Breakfast in our hotel in Rome...then off to a rainy day tour in the Colosseum and Forum...today is the Rome Marathon, so silver-blanketed runners and colorful umbrellas are scattered among the colossal buildings left behind by the builders of empire some 2,000 years ago...after lunch we explored St. Paul Outside the Walls, subterranean catacomb burial tunnels, grand squares near the Pantheon and Spanish Steps, and then finally...to a Serie A soccer game: SS Lazio vs. Hellas Verona. Final score: Lazio 2, Verona 0! Forza Lazio, Forza Forza Lazio!!!
Breakfast in Rome - croissants, bread, cereal, yogurt, tropical fruit and coffee. Our stylish Italian bus driver, Dario, picked us up at our hotel and we rode southward to Naples. Looked to the left to catch a glimpse of Monte Cristo, a Benedictine monastery and mid-20th century fortress that repelled multiple Allied attempts, which is memorialized on the hill to the left by an obelisk and cemetery that memorialized fallen Polish soldiers. Arrived in the port city of Naples and caught the early ferry to Capri. Fell asleep next to a dog.
Docked and jumped on a tour boat that hugged the cliffside and skirted through the crystal blue water. The sun shone on the seemingly crumbling cliffs. Hardy trees and shrubs clung on to the steep white walls. We motored through archway-like rocky outcroppings. It was a spectacular, jaw-dropping tour of the island that we were about to climb. We disembarked and luckily caught three fast busses to dodge our way up to Anacapri.
Lunch in Anacapri - salad, fish, pizza, ravioli and dessert. I am enjoying having dessert after every meal. Took a chair lift to the top of Mount Solara to look down on the shimmering waters that we were just cruising around on. We hovered over the rooftops, glided over the terraced gardens and some of us enjoyed some interesting chanting. Bussed over to the shopping district in Capri to meander through the alleyways as the sun ducked below the other side of the island. Caught the sunset on the ferry to Sorrento. Hiked up a stone staircase to catch our breath in a shopping row where lemon and leather lightened our wallets. Caught the bus to Hotel Mary for carbonarra, vegetable soup, bread and olive oil and meatballs.
Docked and jumped on a tour boat that hugged the cliffside and skirted through the crystal blue water. The sun shone on the seemingly crumbling cliffs. Hardy trees and shrubs clung on to the steep white walls. We motored through archway-like rocky outcroppings. It was a spectacular, jaw-dropping tour of the island that we were about to climb. We disembarked and luckily caught three fast busses to dodge our way up to Anacapri.
Lunch in Anacapri - salad, fish, pizza, ravioli and dessert. I am enjoying having dessert after every meal. Took a chair lift to the top of Mount Solara to look down on the shimmering waters that we were just cruising around on. We hovered over the rooftops, glided over the terraced gardens and some of us enjoyed some interesting chanting. Bussed over to the shopping district in Capri to meander through the alleyways as the sun ducked below the other side of the island. Caught the sunset on the ferry to Sorrento. Hiked up a stone staircase to catch our breath in a shopping row where lemon and leather lightened our wallets. Caught the bus to Hotel Mary for carbonarra, vegetable soup, bread and olive oil and meatballs.
From Sorrento we head to the buried city of Pompeii! Walking through the ancient town, the hulking shape of Mt. Vesuvius looms in the distance. It is warm and lovely, and although we explore only about 5% of the city, it is enough to get a feel for the complexity of this amazing time capsule from the past. We see a gladiatorial barracks around which wild animals and captive men would have be caged, two theaters with perfect acoustics which kids quickly test, streets with basalt paving stones and massive crosswalk stones with gaps at the exact width of the wheel-span of carts and chariots...we drink from the stone box fountains, examine the bathhouses, a villa, bakeries, delis, a fullery where urine was used to wash clothes, a large forum, storage shelves of amphorae, casts of bodies, a treasure chest, carved reliefs, painted murals, even reflector stones set in the sidewalk to guide night time traffic! After lunch and shopping, and a visit to a carved seashell cameo-making factory, we're off to the night ferry to Greece!