Day 11 - Pompeii and Sorrento

The morning started calmly, enjoying a nice breakfast with our talkative host, Ennio. And then it crescendoed from there! We had ~3 1/2 hr drive to Pompeii. The 1st 3 hrs went smoothly on their autostrade, which you pay a pricey toll to exit. Cars straddle lanes, never claiming one for long. There are convenient "autogrill" rest stops spaced along the way. Then we approached Naples and the driving intensified. Very quickly it became chaos! Cars going every direction on a street, intertwined with scooters honking and squeezing through any teeny space. Organization and rules of the road went by the wayside. We went through 2 traffic signals, and they were simply off - which I guess is better than ignoring red lights. Greg appeared calm but admits to feeling the tension!

We took a brief reprieve at the ancient ruins of Pompeii, preserved in time by volcanic ash from the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. It is difficult to grasp the fact that this city is over 2000 years old because of how intact it is. You cannot rely on your feet to navigate the erratic cobblestone without watching every step. We took an hour long audio tour which seemed to give the same info as the private guides walking by, but the Rick Steves tour was nice because it doesn't follow the crowds. At one point we turned down a narrow street and ran into a wall of people trying to enter the tiny brothel with its pornographic frescoes still intact! Mt. Vesuvius loomed over us as a constant reminder and continuing threat.

We have been relying on Tina, our gps, to get us everywhere. Though she doesn't attempt to speak Italian, she has been doing well... until today. We watched the sign to Sorrento go left as we instead went right, through cobblestone alleys and tiny streets with crazy drivers and dirty, perhaps unsafe surroundings. This is not the area I meant to stay, please no!

After what seemed like an eternity of stressful driving on curvy ocean-cliff roads - yet only about 5 miles later - we emerged from the chaos and arrived at the Hotel Mediterraneo on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Need I ask...cold, stiff drink anyone?

Next we walked into Sorrento, famished for dinner. We had no problem finding Pizzeria Franco, rumored to be #1 in the area. Not bad, but not the best- I'm guessing they started the rumor. We walked some more, and Greg finally found his blood orange gelato. We returned to the hotel, exhausted.