We really saved the best for last. Sorrento is about an hour south of Naples, right on the coast. The most beautiful drive in the world has got to be the cliffs of the Amalfi coast, where the Mediterranean sparkles and the towns spring up out of the mountain. We had a beautiful view of the ocean from our hotel, which maybe made Sorrento my favorite place of the trip. Rome is still duking it out with Sorrento in my mind.
Favorite Sorrento things:
- Shopping and walking around town. Sorrento is small compared to the other tourist towns we visited. It has shops and restaurants and gelaterias (very important), and not much else. We walked down to the pier, we shopped, we ate, we watched the sun set from our balcony.
- Pompeii – an ancient city that was covered in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. The town was buried and preserved until the 1700s, when excavations began. It was amazing to walk the streets of this city and imagine what life was like back then. This city was at its height during Jesus’ lifetime, so although I’m pretty sure Christ never visited Pompeii, I’m sure the lifestyle was similar.
- Along with that, we went to the Archeological Museum in Naples, which has artifacts from Pompeii that survived – paintings, frescoes, mosaics, dishes, silverware, vases, statues, etc. Unfortunately the Mosaics room was closed, but we got to see everything else. It was neat. Although it’s too bad we had to go all the way to Naples to see it. Naples is kinda rough…
- Amalfi Coast drive. Wow. So beautiful. We took a bus, which wound around the cliffs of the coastal mountains in a one lane highway, squeezing past cars and mopeds going the other way. Scary. But it was really beautiful, especially Positano, where we walked down to the beach and stuck our fingers in. The beaches are really pebbly there!
- Pizza in Naples. I wanted to go to the famous L’Antica da Michele pizza place, but the only day we were in Naples was Sunday, and they were closed. But the pizza place across the street was open, so we grabbed some pizza there, and it was delish! I love my American Pizza, but Italian pizza is so yummy! I swear their tomatoes are different than ours.
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- Pompeii street
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- Chariot ruts in the road, Pompeii
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- Original pots from Pompeii
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- Fresco on a wall in a home, Pompeii
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- Doorways in Pompeii
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- Basilica ruins, Pompeii
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- Pompeii painting, preserved in the museum
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- Amalfi Coast/Mediterranean Sea
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- Climbing down the steps to Positano
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- Touching the Mediterranean
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- City of Positano
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- View of Sorrento and Mt Vesuvius from our balcony
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- Trevi Fountain, Rome
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- Overview of the Forum, Ancient Rome
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- Ancient Rome
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- Temple of Saturn in Ancient Rome
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- Basilica in Ancient Rome
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- Colosseum, Rome
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- Can you see where the steps used to be? (Colosseum)
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- Interior of Colosseum
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- Arch of Constantine, Rome
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- St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City
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- Dome of St Peters from the inside, Vatican City
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- Ceiling of St Peters, Vatican City
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- Michelangelo’s Pieta, St. Peters, Vatican City
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- Ceiling detail, St Peters, Vatican City
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- Outside St Peters on a rainy day
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- Raphael’s “School of Athens”, Vatican Museum
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- Best Gelato EVER.
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- Della Palma Gelato. We went here every day multiple times.
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Roma – The Eternal City, The City of Love, etc
- Rome is seriously magical. We got there in the afternoon, ate dinner, and then walked around Rome until it got dark. Rome at night is another world. The lighting is all orange light, so that it resembles torchlight. So Rome honestly feels like an old city, since there are no LED screens or florescent lighting anywhere. you feel like you are walking through ancient Rome. We saw St. Peters, Castel Sant Angelo, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona that night.
- Ancient Rome – the Imperial Forum, Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. This is where Rome began and was ruled. The Senate where Julius Caesar was killed, the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Saturn, the Via Sacra (Main Street), the Basilica (governmental seat), the church where Peter the Apostle was (maybe) imprisoned, the COLOSSEUM. It’s all here. Right smack dab in the middle of modern Rome. We spent all morning here, taking audiotours and learning all about the beginning and end of the Roman Empire.
- St Peters/Vatican City. This was an all day event. St Peters Basilica is the largest Catholic church in the world, and probably the most decorated. It houses Michelangelo’s Pieta, and multiple works by Bernini, including the altar and the huge brass canopy over the altar. It also houses the tomb of St. Peter, and the tombs of many Popes. It is so ornately decorated, you really have to see it to believe it. We toured the Vatican Museums as well, and ended in the Sistine Chapel. I feel like Michelangelo and I should be friends at this point, as now I’ve been to his hometown, his tomb, and all of his greatest works. Great job on the Sistine Chapel, buddy. Really, it is amazing. To think that he literally craned his neck to paint a ceiling for four years, and on fresco! It is almost emotional. Once again, you have to see it to believe it. It was so beautiful, we stayed in there for a half hour just looking and looking.
- Catacombs! We went to the Catacombs of Domitilla, and did some underground hiking. This is where the early Christians buried their dead, instead of cremating them like the Romans did in that time. This was a sacred burial, because they were buried near family members and martyrs for the Christian religion. Romans did not treat Christians well at that point in time. Now, there are no bodies there, just holes in the walls. But what I liked were the frescoes and writings that have survived all these years.
- We were SO EXHAUSTED by the end of our trip, that we spent a good portion of time in the hotel spa and relaxation room. At first I was worried about wasting time that could have been spent sightseeing, but as one of our reasons for this trip was to just be together, we decided this was a worthwhile usage of time. We missed our little girl a lot, but to just be together, without any responsibilities, was refreshing.
