Naples, Pompeii, And The Amalfi Coast

Click on this link for more photos of the Amalfi Coast

Sunday was a day at sea.  A day to relax after going on excursions every day, and a day to reflect on friends and family as Thanksgiving approaches.  Travel is truly awesome and inspiring but we have these holidays for a reason and I’ll miss the good folks back home this week.  On sea days they have an English Pub lunch in one of the lounges so fish and chips was the big story of Sunday.  The little things…. amazing.
  


Monday brought us to the port of Naples.  If you are Italian American, your family probably saw this beautiful harbor with Mt Vesuvius reigning over the landscape as their last glimpse of their homeland for this was a point of departure for so many.  Why?  Because just like in our Civil War, the south of Italy got hammered during unification and like so many other places, poverty caused an exodus to America.  




















I can’t help but start with our afternoon drive along the Amalfi coast. This is Europe’s version of the Hana road in Hawaii. There are 900 turns in this road of about 40 miles. That’s 20+ turns per mile! And when I say turn I mean the 180 degree hairpin type! Add to that hundreds of feet in elevation and one side of the road, constantly hanging off a cliff and a road so narrow that there are stoplights to control the flow of traffic when it narrows to one lane. The villages are absolutely vertical.


They even have donkeys to help bring large purchases up or down to homes. 


A spectacular and beautiful place. Unfortunately, most of my photos were taken from the bus window.  When traffic passes along this road, there is no place to stop, so one presses on.  We did stop twice, however, including in the village of Amalfi where we bought some of the few items we purchased during the entire trip.  
Amalfi
There is a beautiful cathedral in Amalfi















These are sweets from the candy shop





But prior to our Amalfi adventure, we visited the ruined city of Pompeii and though we did this all in one incredible day, I’m afraid Pompei will have to have it’s own post.  So stay tuned! Meanwhile, good night from Almafi.  


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