As mentioned in the previous post, we boarded a bus early on Monday morning to start our S. Italy adventure. The group had 39 people, with most being Aussie or Kiwi, so it was a pretty big group. Our guide Laura, was also an Aussie, but the driver was a local driver which proved to be very handy, more on that later! Our first stop on the tour was Pompeii, which for those who don't know, is a city that was buried for 1700 years following an eruption of Mt Vesuvius. I thought that it would just be a relatively small town, but it was actually an enormous city and to see the whole lot would take almost one month!! Again, we had a local guide who explained the history and showed us many of the highlights. Unlike the Roman Forum, where you have to use your imagination to picture what the city looked like, Pompeii is extremely well preserved and you can well and truly see what the city looked like. We saw typical shops, a bakery (one of 50 or so, which shows how big the city was) and a wealthy persons villa, which had frescos on the wall which were absolutely amazing (see photos). Again, it's hard to believe that these could still be so visible are being buried for so long!
We also visited a brothel, where there was a “menu” painted on the walls and guys only had to come in and point to the picture of the service that they wanted, very amusing!!! During excavations, they realised that any organic material (wood, animals, people) that had been buried following the eruption, had left cavities in the solidified ash as they decomposed. After this discovery, they started filling these cavities with plaster, and were able to then have plaster moulds of people, artifacts, doors, cupboards and animals that were buried by the ash. It is absolutely fascinating how clearly you can see these plaster casts; they include a man sitting down, a pregnant women and a dog that was tied up and unable to get away. It is somewhat disturbing, but amazing how clearly they paint the picture.
Following Pompeii, we made our way to Sorrento, where we were staying for the next two nights. On arrival we had some free time and then went on an orientation tour of the gorgeous town and all had dinner and cocktails together. We went to a Limencello store for tastings, which is an apertif or digestive alcoholic drink that comes from Sorrento (before or after meal). It has a very interesting taste, and although very strong, did not make me cough like the whisky in Scotland!
We spent the next day on the Isle of Capri (Capri Island) which is where many rich and famous people have properties and visit for their holidays. You can see why, it is absolutely stunning. On arrival we boarded a smaller boat for a tour around the island, which included a stop at the famous Blue Grotto. We had to get in small row boats to get inside the cave. The entrance is tiny, and we had to lay down to get through, while the rower timed the entrance perfectly so that we didn't smash our heads on the roof of the entrance. As soon as you get inside the cave, the electric blue colour of the water is breathtaking, and you actually can't believe that this is natural and not some special effect lighting. The cave inside is quite huge and many of the rowers were singing in there, which sounded fantastic. You only get to spend about 5 minutes in there, but we thought it was well worth the money just for the experience.
After the boat tour we headed to the town Anacapri, to board a chair lift that took us to the highest point for absolutely amazing views. Due to waiting for a bus for so long, we missed out on swimming on the island which was a bit disappointing, but on return to Sorrento, we headed straight to the beach near the camping ground. It was all rocky and surrounded by cliffs, but the water was very clear and great for swimming.
Yesterday we boarded the bus early to start driving along the amazing Amalfi Coast. This road is 50 kilometres long and 10 times more narrow and winding that the great ocean road. It is also extremely busy, to the extent that locals with number plates ending in odd numbers can drive one day, and even the next. There is also no parking for locals, so they all park along the edge of this already narrow road. Our driver was unbelievable and the amount of times we squeezed past other buses,walls and vespers within an inch was scary. You can easily see why they use a driver that knows the road. We stopped at Positano only for a photo opportunity and then spent some time in the towns of Amalfi and Ravello. Whilst in Amalfi one of the girls who was traveling alone on the tour had some sort of fit and she was taken to hospital by ambulance and we had to leave her there. I would have been so scared!
The trip back to Rome was about four hours and it really felt like we were arriving home when we got back to the camping village. The tour was fantastic and it was great to finally spend some time at the beach. We are looking forward to more of it in the coming two weeks.
Ciao Ciao
Ange & Turls xx
