Pompeii and Sorrento!

Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone in the states had a great day, filled with family, friends, fireworks, and a good BBQ! Can’t wait to take part in those festivities Labor Day Weekend! But for us, our 4th of July will be tomorrow night after we get back on the ship to depart Naples. They have a BBQ and other special activities planned for the whole shipboard community on Deck 7 starting at 5:30. It will be good to have a hot dog or hamburger… It has been a while!

But today, I took part in the SAS trip to Pompeii and Sorrento. It was so nice not having to worry about how we were getting somewhere, what to bring, etc. We just walked right off the ship at around 9 this morning, and there was a coach bus waiting for us. And everything was planned for us! It was quite a different feel than the exhausting trip to Rome. Bo and Kevin both went on the same trip with me (although they got it for free from the donation box! … SO jealous!), and we were also in the same group (bus #6). Becca and Nina we saw sparsely, as they were in another group. It was one of the first days we were all kind of separated and were not all together. Anthony, Shannon and Kate all hiked Mt. Vesuvius with SAS, the active volcano who’s past eruption is responsible for the burying of Pompeii. With the weather the way it was, and all the walking we have done since arriving in Italy, I am glad I did not sign up for that! I do not know how I would have done it!

But after boarding our buses in the a.m., our energetic tour guide, Paulo, explained what our day would be like. We first went to Sorrento, a popular seaside town with jetting cliffs about an hour and a half away from our dock in Naples. If we didn’t go there first, I guess we would have been waiting in traffic for hours, as there is only one way into Sorrento and since it is the weekend it was to fill up with beachgoers. And oh did those beaches look amazing! They were lined with pretty colored lounges and umbrellas, and the water looked so inviting. People had floats, slides, and some were snorkeling. With the weather the way it was today (VERY HOT!), I wanted to go in SO bad! But hopefully we can do that and more in Croatia!

So instead of swimming, we shopped. Sorrento was filled with cute little stores, and is I guess known for a beautiful type of woodwork, their music boxes, lemons, and olive oil (which they do not export out of the area). The music boxes really were gorgeous, but the prices were a little too high for me. We also got a free shot of limenchello in one of the shops, which is a lemon liqueur extremely popular in Sorrento. It was a little strong tasting, but still good.

After walking around and taking lots of pictures of the scenery, we ate lunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant. The few from my seat included a plethora of colorful flora and lush green trees that lined a dark cliff. Of course I took pictures there as well! So… great setting, but not so great food. Well, a lot of people enjoyed it, but I did not. For starters, we had no options. Everyone was served the same meal. To start with, we had a small plate of ziti with marinara (my first plate of pasta in Italy!), with some type of meat-filled shell. After that, there came fish… with a small helping of buttered potatoes and a vegetable tossed in vinegar. We guessed it to be spinach at first, but it was definitely not that. I guess I will never be sure what I ate. But, I can say that I definitely did not eat the fish. After that, dessert was served, which was a small slice of a lemon cake. I ate it, and it was okay… just very lemony for my liking. It was also a disappointment since Bo and I had been craving coffee and tiramisu! Oh well. I had eaten a HUGE breakfast in the dining hall earlier anyhow, thinking we wouldn’t eat until 2 or 3, so I was fine.

After filling our stomachs, we departed Sorrento for Pompeii! I was super excited to see it! The ride took about 30 minutes, and it was filled with twists and turns. I tried to sleep for a little while (I had about 4 hours sleep last night!), and may have nodded off for a second or two, but mainly the constant sharp turns of the roads kept me from doing so.

We walked around Pompeii for about two hours with Paulo leading the way. He was a good guide; funny, who spoke English pretty well. Pompeii was a thriving, rich town back in about 700 BC, which is SUCH A LONG TIME AGO! It was ridiculous to see the excavations of such a huge and elaborate city (about 163 acres) with my own eyes. They had theaters, religious centers, shops, and elaborate decorations and paintings still preserved on many walls. For being so old, the society seemed so advanced. I was truly amazed. They also had many brothels, with explicit paintings showing erotic scenes. That was weird… but I guess it was an aspect of their life. We also saw four people still preserved by the ash in the positions of their death. Very eerie. It is really sad to think of the thousands of people who lost their lives in such a catastrophic event. Nowadays, scientists carefully monitor Mt. Vesivius (which is huge!), and they should be able to tell about 20 days ahead of time if an eruption is coming.

Although Naples is where Pizza originated, we still all ate dinner on the ship. I swear the ship has such better food when we are in port rather than at sea! They probably expect no one to be there so they whip out the good stuff then. Tonight alone I had teriyaki chicken, ripe plums, and cheese tortellini with a creamy tomato sauce. Yum! There weren’t too many people there… (I’m sure everyone is off eating PIZZA!), but I was able to save some money. And we all still plan on going out and exploring Naples later tonight, so I hope to get a slice and maybe some gelato then! Until then… nap time!

XOXO

-Erika