Jun 4, 2010 - Pompeii

One of the great sites of Italy is of course Pompeii. Destroyed in 79 AD by a violent volcanic eruption it was buried up to 18ft.deep in mud and ash. The inhabitants who for the most part were unable to flee and were killed by the heat and flames and instantly buried. Today we are able to see much of this great tragedy, however this was not the first time Pompeii had had a great natural tragedy as it was hit by a large earthquake 17 years before and in many cases was still under repair and reconstruction when the volcano...

May 28, 2010 - Italy; Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius

One year ago as we planned this trip, Kendall INSISTED that we visit Pompeii. She had chosen Mt. Vesuvius as 'her volcano' for the 6th grade geology reports and was full of facts, ideas and imagination. We put it on the list, and all read the historical novel "Pompeii" by R. Harris. We had to go--and we are so glad we did. We parked the car and zipped through the ticket line (no discount for non-EU kids—BUMMER!), got out our Ipods and opened the audioguide to Pompeii. We partnered one parent to one kid and started on the fascinating...

May 16, 2010 - Almalfi & Ravello

Sunday ... it's raining on the Almalfi Coast (again), and Mark is really sick with runny nose, aching muscles and headache. We decide to get some washing done and have a down-day to recoup and stay warm. I hand-wash some items as it turns out, the hotel does do serviced washing - but not on Sundays. Of course! Again proof that we are really backpacking - I hand wash most of our gear in the bathtub and our room now looks like a laundromat. Mark has a great sleep until after lunch, wakes up and is feeling a little better but still crook....

May 15, 2010 - Positano & Almalfi

It's raining ... on the Almalfi Coast ... on our honeymoon - BEAUTY! We have had rain in London, Croatia and now Italy - maybe we are the curse! Mark has a really strong 5 kuna (1 AUD) umbrella (between us) from Croatia though - so we should be right, he he. The umbrella is so good in fact, it turns inside out with a strong gust of wind. DOUBLE BEAUTY. It is really miserable and really wet but what to do? I can't resist Positano any longer so we catch the local bus there - which is about 7 km's away. The bus ride back is even scarier when...

May 14, 2010 - Our Fur Kids - Brisbane

Thank you so much to Aunty Pip & Jimmy (our beautiful, wonderful neighbours) - Who love our fur children as much as we do, and secretly love a little nuzzle on the ear - the fur kids will never want us to come home!!! Lots of love and thanks for the pics xoxoxo

May 14, 2010 - Praiano

We have our daily brekky at the hostel ... much the same as yesterday - coffee, croissants & cornflakes! No variety here - It seems to work though. We have to catch the bus from Sorrento to the Almalfi Coast - it seems everyone has the same idea - it is a beautiful, sunny, hot (22 degrees or so) day and there is a big cruise-ship docked so everyone is looking for something to do! Everyone around us has bumbags and tourist maps, and we are pretty much the only ones with backpacks on enroute to our next point of call - Praiano. The trip...

May 13, 2010 - Pompei

A nice little continental brekky in our hostel - croissants, coffee & cornflakes. we catch the local train to Pompei from our local station, and are not worried about where to go as you just follow the crowd. About 20 mins later - we are harassed by hawkers selling tickets, magnets, postcards and anything with a statue on it. We nearly take a guided tour and opt for the audioguide option (the big mobile phone thing) so we can cruise at our own pace, without the group atmosphere and soak up the history. With the map and the numbered...

May 1, 2010 - Pompeii Italy

Hi everyone we headed off to Pompeii for the day the trip it self was interesting once we got there is was amazing the town was so compact and well thought out, from the take away food place to the streets with stepping stones so you wouldnt get your feet wet, they put a lot of detail into everything they made and painted.as we walked around (yes lots of walking again) we happen apone a area that was used for there memorials this was not on a map but it did have a bit of info about it. they made pillars with a round seating area near it...

Apr 22, 2010 - Day 9 - Pompeii

Another thing on our "Must do" list for Italy - the buried city of Pompeii. It was a lovely sunny day and we headed out early to walk through the 44 hectares of ruins at Pompeii. It was a big mistake trying to take Jayden’s stroller over stone roads that had suffered earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and centuries of erosion and traffic. We ended up carrying the stroller and Jayden for much of the way, but had a really good day nevertheless. Some of the highlights were: 1. The Pompeii amphitheatre – the oldest Roman amphitheatre ever...

Aug 13, 2009 - Naples, or rather Pompeii

I had been advised not to go to Naples, as it is apparently a bit dirty and horrible, but being the home of the Mafia I thought it would be kinda cool to go there, and I couldn´t resist going to my first major Italian city. Well, I should have taken the advice of all those people who said not to go, because Naples is hot, humid, polluted and dirty. Seriously, within 10 minutes of walking the streets of Naples my feet were filthy, more so than in any Asian country, sticky, I was sweating my guts out and blowing black snot into a tissue...

Jul 23, 2009 - Pompeii & back to Rome

After sitting at the station waiting for a bus , we realised that Pompeii was a very short waslk away! It was good to dump our luggage and join an English speaking tourguide to talk us through the ruins. Vesuvias is about 12 km from Pompeii & is now about 3000 ft high, but was over 5000 ft at the time of the eruption. Still an imposing site. So much of the town of 24000 people has been excavated from the volcanic ash that engulfed it in 25AD. Amazing architectural and plumbig skills are very evident in the fine buildings. Well worth...

May 5, 2009 - Buried Alive!

5/5/09 Equipped with our newly made reservation for a campground in Sorrento, we headed off, again on the small street to avoid the toll roads (with the exception of a small stretch around Naples). This makes for quite stressful driving in Italy, because with all the roundabouts and routes through small town, the driver and navigator have to constantly be vigilant to stay on the right road. At least this time, we had a reservation, because it took us most of the day (almost ten hours) to drive from Pisa to Sorrento. Sorrento is in a...