Ruins, beautiful vistas and fun at the Blue Grotto

Sorrento:

Took the train from Rome to Naples. I am nearing the end of my two-month Eurail pass. Hard to believe I have been on the road for 16 weeks.

From Naples, I took the Circumvesuviana down past Herculano and Pompeii, (the towns that were buried in ash by the 70 AD eruption of Mt Vesuvius), and on to Sorrento. Sorrento is a town wedged on a ledge under the mountains and over the Mediterranean, sprinkled with lemon and olive groves. I was familiar with it because when I worked at the San Francisco Music Box Company, we sold Sorrento music boxes, made from the inlaid-wood boxes that are the town's specialty craft.

I found a truly horrible (non-official) hostel, very cheap and conveniently located near the train station. Stopped at the Tourist Information place, and explored the town. Very touristy, but fun. They have a liquor here that I like - Lemoncello. They give out free samples in their shops, so you can get a shot, and continue your walk around the town with a nice buzz.

After exploring the town I returned to my room, which I was sharing with 7 others (4 bunk beds jammed into a small room.) Turned out to be a great group of people! All Aussis and Kiwis, who were on the 'Bus-About.' This is a cheap bus that drives people all over Europe, dropping them off at pre-arranged lodging, and picks them up two days later. This particular group of people had been traveling together quite a while and were all very friendly. We sat on our big balcony overlooking Sorrento, and shared a few bottles of wine and chatted.

Pompeii:

Sunday it was raining so I figured it would be a good day to go see the ruins of Pompeii. This is a town that was completely stopped in its tracks by the volcanic eruption. It offers the best look anywhere of what life in Rome must have been like 2,000 years ago. Pompeii was buried under 30 feet of hot mud and volcanic ash. The town people died from inhaling toxic fumes and were covered with the ash in the positions they died. 1700 years later, the site was excavated. The bodies had disintegrated, but cavities remained in the ash where the bodies had been trapped. Archeologists poured plaster into these cavities to see what the bodies looked like. Some of the plaster casts are on display at Pompeii.

Roman Baths, villas, brothels, fast-food stands, toilets, and the best-preserved Roman colliseum in all of Italy are available to see on the large, multi-acred site. I wandered all over, trying to imagine life in this town and what it must have been like when the volcano erupted. There are wonderful erotic frescoes (this was a resort town back then) and well-preserved mosaics, including one of a snarling dog that says 'Carpe Cavem-' beware of the dog - which is located on a house door stoop.

Capri:

I took the boat from Sorrento to Capri. It is a 20-minute ride by Hydrofoil. From the Marina Grande I took another boat over to the famous Blue Grotto. This was a kick. The Blue Grotto is located on the other side of a cave wall coming right down to the sea. The opening into the Grotto is a cave door, approximately 6 feet wide by 4 feet tall, depending on the tide. The tide kept rising and falling so sometimes the opening was only 3 feet tall. There is a chain along the wall into the grotto. From the main boat, you have to climb into a row boat. Then you have to lay down in the row boat and get pulled through by the chain, hoping that your guide times it just right with the tide so you don't hit your head on the cave ceiling. I was laughing so hard watching this whole operation while waiting my turn. Then when I got in it was really cool. It is completely dark except for the light coming in through the cave door. The water is a dark, intense blue and the rocks on the bottom of the cave wall, under the water, are white, creating a kind of a luminescent effect. We paddled around inside the big grotto, in the dark. Our rowboat guide sang O Solo Mio to us as he paddled us around.

After I was safely delivered back to the Marina Grande, I took the funicular up to the town of Capri and strolled all over. Got ripped off when I bought some gum and postcards. They don't give you the right change back so you have to catch them on it, and then they will without apologizing.

Anyway, Capri is beautiful. Luxury hotels, beautiful walking paths, great window shopping.

The Amalfi Coast - some wild ride!

Today I rode the bus down the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi. The road follows the curves of a steep mountain with 500-foot cliffs crashing into the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. It was quite a ride. The bus careened around the curves very fast, narrowly missing the retaining walls and other cars and vespas. I was lucky enough to get a window seat, on the right side of the car so that I could see the towns and the sea. Others were not so lucky - some even had to stand. By the end of the trip, several people had a rather green complexion.

The girl next to me told me, in broken German/English, that she wasn't feeling well. 'Great,' I thought, 'she's gonna throw up.' I put it out of my mind and watched the scenery for the next 10 minutes. I turned to look at her and ask how she was doing and she said, 'Not good!!!' She was pale, tears began streaming down her face, and she started breathing rapidly. She was having some kind of anxiety attack. The bus was stopped and letting people off. I stood up in my seat and said, 'Help, who is with this girl? She is sick!' No one understood me. 'Not OK! Not OK!' I said, pointing to the girl. They understood that. Her friend appeared from a few seats back. They staggered off the bus and the poor girl collapsed on the sidewalk. Italian hotel workers streamed out of their buildings, offering her ginger ale and lemon slices. The girl continued to hyperventilate, so her friend came back on the bus and asked if there was a doctor on board. There was, and he went to help. After 10 minutes or so she wasn't getting any better, so they called an ambulance. Some wild ride!

The bus continued on to Amalfi, where I disembarked and walked through the town. On the way back to Sorrento 2 other people told me they felt sick, too.