Culture, cuisine, cliffs and coastlines:
12 days in Campania
12 days in Campania
Pompeii Day Trip
June 15: Pompeii
Today, we actually had to set an alarm. We wanted to be at Pompeii
around the time it opened. We’d picked today for our Pompeii excursion
because the weather forecast was projecting clouds and an intermittent
rain shower. We figured that cooler would be better. Of course, it was hot
and sunny all day long. The hottest day of the trip. Lesson learned: the
forecasters have no idea.
We stopped at Bar Internazionale for coffee (they make a mean espresso),
cornetti, and bus tickets, then we caught the 8am SITA bus to Meta. It was a
pretty easy trip, and we arrived with about 10 minutes to catch the next
Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii.
We had decided ahead of time to look for a guide upon entering Pompeii.
Most people seemed to have had good experience with this, and we
figured it would provide us with a good overview and make the visit more
interesting for Allie. Sure enough, there were several hanging out at the
entrance and they quoted us roughly 80€ for the three of us. We had to
think about that, so we did so while purchasing our Artecards. We wanted
to make sure our group was a small one, not a 30-person entourage. We
agree to join a guide with one other family, as they were ready to leave.
Our guide spent 90 minutes walking us through the forum, the basilica,
and some of the key houses in the main area of Pompeii. We felt he was
dry, and the kids (ours, plus two from the other family) seemed really
bored. Allie, who spent substantial time on Roman civilizations in 6th
grade social studies, said she didn’t learn anything new. While this
probably saved us some time in working through these sites, overall we
did not feel it was worth the money.
Free from the guide, we continued on our own to the House of Mysteries,
walked on the old city walls (which provided a really nice view of the site
and the city of Naples), and located the House of Vettii. Unfortunately, it is
closed right now, but we were able to peek in the front. There was a large
tour group doing the same – everyone snapping photos of the fresco of a
well-endowed Priapus just inside the door.
After an overpriced lunch (but, hey, it was an opportunity to get out of the
sun and heat, so that was worth something), we continued on to see the
big and little theaters, the Temple of Isis, the Amphitheater, and the Garden
of Fugitives.
All in all, we spent about five hours at Pompeii, and we left primarily
because we were hot and tired. We could have spent much more time; it is
a huge site. Allie’s top highlight was seeing the plaster casts of the bodies.
For Marisa and Chris, the sheer size of the site and condition of the ruins –
the buildings, the streets, the mosaics and frescoes – made this a
memorable experience.
One little tip: consider your footwear. Not only do you spend a lot of time on
your feet and walking over uneven surfaces, but a lot of the time you are
walking on dirt. Comfortable sandals are fine, but Marisa spent most of the
rest of the day really wishing she could wash her feet.
We took the Circumvesuviana back to Sorrento and looked for a convenient
place to have a drink. Our main mission in Sorrento was to find the
webcam and wave to our Fodors friends. Finding it was not difficult. We
had a good map from Slowtrav. Conveniently, there is an internet café in
the tourist information office right below the webcam, so we could log on
and alert everyone. While we were waving, we were stopped by a local
man who sternly informed us that the webcam was illegal, a violation of
privacy. Party pooper! He doesn’t know how much interest it has generated
in his lovely town! Chris stopped in Gabriella’s just to see what it was all
about. Interestingly, what they sell inside is mostly decorative wood inlay
products, including a selection of religious icons; a bit of a surprise.
After a look around the pedestrian area and marina, we caught the bus
back to Positano. We know that we didn’t do justice to Sorrento, but it was
starting to get late. Marisa purposely sat on the ocean side of the bus, even
though she doesn’t care for heights, and actually found the drive a little
exhilarating.
We were craving pizza. It had been a couple of days since we had pizza, so
after cleaning up, we set off down the Viale Pasitea to find a nice, casual
restaurant with a selection of pizza. We passed several decent-looking
restaurants, only because we thought it might be an effort to get back to our
apartment afterward. We settled on the pizzeria at Il Capitano, the
restaurant at the Montemare Hotel. It was situated on a nice, rooftop deck
overlooking Positano – the perfect place to kick back with a half-liter of
house wine and enjoy a different angle on the town. We stayed until
darkness fell.
Later that night, somewhere around 11:30, we were awakened by
tremendous booming noises reverberating through the valley. More
fireworks, this time coming from the Positano beach. It was a beautiful
show, but so late?? We later learned that June 15 is the official day of
celebration for Positano’s patron saint, San Vito. That would explain the
decorative lights we’d seen being erected around town.
