Herculaneum and Pompeii

Another packed day as we visited the archeological sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. We left for Naples after breakfast, first to Herculaneum, an hour's drive away. We were met by a local guide, an archeologist, who took us on a walk over the small but very well preserved site that sat right next to residential areas in the town of Ercolano. The guide pointed interesting artifacts and structures along the way. We were told that there were more of the ancient city buried but it would be almost impossible to relocate current residents to dig it up.

After that rather brief tour, we got back on the bus and stopped for lunch just outside of Pompeii at an outdoor restaurant with shades. It was hot but the fans placed everywhere made it bearable. We had a simple and quick lunch since we had a lot to cover in Pompeii. I ordered a sandwich while my travel mate had a tuna salad. Both were rather large, but very good.

After lunch and a quick restroom break, we entered the Pompeii archeological site. I have been to Pompeii when I lived in Italy over 10 years ago. This is a much much bigger site than Herculaneum. There was hardly any shade and it was mid afternoon. It was tough following the guide through the interesting structures. I was so happy I brought my umbrella and was able to deploy it for a little shade.

Back at the hotel, we had another cooking demonstration, this time, a complete three course dinner. I was amazed that the kitchen crew, under the direction of the chef, was able to put together the pasta dish from scratch. The trick was the use of machinery that did everything, from mixing the flour and eggs to pushing the pasta dough out in the shape this area is known for, scialatielli, somewhat like linguini but thicker and cut short. The chef showed how the seafood sauce was made, with clams, mussels and squid: the result was scialatielli allo scoglio. At the same time another chef showed us how to make baked fish seasoned with breadcrumbs for the main course. Then, they asked for volunteers to make tiramasu which we had for dessert. It was quite an experience!

Capri, Italy

Today we head for the town of Amalfi where we boarded a boat to visit the island of Capri. There were a lot of tourists headed that way, long lines waiting for the ferry. It was a good thing that Veriano had tickets and a priority line for us to get the scheduled boat as it was hot, waiting there under the sun. The boat ride was lovely, especially sitting in the shaded part of the boat. It was a rather long boat ride, about an hour or so. As we got close to Capri, the captain obligingly got the boat close to, and around, the Faraglioni rocks so that we could take photos from several angles.

We had almost half a day to roam around Capri. It is a beautiful place but very crowded, and being an island, there was really no place to go where you can savor the beauty and tranquility of the place. There were brand name shops along the pedestrian streets, a lot of shoppers, and it was hot and sunny. We tried to find a table for drinks, and ended up on the patio cafe of a high end hotel. The price for tea and coffee reflected the locale, but we enjoyed a relaxing place to rest our tired feet.

After that, my small group of fellow travelers went our separate ways. I explored more streets and took a lot of photos. But what I recalled most were the sheer number of tourists everywhere and the heat.

Most of our group met for lunch at a restuarant near the cable car station that Veriano had booked for us. The food was simply amazing. I had my favourite spaghetti alla scoglio (seafood pasta), while the traveller next to me ordered grilled squid. We both had the beautifully presented fruit cocktail.

After lunch, we walked a bit more and I took more photos, marvelling at the huge lemons at the lemonade stand. I opted for a lemon graniti to cool down. I also took a photo of the interesting taxis on the island.

Then it was back on the boat, and a long bus ride to the hotel. It was pizza night at the hotel where the chef gave a demonstration on how to make pizza and invited a few guests to try their hands at it. It was interesting. We were served the results of the cooking demo and then some. There was quite a variety of toppings and the pizzas kept coming until we just could not eat anymore.

Ravello, Italy

Got up early for breakfast at 8:00 am local time; we had to depart about 9 am. The breakfast room was busy since the three hiking groups were also scheduled to leave for their first hike. The hotel offered a nice variety of breakfast foods, including fresh eggs that you put on a long ladle into a shallow pot of boiling water to cook the way you like it. They had a sign to show how many minutes for hard vs soft boiled eggs. Below is a photo of our hotel which was located at a junction to two narrow roads, and two of the minivans waiting for the small tour groups. We had the big bus for today.

We boarded our bus for our first town on the Amalfi Coast itinery, Ravello. The ride to town was very picturesque, the road was narrow in parts, lots of hairpin curves, with cars passing on the opposite side with inches to spare. We were very impressed by our driver's skills!

We finally arrived at the hilltop town of Ravello after almost an hour. We got off the bus just outside the town and admired the views of the Amalfi coastline. Lots of photo opportunities. We followed Veriano, our guide to the town center which has a grand cathedral. Walked around town, up and down steep pedestrian paths as Veriano described the town's history and interesting buildings. We also stopped to look at the shops and admire the views. It was amazing to see huge lemons hanging down trellises in gardens. There were quite a lot of tourists around but not terribly crowded. But it was hot! I was glad I brought my hat with me.

Our tour included tickets to visit Villa Cimbrone up the hill with its elegant gardens, beautiful flowers and sculptures. The main walkway, Viale dell’Immenso (Ally of Immensity) was a little shaded and showcased beautiful plants and garden decorations. The walkway led to the Terrazza dell’Infinito (Terrace of Infinity) at the edge of the cliffs, and stunning views of the sea. I took the long way back to the entrance, going through garden paths with beautiful sculptures and gazebos.

On the way down, I had lunch al fresco at one of the many small restuarants, ordering my favorite pasta, spaghetti alla vongole, and a glass of white wine. Yum! Then it's down at the town center to wait for the rest of the group to walk to where the bus waited to take us back to the hotel.

We had drinks at the pool, before heading down to dinner with the the rest of the groups. The food made by the hotel's chef was very good. We were told the ingredients were sourced locally.

Naples, Italy

Start of my Highlights of the Amalfi Coast tour with Exodus Travel, June 15-22 Arrived at Naples airport around noon after an uneventful flight, with a stopover in Amsterdam. At Naples, I had to wait about 7 hours for pickup by Exodus Travel which scheduled their buses to meet an evening flight from London. Tried to find something to do in Naples, but the store luggage place was full, so there was no place to stow luggage. Instead I hung around the airport, had a nice leisurely lunch outside. Pizza and wine in Italy, for the first time in 3+ years! Interesting to note that they now offered digital menus via a QR code: it was a good thing that I had activated the international data plan on my phone.

Could not resist taking a photo of the delicious looking pastry at one of the cafes in the airport.

I finally met some members of my tour group. Most were from the UK, a nice gentleman from Australia and a family from the US. About a third of the group signed up for the highlights tour (bus trips to Amalfi towns) while the rest were going to hike the trails of the Amalfi Coast. I had considered doing the hiking trips, but since I will be doing the Calabria Coast to Coast hike after this trip, I decided to save my energy by doing the bus tour.

We boarded 2 minibuses to Bomerano – a tiny village on the west side of the Agerola Valley, 1hr 20m south of Naples. The Hotel Due Torri, surrounded by vineyards and orchards, would be our base for the week. But it was dark when we left the airport, so were not able to see much of the landscape. I had a nice chat with Mary, a lady from England, who appeared to be a world traveller. We arrived at the hotel way past dinner time, so we were immediately led to the dining room for dinner. We had a sampling of Italian appetizers, a simple pasta and fruit for dessert. We also ordered wine (at 3 euro a glass, it was a bargain).

Our tour guide Veriano introduced himself and gave us a briefing of what to expect. After dinner, we got our luggage, key to our rooms and turned in for the night. It's been a long travel day and I slept well.