Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Ya-chi's Italia Travel Journal: Day 6 Pompeii/Sorrento
Today we travel without a guide, tour or Su-chun. We were on our own for the first time since arriving. This should be interesting. Su-chun dropped us off at the train station and we’re off. We made it safely to the main train station, purchased tickets and found the right terminal. So far so good. We hopped on the train we thought was correct and it takes off. Looking good. We look at the train route and the guy beside us notices our confused expression and asks us where we’re headed. We tell him and he tells us we’re on the wrong train. I knew it was going too well! We get off at the next stop and the nice guy leads us to the correct platform to return to the main station and let us know which platform to go to Sorrento. We got back to the main station and got on the right train. Just a 20 minute detour not too bad.
We got off at the correct Pompeii station and followed the signs to the ruins. Pompeii is more than twice as big as Herculeum but not as well preserved. Most buildings only had part of the first floor. There are more public places such as temples, large forum, bath and amphitheater. The bad part of Pompeii is a lot of the places of interest were locked or we couldn’t find it. Both Heather and I liked Herculeum better. We ended up following where ever there are people to see if anything looked good.
We found a nice shaded area near temples above the amphitheater and ate our awesome lunch (leftover from last night plus fresh cookies). It felt odd to be sitting on ancient ruins. After lunch we left for Sorrento. We got there around 1 and found a small shop with pretty good deals. I got a set of coffee cups and saucer and a vinegar/oil/salt/pepper set.
Then we got lost trying to find the main shopping street. We managed to find the coast (where I took my one and only picture of Sorrento) and a camera shop where we got directions. We had turned right instead of left, how typical. We found the market street where stores were actually open even though it was reposo time (same as siesta). Unfortunately all the prices were jacked up so I didn’t buy much.
We got back on the train and made it back to Naples in 40 minutes. We must have stumbled on an express train. After a quick coffee at the train station (absolutely vile) we hopped on another train and made it back to our starting point. Only got lost twice the whole day. Not too shabby. We stayed in for dinner and relaxed and prepared for our Sicily trip.
We got off at the correct Pompeii station and followed the signs to the ruins. Pompeii is more than twice as big as Herculeum but not as well preserved. Most buildings only had part of the first floor. There are more public places such as temples, large forum, bath and amphitheater. The bad part of Pompeii is a lot of the places of interest were locked or we couldn’t find it. Both Heather and I liked Herculeum better. We ended up following where ever there are people to see if anything looked good.
We found a nice shaded area near temples above the amphitheater and ate our awesome lunch (leftover from last night plus fresh cookies). It felt odd to be sitting on ancient ruins. After lunch we left for Sorrento. We got there around 1 and found a small shop with pretty good deals. I got a set of coffee cups and saucer and a vinegar/oil/salt/pepper set.
Then we got lost trying to find the main shopping street. We managed to find the coast (where I took my one and only picture of Sorrento) and a camera shop where we got directions. We had turned right instead of left, how typical. We found the market street where stores were actually open even though it was reposo time (same as siesta). Unfortunately all the prices were jacked up so I didn’t buy much.
We got back on the train and made it back to Naples in 40 minutes. We must have stumbled on an express train. After a quick coffee at the train station (absolutely vile) we hopped on another train and made it back to our starting point. Only got lost twice the whole day. Not too shabby. We stayed in for dinner and relaxed and prepared for our Sicily trip.
# posted by Antipasta @ 4:20 PM 
