We woke early but stayed in bed until the alarm went and the breakfast arrived. We then went to the lounge where over 1100 people were processed onto tours for the morning. There were a number of buses for our trip, 'the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento'.

Our guide, Sebastiano, was excellent . Trish and Rex talked to him at one stage and discovered he is a French teacher who does tour guiding in the holidays. His English was excellent, he didn’t push any places to buy (and in fact said to go into the backstreets) and he was well tipped at the end.

He talked non stop on the way to Sorrento, giving us background information and pointing out places to see. We were in Naples first of course and he told us that there were Greeks on the island here in the 8th century BC. The city was later built in the hills to avoid pirates. The name Naples is based on Greek for ‘new city’. There are some Greek ruins being excavated at present.

He lives in Pompeii and said that there are 27 000 people living there now in comparison with the 20 000 at the time of the major eruption. Vesuvius was 9000 feet before the eruption that destroyed Pompeii and now has 2 peaks of 3500 feet. It was covered in cloud as we left but we got reasonable views as we left port at 6pm at the end of the day . There are eruptions about very 50 years and the last was 1944 so we were reminded that one is overdue.

The date of the eruption has recently been disputed. The timing was based on a letter written at the time but now there is doubt that the date on either the original letter or on the translation was correct. A coin has been found with the face of the emperor who was not in power at the initial date which was August. It is now felt the eruption may have been in November which would also fit in with evidence of the grape harvest being in operation and also the number of fires that had been set. We gathered this is very new information that had been in the local paper within the last week.

He reminded us that many deaths from the first eruption were caused by the poisonous gases. The 1944 eruption was less lethal because there were fewer gases.

Sebastiano told us that 800 000 people live near Vesuvius . There is an official evacuation plan but he was skeptical about how well it would work. People are offered money to move away but as it is only 30 000 euro this has not persuaded people. The soil is very fertile which is also an incentive to stay. There are 4 lemon crops a year. The Pompeii basilica is a focus for pilgrims and 2 million people visit it each year. Pope John Paul visited twice and the new Pope has been once.

We could see Capri as we drove although the views were not great because it was cloudy. There is geological and fossil evidence that Capri was connected to the mainland land in the past. The island is mainly limestone and hence the number of grottos. He also pointed out other islands and rocks in the sea and told us about various legends. Two of the rocks were the ones the sirens were on that Ulysses had to sail past, with wax in his companions ears and his hands tied to the mast.

The towns before Sorrento all had things of interest, including the fact that a 7km bypass which is mainly tunnels is being built to speed the trip to the town . One area was famous as the home of pasta, with 150 factories there after WW1. Another is known for having 28 different mineral waters. Bikini beach had a plastic palm tree in the water. We also saw nets under the olive trees. We saw them tied up, open and even in one place a woman in the process of opening one. The trees are shaken and the olives fall into the nets for collection.

Sorrento means the land of rivers. Further development in these areas is banned so existing properties are increasingly expensive. Sebastiano told us a small ground floor apartment that had a backyard had sold recently for 1.2 million euro. Aerial photos are taken regularly and compared to check for illegal building work.

We had about an hour to look around and shop here. We were advised to go off the main streets and things were definitely cheaper when we did. There was a lot of inlaid wood and coasters that were more than 10 euro in the main stores but were about 6 euros here – not that we bought any . We found a place that made its own lemoncello and a shop with a lot of handmade wooden items, including a wooden motorcycle.

Our group had lunch here at 11am which was not too early as we had had an early start. We had 4 courses and a nice wine which was more than most of us were expecting. Then we were back on the bus to go to the Amalfi Coast. It had rained while we had lunch but it had cleared by the time we finished.

The Amalfi has a basalt base with rocks over 1 million years old.   It was a powerful Marine Republic in the Middle Ages, trading even with Asia. The terraces produce grapes and lemons and it is even better known for lemoncello than the Sorrento coast. We were told how to make it – seep the zest of 9 lemons in 1 litre of pure alcohol for 11 days then add 1 litre of boiled water and 750 gm of sugar.

The cliffs were as steep and the area as amazing as we remembered . John did sleep for the first few minutes but then woke to take his share of photos and say the ‘Mama Mia’s’ we had been told were appropriate. We had lots of wonderful views pointed out. Sebastiano also told us to look for the use of the rooftops (as gardens, garages and even a bar), the church domes, the houses up high as well as down the cliffs and Sophia Loren’s house.

We stopped at Amalfi for 1 hour, which I hadn’t expected so it was a real bonus. This gave us time to take more photos, look at the shops and also visit the Cathedral. This was totally different. We first went into the Cloister of Paradise, with 120 slender columns enclosing a colourful little garden. On one side there were 2 sarcophagi that date to the 2nd century, still with the carving very clear on the sides. There were old frescos and mosaics on the walls.

We had a short visit so didn’t see all the cathedral treasures. We did see the Mitre but only later read it is decorated with a background of 20 000 pearls, enhanced with gold leaf and precious gems. There were a number of wonderful crosses, one light one that I thought was ivory but may have been mother of pearl and another with 9 emeralds surrounded by diamonds.

The cathedral had lots of marble columns with inlaid designs. There was no stained glass but a lot of very colourful pictures in the chapels . At the end of the cathedral there is a large picture commemorating a miracle attributed to St Andrew. On June 27 1544, a fleet of ships attacking Amalfi were swept away by a huge wave surge and since then June 27 has been a Feast day in Amalfi.

We then went back to Naples over the mountains. It was a steep climb with hairpin       bends but we were fine although a few people in the bus were nervous. After we got to the top the guide stopped talking as many of us had a snooze of varying lengths. We had a stop at a cameo factory with a very brief demonstration then time for people to buy. Trish bought some blue and white earrings which are a great memento of the day. It was like the carpet factory in that the pieces were a very fair price and well worth buying if I had wanted a cameo, but without the implicit pressure of being all in one room.

The evening meal was different as the dining room staff put on a sort of floor show. They ran with 2 sittings and we had booked for the late one so had cocktails in the Crows Nest first. I had intended gong to one of the functions afterwards but was too tired.