From the bus we could see the "sleeping giant," which was a face the mountain ridge created.
I realize it's been almost a month since I returned from Italy; time is running away from me! But I am still thinking about my wonderful honeymoon. And I haven't written about one of my favorite parts yet: hiking Mount Vesuvius!
Now, we didn't hike the whole thing. It's more than 3,000 feet tall, which is manageable, but we didn't have time for that. Instead our bus drove us most of the way up, and we hiked the last bit to the summit. We were given 90 minutes in total, with this rough breakdown: 30 minutes to hike to the summit, 30 minutes to take photos, and 30 minutes to come back to the bus.
I packed my hiking boots for the trip specifically for this excursion, and I am glad I did. I think it would have been okay to wear sneakers, but I felt more comfortable on the dirt path in real boots. I also had a back-pack full of snacks, water, and layers of
clothing (semper peranda, always prepared!). Now that we’ve moved to
Florida, there is no hiking (there are no hills, let alone mountains), so I was
very excited to go on even a short hike. The crater itself is not that exciting
(it is indeed a hole), but the views were so cool. I couldn’t believe people still live at the base of the volcano knowing what happened so
long ago (and it’s still an active volcano), but since 79 AD, there have been 49
eruptions and none of them that bad, mostly slow-moving lava from which people
can have time to escape. I guess it’s like us moving to Florida knowing
hurricanes are getting worse, or people who live in California understanding
the dangers of earthquakes. You take your chances!
We took some photos while climbing up, but of course the best pictures were the views at the top. I felt like you could see everything!
This is not a great panoramic photo, but you can see the crater at the summit.
Another hiker offered to take our photo, and of course we returned the favor afterward!
The view at the top was so beautiful! You could look down onto the cities and towns as well as see islands in the distance.
I thought this plant was so cool! It's called "Old Man's Beard" fittingly.
This pretty pink flower is a type of Valerian.
After the long drive back (we both took naps), we went out for drinks at Bar Ercolano in the heart of Sorrento. The town is much cuter when it's not raining! After our happy hour, we enjoyed one last pasta dinner at Mamma Che Pasta. I liked that you could pick your shape of pasta and your sauce, and then you could add items to the dish like meatballs. Yum!
This was our last full day of vacation! The next two days were travel days: one to train back to Rome (we took THREE trains that day), and the other to fly back to the States. So we ended on a literal high note!
When we chose Italy as the destination for our honeymoon, I KNEW I wanted to visit Pompeii. This was the ONE thing I insisted upon doing on this trip, and we are SO glad we did! This was our favorite part of the whole vacation!
I first learned about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD when I took Latin classes in middle school. I was (morbidly) fascinated by how terrifying that experience must have been; the casts made of the bodies that remained in the ash really showed the humanity at that scary moment. More than 1,500 lives were lost that day. The eruption is said to have had the power of 33 atomic bombs, and people would have died from the heat of the ash, breathing in the ash, or being weighted down by the ash on top of them. When archeologists found coal in stoves and the seeds of fall fruit, as well as some writing listing dates (and letters from Pliny the Younger, who witnessed the eruption from afar), we can rather confidently say that the eruption happened on October 24. It is incredible how we can pin-point even the exact day!
This is a cast of someone covering their face so they wouldn't breathe in the ash or get it in their eyes.
But other than seeing the casts in person, I wasn't really sure what else to expect from Pompeii. But after a long bus ride in the rain, the skies cleared for our tour of the ancient city. Pompeii is the second largest archeological site, made up of more than 160 acres (and a third of the city still has yet to be excavated!). The ruins were first discovered in the late 1700's (after Herculaneum, another city destroyed by the eruption, was found); throughout the years of excavations, some things were lost (for example, the bones left of people were mostly removed as trash), but there is still A LOT left that remains, and in amazing condition at that!
The main square area
The city was first built in the seventh century BC by Greeks, Etruscans, and native peoples in the area. It only became a Roman city in the third century BC. In the main square, or forum, there was a temple of Jupiter, as well as a large marketplace and administrative offices. The entire area had a travertine floor before the eruption; now we were walking on the ash that is still there today.
This would have been a fish market.
My favorite part of Pompeii were the bath houses. They are in AMAZING condition! The mosaic floor is still intact, and you can still see decorations along the walls, mostly sea-inspired. There were four rooms in total, and it sounds like the Korean baths I've been to (I miss Spa World!). There was the entry room or waiting room where guests could leave their clothes, a warm room where there was oil for washing and massaging, a hot room which was heated by the steam of the hot water for the spa, and a cold room to finish the experience (they believed in cryotherapy even back then!).
There were many little statues along the walls in the bathhouse, and all of them were in great condition!
It was awesome to be standing in a spa that is thousands of years old and survived a volcanic eruption!
After going to the baths, the people may have stopped by a bar for a drink or snacks. We saw countertops like these throughout the tour, so the people of Pompeii liked eating out as much as we do now!
