Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii

Hi.

Today, like always, I was up early and got an unhealthy portion of eggs and orange juice. By 7:00 we were all ready to head down to the theatre, where we were to get organized for the day’s ship-organized excursion titled, “Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii”. If you’ve never been on a cruise before, an excursion is a completely planned itinerary that the ship puts together, packages it under a cool name, than prices it about 100% above cost. While I may be exaggerating a little bit on the last part, I’m sure you get the idea.

At the theatre, we were given a sticker and walked off the ship to find our guide who corresponded to the number on our sticker. Our guide, a 5’7” Pompeii-ite  called Lello, played up the fact he was Italian to a laughable degree. He called us his “family” the entire trip and used a thick accent that seemed to fade away as he got further along into a lengthier sentence, but he seemed to truly care about us, which was very surprising to me. That’s enough about him; let me talk about what I did today.

From Naples, where the ship was docked, I got onto a hydrofoil destined for the Island of Capri. I had heard amazing things about it leading up to the trip which the main reason I chose to go on this excursion. The ride was short, about 40 minutes, but in that time it was like I was taken to a whole other planet. Leaving a legitimate metropolis, Capri proved to be the antithesis. Small, secluded, tranquil and lush in vegetation, I hopped on the cable car that takes you up the hill to the town of Capri from the port (of course the ticket was handed to me by Lello right before I went through the turnstile: there was little chance of error the entire day).

Reaching the top, I could immediately see that this is where the other half takes their vacations. Apparently Beyonce and Russell Crowe (yes, for those of you keeping score at home, that is two consecutive Russell Crowe mentions) are frequent guests to the island. Walking along the main street, designer boutiques surround you, none of which had any sales posted. I headed toward the backside of the island, where a park offered a gorgeous panorama of the rocky cliffs dotted with some hotels completely dropping off into the deep blue water full of yachts with helipads. Sadly, I forgot to pack my memory card today, and because a 4gb one was priced at 50€, I only have lower quality cell phone pictures.

I walked around Capri some more, trying to see as much as possible in the 35 minutes of “free time” I was given. I then headed back down the cable car, boarded a boat for Sorrento, and hopped on a bus in Sorrento that took me to lunch. It consisded of 3 courses: spinach and cheese cannelloni, a chicken dish that was startlingly lackluster, and the sweetest cantaloupe I had even tasted.

After lunch, Lello gave us a whole 45 minutes to explore the town of Sorrento. I thought that Sorrento was just a crappy pizza place in South Oakland that has $5 specials on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, but in reality, it is a really high end resort town. Lello made it a point that a cheap hotel in Capri cost upwards of 1000€ a night, whereas a similar quality hotel would only run you 600€. Still a little steep if you ask me. Regardless, the town was striking in its architecture, with everything colored in rich, deep earth tones. Apparently Sorrento is where the well to do Italians tend to head, so the women tended to all be somewhat tall, thin, tan and beautiful (something it shares with Seaside Heights, minus the height, thinness and beauty.)

I still have yet to find good souvenirs for people back home, and am getting a little worried at this point. I added to my laptop cover sticker collection, but everything else I’ve seen looks really, really tacky. Right now, my backup plan is buying a cured ham in the Barcelona airport.

From Sorrento, we got on another bus for the 50 minute drive to Pompeii. Once in the town, we entered the ruins. This is where Lello shined. Being an archeologist who has worked extensively on the area, he had an intimate knowledge of the entire city, from each building’s purpose to the drainage system of the city to how prostitutes advertised the location of their brothels when people were too far away to head their wolf-like howls. What I liked best about Pompeii, however, was the preserved casts of the people, seemingly frozen in time. I’d recommend everyone see Pompeii once, it really was amazing.

All in all, choosing to do this excursion was a rewarding experience that went along with the general theme of the cruise: effiecency. While I’m sure I would have liked to spend much more time in both Capri and Sorrento (Capri deserves its own vacation), given the time constraints and my lack of Italian knowledge, I definitely crammed the most into my 10 hours in Naples as possible.

This evening on the cruise ship, since Emily and my Dad both went to bed early, I went running after dinner. I looped 3 miles, the first timed at 7:10, the second at 7:42 and the third at 8:15. Yes, these were on a treadmill, but it is still a huge improvement on where I was at the beginning of the summer, barely able to run from the YMCA to Main St in Bethlehem.

I didn’t get to the casino last night, but one of these night, I’m going to let it all (read: $80 or so of my winnings) ride. Tonight won’t be that night however, as I’m tired. Messina, Sicily tomorrow.

I’m off to ice my shins.

Goodnight.

-Matt

Just a note about this blog up to this point:

I realize that the writing has been lackluster at points, but I do feel that the more I have been writing, the better it has become. I feel that doing this, even though I’m only halfway through has been more beneficial to me as a writer than any assignment or class I’ve received or taken in school so far. I don’t know if that is a good thing (better late than never) or a bad thing (if the best way to become better at writing is to just do it, why hasn’t anyone suggested this?). Either way, I’m not sure I’d do this if I didn’t have an audience, so Thank You.

PS: There are far too few opportunities to get protein on this ship at midnight. Cake and Ice Cream is abundant, but can a growing boy get some grilled chicken?!?

Capri

Sorrento

Pompeii with Lello (in white)