Here is the last post from our wonderful trip through Greece and Southern Italy. We flew home from Amsterdam today and found our house safe and sound. Our last week was spent on the Amalfi Coast and included a visit to Pompeii followed by three nights in Rome, the eternal city. It was a fabulous trip but it’s great to be home.
We based ourselves in Sorrento for our exploration of the Amalfi coast and Pompei. They were already getting ready for Christmas.
The cathedral at Sorrento
View from Sorrento including Mt. Vesuvius in the distance.
Mt. Vesuvius from our hotel
Local Sorrento fishermen and their dog
The lovely Amalfi harbor.
The Amalfi Cathedral
The cloisters at Amalfi Cathedral
Amalfi Paper Mill Museum
The rugged Amalfi Coastline
Pompeii was incredible
Vineyards at Pompeii
When they were excavating Pompeii they realized that they were digging up partially decomposed bodies. So they developed a method of injecting plaster into the pockets and were able to create these casts capturing the bodies in the position they were in as they were covered by the ash of Mt. Vesuvius
More Pompeii
More Pompeii
Another body cast from Pompeii
Another body cast from Pompeii
Some of the frescoes at Pompeii were very well preserved
House of the Small Fountain – Pompeii
House of Venus in a Half Shell – Pompeii
All the bronze statues were part of an exhibition by late Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj who chose the exact locations for the 30 sculptures that are on display from May 2016 through Jan. 2017 at Pompeii.
Rome – The Capitoline Museum
The memorial for Victor Emmanuel – father of the country
Rome sunset
The Bocce della Verita (mouth of truth) – you might recall it from Roman Holiday with Hepburn and Peck
Since we had been to Rome a couple of times we did some offbeat things like visit the Knights of Malta keyhole
When you look through the keyhole it is perfectly lined up with a view of St. Peters at the Vatican. Very Da Vinci Codesque. I took this picture with my camera up against the keyhole.
And another offbeat thing – who knew there was a pyramid in Rome. Supposedly built in 360 days as a tomb for Gaius Cestius in 18 BC. It is attached to the non Catholic cemetery for foreigners where we visited the graves of both Keats and Shelly.
Fountain at the Piazza Navona
Victor Emmanuel statue in silhouette
Statue of Romulus and Remus – part of the myth of the foundation of Rome
The Colosseum at sunset with the Arch of Constantine