And we all know that even back then there was great engineering (as I said in an earlier post, we were drinking water from the ancient aqueducts!). In Pompeii, that same water flowed freely in the streets to wash away debris, horse waste, etc. So the sidewalks were elevated, and instead of flat crosswalks, there were three large stepping stones that people would use to walk across the road. I was so excited to walk on the same steps from so long ago. And why were there three stones? So the wheels are carts could still go through! And along the sidewalks at the thresholds of doors, if there is a groove at the threshold, that means it was a public place, like a store, which would have used sliding doors.
These were the fountains from which the water would flow into the street. The streets didn't have names, so you would use the decorations of the fountains as your markers ("cow head" fountain, etc.).
This was a mill stone in a bakery; a rod would go through the square hole, and two animals attached to the rod would walk in circles to spin the top rock and grind the grain in between the two stones. Thirty-four bakeries have been found in Pompeii!
The technology for pizza ovens has not changed much!
We also walked inside a very wealthy person's home. Of course the size showed how rich the person was, but so did details like the mosaic floors and frescos on the walls. In the atrium, rain would fall through the skylight into a basin, and that water would then go into a well. That would be the household's main source of water before the aqueduct was built. There would also be a garden at the center of the home which would help cool everything down.
One of the most entertaining parts of the tour was visiting a "lupanare," or brothel (coming from the word "lupa," meaning "she-wolf"). It was built along a curve in the road so it would be harder to see clients coming in and out. This is the only brothel that they have found in Pompeii, but sometimes prostitutes would work in the upstairs of snack bars. And while most people slept on wooden beds, the beds in the brothel were made of stone (with a mattress on top, of course); the stone was much stronger to withstand, erm...use. You can still see frescos painted on the walls that feature sex acts; the prostitutes and their clients (many of whom were sailors coming into port) may not have spoken the same language, so the clients could simply point to what they wanted, like a sexy Denny's menu. On the outside of the building, there was a phallic-looking stone pointing out of the wall, which was supposed to protect the building and those in it. That is why all over Sorrento you can find souvenirs of chili peppers or horns, like necklaces and ornaments, that are the modern-day interpretation (Note that the protective powers will not work if you buy the item for yourself! You can only give it as a gift, and then you can receive one as a present, too.).
Which position is your favorite? haha
Our tour only lasted two hours, but we were told that it would take two weeks of exploring to see everything. In the late 1800's, excavators divided the city into neighborhoods and labeled the areas by name as well as block number so they could create a map of the city. The streets were like a maze; I certainly would have gotten lost if I had not been with a tour guide. But I feel like we could have been there all day and never get bored. There is so much to see, and it's still unbelievable that this entire city was covered in ten meters of ash for nearly two thousand years, preserved in such an amazing way.
Next post: Hiking Mt. Vesuvius, the same volcano that destroyed Pompeii!
I must interrupt my Italian honeymoon posts to tell you about the Cyndi Lauper concert I went to last night at Amalie Arena! I love 80's pop music, and she's right up there with Madonna in my mind. I missed out on seeing Janet Jackson this summer, so I was NOT going to make the same mistake twice!
I ended up going to the show by myself, but I still had a fun time. I didn't dress up, but if I had gone with a friend, you can bet I would have worn fishnet and leg warmers!
The first opener was Emily Estefan, Gloria Estefan's daughter. I didn't even know she had a famous daughter (or at least famous enough to perform before Cyndi!). I thought it was pretty cool that she played the drums while standing and singing. And she plays the guitar, too! She had about ten other people on stage with her, like more drummers and horn players, so there was a jazzy vibe for sure. She only performed a few songs, so here are some of them:
Girl Power Medley (Not the best medley I've heard; not sure how you mess that up! I especially don't like that she is imitating Billie Holiday rather than reimagining her.)
Once she was done, there was a good half hour between sets, so I actually started writing this post while I waited. And then it was time for the main act!
The first thing I noticed about Cyndi is that she seems like such a real, down-to-earth person. She's like the wild, feminist great aunt we all wished we had. I enjoyed hearing her tell stories and talk about supporting women's rights. I liked that part as much as I did actually listening to the music! She talked about working on Broadway; she has written the music and lyrics for the new Working Girl musical that is coming out soon, so she said she had to fit in her farewell tour now before she was too busy with that. I didn't know she wrote a lot of her own songs, too; such talent. She played the guitar (and the recorder?) during the show, mentioned working with Elvis' piano player, Tony Brown, and undressed down to her slip and took off her wig! We saw and heard it all!
Who Let in the Rain? (She said she wrote this song when she was cleaning a house and the skylight was open. This was a time in her life around a break-up, so the song is about that.)
During one of her costume changes, the band came to center stage and played instruments like the bongos, maracas, the tambourine, etc. It was a fun music break, and Cyndi used it to introduce the band members. Her bass player has been with her since the 80's! They all sang Iko Iko together:
She still wore the metal bib, but this time she was dressed up as... Big Bird?
During one of the songs, there was a large sheet flying over a platform that had air coming out of it, so it was like the sheet was floating and dancing to the music. Very unique!
Santa was in the sound booth!
I left before the encore (it was getting late and I was so tired), but I assume she performed these two songs, her biggest hits without a doubt!
