Pompeii and Sorrento

We started today earlier than most days.  About half of our group left for the airport and should be arriving at 7:30 this evening!

The other half of us went on to Pompeii.  We drove about 3.5 hours to Pompeii.  Once we arrived, we took a 2 hour walking tour of the ruins of old Pompeii.  It is actually only ruins and still takes up all the room it once did.  It is unreal to see what was left behind and what they are still discovering.  We even saw some people working to find hidden items! Our fabulous guide, Marco, was a great storyteller with constant dramatic pauses!

Marco told us all about life in Pompeii then. To sum it up, it was a city on a hill with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea, but people were very corrupt.  He actually called it another Sodom and Gomorrah (from the Old Testament)-sin city.

When Mount Vesuvio erupted in 79 A.D., the people were unprepared.  Most of them died by inhaling the combination of gases and smoke.  When the two combined with stomach liquids, it formed a rock which killed them instantly.  As the lava flowed over the city, it covered the people just as they died!  Because of this, there are now "body casts," which were made as the city was dug up, of all sorts of poses....a man sitting, a dog, children, a baby sleeping, etc.  We were able to see a few of these. 

Titus and the emperors did not rebuild the city because they thought it was destroyed by the gods because of the sins of the people. That is why it is still in ruins today!

After a little shopping, we had lunch in a nice restaurant recommended by our driver.  We had not had spaghetti yet and did not feel we could leave Italy without having some!

After lunch, we drove in to Sorrento, which I believe is a peninsula.  There is water all around -beautiful blues and aquas!  We took some pictures by the sea, shopped for a few minutes and then went to our hotel. 

 The hotel is in a great location in the center of Sorrento and with a view of the sea (for some of us)!  We just finished dinner looking over the water and are now hanging out in the hotel until bedtime!

Tomorrow, we take a ferry to the Isle of Capri!  We're still exploring, but home is looking nicer, and we are longing for our own beds!

Oops...I forgot!  We also went to an inlaid wood factory and learned how they make this very fine furniture.  We looked around in the store for a while, but most everything was more than we wanted to spend today.  We also learned how cameo jewelry is made from conk shells AND we crashed a wedding in a 700 year old monastery!  We seriously walked in as the bride and groom were exchanging rings!  It was beautiful!