Safari So Good

Wednesday, we decided to stay in Sorrento and relax. The students headed out at 7 am to visit Napoli and make another attempt to get to the top of Mt. Vesuvias. We started the morning having breakfast in the Hotel at 9:30. We then walked to the train station to see how far away it is, in preparation for our departure Monday, and to make sure we could find it. It’s not far, if you don’t take into consideration how frickin’ humid it is here, even at 10:30 am, and we did find it. We also discovered a lovely, raised community garden. The shaded orchard was a nice respite from the heat. We took a few pictures and walked slowly back to the room to cool off. We went out again for lunch and found some very nice limoncello and looked through a few shops. Then, back again to hang out in our air conditioned room until later in the day.

A cathedral at the end of a “street”

Lots of scooters here. Gas is approx $6 a gallon.

A raised orchard.

The sign explaining the orchard is a community garden.

A mural near the entrance of the community garden.

Michael walking down a long covered area of the garden.

Me walking through the garden.

Lunch begins with Spritzs for each of us – orange liquor, Proseco, and soda water! Yum

An alleyway fruit vendor.

That means “the bus broke” in Italia.  That’s right, our tour bus, full of college students and these grandparents, broke down halfway up Mt. Vesuvius, where we were headed after visiting Pompeii.  The bus driver was doing a great job maneuvering the bus up the steep, windy, narrow road when he stopped to let another huge bus pass.  When he put the bus in gear, it jolted slightly backwards and he quickly put on the brake.  At that time, a warning bell began ringing and a red light blinking.  My best guess is there was a problem with the hydraulics; regardless, the bus was going no further!  After 20 minutes or so of the tour guide and the professor directing traffic around us, at a hairpin turn, and the bus driver exchanging angry words with his company, including the phrase “shove it up your arse” which was overhead; the decision was made to have everyone walk a few hundred feet back down the hill to a small cafe we had just passed.  It was lovely, with umbrellas and a cool breeze moving through the patio where we sat.  We ordered non-alcoholic drinks compliments of the bus company.  As we sat there, a longer and longer line of cars began queuing down the mountain and another bus that could not maneuver around ours, also unloaded their bus and a large group of younger kids joined us at the cafe.  I like college kids a lot better than rowdy, mostly male 12-year-olds!  We waited for a relief bus for over an hour.  It arrived at 4:40 and since we still had a 40 minute ride up the remainder of the mountain, and entrance to Mt. Vesuvias closes at 5 pm, we had no choice but to return to Sorrento.  Oh, well, tomorrow is another day!

This is nothing – often there was also a scooter passing between the vehicles.

Another big bus passes our stalled bus!

The students walk down the road to the cafe you can see on the right.

Hilse and Hailey at the Cafe as we wait for the replacement bus.

We can see the vehicles up the hill stacking up as the reach the corner where our bus broke down.

The girls look at souvenirs as the vender flirts relentlessly with Hailey.

Side Note:  making fun of the Brits here, so if you are easily offended, read no further!  Monday evening, Michael and I were watching one of the few English TV stations, which had a session of Parliament discussing the exit of Britain from the EU.  Every time one of the legislators made a comment (always made very proper and polite, even when strongly disagreeing with someone else’s comment), many other members would say in unison “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah”.  It sounded ridiculous, mostly because of the way they said it; but also because, well it’s really just ridiculous.  So, the next day when we were stranded at the cafe and the large group of British pre-pubescent boys sat at the table next to us, during a loud discussion, I head several boys say “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” exactly like the group of Legislators.  Michael heard it the same time I did and we looked at each other, laughing, and I said “Oh, my gosh, they’re training to be little British legislators”.  It was quite funny, really, but maybe you had to be there.

Today we are joining Hailey’s college group tour to Pompei. This is the city that was destroyed in 79 AC when Mount Vesuvius erupted. At the time the eruption occurred, the city was under construction and it was covered in just a few hours by volcanic lava and ash. People and animals were covered by tons of ash, which killed them immediately. This is an important archeological sight.

The area was uncovered many years later by Italian Archaeologist Guiseppe Fiorelli and continues to be reconstructed today.

The bus ride itself was an experience not to miss. We followed a small winding road not meant to hold two small cars, much less two large buses and a passing scooter (a condition which occurred every few seconds).  Once we arrived in Pompei, we followed the Professor through the ruins and listened to his thorough explanations of the different areas.  Apparently, there were believed to be anywhere from 12,000 – 15,000 people killed when the volcano erupted.  There would have been more deaths, but there had been an earthquake prior to the eruption and many people evacuated at that time.  We saw houses of both poor and rich people.  The difference in residences was like a studio apartment compared to a 7,000 +/- square foot home.  There were no bathrooms or kitchens in the houses.  The government created bathrooms, then charged to use them.  Food was eaten outside as there were no kitchens in the houses. There were brothels and separate rooms for each of the women to provide desired services.

I estimate we walked at least 5 miles and by the time we finished the tour of Pompei, I was literally on my last leg and it was so hot, I had difficulty eating the salad we bought for lunch.  Still, very interesting, especially when you realize this took place almost 2,000 years ago!

Some columns that have been reconstructed.

The colosseum

One of the rooms in the brothel.

Paintings on the walls of the brothel are graphic sex scenes.

More ruins, with Mt. Vesuvias in the background.

A fancy mosaic indicates the house belongs to a wealthy family.

After escaping the afternoon humidity for a couple hours; in the evening, we decided to go back out and see some of the city. Even though it was after 9 pm, we could hear the sounds of many people in the streets below.  It was crazy!  The streets were filled with partiers and families alike – some having their evening meal after the afternoon pauso pranzo (lunch break).  So, we decided to join them.  We walked a few blocks down and found a piazza with a busy restaurant.  We ordered an antipasto plate and drinks; Michael trying Limoncello for the first time.  At the end of the meal, we received a complimentary creme de limoncello, which was strong, but delicious.  Some photos:

A shop keeper with lots of lemon products.

A busy restaurant in a nearby piazza that we could not resist.

Drinks and bread!

Antipasto

Views around the piazza.

People enjoying the finally cool evening.

Beautiful!

Beginning Saturday morning, I traveled through or to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, Switzerland and Italy!  By the time we arrived at our destination (Sorrento, Italy), it was late morning on Sunday.

We board a small commuter plane to take us from Zurich to Naples.

By the time we arrived at the Hotel Astoria in Sorrento, we were exhausted. We settled in and and decided to rest/nap for a couple hours. We then went out for a late lunch and walked the streets until the humidity drenched us. Tomorrow afternoon, Hailey and her classmates arrive in Sorrento! We were excited and delighted to find the student tour group is staying in the same hotel as we are! The Hotel desk clerk was also thrilled to learn our granddaughter was in the group, thereby reducing the chances that we would be disturbed by a bunch of college students staying in this hotel with us.

The Astoria Hotel

The piazza outside our Hotel.

Another view of the piazza.

Michael enjoying our late lunch.

Uncle Tony’s restaurant near our Hotel.

Cannelloni for the first course, fish second and cake for dessert (including tiramisu)!

Land is scarce, so all available space is used, including alleyways.

A view of the coastline.

A Mother and Child sculpture.

Michael and me at Dulles airport in Wash DC.

Here we are at the Dulles airport waiting to board our plane to Zurich, then Italy.  We are heading to the Amalfi Coast to visit Granddaughter #1, who is currently studying abroad.