The Dolce Vita Revisited

We slept in our van on the overnight ferry from Greece to Italy. If you enjoy the ambience of a busy, hot, humid, rocking parking garage then you should book your next vacation on a Greek Ferry.




We finally made landfall on the achilles tendon of the big boot and drove for 3 hours over to the shin area. Sorrento was our goal, and we were determined at all costs to avoid driving in insane Naples. We drove through the suburbs of Naples, merely deranged, and found a campsite near the coast. Sorrento is okay but is beloved by the British and it seemed every other restaurant boasted fish and chips, Guinness Beer, and a tea room. The following morning we caught the train to Pompeii. Jolene and I had visited it on our last trip and were fascinated by it and it seems that every school child reads about it at some time.


Walking the streets of Pompeii you can really get a feel for what city life was like in 79 AD. There are still signs such as "beware of dog" and "room for rent" in Latin on the buildings.



This is the Roman equivalent of a fast food stand. There were holes in the counter where the pots of soup would be kept warm at this curbside diner. It was interesting to all of us how city life of the Romans was similar to our modern life in many ways.




This is the inside of a warm bath house at the Roman equivalent of today's 24 Hour Fitness Center. There was a gymnasium for working out followed by various temperature baths.

The following day we toured the famous Amalfi coast. It seems that every American Italian restaurant has a picture of this coastline hanging somewhere. There are a series of cliffside villages connected by a treacherous road. It's very similar to Big Sur, with the road half as wide and twice as much traffic. Rather than subject poor Dagobert to the winding and hilly coastal road, we took a crowded bus piloted by a former race car driver. We elected to take the boat back.




We spent the day doing our favorite things, playing on the beach and exploring narrow streets. Amalfi redefines narrow streets. The houses were connected by a maze of narrow staircases with arched tunnels leading this way and that. Mostly up according to Allie.










Italian food is so good. We had a great, cheap picnic on the waterfront with fresh bread, fresh local tomatoes, and melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella cheese from the nearby hills. We then capped a hot day of stair climbing with tasty gelato.