The Long and Winding Road...

What a day! This title could just as well have been, MAMA MIA!! I knew the drive along the Amalfi coast was supposed to be beautiful but the treacherous part I didn't really know. Today had to be the best yet, and I don't think it can get any better than this!!

I was on the bus at 7AM to be sure that I had a front seat so I wouldn't have a problem with motion sickness on the long and winding road of the Amalfi coast drive. If you have never seen that part of Italy I suggest you look it up online. It was the most gorgeous place I could imagine, definitely my favorite part of Italy! The terrain was spectacular, beyond anything I could have imagined! Houses that were 3, 4, and 5 stories high that the residents have to climb many stairs up or down to get to, were amazing. I'm not sure pictures can do justice to what I saw. I was on the wrong side of the bus so I didn't get as good of pictures as I wish I could have on the other side, but I think they will still show the incredible trip! Steep mountain cliffs dropping right down to the crystal clear emerald and bright blue waters! From the top of the cliffs I could see the rocks below the water, it was that clear! And the homes, incredible. Yes, I know now why the Amalfi coast drive is one of the most beautiful in the world. It wasn't an easy drive in a large bus, we had to keep stopping, honking when rounding corners and taking up the one lane many times. There are traffic people to help monitor and control the busses at strategic points and I'm sure that if I weren't used to mountain driving I would have been terrified! I just trusted that Giuseppe would get us through safely, even though the tour guide told us it was his first day and he could only see with one eye! She was hilarious and the day was filled with interesting facts, fun stories and jokes and adventure. After the 2 1/2 hr. treacherous drive she told us a story about a bus driver and a priest dying at the same time. The bus driver was sent straight to heaven and the priest to hell. The priest complained and St. Peter talked to the boss and went back and said, "When you preached your sermons, everyone slept, when the bus driver drove on the Amalfi coast, everyone on the bus prayed, so he did more for us than you!"

We drove for 4 hours before we stopped for lunch at a seaside restaurant in the town of Amalfi. Lunch left something to be desired, I was disappointed with the plain spinach canollis and the pressed chicken breast with a little cheese and marinara sauce on it. But nothing is perfect and the rest of the day was incredible!! I ate lunch with a lovely lady from Spain who works at a hospital as a dietician and spends 2 weeks of her vacation each year taking a cruise. She agrees with me that it is the best way to travel alone!

We did stop at an inlaid wood factory and had a demonstration of how that is done, truly amazing! I did purchase a purple inlaid music box, much less expensive than the lavendar leather purse I passed up the other day. And will bring me such good memories of the best day ever!

After lunch we had another hour of the magnificent drive on the Amalfi coast and then got to the 'motorway' to get to Pompei. To be honest, I was so excited to see the place I had taught about for so many years, I got little sleep last night. I just kept imagining what it would be like to stand in that ancient city. After the 11 hour tour today, I am beyond exhausted and am sure I will sleep well tonight and into tomorrow which is a sea day. And when rested, I will be overwhelmed by what I experienced today!

But back to Pompei and my incredible adventure...did you know that Pompei was built beginning in 600BC? And the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that covered it in ash was in the year 79AD. Everything is left the way it was found although many things were taken and put in museums and many other things are behind bars in a large area that you can look at. Yes, I stood in the middle of a 'city' that existed 2000 years ago!! We toured the remains for almost 2 hours straight and as tired as I was, I was not going to miss a minute or a detail of the tour! We saw houses that the noblemen lived in, and houses of the street peasants. We saw the temple of Apollo and the temple of Zeus. We saw the bronze cast of the man, dog an dchild that were found when the remains were unearthed from under about 60 feet of ash. We saw pictures on the walls and the arena where the gladiators were trained. And the stories moved me to tears at times. It has been estimated that 15000 people were living in Pompei at the time of the eruption and to this point only 1000 bodies have been discovered, making one wonder what happened to the other people...did they die trying to escape, or in other places from the air they breathed? We will never know. In the middle of the tour the sky got dark and the thunder started. Our guide told us it was Vesuvius and it did seem possible, although we knew it was just a good old fashioned thunderstorm, what timing! We walked a while in the rain and finally a rainbow came out over the ruins of Pompei, what a meaningful experience, rain and all! We saw the brothel part of the city and since the girls were brought in from Greece and didn't speak the same languages, there were pictures painted on the walls so the men could simply point to what they wanted. Those paintings are still in amazing shape today, no pun intended. There were phallic symbols around and the guide explained that they are the symbol for abundance and good luck. She said that since they can't wear them on a necklace for good luck in this day and age, it has changed to be the horn shape that they can wear. The signs of the ancien buildings was more exciting than all the stories I have read to the kids over the years. It was the hardest to believe that it was all real and everything was over 2000 years old! Standing in the past was thrilling!

There were a few dogs around the ruins, and they weren't in too bad of shape, but didn't look the healthiest. Evidently there was a documentary that one of the passengers had seen about the 'dogs of pompei'. Our guide explained that each guide in Naples, about 40 or 50 of them, donates $10 a month to their care. A security person at the ruins collects the money and gets them the veterinarian care they need and their food. They were sweet and calm and I loved seeing them there. They loved the attention, but didn't seem sad at all. One small lab with some fur missing in places was playing with a cashier one of the food places with a towel and it was so cute! They aren't ignored at all. Of course I donated money to their care, how could I not when I thought of my spoiled little boy home playing in his swimming pool and being adored by all of his temporary keepers.

After returning to the ship from the 11 hour tour, I was not the only one dragging to get on the ship. I noticed a crew member who looked familiar on the shore when we returned who I believe is the manager of the tour department. I went up and asked her if she was on the Crown Princess in the Baltic and she said she was on the Dawn Princess in Mexico and at that time she remembered me and remembered that I was a friend of Hernan's and we'd been introduced. She even remembered the story of how Hernan and I met on the Grand in Europe last year, and said she would take good care of me since I'm alone. I am not sure what that means, but it was nice to find a 'friend'. I'll look forward to seeing her again. How nice to run into someone I know this far from home!

I am headed to bed for a nice rest and since tomorrow is a sea day I am sure I will spend it leisurely! Ahhh, the joy of travel!

Once again...ciao for now!