After farewelling Murray's Ukrainian cousins in Sardinia, we flew to Naples for 2 days so that Murray could re-visit Montecassino, the area south-east of Rome where his dad fought with the Polish Army and the Allies against the Germans during WW2. We had visited the area previously, but the Abbey that his dad was fighting to retake from the Germans was closed for renovations at that time - but he was lucky this time, and got to go in, and even catch a Mass there. While he was walking around the Polish Cemetery there, he came across a group of visitors from Poland. They all got chatting and he had his photo taken with them.
 |
| Murray with other Polish Cemetery visitors (from Poland) |
Of an evening, we would wander around the area near our Naples hotel where there were several squares, lots of history, numerous cafes and shops galore. We stumbled on this most beautiful cathedral - Chiesa del Gesu Nuovo. Mind you, the hotel Decumani that we stayed in was beautiful as well - take a look at the breakfast room. Our hotel building was originally built in the 17th Century as a home for the last Archbishop of Naples in an area that has been declared by Unesco as the historic centre of Naples.
 |
| Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo |
 |
| Dining Room in Decumani Hotel, Naples |
 |
| Murray and Kim in Pompeii - Vesuvius, the culprit in the background |
Two days later, Kim flew in from Copenhagen, and the 3 of us drove to our hotel in Sorrento - what a beautiful part of the world. We only had 4 days together, and we intended to make the most of it, so the very next morning we jumped on a local train and got off at Pompeii. I think the ticket cost us 2.5 Euros and took about 30 minutes. Upstairs at Pompeii in the train station was a ticket office, and we purchased a guided tour for 12 Euros, and then paid our entry fee of the same amount. The guide was worth every cent - we could have looked at ruin after ruin and tried to imagine what it might have been. To have a young lady with a PhD in Archaeology who brought the whole place to life for us was great. Pompeii might have been buried under 6 metres of volcanic ash in 79 AD, but the recovery of the area is a credit to those who are painstakingly restoring it. At the same time as Pompeii was buried, so was the nearby town of Herculaneum - only it was closer to Vesuvius, so it was buried by lava instead of ash. Consequently wooden and other organic materials were better preserved than those at Pompeii. We visited this site after Pompeii, but we were so tired, it was hard to be as impressed as we were by our Pompeii visit. The doorways were very low - they were a short statured population - Murray would not have coped well living in that era - see photo above!
We had a beautiful hotel on the end of the Main Street of Sorrento, and overlooked the Bay of Naples to Naples beyond - we could see the Naples lights at night. From the hotel restaurant and pool you could see Mt Vesuvius, but trees blocked it from sight on our balcony.
 |
| Kim brought some Veuve Champagne with her - so we enjoyed a balcony platter |
 |
| Downtown Sorrento at dusk |
 |
| Celebrating a Trish Bar - oops, I mean an Irish Bar |
For over 10 years now, I have had the Amalfi coast in my sights. It was just of matter of fitting it in to one of our travel itineraries. Well, 2017 was the magical year for that. Having Kim join us made the visit so much more enjoyable and memorable. After all, she introduced me to my first taste of Aperol - a refreshing Italian aperitif made from bitter orange and rhubarb. While it tastes and smells like Campari, it has less than half the alcohol content, and Aperol is less bitter. It is mixed with a fizzy drink such as soda or mineral water, and even a bubbly wine like prosecco. I googled it and found that it is sold at Dan Murphy's Liquor store in Australia, so I will buy a bottle when I get back home and bring it out to refresh dinner guests on those summer evenings on the back patio.
