It is almost 10pm on Saturday Sept 12th. We have just had our last meal of Chinese food in what will be quite a while, in anticipation of a steady diet of pasta, pizza and pesce (fish) for the next 3 weeks.
The flight leaves Toronto for Naples at 6:30pm, getting into our destination around noon Monday, following a brief stopover in Paris.
The agenda is pretty well planned out with three nights in Naples in order to explore the various museums, churches and art galleries.
A train ride to Pompeii on 17th should give us time to drop our bags at the hotel and visit the ancient site of Herculaneum, also buried by the same volcanic eruption, but somehow less well known.
The next two days should give us ample time to explore Pompeii and attempt a hike up Mt. Vesuvius.
Then a further train ride to Sorrento where the plan is to board a ferry to the Isle of Capri for two nights. A visit to the Blue Grotto is on the agenda as well as some hikes along the island's many trails.
Returning to Sorrento, I am hoping local buses will get me to the town (village) of Ravello, some 4 km up the mountain from Amalfi. Again some hiking is planned as well as some wine tasting.
After 2 nights there we have to find our way to the costal town of Salerno where we will stay for one night before catching a bus to Rome.
6 nights and 7 days in Rome should hopefully allow ample time to see most of the major sites. A tour of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is already booked as well as 2 days of transport using a Hop on, Hop off bus service which stops at all the major historical sites.
All in all, a very full 20 day agenda which will probably leave me needing a vacation on returning home.
With the exception of the Vatican tour, the entire trip will be self-directed. While I would normally use G Adventures ( formerly GAP) I decided their tour of the same area were either too rushed with little time for exploring, or the opposite, too slow because they were primarily localized hikes.
I have a couple of guide books as well as some Rick Steves audio tours for major sites such as Pompeii and the Coliseum, so hopefully we will survive.
I have also restricted our luggage to carry on in order to minimize the physical stress of hauling the casket sized suitcase that is the norm for most North Americans. My actual clothing only occupies half of the space, the remainder being taken up by notebooks, chargers, walking poles and of course my size 11.5 shoes and sandals! With just a little room left over for junk food, bottle openers, bandaids, laundry soap and shampoo.
Assuming I dont have the same struggles as last years trip to the Balkan's ( locked out of my own e-mail because hotmail didn't believe I was me!!!) I do intend to update this blog on at least an every other day basis just to be annoying. I may upload photos if the Weefee (thats how they were pronouncing WiFi in the Balkans) is somewhat faster than dial up.
If we run out of money we may just stay here, perhaps head for Germany and claim refugee status- two impoverished seniors fleeing a corrupt dictatorship- well it's almost true. Harper is a Dick, with the brains of a tater (potato) operating a sinking ship- hence Dic-Tater-Ship! LOL
Seriously, I hope , as we are mostly on the west side of the coast, that we do not have to encounter the struggles of the New " Boat People" who are currently flooding into Italy from the Middle East Conflict.
Chiao or rather Buona notte
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