Wednesday, November 14th -- Pompeii, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and Motion Sickness...

Naples!   The evening cruise had been quiet and we were back at it with the tour busses.   Our new friends had not been able to book with the Royal Caribbean sponsored tour to Pompeii, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast.   D'Arcy had gotten on the Internet and found a private tour to these same locations.  This was our longest and most expensive tour and we were hopeful that it would be enjoyable.

We started by going to Pompeii.   I had always dreamed of seeing these ruins (having a keen interest in ancient Rome) and I was not disappointed.   Our tour guide was nice, the bus was smaller, we had grabbed a front seat by some aggressive posturing for position, and even a little rain didn't disappoint us.   Of course, we had to wait around in front of the gift shops while the others did their thing... One thing about a group tour is that you spend a LOT of time waiting and you spend a LOT of time doing stuff you may or may not be interested in doing.  As you can tell, we were on bus "16"...

Pompeii is much larger than I realized.   There are huge parts open for tours and even larger parts left for excavation.   It is a true gem for archeological research.

That was SO cool to see Pompeii!!!

Next stop, Sorrento...  We hadn't really realized we were signing up for so much windy roads along the coastline (that's what happens when you don't do your homework).   Also, apparently Sorrento is known for its inlaid wood so we (and everyone else) had an hour stop oriented around a factory making inlaid wood items.   We listened to the demonstration so we could use the restroom and then we took off to walk a bit.   Lisa want to try the local pizza again and we succeeded in finding a very nice place a block or so away and really enjoyed the taste of pizza.

As we rendezvoused back at the wood factory (determined not to be the ones to make the tour late), I was taken aback because there were our new friends Roger and D'Arcy!   They weren't even on a Royal Caribbean cruise but were on a private tour!   We laughed with them for a few minutes and then said goodbye!   It just seemed like we were destined to see them...

The next stop was a very nice lunch at a hotel perched up on cliffs above the ocean.   It was, indeed, a lovely spot and many of us on the tour posed as couples while the others took our pictures.

Now, some even windier roads!!!  Tiny and narrow, the road to Positano lies pearched high about the cliffs.   Lisa was really nauseous from the motion sickness (again, poor planning on our part... we did ask enough about what the tour would consist of).   Still, the views were breathtaking!!

Soon, we were in the darling little town and, fortunately, a nice lady also on the tour had some motion-sickness medicine she gave to Lisa.   We walked down the tiny street and found a little store to buy a bottle of water and use the toilet.  I stepped outside onto the street, and there was Roger!!   I think his tour guide was following the same program but still, it was amazing to line up another encounter.   I told Roger were were moving to table 567 at the early seating and he said their table was number 565 and had two empty seats at the table for six.  We agreed to crash their table from then on!!

Positano was darling but we had barely started exploring it when there was a lightning flash and the whole town lost electricity.   We then proceeded to get dumped on by rain and we scampered back to the tour bus and waited for the remaining stragglers.   Here's some of our wet companions.

So, back to the boat to a change of clothes and a new dining experience!  We met Sandra and Milton, originally from San Salvador but raised in Canada and now living near San Francisco.   They are a nice young couple and the six of us had fun!  Back at the stateroom, we had more towel art awaiting us!!! 

Off to bed as tomorrow we hit Sicily!

- Pat