I'm sorry I missed these two songs, but I was falling asleep in my seat, and I knew I had an hour-long drive ahead of me to get back home. When I lived in DC, I could easily take the metro home (and even sleep on the train for a little bit), and now I no longer have that luxury. I think I'm becoming one of those people who says, "I can't; that's a school night." What a bummer! While I enjoyed the show, I am not sure it was worth driving two hours in rush hour to get there and then take the slog back home late at night in the dark. Womp womp!
Unfortunately it rained when we were in Sorrento, so that really put a damper on things (plus, the train ride there from Naples was terrible; more on that in another post). But of course when life gives you lemons, make limoncello!
Limoncello was EVERYWHERE. We also enjoyed it in Rome, but Sorrento is all about lemon everything. Not only were there orchards everywhere and several shops downtown to try limoncello (which was first invented by the monks of Benedict in the 16th or 17th century), but there were lemon souvenirs anywhere you looked: tea towels, ornaments, ceramics, T-shirts, scarves (I bought one)... If you wanted something lemon, they had it.
This was a pretty mosaic near some of the lemon trees we saw.
Traditional limoncello is made with three kinds of lemons: Capri lemons are smaller and more acidic, while the lemons from Sorrento and Amalfi are much larger and taste sweeter. Since it's the rind that is used to make limoncello, not the juice, all the lemons are grown organically so there are no pesticides on the peel.
We mostly hunkered down inside due to the rain. We made sure to visit the Museo Correale, (which was celebrating its 100th anniversary), and to kill time we actually walked through most of it twice (you always notice something new the second time around!). There was a whole exhibit on still life paintings, and I enjoyed reading about how these pieces (also called "silent life") revolutionized art: artists no longer had to paint only people or religious figures, but instead could paint anything, even as banal as fruit, to show their artful skills.
One of my favorite pieces at the Museo Correale was an old board game which was used for gambling (similar to roulette). The game was eventually banned!
We did end up taking a walking tour when things had mostly cleared up. We learned a lot about Sorrento, and I'm always one for soaking up the knowledge! Sorrento was a Greek colony 2,500 years ago before becoming a Roman colony (the emperors would take their holidays on the coast). It used to be just two kilometers long, but now it's seven kilometers long. Geographically there are two valleys in the historical center of the town, which were created after a huge volcanic eruption 35,000 years ago; throughout Sorrento you can see that the walls, buildings, etc. are made of a particular gray stone that was created during that explosion.
We stopped inside a church to see some beautiful wood inlay artwork. Some of the pieces use 20 kinds of wood and can take months to create by hand. All of the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle (a jig saw is used to cut the wood!).
This mill inside one of the valleys in Sorrento was built in the 15th century, but in the late 1800's, the main square and street were created, filling up some of the valley. This made the area by the mill too humid, so people no longer lived or worked there.
Down by the water we stood outside a 17th century church for Santa Anna (protector of women and the city's port), where they still hold services every day twice a day. The bells were loud!
We saw the Cloister of San Francisco, which is the oldest building in Sorrento. It is a cloister, church, and monastery all in one. Originally a Roman pagan temple had been in its place, and one of those original pillars still exists today.
While there were those museums and churches, I would say most of Sorrento is just shops and restaurants. And while it is fun to walk around and peek in at new shoes or buy some gelato, I didn't travel halfway across the world to go shopping and eat; I can do that at home! So I think one day in Sorrento is plenty of time to visit if you are planning to go to the Amalfi Coast. There are several cute towns along the water, so if we were to go back, I think we would try Positano instead.
We saw the gardens of the Palazzo Pitti from afar.
It rained our last full day in Florence, so we figured it was the perfect time to stay indoors and visit a museum. We had walked past the Palazzo Pitti when we walked across the Ponte Vecchio, so we bought tickets so we could explore what was inside. We didn't pay to get access to the gardens, but with the poor weather, we figured that was okay. This was a palace where the Medici family lived when they ruled Tuscany, and after that other powerful families stayed there, too. Now it is an art museum.
This is the inside atrium.
There is a grand ballroom that has been renovated to have carpet. Why?!
This was another place that had SO much artwork that you didn't know where to look!
There were several marble tabletops that had the most beautiful colors!
There were many painted ceilings that told stories of the Roman gods. I loved learning about Roman mythology in middle school, and it was fun pointing out the gods, goddesses, and heroes I recognized. This is Mount Olympus, home of the gods.
Some of the columns, angles, and arches on the walls and ceilings were not real, just painted to look 3D.
Everything was just SO ornate and over-the-top beautiful!
I wonder if royalty ever used these plates or if they were always just for show.
Within the palace, there is also the Museum of Fashion and Costume. The exhibit takes you along women's fashion throughout the decades. I'd say the main thing that changes are hemlines and waistlines. I was mostly inspired by all the different fabrics. So pretty!
If only we had more opportunities today to get dressed up like that! At least I'm planning a gala this year for work; that will give me a chance to wear a long, fancy dress!
My next post will be about our time in Sorrento. Check it out soon!
