Italy intensifies as you plunge deeper! We travelled south from Rome, left the guided tour and explored Sorrento and the gorgeous Amalfi coast on week two of our adventure.
Sorrento lies a hour north of Naples and we picked this idealic spot for our stay. It sits on a ledge under the mountains and over the blue Mediterranean, dotted with lemon and olive groves. We used the service of airbnb to book our apartment from Canada and were well pleased with the accommodations (three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two balconies, kitchen, dining room all on main drag of Sorrento).
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| View of the dining/living room |
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| Dining in our own apartment |
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| Balcony in our apartment |
We decided to take it easy on our second week and enjoy the "dolce vita" by relaxing here in Sorrento. Sorrento itself has no world class sights but is a fine base for visiting the glorious Amalfi Coast and historic Pompeii and the chaotic Naples (we decided not to brave Naples on this trip)!
Sorrento is a picturesque summer resort town that has 20,000 inhabitants and relies over 90% on tourism (a good place to shop, relax and enjoy the good life).
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| Walk down to one of the two ports, so beautiful! |
We took time to stroll through the streets of Sorrento, enjoying the shops, the cafes, the people, and taking in the beauty of the surroundings.
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| View of the deep gorge |
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| View from the large port |
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| Of course we visited the lemon grove and drank Limoncello! |
Next we took in a little culture and visited Pompeii. This town was stopped in its tracks by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Up until then, it was a thriving commercial port of 20,000. The eruption buried the city of Pompeii under 30 feet of hot volcanic ash. Excavations began in 1748 and was a treasure for archaeologists teaching them volumes about daily Roman life two thousand years ago!
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| Every day, streets were flooded to clean. These stepping stones allowed carts to travel and water to flow down the streets. The sidewalks were paved with bits of broken white marble to help people get around after dark. |
Pompeii was a typical Roman town with the same layout and components of any Roman city-main square, basilica, temples markets, bakery and mill, and theatre.
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| Entrance to grand house |
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| Theatre |
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| Main square and commercial marketplace |
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| View from theatre steps |
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| Incredibal marble tiled floor with mosaic insert |
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| Bakery and Mill |
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| Fresco in Brothel |
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| Glass cases hold casts of inhabitants eerily captured in their last moments |
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| The bodies were encased in volcanic debris and there were hollow spaces under the bodies when they decomposed. By gently filling the holes with plaster, archaeologists were able to create holds of the Pompeiians. |
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