Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

Early morning to get off the ship and meet our driver. We had some confusion at the dock. We were expecting to have the driver there at the boat, but for some reason they closed it off, so we took a shuttle to where the drivers waited.

Our driver was Salvatore and he was very cute. We got on our way and he was soon driving 120 mph, he got as high as 140 at one point. So here's the thing about Italian drivers...they are CRAZY. I mean that. Lanes are more of a guideline vs hard and fast rule. We were driving through some tunnels and hit some backup, but that didn't stop the scooter/motorcycle people! Nope they would drive down the oncoming traffic lane and if a

car was coming toward them they'd squeeze back over whether there is room or not.

Salvatore said that is very typical for Italy, he even does it, but he also said, that is a rather mild transgression. People do much worse. There is no way I would rent a car and try to drive in Europe.

Regardless our drive was spectacular. The views and mountains were amazing. The roads did get really twisty, but we were able to stop a couple times to get pictures.

We arrived at Sorrento and had about an hour to roam and explore. Salvatore gives us directions to a wonderful view, but I forgot the directions and Colin wasn't really listening, so we looked around and did some shopping.

We happened into a nice little store, Colin was looking at their statues but I found some unbelievably gorgeous jewelry. Swarovski crystal in gorgeous designs.

We continued on the Positano. This was my very favorite spot. We walked down to the beach area and sat in a cafe for lunch that was right on the beach. A beautiful view. We then made the long uphill trek back to the car. Off to Pompeii.

This was Colin's main attraction. We met our guide and she walked us up

to the ruins. First impression, it's a much larger city than I had imagined. As we walked toward the theater, we passed some statues. Our guide said they were all modern which really disappointed me. The statues weren't even made/placed based on any historical reference, but just where they wanted them.

Colin was definitely in his element. When we were in the theater I'm not sure which hit him most, standing in an ancient theater or just standing in something from antiquity. The other interesting bit of information was how openly sexual the Pompeiians were. Our guide pointed out several phallics carved into the streets or the sides of buildings.

To be honest I didn't get as much out of Pompeii as I would have liked. I twisted my ankle and pulled my calf muscle in Sorrento (damn cobblestones). By the time we got to Pompeii I was in an awful lot of pain.

My main focus was traversing the ancient cobblestone roads and sidewalks without injuring myself even more.