This morning we awoke in the port of Naples. We were interested in seeing Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano and the Amalfi Coast, but I couldn't figure out a way to do all of that except through an excursion. The excursions were really expensive, but I thought that we had saved enough on all of the other Cruise stops by winging it on our own that we could splurge on an excursion.
We met in the cruise ship's theater to meet our group.
We boarded our bus and just caught a glimpse of the Napoli Castel Nuovo.
Lyla was apparently still tired.
The bus took us straight to Pompeii. We arrived a little bit before opening, so we waited at some shops before entering the ancient city.
Pompeii was buried under 13-20 feet of volcanic ash when the nearby volcano of Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The city was lost for over 1,500 years, and there are still areas of the city that are being excavated.
The sculptures and big heads are part of an art exhibit being displayed in Pompeii right now.
One of the grand theaters.
This place was pretty fascinating. The stone roads still have the marks from the chariots and there are visible murals on many of the walls from around 2,000 years ago!
Some of the private residences were really amazing with courtyards, kitchens and lots of rooms. This one even had CCTV cameras apparently.
Lyla Jane. LJ for short. Or Lu, or Ly-li-o,
This was in the public bath. The original floor was set upon the short columns, which allowed the water to drain from the floor down to the sub-floor.
When the archaeologists encountered voids in the ash they filled them with plaster that allowed them to see the exact positions that people were in when the eruption occurred. It was really amazing.
We're waiting to enter the brothel, where there were stone beds for love-making and murals of the act. The girls were oblivious...
On Main Street.
At the Forum at Pompeii.
Mount Vesuvius is visible in the background.
The crouched man.
After Pompeii, we loaded back into the bus and made our way to an Italian Restaurant nearby.
Noodles with sauce for the girls. Which were very good, but I have never in my life encountered a meal so greasy as this one. I was drinking the grease from their bowls by the end of the meal.
The adults got some spinach stuffed pasta concoction.
With cake for dessert.
Ada was excited to see the same Parisian print that she has hanging in her room on display at the restaurant. It's nice to know that the Naples Ikea carries the same things as the Draper Ikea. I've always wondered.
Now back on the bus we headed to Sorrento.
We stopped at a place that makes a lemon liquor that Sorrento is apparently famous for.
Lyla at the lemon tree.
Sometimes she gets tired of taking pictures.
Ada and Kate.
From Sorrento we crossed the Sorrentine Peninsula to the Amalfi Coast along the Gulf of Salerno.
It was amazing. It would be terrifying to drive a bus along these narrow, winding, steep roads. It was terrifying to ride in a bus along these roads.
No trumpets please.
Although we weren't driving very far it was tiring (and the late nights and early mornings were taking a toll). I couldn't get enough of the scenery though.
Amazing. And all of these pictures were taken through the windows of the bus, so there's a bit of a glare there.
Sleeping Lyla.
The bus dropped us off in Amalfi. We only had about 45 minutes of spare time, but we walked into the city to see the cathedral.
Looking up the main street.
We had some ice cream and admired this fountain with the water squirting out of the mermaid's breasts. That's not weird, right?
We walked down to the little beach. It was crowded with sunbathers and swimmers, but was our first time wading in the Mediterranean Sea.
Looking south into the Sea.
Looking north back towards Amalfi.
Looking west along the coast.
Looking east along the coast.
After a few minutes on the beach we caught a boat with our tour group to sail along the coast and admire the coast from the water.
Goodbye Amalfi.
We sailed from Amalfi to Salerno. As you can see, it was quite lovely.
I'm not sure what's going on here with Ada...
Or here...
We took the bus back to the boat. The nicest thing about scheduling your excursion through the cruise line is that they guarantee that the boat won't leave without you. We were gone for 11 hours, so that was comforting knowing that we wouldn't miss the boat.
After we fed the girls dinner we dropped them off at the kids zone and went to Johnny Rockets (on the boat) for our own dinner.
Finishing the night with a monster sundae.
Tomorrow we spend the day on the ship as we sail from Naples back to Barcelona.
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