Touring the Bay of Naples (Part 1)
The hotel was in a great spot, very central to the town square, where there were some lovely bars and gelaterias, close to the beach and some excellent restaurants. I was really surprised at how reasonable the prices were for food and drink in the area as I had always assumed Italy to be super expensive. We were on half board at the hotel and the food was local, good quality and varied every night.
Our first morning was a relaxed start to the trip as we set off to the port of Pozzuoli where we visited the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre and were guided by our Tour Manager, Karina, a Doctor of Archaeology, no less. Karina’s knowledge of the area and the history was superb. As we moved onto the ancient site of Cumae, an original Greek settlement with its caves, and the Temple of Apollo sat high on the hillside I was starting to understand the attraction to this sort of holiday.
The next day was an experience I had looked forward to and had wanted to do since I was a child - Pompeii. I was not disappointed. Boarding the train at Vico Equense station, we arrived at Pompeii station 15 minutes later and the scale of what we were about to experience blew me away. Pompeii is huge! With so much to explore we were lucky to have an expert guide of Pompeii with us and he gave us lots of insight into what life was like in this unbelievable place prior to the eruption in 79AD. Walking on pavements that were 2000 years old, knowing that people ran for their lives on those same pavements was very surreal. We spent a good six hours exploring the ruins and hearing the stories of what life was like. I highly recommend a good pair of shoes for this trip as there is a lot of walking involved. For me the most poignant part of the day was just before we left we found a section where there were some plaster casts of bodies of a family found near the perimeter wall who had obviously ran there for shelter, and hopefully safety, from the eruption but just couldn’t escape, their bodies found laid together, almost like they were just waiting for the inevitable. It really bought home just what this town had witnessed and the loss that came with it. My visit to Pompeii is something that will stay with me forever.
The next day we had a much more relaxed day as we boarded our coach for a drive along the stunning Amalfi Coast. Winding roads, sheer cliffs, sea views and pretty little towns made this a wonderful day. We stopped off for an hour in Amalfi Town, which is just beautiful, for a spot of shopping, sightseeing and a coffee before continuing along the coast, through the city of Salerno and onto the remains of the Greek Temples at Paestum. We explored the fabulously preserved site, learning about the inhabitants and what life was like for them. It was a very long and tiring day but such a great experience.