Pompeii, Campania, Italy
Today is an early day (up at 5:30 a.m.) as we have a tour to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Although breakfast isn't ready until 7, they give us a cup of coffee at 6:30. Thank goodness as I don't know if I can make it without some caffeine to go along with the granola bar we are having for breakfast. Our tour group arrives shortly before 7--there are 5 of us plus our driver, Gian Luca and our guide, Elisa. The others are 2 guys from Hawaii (Peter & Curtis). We are thrilled that this will be such an intimate group and think that this type of tour is worth the extra $$.
We head out of Rome at 7 as planned and down the motorway toward Naples. As we drive south the Apennine Mountains are on our right--they are a mountain range that extends the length of the entire Italian peninsula from NW to SW. It is a cloudy day--it looks as if we may have rain--we have umbrellas but are hoping that we don't have to use them.
About 8:15 we stop at a rest stop for a toilet break and some coffee. Tammy and I have a frozen crema grande (yum!) while Mike decided not to have anything. After this very quick break we are back on the road again at about 8:35 a.m. We laugh and joke as we listen to Elisa tell us about the countryside we are seeing. We have to stop again for petrol--Peter runs in and buys some crackers with milk chocolate on them which we all share, along with other items of junk food that we have each brought with us.
We pass by Monte Cassino, a mountain that is the site of the Roman town of Casinum and is best known for its historic abbey. St. Benedict built a monastery here about 529 A.D. where the Benedictine order was founded and it is still functioning today. This area was severely bombed during WWII but has been rebuilt.
We also see a line of trees alongside the road which mark the Appian Way.
The Appian Way was once Rome's first and greatest highway and ran from Rome to the Adriatic port of Brindisi, the gateway to Greece. Isn't it amazing that the original Roman road is still there? If you get a chance to walk along the Appian Way (the Via Appia) we are told one can actually see the original pavement stones which were built in 312 BC. We didn't get to do that--maybe on our next trip! There is just so much to see in Rome and not enough days to see it all.
We drive through Naples on our way to Pompeii. Naples was called Neapolis (New City) by the Greeks and is now southern Italy's leading city. We don't have time to stop on this trip although there is much to see here--many Greek and Roman ruins, a top archaeological museum that holds the treasures found in Pompeii, along with many works of art by Caravaggio who lived here for a time.
This is on our list of a place to visit next time we come to Italy.
By 10:58 a.m. we are at Scavi di Pompeii (Excavations of Pompeii). Pompeii was a bustling Roman city of about 20,000 people until the sudden eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (which still looms over the ruins just 5 miles to the north) in AD 79. It was a bustling port that was a place for action and shopping--it is estimated that there were 40 bakeries, 30 brothels, and 130 bars, restaurants, and hotels. It is also believed that the buildings (now just roofless walls) were covered by brilliant white ground-marble stucco, making it an impressive town. During the volcanic eruption the city was buried under 30 feet of hot volcanic ash and forgotten for 1500 years. It was accidentally rediscovered in 1599 with excavations beginning in 1748 and continuing since then.
We are so excited about this tour! Mike visited Pompeii on a brief visit in the 1970s (We keep telling him that we bet it has changed since then!).
I have always wanted to see Pompeii--I read about it as a child when I planned to have a career as an archaeologist and although that didn't work out I have had a fascination about this place ever since. First thing we do is meet up with our tour guide, Hector, who has our tickets and then we join another small group of English speaking tourists--so we are now a group of about 13. Hector takes us on an hour and a half tour of just a small section of the ruins. The ruins of Pompeii are enormous and it would take us a lot longer to see as much as we would like. We do see the bakery and mill (Forno e Mulini), the main agora, the Foro (Forum), the Temple of Jupiter, the Baths of the Forum (Terme del Foro), the brothels that housed the prostitutes (the Lupanare), the house with the dog mosaic, the Basilica, and an area where they have some of the molds of the people who died in Vesuvius' eruption--most of them and other materials that were found are actually in the new museum in Naples. There is so much more to see here and we are sorry that we can't stay longer, but we will have to wait until our next visit. Next time we shall stay in Naples or closer to the excavations so that we can spend a lot more time here.
About 12:25 p.
m. we head back to the van and down the road along the Bay of Naples (also known as the Gulf of Naples) heading to the Village of Positano for lunch. The Gulf of Naples opens on the west side into the Mediterranean sea and the islands of Capri and Ischia can be seen as we drive along the roadway. It is SO beautiful--we just keep oohing and aahing as we drive. As we make our way down the seaside there is a problem with traffic along this narrow (and I mean REALLY narrow) road so we end up turning around in a long tunnel and heading back to take the road that goes alongside the water.