Next > Amalfi Coast, part 3
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
June 15: Pompeii
Today, we actually had to set an alarm. We wanted to be at Pompeii
around the time it opened. We’d picked today for our Pompeii excursion
because the weather forecast was projecting clouds and an intermittent
rain shower. We figured that cooler would be better. Of course, it was hot
and sunny all day long. The hottest day of the trip. Lesson learned: the
forecasters have no idea.
We stopped at Bar Internazionale for coffee (they make a mean espresso),
cornetti, and bus tickets, then we caught the 8am SITA bus to Meta. It was a
pretty easy trip, and we arrived with about 10 minutes to catch the next
Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii.
We had decided ahead of time to look for a guide upon entering Pompeii.
Most people seemed to have had good experience with this, and we
figured it would provide us with a good overview and make the visit more
interesting for Allie. Sure enough, there were several hanging out at the
entrance and they quoted us roughly 80€ for the three of us. We had to
think about that, so we did so while purchasing our Artecards. We wanted
to make sure our group was a small one, not a 30-person entourage. We
agree to join a guide with one other family, as they were ready to leave.
Our guide spent 90 minutes walking us through the forum, the basilica,
and some of the key houses in the main area of Pompeii. We felt he was
dry, and the kids (ours, plus two from the other family) seemed really
bored. Allie, who spent substantial time on Roman civilizations in 6th
grade social studies, said she didn’t learn anything new. While this
probably saved us some time in working through these sites, overall we
did not feel it was worth the money.
Free from the guide, we continued on our own to the House of Mysteries,
walked on the old city walls (which provided a really nice view of the site
and the city of Naples), and located the House of Vettii. Unfortunately, it is
closed right now, but we were able to peek in the front. There was a large
tour group doing the same – everyone snapping photos of the fresco of a
well-endowed Priapus just inside the door.
After an overpriced lunch (but, hey, it was an opportunity to get out of the
sun and heat, so that was worth something), we continued on to see the
big and little theaters, the Temple of Isis, the Amphitheater, and the Garden
of Fugitives.
All in all, we spent about five hours at Pompeii, and we left primarily
because we were hot and tired. We could have spent much more time; it is
a huge site. Allie’s top highlight was seeing the plaster casts of the bodies.
For Marisa and Chris, the sheer size of the site and condition of the ruins –
the buildings, the streets, the mosaics and frescoes – made this a
memorable experience.
One little tip: consider your footwear. Not only do you spend a lot of time on
your feet and walking over uneven surfaces, but a lot of the time you are
walking on dirt. Comfortable sandals are fine, but Marisa spent most of the
rest of the day really wishing she could wash her feet.
We took the Circumvesuviana back to Sorrento and looked for a convenient
place to have a drink. Our main mission in Sorrento was to find the
webcam and wave to our Fodors friends. Finding it was not difficult. We
had a good map from Slowtrav. Conveniently, there is an internet café in
the tourist information office right below the webcam, so we could log on
and alert everyone. While we were waving, we were stopped by a local
man who sternly informed us that the webcam was illegal, a violation of
privacy. Party pooper! He doesn’t know how much interest it has generated
in his lovely town! Chris stopped in Gabriella’s just to see what it was all
about. Interestingly, what they sell inside is mostly decorative wood inlay
products, including a selection of religious icons; a bit of a surprise.
After a look around the pedestrian area and marina, we caught the bus
back to Positano. We know that we didn’t do justice to Sorrento, but it was
starting to get late. Marisa purposely sat on the ocean side of the bus, even
though she doesn’t care for heights, and actually found the drive a little
exhilarating.
We were craving pizza. It had been a couple of days since we had pizza, so
after cleaning up, we set off down the Viale Pasitea to find a nice, casual
restaurant with a selection of pizza. We passed several decent-looking
restaurants, only because we thought it might be an effort to get back to our
apartment afterward. We settled on the pizzeria at Il Capitano, the
restaurant at the Montemare Hotel. It was situated on a nice, rooftop deck
overlooking Positano – the perfect place to kick back with a half-liter of
house wine and enjoy a different angle on the town. We stayed until
darkness fell.
Later that night, somewhere around 11:30, we were awakened by
tremendous booming noises reverberating through the valley. More
fireworks, this time coming from the Positano beach. It was a beautiful
show, but so late?? We later learned that June 15 is the official day of
celebration for Positano’s patron saint, San Vito. That would explain the
decorative lights we’d seen being erected around town.
Next > Amalfi Coast, part 3
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
Pompeii, basilica
Bar maid
Villa of Mysteries
House of Vettii
Sorrento - piazza near the webcam
Sorrento - Bar Meeting Burger, lost in
translation
translation
