Sorrento & Pompeii

Ciao Tutti!

As I write this, I am driving through the rolling hills of Italy, each more breathtaking than the last, and listening to Andrea Bocelli.  This country is the most beautiful country in the world - I wish I could spend my whole life walking the countryside without a care in the world.  

Yesterday, we woke up very early and made the four hour voyage by bus from Rome to Sorrento.  We all slept quite a bit as we we running on less than four hours sleep.   Our hotel in Sorrento was not downtown, but a good 30 minute walk up the side of a cliff on a road with no sidewalks.  (Thank God for taxis!). We took the bus from our hotel down to the city of Sorrento and had one of the best meals I have ever had in Italy.  The restaurant was called Il Buffalino and they specialized in buffalo products. I shared an antipasto platter with one of my friends which came with the best buffalo mozzarella I've ever had and a few different types of buffalo meats which were okay - they tasted like beef jerky or sausage.  Then, I had a very good bowl of gnocchi with buffalo mozzarella.

After lunch, we walked around a bit. There is not a lot to do in Sorrento.  You can eat or shop.  It was a bit too chilly for the beach, so we didn't even try to go.  We walked for about two or so hours, then the group started to walk up the mountain back to our hotel.  I went into town to buy a few more things since I couldn't find anything I wanted.  After finding them, I took a taxi to my hotel and wound up beating the group back.

We relaxed for a bit in our rooms and headed out to dinner at a restaurant next to our hotel with a view of the Bay of Sorrento.  It was beautiful.  I collapsed in my bed after dinner, though!

This morning, we left our hotel at 8:30 AM to go to Pompeii.  It was very cool and we saw a whole different part that I did not see when I toured Pompeii last year.  It was a lot of fun and very informational!  I can't believe that they are still excavating it!  After our tour, we had lunch and boarded the bus that I am on right now.

In about three more hours, we will arrive in Bari where we will board a ferry boat for Greece. It is a 15.5 hour ride, but we have cabins with beds in them, so it should be a lot of fun!

Ciao,
Michele