05/12/2012 - We left Rome this morning and headed south for Sorrento, just past
Napoli. Didn't take long to get back into the groove of driving on the
wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car. Negotiating the
Rome traffic wasn't as difficult as we thought it would be. Wasn't long
before we were speeding down the autostrade.

Hit the outskirts of Napoli after about an hour, and decided it was a good
choice to bypass it - seems like it is a vast urban sprawl. Although, we
did think the same about Rome until we went there. Maybe we should have
stopped in Napoli to see what it was like (maybe next time).

After Napoli the driving deteriorated quite markedly. We left the highway to
follow the coastline down to Sorrento. No more than 40kph was the order
of the day. Narrow winding road, plus rain, plus Italian drivers who
always seem to want to use more than their share of the road. Plus a
sheer cliff down to the ocean on one side. Quite a spectacular drive, if
you're a passenger that is. Quite nerve wracking if you're the driver.
Hate to think what it would be like in the peak tourist season.

Finally made it to Sorrento and our hotel safely. The hotel looks out over the
Bay of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius in the background. As well, in the
distance there are snow capped mountains stretching to the north and
south - quite breathtaking.

After settling into the hotel we went for our usual jaunt around the town to get a feel for the
place (as well as scouting out some eating places).

Looks to be an interesting place. A blend of traditional shops and markets,
mixed in with some high end shopping for the well heeled tourist, as
well as the usual tourist gift and souvenir shops. Not to mention the
obligatory "old town". Looks like it will be a pleasant couple of days.

06/12/2013 - One of the must dos of the region is to take a visit to Pompeii - the
stuff of legends. To get there we caught the local train. Missed our
stop. Got off at the next station. Caught a train back to the correct
stop - or so we thought. In fact we caught the wrong train to the wrong
station, which in fact was the correct station. Well, not THE correct
station, but A correct station. Confused? So were we. Turns out Pompeii
is serviced by two stations on separate lines.

Anyway, finally arrived at Pompeii (quite a large town) and found our way to
the ruins. First up, it's HUUUUUGE. Covers a couple of square
kilometers. To see it all would take more time thasn we had. So, after
consulting the map, we decided on an area which would take in the best
bits of the ruins. So Pompeii. Lots of old rock walls. An amphitheater
or two. Cobbled streets. to tell the truth, a bit of a disappointment.
The site has been excavated so thoroughly that there is nothing
remaining left to indicate what catastrophe had befallen the place. No
volcanic dust or rocks. No half buried remains. It's still a fascinating
place to visit, but we expected more.