Recap III

Tower at Pisa

Elizabeth at Vesuvius

Remains at Pompeii

View at Capri

Inside Church at Sorrento

After leaving Florence, the tour took us to Sorrento for a couple of nights. While here we also visited Pisa, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, and the Isle of Capri.

Sorrento is a relatively small town of about 17,000 people. We didn't spend much time in the city proper because we were traveling to other destinations much of the time. If I ever have the chance to go back, I'd like to check it out a little closer. Because it's a little smaller than a few of the other cities we visited, the scale lends itself to walking and looking around.

On the way to Sorrento we stopped at Pisa. In addition to the Leaning Tower, there is also a church and a baptistery. The tower is neat - started about 1000 years ago - and the construction was interrupted but they continued even though the thing was leaning already. The acoustics inside the baptistery were phenomenal. A lady came in and did a little vocal thing and the whole inside of the place was reverberating perfectly. The adjacent church was likewise amazing. It was chock full of beautiful art and craftsmanship. The walls upon entering were covered with huge oil paintings. The pulpit was supported by beautiful statues. It was the most striking building that I had ever been in.

We visited Mt. Vesuvius, the cause of the destruction at Pompeii. It has an eruption every 50 years or so, so it's due for another blast. Lots of people living in the vicinity but supposedly there's an evacuation plan in place. Personally, I think I'd find someplace else to live. The road leading up to the parking area was a real doozy. Our bus driver charged right up there, however. The hike to the top was a little strenuous but I took it easy as to not over tax the chest and made it up just fine. Incredible view from the top. You could see a little steam rising from one part of the crater. Nice reminder that it was a volcano not just a big mountain with a crater in the top of it.

The visit to Pompeii was interesting. A whole city buried under a layer of ash that was very well preserved. Unfortunately, since it's been uncovered, it's no longer protected and is open to the elements and consequent decay. Some of it has a roof over overhead but most of it doesn't. It was a pretty advanced city with shops and a whore house. The streets had a couple of phallic symbols pointing the way to the whore house and inside the house of ill repute there were paintings on the wall with different sexual positions. That made for some awkward moments with a group of high school kids. They had a couple of people under glass that were captured just as they were as they died. They experienced not only the ash falling down on them but also poisonous gas. Rather gruesome, to say the least.

The Isle of Capri was really nice. It was a little early for the tourist season and there was a lot of sprucing up going on getting things ready. It was a beautiful day while we were there and I had the chance to just walk around and shoot some pictures. The funicular wasn't running that day so we had to take a bus to the upper level but that was fine with me. Once again the view from on top was gorgeous. We took a ferry ride back to Sorrento and it was a little chilly once the sun started going down and, once again, here too I was reminded how dumb young people can be when it comes to dressing for the weather. There was a young lady, not one of ours, who had on short shorts and a light sweater who looked as if she was real close to hypothermia. I took a look at all the locals when I first got there and saw a lot of heavy coats so I figured there must be a reason for it and planned accordingly. The Italians, with their keen sense of fashion, apparently realize that standing around shivering is not all that glamorous. As a nod to fashion and the fact that I was a chaperone, I didn't even take a pair of jeans nor did I wear a Kromer - totally out of character for me but it was after all, Italy.

The last stop was Rome. I'll get that in the next and last installment.