Naples Nov 15

 This morning we pulled into Naples harbor at sunrise.  Naples was the most bombed city in Italy in WWII.  They have built it back well...one million residents and building restrictions to try to keep it growing much more.

 We had the choice of several tours.  A couple tours went to Pompeii, which we really wanted to see, but it was a long one and was rated Challenging due to the walking on uneven surfaces.  So we chose the "Sorrento and Limoncello" tour. 

Some history:  I don't recall the exact dates or details, but back in 2003, we had planned to visit the Naples/Sorrento area. We were living in our Berthoud, CO house at the time, and we were going to fly from Denver to either Naples or Rome.  Doris was going to fly from Wichita KS, and Sharon was going to fly down from England.  We were going to somehow meet up and get to Sorrento (either by car or rail), overnight in a convent there, and take a driving tour down the Amalfi Coast (and I think we were considering going over to the island of Capri).  Days before our departure date, the Iraqi war started (March 20, 2003), it appeared to be a dangerous time to travel and to be in this part of the world, so we scrubbed the whole trip.  Since a snowstorm had shut down the Denver airport and cancelled our flight, we were able to get refunded for our airfare.  I don't recall my mom being so lucky on her ticket, and not sure how Sharon made out.  If anyone has any additional info or corrections, please comment. The point is that we've been wanting to see this part of Italy for a long time. 

After Diane waved goodbye to the pope at the port terminal

 

we drove from the Naples port toward Sorrento, viewing the 4200 foot Mt Vesuvius on the way.

Vesuvius and the other nearby hills/mountains have a fairly heavy smoke cover, 

 

which according to our guide is caused by farmers burning leaves to ward off insects from their crops.  The other mountains are also known as the Milk Mountains because of all the cows and goats which produce high-quality dairy. Vesuvius is an active volcano but has been "asleep" since 1944, and there's no knowing when it will blow next!

The roads were narrow and winding, with our bus sharing the road with bicyclists, motorcycles (who seemed to have death wishes passing buses on the curves), and cars with crazy drivers:

 

Outside Sorrento we stopped at the Dicapri Limoncello facility. 

 

 We were given a 3 min walkthru of the production and packaging (all manual) rooms (they infuse lemon peel into neutral alcohol to produce a lemony liqueur.  

 

We were then herded into the showroom, given miserly samples of the products (they add other flavors such as melon and pistachio to the limoncello), and then given an inordinate amount of time to shop...they had ceramics, candy, gelato, etc in addition to the liqueur. 

After about an hour (45 min too long), we bused on to the center of Sorrento, seeing the beautiful bay and houses (the 2nd photo has Vesuvius in the distance):

 

Upon arrival in Sorrento, our guide first took us to a store that specializes in high-end tables...wood covered with several layers of polyurethane.

 

 

They also had chess sets, beads, necklaces, all high-end stuff at prices that seemed too high to me (but you know me!)  I wonder how much of a kickback Viking gets for dragging these tours to these specific stores (as well as the rug store at the Ephesus port.)

We then followed the guide down the main Sorrento shopping avenue.  In this photo, you can see our guide Vinnie.  He was enthusiastic and pleasant, but his English was not so good, so we probably understood less than half of what he was saying, so a lot of the cultural stuff about Sorrento just wasn't communicated well.  Viking had sent one of the crew members on this tour as an observer, I bet previous guests had complained and the guide is being monitored

We saw a ceramic clock on an old cathedral

and in an old church we saw a dramatic creche scene (probably 4 feet deep), with the figures made out of wax and the clothing made of silk

 The guide then turned us loose for free time, and it was lunchtime so we headed for a restaurant to get a dish that was invented in Naples...pizza! (For the record:  1889 by Raffaele Esposito, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil for Queen Margherita of Savoy, called the "Pizza Margherita" in her honor.)  We of course ordered this very pizza...very thin crust and tasty, but only 2 basil leaves?  I prefer more toppings.

 Many of the shopping area's vendors sold lemon products...Diane couldn't resist getting some lemon candy here, and it's quite good

We were able to resist the gelato,

 

 knowing there is always an ample supply onboard our ship.

Tonight we leave Naples and start our land journey to Rome in the morning!