So don't mind me if I start posting them all at once so I can move forward and blog about other things. Like how much bacon I ate this weekend. It just started showing up in every meal......not entirely certain what happened but I'm not mad.
So, Pompeii!
If you're in Rome and have time for a day trip out of the city, Pompeii is something you shouldn't miss. It's very easy to get to by train -- you just ride down to Naples (where you can go exploring and get pizza if you want, but we decided to skip it) and switch trains to the smaller one that goes along the Amalfi Coast. Think: coastal Italian views. You won't be disappointed.
Pompeii is basically a city that was destroyed in a volcanic eruption from Mt. Vesuvius (the views of said volcano are pretty cool, also) and was also previously leveled by an earthquake some time before that. So, not the luckiest city, eh? It's pretty crazy because (morbid alert) there are actual human figures they've discovered in the positions they died in during the eruption and created plaster molds of. Creepy and neat.
You can get an audio guide of Pompeii, but we opted to go on a guided 2-hr tour (the city is HUGE; we barely scraped the surface) with a man named Salvatore who was standing outside the entrance when we got there. He had the greatest stories and info about Pompeii, which was originally a trading/commerce center with, ahem, a bustling red light district. The place is a trip.
After our tour we grabbed lunch at a little pizza place by the train tracks, where we were pleasantly surprised by the entertainment of a small Italian band of troubadours......meaning, we danced to accordion music and it was fan-fetching-tastic.
Oh, and we also had an impromptu dance party in the Pompeii ruins to Bastille's "Pompeii." It just felt right. Hence all the girl band photos.
Hopping back on the train, we headed down to Sorrento, which is this loverly little coastal town known for its lemon products. There are several of these towns along the Amalfi Coast, and I wish I had time to see them all but I was quite pleased with Sorrento. Adorable little alleys of shops that smelled like lemons with rows of yellow jars along all the shelves. I also bought a pink scarf and it makes me feel like summer and happiness when I wear it.
Naturally, we went on a trek down a lot of stairs (and back up them again later) to get down to the water....where Cami and I took off our shoes and waded in. You may remember that she and I did the same thing at a glacial lagoon in Iceland. This experience was considerably less freezing. This whole tradition began on a trip to Boston when I casually said to her one Sunday afternoon, "Hey, let's go on a walk to the Atlantic Ocean....." and because she's a gem she trusted me and we walked a verrrrrry long way when we could have taken a short bus ride. Lessons learned, my friends. BUT. Started a great tradition of always wading in. We're all about it.
It was a most excellent day that involved a lot of train rides and scenery, which was a really nice break in the middle of running around Rome. Highly recommended!
love ittttt! i need to go to pompeii!
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