An early stat this morning as we caught the train to arrive at Ercolano Scavi station and walk down to Herculaneum for the 8.30 opening. The kids were free which was a bonus. We took a good two hours to walk around the ruins and the museum. Some of the mosaic and fresco were amazing. This site was destroyed in 79CE when my Vesuvius erupted. The town was cover in a 12 wall of mud. Most people had died initially from the poisonous volcanic gas trying to flee from the city. It was amazing to see how far below ground the city they had to excavate to find the ruins, but also how far away the beach now is from where it was when the volcano erupted.
Our tour driver Gianluca (who comes from the Puglia region)picked us up outside The Herculaneum site for our day driver. It was costing us €360 for the day. We headed off south along the coast towards Sorrento. Stopping for photos along the coast of towards Sorrento we bought some fresh orange juice being made by a street vendor. Ten oranges to make two cups of fresh orange juice - delicious after a train station breakfast of sugared donuts.
When we arrived in Sorrento the sun was out, although the wind was still biting cold. We could see the snow on the Appin mountains. We had trouble getting a car park and it is only winter. In summer it would be impossible. Most of the restaurants are closed for the low season so it was difficult to get something to eat. We settled for a pizza restaurant that charged €12 for a simple pizza, so we ordered 3 pizzas a and 2 simple Margherita pizzas for €6 each. A bit of an expensive meal just for lunch.
From there we drove south along the coast and once we got around the Sorrento peninsulas the weather brightened up and the sun came out for the rest of the day.
Although we wanted to go down into Positano, we would have to park so far away it would take ages to visit. There was no chance of going to the beach as it is only a small black stripe of volcanic sand.
We continued along to Amalfi where we stopped for the toilet (and because Addison had been sick in her mouth in the car from the winding roads). We had some coffee, gelato and biscuits for afternoon tea and a nice walk out on the concrete boardwalk. We could see the sun starting to go down, so we pleaded with Gianluca to find us some place where the sun would set over the water.
We drove till we reached a hill just before Minora, where we were able to watch the sun set across the Mediterranean Sea. Such a lovely experience with all the family madly running around trying to get the best sunset for social medium.
Our return drive was over the hills was much quicker and not windey. Gianluca was able to stop at a small market so we could buy some food for tonight. When we got back to our apartment we cooked up the dried pasta we already had and added the bought cooked pasta with the tomato and meat sauce. A nice combination with the fresh cheese. And cheaper.
Early night after a long day.
