Category: Personal

The story of Pompeii holds the imagination of so many, from school children to adults. I remember, even as a child, being fascinated with the city that was destroyed by a volcano, so it was no surprise to me when my youngest son learned about it in kindergarten and it was all he could talk about.

Pompeii was still rebuilding from an earthquake that occurred in A.D. 62 when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. That eruption buried the city under 30 feet of hot volcanic ash. Over the following centuries, the city was forgotten until a chance rediscovery in 1599. Excavations began in 1748, giving us preserved examples of typical middle-class Roman life.

A tour guide would have been useful here (next time!) because the self-guided tour provided with our tickets was lacking. I became the substitute guide, reading aloud to our group from a travel book I had brought, so we got a lot of history nuggets there. It was interesting to see how this city once looked and imagine what life was like for the citizens of Pompeii. And it’s surprising how similar their lifestyle was to ours today.

The public bath houses even had an outdoor gymnasium for working out before they took a relaxing hot bath! Pompeii had over 130 bars, restaurants and hotels, 40 bakeries and 30 brothels. It had been a busy place in it’s prime!

All posts in the Italy series are here, arranged by city we visited:

Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
San Gimignano, Italy
Volterra, Italy
Siena, Italy
Montepulciano, Italy
Positano, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Rome, Italy: Part 1
Rome, Italy: Part 2

The Amalfi Coast was an unexpected experience. It wasn’t the historical sites, though it has plenty; it was everything else. Everything from the endless stairs to the crashing waves and coastal view.

Getting to our hotel in Positano, known for their linen clothes and Limoncello, took more work than we’d planned. To avoid the narrow, windy roads that barely hug the steep cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, we had already bought boat tickets to travel from Salerno to Positano. Unfortunately, the famed “siesta plan,” where businesses close in the afternoon so Italians can nap, threw off our timing. The car rental office didn’t reopen until after the boat was schedule to set sail.

After some worried frustration, we decided our friend Jessica and I would take the boat. Our friend Jeff and Chris stayed behind to deal with the car and would meet us later.

When Jessica and I arrived to the dock of lower Positano, a porter told us it was too many steps to lug our luggage, we should let him carry our bags or take a bus for 12 euros each. I told him I was strong (and I thought that was enough money for 2 bottles of wine!). He laughed at me. But 220 stairs later, the view from my balcony was worth lugging my own luggage.

One of our most relaxing nights of the trip was sitting on the balcony, eating our “picnic” dinner from a local deli, chatting and enjoying the view once we all met up again.

I loved sleeping with the balcony doors open, listening to the waves of the Mediterranean Sea crash on the pebbly, rock beach below. Italians don’t have screens covering their windows or doors, so leaving the balcony doors wide open was a surreal, freeing experience for me.

Positano was a beautiful town and more relaxing than I thought it would be!

All posts in the Italy series are here, arranged by city we visited:

Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
San Gimignano, Italy
Volterra, Italy
Siena, Italy
Montepulciano, Italy
Positano, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Rome, Italy: Part 1
Rome, Italy: Part 2

Montepulciano was, by far, my favorite town in Italy. My only regret is not spending more time there.

When we planned our trip, we thought the time would move slower, that we’d get to linger longer. We thought there would be time to visit vineyards and wineries and to slowly sip wine. There was not. But, even with only being there one night, a mere 15 hours, Montepulciano made up for it.

This town was added to our itinerary because Montepulciano is known for their wine. Being less touristy, it has retained it’s tuscan charm more than the other area towns. I had read that one of the Twillight movies was filmed here, but that didn’t seem to be a bragging point with locals.

We arrived in time for a wine tasting at the town’s oldest wine cellar, Cantina Fattoria della Talosa. Taking steep stairs, we went down into the 16th century winery’s caverns, where they store the wine casks. One of the owners did the wine tasting for us and then showed us around, talking about the winery. It felt like he was letting us in on his Italian gossip, including airing their fights with the other local shop owners.

We were told that Italians drink wine every day and prefer to drink “house” wine, which is cheap, Italian wine. We were also told that Italians prefer wine that has less perfumes and ones that taste more of grapes.

Afterward, we enjoyed one of the best meals of our trip at a small restaurant right off the town piazza. We had to leave right after breakfast, so the next morning we got up early to go walk around to photograph the town. That calm, quiet time before tourists, and many locals too, were out was relaxing and beautiful. I wish we’d stayed there more than one night.

All posts in the Italy series are here, arranged by city we visited:

Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
San Gimignano, Italy
Volterra, Italy
Siena, Italy
Montepulciano, Italy
Positano, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Rome, Italy: Part 1
Rome, Italy: Part 2

Once upon a time, Siena had wanted to be bigger and grander than it was. It actually rivaled Florence for power and prestige, but then in 1348, the Black Plague hit and Siena never recovered.

We had just a few hours to check out the old walled city, as Siena was just a side-stop for us as we traveled through on our way to Montepulciano. Siena is an old city with a newer, modern city wrapped around it and is the biggest of the Tuscan region.

With a population of about 50,000 (only 18,000 inside the walled section), it’s the same size it was before the plague. Travel agents and tourists gravitate to Siena, with so many claiming to love this city. I’m sure this is because it offers both the history of the past and the conveniences of the 21st century. For me, it was too big and commercial to really enjoy.

The jewel of the city is the 13th century Gothic cathedral. As grand as it looks, it’s really the back side of the much larger failed vision they had. This church was supposed to be the largest church ever built (because they were trying to outdo Florence), but the plan was abandoned after the Black Plague because they thought God was punishing them for being vain and greedy. Plus, the city was just too hilly and they ran out of money.

After a quick look around and some lunch, we had to move on.

All posts in the Italy series are here, arranged by city we visited:

Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
San Gimignano, Italy
Volterra, Italy
Siena, Italy
Montepulciano, Italy
Positano, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Rome, Italy: Part 1
Rome, Italy: Part 2