ATHENS TO NAPLES

NAPLES (Italy) – we anchored in the bay of Naples, nestled beneath the dormant Mt. Vesuvius and were fortunate to have a small tour group today with Mariano as our host & guide.  It was not long before we were ogling at the most beautiful scenery along the Amalfi Coast and stopped a couple of times to take the ‘must have’ photos!!  We arrived in Sorrento, a lovely little town with picturesque streets and home of the delightful “Limoncello”.  YES, we also found a lovely little street, full of colourful souvenir shops again and after a quick stroll, had coffee and watched the world go by.  Next stop was Positano and were blown away with the sprawling hillsides, full of wonderful old homes and barely a spare block in sight - & little backyards filled with vegie gardens, olive trees and flowers.  A quaint & narrow, winding shopping walk (with the most beautiful clothes shops I’ve ever seen – just had to buy a dress!!) weaved its way all the way down to a small pebble beach which was filling up quickly with holiday makers.  We had lunch at a great little ristorante, with a view of the sea, and of course devoured pasta, pizza and wine – yum! 

All of this would have been more than enough for the day, but lo & behold, Pompeii was our afternoon destination…..  After being engulfed in ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. and consequently preserved in mud, these ruins of an ancient city are gradually seeing the light again.  It’s quite an incredible journey up and down the narrow streets & laneways, with amphitheatres and homes & shops quite distinct from each other, in the most incredible condition – the roofs have gone but the interiors are in very good condition…..  What a great day!!

Photos above are:  our group with Mt. Vesuvius in the background;  rugged Amalfi Coastline;  huge lemons at this little fruit shop in Sorrento;  our view whilst sipping coffee in Sorrennto;  a pretty ‘dress’ tree in Positano;  more beautiful shops;  a timber path over the pebbles leading to the water at Positano;  the beach at Positano;  one of the amphitheatres at Pompeii;  standing in one of the streets lined with shops – the hump in the middle was for stepping across as the water and effluent flowed through the streets;   a bakery with oven and mill for grinding.