Slowdown in Sorrento and Fascinating Pompeii

Slowdown in Sorrento and Fascinating Pompeii

We docked in Naples and then toured Sorrento and Pompeii. Today started with a tour of a typical sorrento 'farm' - it's really a large garden by Indiana standards. But they have both livestock (a few cows) and lemon/olive/kiwi trees among other things. We had a demonstration of making fresh mozzarella and then a sample - which was WONDERFUL.

They had homemade Limoncello and Creme LimonCello as well as homemade orange and lemon marmalade - outstanding on pound cake which is how they served it. They also had homemade wine - which was kind of a Chianti. Also good. From there we had free time in Sorrento - we wandered a bit. Ray tried to get money at an ATM. It had a button that said "English" - but no matter what only appeared in Italian. They had warned us that we were hitting siesta time and that many shops were closed. I told Ray maybe the ATM was on the same schedule and that English would only be available after 5pm. He didn't find it amusing. LOL - oh well. So we found a small Cafe and had authentic Pizza which originated in the area. Our tour guide told us that Pizza originated in the mid 1800s when Italy was united under one King. When the King was scheduling his first visit to the area, he wanted to do something original to honor the King and Queen. The story goes that he wanted to do something that had the colors of the Italian flag (Red, White, Green). So he spread out bread dough flat and covered it with tomatoes (red), then added fresh mozzarella cheese (white) and fresh basil (green). The Queen's name was Marguerite - hence the origination of the Margarita Pizza.

I have NO idea if that story is true - but it sounds good! Sorrento is a SLOW DOWN place - everyone there clearly takes their time, does not experience pressure. They park everywhere! They will stop in the middle of the road to chat with friends and block traffic. They go to the beach. They take their time at meals. They have high unemployment (hey - so does the US) but they do what they can to generate an income and live and let live. And of course they are on the Mediterranean diet that includes wine. I would LOVE to spend about 3 or 4 days just exploring the area. It's no wonder they live so long. Given their approach to life I'll bet no one within a 500 mile radius has to be on anti-hypertensive medication!

From there we went to visit the ruins of Pompeii. It was amazing. Basically the inhabitants had no idea it was going to happen and the mountain exploded nuclear bomb style - blew off the top third of the mountain. Hence people had little warning and no where to run. Those that ran to the sea were likely hit with a huge Tsunami. About 3/5ths of the city has been excavated. You can see all lots and lots of detail, including plaster casts of dogs, people, and other artifacts. There were also the dogs of the city - seriously there were signs all over. There are dogs that live in the ruins - they walk among the visitors. They look like strays - but will lay down and let you rub their belly. It was really sweet - and of course several of them found the gaggle of gay men walking through the area and followed us. Complete sidebar, but the four of us agreed that dogs sense gay men and know that they will get treated very well.

We got back to the ship and are now sailing to a city in Corsica - our last stop. Then back to Rome for a tour and then home. Have completely lost track of what day it is - for me that's a good sign that I'm actually relaxing.

Pictures later!