There is still traffic especially in the village of Vico Equinse but the drive is quicker than the other way and we are thrilled by being closer to the Bay of Naples! Wow! The sun has come out now and it is just a gorgeous day.
We stopped several times for photo ops and at one stop where there was a limoncello stand, Gian Luca and Elisa bought us each a souvenir bottle of Limoncello--This is the area of Italy where they grow lots of lemons (you can see the covered trees crowding the sides of the cliffs) and where they make limoncello. Limoncello is a liquor that is known world-wide as a digestive and is mainly produced in Southern Italy--around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula, the coast of Amalfi, and the island of Procida, Ischia, and Capri. I find it too tart and lemony but the others in the van loved the taste.
We finally make it to Positano, a cliffside village on southern Italy's Amalfi Coast. It is a well-known holiday destination with a pebbled beachfront and steep, narrow streets lined with little shops and cafes. We must park the van at the top of the village and walk down the small windy streets as there are no cars allowed in this city (they couldn't possibly fit on these teensy streets). The only motorised vehicles we see are some teensy trucks that transport luggage down to the hotels.
We have reservations at Buca di Bacco Ristorante which is right by the sea and of course at the bottom of the hillside.
The food arrives very quickly and is delicious! Tammy has Veal Scallopini with lemon and a salad plus a Freddo, Mike has Spaghetti a la bolognese plus red wine, and I have Seafood risotto plus white wine. We had a gorgeous view of the sea while we ate. Well since it is a special day we order dessert (Baba con panna and Torte all mele) which was just amazingly good (I added photos of the dessert menus as we ate them so quickly I didn't get a picture!)
Once we are finished it is time to begin our climb back up to the parking area. We slowly make our way up the hillside, shopping as we go. What fun! We all wish we could spend more time here--as you've noticed we keep saying that--but it is so true. This is the problem with tours like this--one just gets a taste of what's available and sees so many things where we would like to stay longer--but that will have to wait for another trip. We finally all make it up the hill and get back in the van about 4:40 p.m.
On down the road we go, passing through Priano, also known as Praiano, a small town between the towns of Positano and Amalfi.
We also see the town of San Gennaro and its church but once again no time to stop.
As we drive along the Bay we see the islands of Capri and Ischia. We finally get to Amalfi at 6 p.m. where we stop for a bathroom break and some ice cream. Amalfi is a town that is in a dramatic natural setting along the steep cliffs on Italy's southern coast. It is the main town along the coast and is an important tourist destination. The patron saint of Amalfi is Saint Andrew, the apostle, whose relics are in the Amalfi Cathedral (Cathedral di Sant' Andrea/Duomo di Amalfi). Instead of ice cream Mike and I hurry to see the cathedral and run up the 62 steps to see the interior. The cathedral contains a tomb in its crypt that it is said still holds a portion of the relics of the apostle Andrew and a golden reliquary which originally housed his skull. In the 14th century it was discovered that the Saint's bones secreted a substance that they called Manna--ever since it has been collected 4 times each year (Jan. 28, June 26, Nov. 29, Dec. 7). Although this is not recognised as a miracle, many people come to be anointed by this manna, believing it to have miraculous qualities. We didn't have time to go down into the crypt so we must return here another time for sure.
After quickly heading back to the van and making a quick bathroom stop, we are back in the van and on the road by 6:35 p.m.
As we drove along these narrow roads we meet a large tour bus which was unable to pass us because of the twisty narrow road. As a result the side of the van scraped the concrete wall on the seaside of the road as we tried to squeeze by. We had to stop once we finally made it by the bus and check for damage--a rather large scrape on the right side. Yikes! This was very scary! Gian Luca called his boss and gave him the bad news and then we continued on our way down the road. Back we head toward Naples--along the way we see many lemon groves--it is fascinating to see that they are covered with netting (we are guessing that is to protect the fruit from the birds, what do you think?).
When we get to Pompeii we can see Mt. Vesuvius very clearly now as it is very sunny. We reach Naples about 7:45 p.m. but no time to stop so we continue up the motor way toward Rome, stopping once for a quick bathroom stop about 8:10 p.m.
We finally arrive back in Rome and to our hotel about 10 p.m. It has been a wonderful day but very long and we are tired and hungry. As we didn't get dinner, we decide to walk up the street to Le 2 Colonne to buy some sandwiches and a small bottle of wine. We take the food to the large upper room in our hotel and have a quick dinner. We don't stay up very long as we are exhausted after this wonderful day. Tomorrow we are going to tour another area of Rome.
2025-05-23