Passing by the tip of Italy and Sicily.
The pilot boat guided the ship through the Straight of Messina.
Docked in Naples Italy
Mt Vesuvius looms in the distance. The crater of the volcano is still an impressive site.
Castle Nuovo. Now a civic building with museum.
The umbrella pine tree in front of Mt Vesuvius.
When Mt Vesuvius erupted the explosion was said to look like a pine tree. The common pine in the area is the Umbrella pine so it looked like a mushroom cloud.
One of the smallest islands. Notice the single palm tree on it.
Nets to gathers olives from the tree.
They said some of the hills required the use of climbing gear to harvest the olives.
The area of Sorento, thought to be where the Sirens were in the Odyssey.
A beach lined with umbrellas.
Inside the workshop of miss bellevue inlaid woodworking shop.
They had amazingly detailed furniture, boxes, frames. They also served us espresso and cookies.
It was a fun drive.
Very lush areas.
Hello down there. Can we come over for lunch.
You are not supposed to park along the roads. That did not stop anybody making it a challenge to get the huge tour bus around.
They needed a person to stop buses and radio ahead when it was clear for them to go through the town.
Little Truck. Big Truck.
Don't step into traffic. The cars will not stop for you.
Some guy working in his backyard.
some of the houses could only be reached by stairs....a lot of stairs!
We think this was the REALLY expensive hotel on the Amalfi Coast that is 2000 euros a night...ugh!
A Closer look of the pretty, but expensive hotel.
Every piece of land is used for olive trees, gardens, etc.
These little scenes of the town as a nativity scene were along the side of the road.
Up in the cave (upper right) is the barn with baby Jesus.
Houses on the cliff with boats by the beach.
Cool little Fiat.
terraces filled with lemon trees
The really awesome Cathedral of Amalfi that we walked by.
Cathedral of Amalfi
Walking through the streets of Amalfi.
Very small streets that cars, motorcycles, and people had to navigate...a bit scary!
Street in Amalfi - cool bridges connecting the buildings.
Fountain in Amalfi
Tons of cool shapes and colors of pasta!
Looking inside one of the shops - they sold a ton of Lemon items everywhere.
Interesting fountain in Amalfi...
yummy treats in a pastry/gelato shop
Super good Gelato - We had lemon since we were in the lemon region!
Square in Amalfi where all of the buses dropped us off.
Beach with colorful umbrellas in Amalfi.
Concrete sand-bars
Look at the little fish!
All of the terraces are filled with lemon trees on the hills.
Beautiful bougainvillea was everywhere
The hotel restaurant where we had a great lunch - it was the nicest Best Western we had ever seen!
Walking through the flowers to get to the hotel/restaurant.
See! It was a Best Western!
We had a wonderful 4 course Italian meal - Cannelloni, chicken parmessan, grilled veggies, and lemon cake. We also had champagne, wine, and Italian coffee - yum!
We wanted to walk down and get into the water with the people that were swimming there!
Isn't the water just gorgeous?
More views from the Best Western
Light through the flowers.
little square with restaurants
Look how close we got to the cliff!
All of the beaches dotted with colorful umbrellas.
A cool church
Leaving the coast behind :(
A cool house on the hillside.
Interesting name for a camping place right next to Pompeii.
Exquisite cameos that we saw at a cameo factory below Pompeii. They were super pricey!
More cameos
Tons of souvenir places at the entrance to the Pompeii ruins.
Walking up to the site.
The buildings were all painted with beautiful scenes.
The houses were painted these cool red and gold colors.
Brick and pumice stones made up the walls.
Looking inside stores
The stone circle to the right is a stove.
Walking on the same roadway where chariots used to ride down every day. Notice the raised sidewalks that people could walk on.
Notice the small white stones embedded in the road? They were used as reflectors!
You can see the columns from the forum.
close-up view of the white marble reflector in the road
This was where they would tie their horses up outside of the stores. Notice Janine's foot on the left!
Our cool guide Karim explaining that the stores had sliding wooden doors that they wood close.
You can see the groove where the doors would fit into.
The forum in Pompeii
The forum was where they would have meetings, political discussions, rallies, shopping, etc.
Some of the columns have been reconstructed.
Looking up at Mount Vesuvius from the forum. The mountain/volcano looms in the distance
This was a huge storage facility of vessels, columns, plaster casts of victims, etc.
A Corinthian style column.
The plaster casts were made from the impressions left in the lava that surrounded the people. Their remains decayed and plaster was poured into the impressions that were left.
A plaster impression of a dog.
The person must have been covering their face from all of the ash and fumes. It was the ash and fumes that killed the people, not the lava.
We were wondering what was in the red and yellow boxes.
Sculptures were also found.
These were speed-bumps in the road.
Looking down the street at the different districts.
These signs were added more recently.
You can see the grooves where chariots would drive.
An original mural with writing that they were protecting.
grooves from the chariot
This was said to be the local McDonald's! An outside eatery that people could buy food and go.
One of the many fountains found in each district. They would let these run at night to clean the streets.
I think it was an eagle carrying a rabbit - he said people knew where they lived depending on what fountain was near.
The fountain had metal joists holding them together.
These walls looked so beautiful.
Looking into one of the grain mills. they would put a wooden dowel into this square to turn it and grind the wheat.
inside the mill
A larger picture of the grain mill
A bread oven in one of the bakeries. Carbonized bread was found in the ovens telling scientists that the people didn't know the volcano was going to explode.
The pipes that they had running water and sewage through the city.
Another bakery and oven
more grain mills
A penis is carved above this building. It was the red light district. Frescoes were painted inside with pictures depicting what the customers could "order."
Another fountain
more speed-bumps in the road
A frescoe inside a house
Inside a merchants house
a frescoe inside one of the rooms
Very cool tile floor.
This was in the garden of the merchants house. It was a beautifully tiled mosaic fountain. There were shells and rocks used with the colored tile.
Another view of the fountain.
The plants on the sides were what they had found at the site, so they replanted what was supposed to be in the garden.
An awesome frescoe in the garden showing everyday life. Can you see the shadows that were painted?
Better shot of the shadow
Looking into another courtyard
The pipes can be seen here
I think this was a temple
More excavation is still going on today.
A picture of Mount Vesuvius from the bus.
The sun setting as we leave Naples.
