Friday, October 17, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento. Cruise day 13

The last full day on board the Legend of the Seas. The ship docked in Naples, and there were rumors of a transportation strike, which local cab drivers made the most of, frightening tourists with not being able to get back to the ship on time unless their services were booked-at 85 € for ½ a day. We headed to the newstand (red arrows) across the street from the port to get our bus tickets. The bus is back across the street. Bus ride to the station is about 10 minutes. The bus does not announce the station; when it makes a stop that have 10-15 buses around it, you are there.

Enter the train station from the front. (Note: There is construction in progress.) Follow the signs for the Circumvesuvia train (it is downstairs.) Once you reach the platform, keep you eye on the monitor (red arrows.)

We took the train to Pompeii, bypassing the ruins at Herculaneum, which is a site I'd wanted to see, but the other 2 couples who were with us wanted to see Pompeii. The train station is quite near the entrance to Pompeii, and it was only a minute's walk to the entry, where we paid our admission and rented audio guides. To rent an audio guide, you have to surrender a passport or driver's license, which was returned when the audio guide was turned in again.

The audio guide idea was good, but it didn't work out as nicely as we thought it might. Each building or archeological site was supposed to have a number, and by pressing the corresponding number into the audio guide you would get a recorded description of the site. The problem was that the numbers on the sites were difficult to locate, and often not there at all, so the small map we were given with our entry fee was frequently the only way to discover what we were looking at.

We wandered through the ruins of the large town. There had been quite a civilization here prior to Mt. Aetna's eruption, and we saw elegantly painted homes with inlaid stone floors, market places, temples, baker's ovens, huge public baths, an amphitheater, and even a brothel. The streets were rutted from countless carts, and rocks were placed strategically so that when the streets were flooded (as they were most nights to keep them clean), people would be able to cross them and stay dry. 3 stones indicated a major thoroughfare, while a street with 1 or 2 stones indicated narrower byways.

After about 3 hours of exploring Pompeii, we again boarded a train and rode to Sorrento. Sorrento is lovely, but the scenery is not as spectacular as on Capri, which is an island not too far away. Sorrento is less touristy, more of a residential town, and still has great beauty, with lovely views overlooking the Mediterranean. The best vista we saw was from a public park, although there are many memorable views. One of them near the train station is from the main road, looking about a hundred dizzying feet straight down to the land below.

We explored the streets and piazzas of Sorrento, then stopped for pizza and wine at an outdoor café. At that point, 2 of our group took a hydrofoil back to Naples, while 4 of us took the train. In Naples, we took pictures of the fortress near the port, then returned to the ship for our last night aboard.