Sea Day & Naples (Amalfi Coast and Pompei)

 Yesterday was a sea day, so we just trotted around the ship here and there.  I have to show you a picture of a bag I bought in Malta though.


Love it.

We did pass through the Strait of Messina.  It runs between Sicily and the toe of the boot of Italy.  You can see mostly Sicily in the picture, but you can see the strait as well.


I went upstairs at one point and saw this island out of a window on the other side.  It’s another volcano that is active in Italy!  Stromboli.  (Those are clouds, not spewing smoke.)


So we landed in Naples this morning where we had a full-day excursion booked with the ship.  After getting organized, we headed over to Salerno by bus - the east end of the Amalfi Coast.  But first we stopped at a cameo shop in Naples.  I didn’t know that real cameos are made from shells of shellfish.  Quite beautiful - and quite expensive.  This is a guy carving one.  I guess that’s why it’s so expensive.


And on we went to Salerno.  There we boarded a boat that took us along the Amalfi Coast as far as the town of Amalfi.  We got off there to spend a bit of time wandering the town.  



This is in the town.  Notice the cliffs UP and behind it.


I guess the area is quite known for its lemon production.  Different kinds of lemons and sizes.  Notice the size of this one as compared to Darlene’s hand.  We had lemon ice cream here.  Awesome!


After an hour or so, we returned to Salerno by boat and went off to the Pompei.  There is a current town here also called Pompei, but the original one built by the Romans was buried in ash from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Before entering the site, they gave us lunch at a nearby restaurant, which was quite good.  

The excavation is incredible.  Not only the uncovered ruins like we see in other places, but pictures painted on walls and carvings in some larger houses, etc.  They even found bones of people and animals and recreated their bodies in the positions they were found.

A few shots of Pompei.  The first is how a family was found.  You can actually see their skulls.  The rest has been plaster-recreated.

Some artwork



It was quite a long and exhausting day.  Temperatures were around 35 deg. in the shade and a hot, blaring sun.

So tonight we pack up and have our bags outside our rooms by 8 pm.  We need to be off the ship by 7:45 in the morning.  Then it’s off to Rome!





Comments

  1. GerryJune 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM

    Such a unique area of Italy and the world for that matter! I am continuing to marvel at the great photos and the accompanying narrative, so well written!

    ReplyDelete

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