Thursday, May 13, 2004 Pompeii Daytrip.

I woke up to the sound of rain. Oh dear. I did not have a plan B. Our two days planned are outdoor activities -Pompeii today, Capri tomorrow.

Oh well, no sense waking the kids up early! I went downstairs and had a cappuccino and wrote in my journal.

By the time the kids wake up it has stopped raining. We go down to breakfast and I don't want another Cappuccino (they are awfully filling) so I ask for Café Americano. I had an espresso at the train station and it is just too strong for me. The café came whipped. It's still pretty strong. I like strong coffee-just not espresso strong.

Off to the train station again. This time I memorize "Andata e returno" -Round trip, which I forgot yesterday.

The Circumvesuvia is a very crowded train. People get on with luggage and put their suitcases on a seat while others stand. That just doesn't seem right to me. I wonder if the people who must commute to work on this train are annoyed at all these tourists crowding their train.

Rick Steves says to leave the train station at Pompei and turn right and you are at the site. Yea but Rick didn't do such a hot job of helping me find Capella Sansevero. This time he was right. We saw our driver from Naples at the parking lot, he recognizes us and is happy to see us "Ah you are going to Pompeii? Very good!"


It was VERY crowded at Pompei. It reminded me of Disneyland at the entrance. Even though there are lots of people walking the streets in Sorrento, this is the first time I've realized "Oh, yea I'm doing a touristy thing"

We got the audio guides which was a very good idea although we had a little trouble identifying some sites. They are numbered, but it's not always easy finding the number on the site itself.

The kids made a big deal of how we had to listen to it at the exact same time so we would push our number then 1...2..3 PLAY!

There were three times we thought we were looking at the Temple of Appollo and were wrong each time. And we never did find it. Nor did we ever find the famous house of the Fawn. Oh well, we've seen pictures. We did get (thanks to advice on Fodors) one of those books with the overlays that show what they looked like originally. The kids thought that was cool. We were able to find a lot of lesser known, more ornate houses, and the bakery.

We were there more than four hours and made our way as far as the grand theatre. We saw on the map there was a stadium at the very end and it seemed like quite a hike, plus then we would have to come back.

Sarah, the trained athlete who does 200 pushups and 50 off ice axels every night, was all up for finishing the tour. Mom could not bear either the walk or Isaac's complaining so it was time to turn back and call it a day.

We stopped at the cafeteria -- the kids were not hungry but I was. For a decent serving of lasagna, small bottle of wine, a lemon soda and 3 bottles of water 14.50 E and we sat there for quite awhile resting, and watching all the dogs saunter wherever they pleased. They were all over the site and would come in a rest in the book shop. Two dogs were laying in the bookstore and I was going to take a picture when an employee shooed them away. They were back in a few minutes. The bathroom is upstairs. Bring coins.

We looked through the gift shop. "Oh look, refrigerator magnets of frescoes" Upon a closer look, they are all of erotic scenes. Okay, my kids are teenagers and not ignorant of such things but it is embarrassing to look at them with your mother.

On the way back from the train station in Sorrento we stopped again for gelato, this time deciding to sit down and have it brought to us. Sarah had white chocolate and regular chocolate and banana con panne, Isaac sticks with fragolla (strawberry) and whipped cream, and I have my favorite orange chocolate with café and cream. I've dropped a lot of cash at Pompeii between the entrance and audio guide, lunch, some books and a do it yourself mosaic of a dog for Isaac, while eating the ice cream I realized I didn't see a menu and we just chose the ice cream. I’m not sure I have enough cash on me. I have only 20E on me, will that me enough for 3 big dishes of ice cream while sitting?? In some US ice cream parlors it wouldn't be enough. And il conto is...15 Euro! Whew. We will end up spending more for walk away cones one night in Florence

We got back to our room around 5 and napped. I had kind of wanted to eat at a seaside place on a cliff, but none of them was close enough to walk and I didn't feel like hassling with a taxi.

So 8 pm, we head back to downtown and Tasso square. We choose a place and decide to eat inside because it's pretty cool outside and Sarah is wearing her new sleeveless top.

The place was very cute with red and white checked table clothes. I have wine. This place doesn't have succo de mela (apple juice) so the kids get Sprite. And water. We order antipasti of assorted sausages. I thought I made it clear that the 3 of us were to share one. "Three plates?" He asks. I thought he wanted to know if we wanted plates. Sure we want plates. So they bring out 3 plates of assorted sausages. This is an 8 E antipasto. I hadn't really planned on paying 24 E just for antipasto! And to make it worse, the kids didn't really like it enough to eat all of it. One for the three of us would have been fine.

I learned an expensive lesson "uno per tre" I had gnocci which was better than the tortellini. Sarah had lasagna and even in English Isaac isn't sure about the menu so he gets steak. We know what that is. Fries? Oh sure, why not. Food was okay, but I wouldn't recommend it. Bill is 67 E. Would have been pretty reasonable if we didn't pay 24 E just for antipasti!

Isaac took the key and went back to the hotel. Sarah and I wait for il conto. We're getting better at this waiting business. It was a little after 9 when we left and we decided to walk around and see more than the main drag. We take a turn down a busy ally, so many shops and people and a very festive atmosphere. We buy little souvenirs here and there.