Ruins and the Amalfi Coast

2011-11-22

Well I have to write about the driving experience which doesn’t really sound all that interesting,but trust me it is!

We picked up our rental car in Rome and headed south on the Autostrata. BTW, there are these “truckstop” type places called “Autogrill”
” which are usually over the freeway and they are awesome! There are full restaurants with great food and delis with assorted wines, olive oils and even big wheels of cheese! Anyway I am getting off track already…….There don’t seem to be any real rules when it comes to traffic as far as who goes where and when. Park on the side walk…..no problem. Stop on the street and put your 4 ways on to go in for a coffee……four way stop goes to who ever dares. As you go further south, the cars start looking more and more like stock cars complete with the mirrors ripped off. The one instance that everyone seems to yield to is when a little old lady who steps out into chaotic traffic and wobbles across with her hand held up in a “stop” position.

Enough about the driving. We spent the last few days in Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Pompei at the ruins there. We hadn’t been to Ercolano before and are glad we went. It is generally much better preserved than Pompei, but quite a bit smaller so you can pretty much cover the whole place. Last time we missed alot of Pompei,but this time we somehow missed the Pompei porn. Keiran will just have to take our word for it. We also did a trek up to the top of Vesuvius which was a nice break to get out of the car after feeling motion sick from all the hairpin turns.

The last bit was spent on the Amalfi coast in Positano. What was rather bizarre was that the lobby of our hotel seemed vaguely familiar and later on we figured out that we had stayed in the exact same one 14 years ago. The scenery there is beyond amazing ( Keiran says I have said that way too many times). The walk down to the beach is also pretty amazing as it is near vertical stairs. I thought of our old runners saying of “nice ass, nice ass” while climbing those stairs more than once. I got an impressive collection of rocks and beach glass which we will have to see whether or not they endure the trip as there are lots of beaches to go.

This morning we returned the rental car intact!! I think Warren secretly loved the driving.

Next stop: Thailand

Keiran standing outside of Ercolano

Warren looking into the crater at Mt. Vesuvius

cast of a body found in Pompei

Keiran standing at the counter of. a “shop” where organic stuff like nuts and chickpeas were preserved in the jars.

Down on the beach with Positano on the hillside.

On the balcony at our hotel. Note the laundry drying …..

Sandy pasted against the wall to let truck go by.

Positano up the side of the hill for the ass busting walk.