Friday: We drove three hours to Mount Vesuvius, and climbed up the pumice stone to the caldera. This is the famous volcano that covered Pompeii and Herculaneum in the first century AD. It was a rather steep incline, so a man at the bottom was giving out walking sticks (which Gabby and I ditched at the top because they turned out to be more of a problem than a walking aid). The only people at Mt. Vesuvius that day were elementary school kids and senior citizens. It was a little embarrassing when both would pass us on the way up. At the top we ate our lunch and enjoyed our view. Then we made our way down and drove an hour to Sorrento, a town famous for limoncello. This is where our hotel was (which was absolutely beautiful) and the town is right on the coast. When we got there we walked around and looked at the tiny streets and shops. Then we had dinner at our hotel (pasta, pork with potatoes and peas, and the weirdest dessert- it tasted like butter but we later realized it was the filling of tiramisu).
me with my walking stick climbing up the volcano
the caldera
view from the top- it was hazy that day
giant lemons in Sorrento
Saturday: This day we took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri. I want to live in Capri forever. Basically the island is one giant rock and towns are located mostly at the top, so we had to drive around cliffs to get there. First we went up to the town of Anacapri to take a chairlift to the very top of the island. The chairlifts didn't look to sturdy to me and they were single chairs- but it turned out to bet the most relaxing 10 minute chairlift ride ever. I felt like I was floating on air since basically clouds were surrounding us. Then, a few of us went back down the chairlift and down back to the port to eat lunch. I had pizza and calamari. We then found a private boat tour around the island. The old Italian man driving our boat was great, he brought us snacks and his homemade wine. We first went to the blue grotto- a cave where the water glows blue- I didn't take my camera because I was worried I might drop it in the water. But we had to switch to tiny row boats to take us into the tiny opening to the cave. Then we continued our tour. Our guide took us a to a few other caves and pointed out coral. He also took us to places to cliff jump. Only a couple people did it, I was worried about the cold water (and the jellyfish in the water!). Basically the best part about the tour was lounging on the boat looking at the island and enjoying the sun. It was the best part about our trip. We ended the day by sitting on rocks by the water. Then we took a ferry back to Sorrento and had dinner again at our hotel (chicken, potatoes, green beans, pasta, and tiramasu).
view of the port
going up the chairlift
view from the top
us girls at the top (me, leigh, gabby, lisset
our boat tour guide
the water is so blue
I felt like I was in a different world!
Sunday: On this day we left Sorrento for ancient Pompeii and took a guided tour of the excavation. It was a rather short tour and took us to all the main sites. Our guide was really boring though plus we were all exhausted from the weekend, so it'll be nice to go back when I am more interested. Anyways, remnants of the entire city are still there, so it was easy to imagine what it was like to live there.
Pompeii- on the left is a street food stand
Pompeii's forum
one of the plaster bodies they found
plaster of a dog, amphorae for storing wine and olive oil
another body
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