Antiquity, Naples, Paestum, Pompei, part 1

It seemed like no sooner had we returned from Martigny/Chamonix that we were packing and heading back to the Lyon airport to fly to Italy. We left the dog in the good care of Carlos and Aurore and off we went to Naples, and the environs of southern Italy. While waiting to take off we were able to see a new Airbus 380 plane that makes a 747 look small. It is not yet in full service, it is just on trial flights around Europe. It is one huge flying machine!


Thanks to the relatively new airline, Easy Jet, we quickly hopped over the Alps into another world.

Mt. Blanc

Our flight dropped us at Rome's Ciampino Airport where we picked up a rental car to drive 2 1/2 hours south to Sorrento.


Upon arrival at Ciampino (it is not the main airport for Rome) we thought it strange to see that a Saudi Airlines 747 was parked there. We noticed a significant amount of police and military presence, more than normal for a European airport. We drove one block in our tin can of a rental car and we were whistled to a stop as a motorcycle cop blocked the road in front of us.


Several police cars whizzed by followed by a procession of 15 or 20 black Mercedes. Obviously something big was up. Inside each car were several turbaned men. We guessed it was possibly Saudi royalty in town for a Roman holiday of shopping etc. Two days later we read it was King Abdullah who had come to Rome for a visit with the Pope. This was the first time a saudi king had ever met with a pope. You know, no need to visit with extremely differing views on the religious front., but they were able to come up with 2 days worth of visiting this time. Finally, given the go ahead by the police and after a bit of driving in circles we headed towards Naples and Sorrento with Marge, our trusty gps leading the way. Along the way we even trusted Marge to pick a lunch spot and she did marvelously well with her recommendation.

We need to discuss Italian driving habits a minute. Their cars must not have turn signals, or if they do, they only use them to conceal their real intentions. The white lines painted on the road are a mere distraction, or they are to be straddled. The natives never stay between the lines. They move about like wet spaghetti noodles. One of their roadway mission is when approached from behind by a car in the other lane, cheat over to make passing as hazardous as possible. Next mission is driving up the tail pipe of the car leading the way. Whenever possible weave in and out of traffic at great speed to inflict as much angst as you can on other drivers. Oh, and do all this with a cell phone to your ear. It seems no motor rules really exist, one just does whatever their nerves can endure. Several of our nerves were totally shot by the time we arrived back in our quiet little corner of France.

Driving by Mt. Vesuvius

After exiting the autostrada south of Naples we inched our way around the Sorrentine peninsula to Sorrento. Every scooter known to man must have passed us as we sat in traffic. They pull out between the two lines of traffic, and merrily scoot between the cars, stopped or not. Many historic accounts of trips from Naples to Sorrento have been chronicled by famous authors through the years. Most of them were written prior to the acceptance of the automobile as preferred transportation. Their accounts would be different now.

Sorrento

The scenery is still breathtaking, cliffs falling hundreds of feet into the Bay of Naples. The views of Vesuvius and the lights of Naples in the distance are magical.

Vesuvius by Night

The constant buzz of scooters, and the trash piled up on the side of the road, extreme population density (the highest in Europe) bring a sharp reality to the problems this area now has. After inching the last 10 miles at a snails pace we arrived in Sorrento and Marge pinpointed our hotel, the Mignon Meuble. It was mignon, clean, roomy, and full of Americans on holiday. We enjoyed a restful evening and a good nights sleep.



Bright but not too early Thursday morning found us on the jet boat bound for Capri. Capri is a small island which was once connected to the Sorrentine peninsula. Now as in antiquity it is a prime tourist destination. Loaded with a bottle of local wine and a picnic we landed at the grand marina and took the funicular from the harbor to the town of Capri.

Capri

This wonderful town is perched on the cliffs overlooking the sea and Bay of Naples. Its beauty of course means swarms of tourists. To make it even more enticing they were filming a movie for Italian television. Walker loved this excitement, and of course tracked down one of the stars for a photo session.


Our destination that afternoon was the Villa Jovis, the home of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. It was the seat of the Roman empire during the last years of his reign.

It is about an hours hike up from the town of Capri. The hike was through the narrow streets of the village for the most part.


We quickly left the tourists below, and by the time we arrived at the top we were one of three small groups visiting the ancient castle ruins. We had our picnic with just the views of the mainland and the sea beyond to keep us company.


We later learned that Tiberius made his unwilling consorts leap to their death from these heights. A chilling afterthought.



We headed back to Sorrento for an early dinner and early to bed. Friday would be the start of our educational adventure on Greek and Roman antiquity.