Wake up call this morning was 6:30 but we were up. Bags had to be
out at 7:15 . Steve was up before then which meant so was I. :)
We
showered and put the bags out early and went to breakfast for coffee
and then food. The eggs were cooked very well today as well as the
bacon. after multiple cups of coffee I feel semi-human. Let me tell
you I have bags under my eyes that I've never seen before.
We
were ready to go at 8 am for a lot of bus time today.
Tuscany scenery
We went about 3
hours before our first comfort stop. It did have a good gift shop where
I bought some bruschetta topping.
Who needs this?
Lunch was another hour and half. We
choose poorly. i had the salami and cheese panini which had just one
thin piece of each and a diet coke. Steve had a salad, french fries and
a diet coke. We saw better meals on some of our fellow travelers' tables who had lasagne, pasta with
meat sauce or minestrone soup.
The road to Pompeii
Next stop
about 90 minutes later is Pompeii. We had rain at lunch and by the time
we got to Pompeii it was sunny and warm. I was glad I wore my hat.
Our
guide was Enzo and we had a 90 minute tour with him. The ruins are
amazing and words could never do justice.
Enzo is standing on stepping stones to cross street
Grooves in the street from chariots
Original marble floor
Original frescoes - bathhouse
My favorite area was the
brothel with the "menu" painted on the wall above each alcove. So the
customer wouldn't get too comfortable the beds were made of stone with
just a carpet laid over it.
"Menu" of services offered
brothel bed
Literally a street sign pointing the way to the brothel
I took a couple hundred pictures but have tried to share just a few highlights.
A Pompeii public well
Mt. Vesuvius is in the background
One of the three sets of Pompeii citizen casts on display
The marble chips would be street lights (lit up by moonlight)
Brad treated us to a
flourish at the end which was a orange/lemon slushie drink called granita. It was so
refreshing and delicious. It was definitely fresh squeezed.
Granita stand
We had
time to shop and use the restrooms (50 cents) before boarding the bus again. Along the way, we stopped at a
scenic pullout for pictures before heading into Sorrento.
Almost there
We first went
to a inlay wood demonstration at the Notturno inlaid wood factory. It
was interesting although I felt we had too much "shopping" time after the demo.
We then finally got to the hotel at 7
pm and got our room keys.
We got our bags a half hour later and I took
a quick shower. The room is larger than our Rome room and the bathroom
is the largest except for the one in Assisi.
Statue of St. Anthony - Sorrento's patron saint
Another statue of St. Anthony on the way
We
walked to the celebration dinner which was about 1/2 mile away at the Terrazza delle
Sirene restaurant.
It was outdoors with a beautiful view of Mt.
Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples.
We had excellent service with a
champagne toast then bottles of red and white on the table.
Our table went through a few of these
First
course was caprese salad. Then we had two kinds of pasta, lasagne and a
white sauce with ham.
The main course was
roasted chicken with carrots and potatoes.
The final course was lemon
cake with american coffee.
We then had limoncello liquor to end the
meal. It was wonderful! We sat with the Steele family and Steve and
Jan.
We walked back to the hotel independently.
Steve and Jan walked with us and we stopped for some gelato on the way
back.
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