Pompeii and Sorrento

BLOG—Pompeii and Sorrento

We kept a pretty hectic pace in Rome for five days, and we decided to ‘grind out’ a long day’s travel to southern Italy on Thursday. Up at 5:30 a.m., we exited our apartment by 7 a.m. with only a few small cups of coffee under our belt (the percolator only made one cup at a time). We were extremely fortunate to find a taxi that would seat five -- and hold our luggage. We made it to the train station in record time, so perhaps we could have slept in a bit longer...

The train to Naples took several hours—one more than described on the schedule. In the Naples station we finally found the toilette, and the one Euro coins necessary to unlock the turnstile. It seemed I had every other denomination of paper and coin currency, and the change-making machine was not working at its optimum!

After picking up some ‘station food’—Panini’s and sandwiches with splendid cheeses and prosciutto—we descended the steps to the ‘local’ trains which circumnavigate Mt. Vesuvius. We bought our tickets and packed into the small, crowded train where we stood for the next 45 minutes until our arrival at the station for the archaeological site for ancient Pompeii.

Blessedly, the site offers free baggage storage! We spent a couple of hours winding our way through those ancient streets, and seeing a city that was frozen in time and amazingly preserved—including 2000 year old frescoes in the homes of some of its wealthy citizens. In terms of seeing (and imagining) an ancient city from the basis of its archaeological remains, Pompeii may offer the best, large-scale footprint (and wall print) of any that I have seen—complete with ruts in the streets where chariot and wagon wheels rolled for hundreds of years until the eruption. 2000 year old lead pipes were evident along one street. Cooking ovens, courtyards, and casts of frozen bodies all helped shape an impression of coastal life at the foot of Italy’s southern mountains.

We picked up our bags as we returned to the station. Five tickets and five minutes later, the small, local arrived at the platform (great timing!) and we stood for another 45 minutes to Sorrento. The train was not as crowded, and the anticipation of arriving at our destination kept our spirits high, even though our feet continued to feel sore nonetheless.

Arriving in Sorrento, 12 hours after we started our day, we exhaled into the gentle breezes that whispered through palm trees and lemon groves in this city built along the cliffs that drop into the sea. Our landlord arrived to meet us at the train station, and we took a taxi through the winding streets, and down to Marina Grande. The apartment we have rented for several nights is in the middle of this little cove of buildings and boats. Unlike Rome, our apartment was at the top of only four flights of good, sturdy, marble steps!

Part of the theory of booking apartments at the tops of the buildings was that in addition to great views, and good prices, we could ‘work off’ some of the calories we were taking in. I guess all three of those things were true, though any evidence of the ‘calorie burning hypothesis’ was hard to see. The abdominal muscular ‘six pack’ I never had is being transformed into a ‘12-pack’ within one of those Styrofoam coolers with soft, rounded edge! The endless miles, steps and sunshine are no match for the delicious, fresh foods of Greece and Italy!