I doubt that any of us will forget the 1.5 hour bus trip from Sorrento to Amalfi that became a 2 hr trip. Its not even high tourist season, but the traffic becomes easily congested due to road works and having only a single, narrow road winding around the Amalfi Coast. The views are superb, no doubt about it, but you would only do that bus trip once. We were happy to enjoy a fast ferry ride back from Amalfi to Positano to check it out, and then on to Sorrento.
 |
| Amalfi |
 |
| Amalfi |
 |
| Amalfi |
 |
| Positano - taken from the bus as we approached |
On our last day together, we thought we might take Kim over to the Isle of Capri. We had visited it on our recent cruise, and we thought she would like to see it. However, fate had other plans for us. Kim being a geologist was keen to visit Mt Vesuvius, and she found this great 4WD tour that included a 5 course lunch and accompanying wines at a Mt Vesuvius winery - did you realise that the volcanic soil around Mt Vesuvius is ideal for grape growing. Needless to say, the main product of the region is wine. Thankfully the lunch was AFTER we had done the climb, as it would have been difficult to do it after the lunch - it was bountiful and delicious, and the wines kept coming. That is our 4WD bus in the photo - and Pompeii is in the haze below.
 |
| Mother and Daughter on Mt Vesuvius |
 |
| At our winery lunch stop - Mt Vesuvius in the background. The photo above this one (Kim and I) is taken in front of the higher notch on the right hand side |
The next day, Kim flew back to Copenhagen, and we flew to Paris...see next blog
After farewelling Murray's Ukrainian cousins in Sardinia, we flew to Naples for 2 days so that Murray could re-visit Montecassino, the area south-east of Rome where his dad fought with the Polish Army and the Allies against the Germans during WW2. We had visited the area previously, but the Abbey that his dad was fighting to retake from the Germans was closed for renovations at that time - but he was lucky this time, and got to go in, and even catch a Mass there. While he was walking around the Polish Cemetery there, he came across a group of visitors from Poland. They all got chatting and he had his photo taken with them. 
Two days later, Kim flew in from Copenhagen, and the 3 of us drove to our hotel in Sorrento - what a beautiful part of the world. We only had 4 days together, and we intended to make the most of it, so the very next morning we jumped on a local train and got off at Pompeii. I think the ticket cost us 2.5 Euros and took about 30 minutes. Upstairs at Pompeii in the train station was a ticket office, and we purchased a guided tour for 12 Euros, and then paid our entry fee of the same amount. The guide was worth every cent - we could have looked at ruin after ruin and tried to imagine what it might have been. To have a young lady with a PhD in Archaeology who brought the whole place to life for us was great. Pompeii might have been buried under 6 metres of volcanic ash in 79 AD, but the recovery of the area is a credit to those who are painstakingly restoring it. At the same time as Pompeii was buried, so was the nearby town of Herculaneum - only it was closer to Vesuvius, so it was buried by lava instead of ash. Consequently wooden and other organic materials were better preserved than those at Pompeii. We visited this site after Pompeii, but we were so tired, it was hard to be as impressed as we were by our Pompeii visit. The doorways were very low - they were a short statured population - Murray would not have coped well living in that era - see photo above! 
For over 10 years now, I have had the Amalfi coast in my sights. It was just of matter of fitting it in to one of our travel itineraries. Well, 2017 was the magical year for that. Having Kim join us made the visit so much more enjoyable and memorable. After all, she introduced me to my first taste of Aperol - a refreshing Italian aperitif made from bitter orange and rhubarb. While it tastes and smells like Campari, it has less than half the alcohol content, and Aperol is less bitter. It is mixed with a fizzy drink such as soda or mineral water, and even a bubbly wine like prosecco. I googled it and found that it is sold at Dan Murphy's Liquor store in Australia, so I will buy a bottle when I get back home and bring it out to refresh dinner guests on those summer evenings on the back patio.
On our last day together, we thought we might take Kim over to the Isle of Capri. We had visited it on our recent cruise, and we thought she would like to see it. However, fate had other plans for us. Kim being a geologist was keen to visit Mt Vesuvius, and she found this great 4WD tour that included a 5 course lunch and accompanying wines at a Mt Vesuvius winery - did you realise that the volcanic soil around Mt Vesuvius is ideal for grape growing. Needless to say, the main product of the region is wine. Thankfully the lunch was AFTER we had done the climb, as it would have been difficult to do it after the lunch - it was bountiful and delicious, and the wines kept coming. That is our 4WD bus in the photo - and Pompeii is in the haze below. 
No comments:
Post a Comment