May 23, 2015: Florence/Pompeii/Sorrento

Wake up call this morning was 6:30 but we were up. Bags had to be out at 7:15 . Steve was up before then which meant so was I. 🙂

We showered and put the bags out early and went to breakfast for coffee and then food. The eggs were cooked very well today as well as the bacon. After multiple cups of coffee I feel semi-human. Let me tell you I have bags under my eyes that I’ve never seen before.

We were ready to go at 8 am for a lot of bus time today.

Tuscany scenery

We went about 3 hours before our first comfort stop. It did have a good gift shop where I bought some bruschetta topping.

Who needs this?

Lunch was another hour and half. We choose poorly. i had the salami and cheese panini which had just one thin piece of each and a diet coke. Steve had a salad, french fries and a diet coke. We saw better meals on some of our fellow travelers’ tables who had lasagne, pasta with meat sauce or minestrone soup.

The road to Pompeii

Next stop about 90 minutes later is Pompeii. We had rain at lunch and by the time we got to Pompeii it was sunny and warm. I was glad I wore my hat.

Our guide was Enzo and we had a 90 minute tour with him. The ruins are amazing and words could never do justice.

Enzo is standing on stepping stones to cross street

Grooves in the street from chariots

Original marble floor

Original frescoes – bathhouse

My favorite area was the brothel with the “menu” painted on the wall above each alcove. So the customer wouldn’t get too comfortable the beds were made of stone with just a carpet laid over it.

“Menu” of services offered

brothel bed

Literally a street sign pointing the way to the brothel

I took a couple hundred pictures but have tried to share just a few highlights.

A Pompeii public well

Mt. Vesuvius is in the background

One of the three sets of Pompeii citizen casts on display

The marble chips would be street lights (lit up by moonlight)

Brad treated us to a flourish at the end which was a orange/lemon slushie drink called granita. It was so refreshing and delicious. It was definitely fresh squeezed.

Granita stand

We had time to shop and use the restrooms (50 cents) before boarding the bus again. Along the way, we stopped at a scenic pullout for pictures before heading into Sorrento.

Almost there

We first went to a inlay wood demonstration at the Notturno inlaid wood factory. It was interesting although I felt we had too much “shopping” time after the demo.

We then finally got to the hotel at 7 pm and got our room keys.

We got our bags a half hour later and I took a quick shower. The room is larger than our Rome room and the bathroom is the largest except for the one in Assisi.