Jul 16, 2009 - Day 11- Naples, Italy

This is the day that Juju had been waiting for! The Blue Grotto, Capri and Ana Capri await us. We did loose some of the group this morning, however. The golden girls decided that they had already been there, done that and they were too old to do it again! So, they left on their own to shop at Capri and in Naples. Arminda, Nivia and Conrado decided that they to were too tired and a little old to come along with us. So the group was left to Luis, Juju, Jessica, Gabriel, Zia Lizzette and I to conquer the Grotto, and the Isle of Capri. First,...

Jun 3, 2009 - Like A Big Pizza Pie, That's Napoli

Athens to Naples Wednesday & Thursday, June 3 & 4, 2009 Overnight the wind had obviously come up and for the first time the ride on this huge ship was noticeably bumpy. We could feel the movement all night long and well into the morning. Wednesday was to be a full day at sea as we headed back across the Ionian Sea toward Italy, so we hoped to check internet and do some pre-packing prior to Friday morning’s final disembarkation. Unfortunately, once we had enjoyed a brisk deck walk and a delicious / nutritious breakfast, we discovered that...

May 26, 2009 - Tuesday, Napoli

TUESDAY Slept too good…until 10 am which is when we were to call to wake the boys. Quickly got ready and went to breakfast. Miracle of miracles! They show up! First John strolls in, then later dragging along behind, Geoff and Jimmy. We are in Naples or Napoli. We decide against the 50 min boat ride to Capri as some of us aren’t sure how well our stomachs will tolerate the ride. We wander into the town with no real plan. I can’t believe that no one was run over!! There were cars and motorcycles flying around with no regard to stoplights or...

May 20, 2009 - Day 3

DAY 3 Today we are in Naples Italy... We started our morning the same way with breakfast on deck 15 (buffet) and then headed off the boat. We were greeted by many taxi cab drivers wanting to be our tour guide for the day. We took Luigi (do you really think that was his name?) He drove us to Pompeii and we were amazed by what we saw. It is not like in home were everything would be closed off and roped off, you were actually able to go into the ruins and touch and feel and see everything. Some of the areas were blocked but we were able to sit...

May 12, 2009 - Naples and Pompeii

I boarded a bus to Pompeii early this morning with a short stop at Napoli enroute. It was a foggy day, and Capri was not visible from Napoli. Thankfully, it was clear enough to have a landscape view of Napoli, a sea side city, and note the low buildings which covered the gently rolling hillsides making their way up from the sea. There was a huge medieval castle at sea side, and in the foreground, an interesting mix of old Spanish buildings and modern skyscrapers. During the afternoon, a local guide took us through the ruins of Pompeii. I...

Apr 27, 2009 - Of brothels and pizza - in Napoli

When a brothel is your favourite part of a city I suppose it is a bit of a worry. But when the city is Pompeii I hope all can be forgiven. Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius almost 2000 years ago and amongst the buildings unearthed from the mud, ash and lava was the local whorehouse, one of the only two story buildings to survive. Inside are the individual rooms where the ladies entertained, each tiny with a stone bed and no windows. The walls of the foyer are covered with intricate mosaics depicting a veritable Kama...

Apr 14, 2009 - Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast, Italy

I’m back from our third and final break which FLEW by. Well, I’m actually kinda freaking out because I now realize how quickly this semester has flown by. I always thought once third break is over then we’re basically coming home and now it’s over and I really don’t want to come home yet. It’s overwhelming how many more places I want to visit but I know there just isn’t enough time. Okay anyways moving on from rambling and more about my FABulous past week :o) There were 10 of us girls who traveled together for the majority of the week. We...

Mar 20, 2009 - Nasty Naples

I took a night train to Naples hoping to see this lively city as it was described by Rick Steves the travel writer, but now I think he was high when he wrote about Naples. Its like Mexico City but Italian and uglier. Millions of cars buzzing by honking every two seconds (literally I'm not exxaggerating about the honking). The cars double parked on the sides of the roads. Trash and bums everywhere. Thieves and junkies galore. A woman who looked beaten tried to scam me for 20 euro by telling me she'd give me a place to sleep but I knew she...

Nov 11, 2008 - Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Isle of Capri

Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento and the Isle of Capri November 11, 2008 What a fabulous morning this was; the sun was shinning and the air was crisp with a promise of warmth as the sun came up. We left the ship at 7:30 and drove to Pompeii. I am not sure what I expected but this place is huge! They have been excavating it for 250 yrs; so much of the city is exposed and restored. We spent 2hrs exploring the city with our guide. It was a lot of walking over very uneven roads. At one point we were standing in the main square or Forum and Mt...

Oct 30, 2008 - Naples

While waiting for the ferry back to the mainland we caught the noon show at the cathedral in Messina. It consists of a strange but entertaining show of huge metal sculptures in the bell tower moving to the music of Ave Maria. First a lion roars, then an eagle screeches while a castle appears and some figures turn and bow to Mother Mary (Rick thinks, but I think it looked like a man). After the ferry ride we had a long ride up the west coast and finally reached a campground south of Salerno near the ruins of Paestum on the beach. We spent...

Oct 26, 2008 - Naples - Cruise

This morning we spent the day onboard ship before going on an organised tour to the ruins of Pompeii. Anna is having a blast in the Kids Club doing all sorts of activities. Pompeii tour was guided, and that side of it was great, with lots of info you would not otherwise get, but there were hundreds of people everywhere, with about 5 cruise boats in port, hopefully they are not following the same route as us. Pompeii was huge, much bigger than we expected, 44 hectares apparently. Sitting right under Mt Vesuvius, when this mountain erupts...

Oct 17, 2008 - Bella Napoli

Our first night in Naples (Monday, Oct 14) since they actually had American TV programs in English we spent most of the night vegging out on the couches, since this is something we haven’t done much of in awhile. The next day, (Tuesday) our first full day in Naples, we slept in and then got up and walked around part of the city. I guess Naples in traditional in that they siestas everyday between 2 and 4ish, so pretty much nothing was open wherever we went. We walked down to the waterfront, took a few pictures and headed back to watch Sex...