, the road was essentially one lane; we were in a large city bus; I tend to get car sick; and the road was filled with hairpin turns, often with a three foot curb between the bus and a 1,000 foot cliff.

Plus Italian drivers drive like psychopaths, and our bus driver was no different. In many places the bus was hugging the curb, and when we looked down, all we could see was the ocean below. It was very scary! If that bus would have rocked to the right, the photo below is where we would have landed. That's the curb at the bottom of the picture.

As we got off the bus, we both agreed there was absolutely no way we would take the bus back. Our guidebook told us there was a ferry service that would take us back to Sorrento, but it would cost more. We were fine with that--anything to avoid the bus. Plus we were excited to see all these villages built into the sides of cliffs from the water. Well, for no reason at all, the ferry didn't run that day. We could get to the next town by boat, but not Sorrento, and no reason offered. So we were stuck on the stupid bus to go back.

We were afraid of getting left in Amalfi Town, so we booked our bus tickets, and we were in Amalfi for a grand total of 45 minutes.

Amalfi is built into the side of a cliff, so it's possible to own a home that's several hundred feet in the air. Many homes had impressive gardens, lemon trees and nice sun decks. We don't know how they were able to get stuff to grow in such small yards, but it was really pretty.

The bus driver on the return trip was a little better, but the bus made me carsick nonetheless.

We had dinner at St. Antonios. We had a caprice salad (being so near to Capri, we must have the salad!) and I eat tomatoes now. Of course, when they're covered with olive oil and accompanied by fresh mozzarella, they're pretty easy to stomach.

I had homemade pasta with shrimp. The noodles reminded me of mom's noodles and Scotty ate fresh fish that was looking at him when they brought the plate out.

This was our last night in Sorrento, so with dread, we packed and mentally prepared ourselves for the train ride to Rome.