Well yesterday was spent cruising the Amalfi Coast and ending in Pompeii. It was an early start with the minibus picking us up at 0645. We were treated to great scenery and history early on, even if only traveling the highway. Mount Vesuvius loomed in the distance around Naples, the monastery housing the famous Benedictine monks before finally hitting the coast and oh what a ride. Once again, much like France, small narrow roads, winding down the sides of mountains. We were lucky though as it's not truly tourist season here and we only had the couple of near misses. The mind does truly boggle at how they fit the large tourist buses and trucks around the same bends, all the while missing the cars parked on the side and watching other cars overtake in the most impossible spots.
We stopped for lunch in Positano where we enjoyed pasta and a Caprese salad. The pasta is truly to die for here and the flavour of the tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella are incredible.
Our afternoon was spent in Pompeii and it is truly the stand out for our stay in Italy. We took an enormous number of photographs while our guide took us through the ancient city telling us of its rise from Greek settlement to its final destruction in 79AD when Mt Vesuvius erupted, destroying 3 complete cities killing thousands. It was amazing to hear that the sea in the time of Pompeii was only 300 yards from the gates but after the eruption it now lies over a mile away. The summit of Vesuvius reduced by over 7000 feet.
Our day ended at 2145 when we were dropped back at our hotel, very tired but so happy that we decided that this was one of the must do things on our holiday and Pompeii is somewhere we will return to.