Sorrento and the Beach!

MEALS

Today we had lunch in Pompeii; the two choices were pizza and pasta. The pizza is thicker than in Rome, it is called Neapolitan pizza. In Rome, the pizza is much thinner. One of the other things this region is known for is their lemons. Not only small lemons, but big lemons too! The lemons in this area can be as big Katie Tucker's head. Lemon ice drinks are common, and we had the opportunity to taste the common drink. Gelato is a nice sweet dessert that we all have had the opportunity to have almost every night! Tonight for dinner we had penne pasta with fried eggplant and mozzarella cheese. For dessert we had chocolate cream puffs.

The authentic Italian food here is different in many ways! For starters, the pasta is almost always cooked al dente, which is a little firm! The sauce also contains a bit more olive oil than the sauce we are used to, and the tomatoes give it a much sweeter taste! The food has been AMAZING!

ANCIENT CITY OF POMPEII

Our next stop on the way to Sorrento was the Ancient City of Pompeii. This city was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and was almost perfectly preserved under the lava rock. In 1860, the city was discovered by some archaeologists and has been made to look as it did in its hey day. 

At the time of the eruption there were 11,000 people in ancient Pompeii, only 2,000 bodies have been discovered though. Many of these bodies, including some pets, were mummified by the lava and were frozen in their form when they died. This amazing feat of nature really allowed us to imagine what was happening when the eruption hit. The ancient city of Pompeii originally had roofs and different stories on their houses but due to the volcanic ash it was mostly burnt down to just walls.

An amazing engineering display was the aqueduct system that allowed water to get to the entire city, much like a well for tap water used in houses today. Walking on the roads, ruts could be seen from the ancient carts that transported large amounts of goods throughout the city. We got to see the laundromat where slaves washed clothing with urine as well as the old world fast food stops complete with wine and other food items.

ARRIVAL TO SORRENTO AND BEACH EXCURSION

After we left Pompeii we took a relaxing drive to our new hotel, the Sisters Hostel, a new hostel in Sorrento that was a bit of an upgrade from our last hotel. The rooms were very big and the lobby is very pretty. After we settled into our rooms we took a relaxing break. Mr. Churchill, some of the group, and I decided to go to beach. We gathered in the lobby and marched single file along the road until we got to the side of the cliff and walked together down a zigzag patterned road to the beach. Once there, we decided to take our shoes off and walk in the warm black sand. 

We took a fair amount of artsy pictures on the rocks, did some yoga and watched Mr. Churchill take a polar plunge in the freezing cold water. While walking back from the beach, I made the naieve decision to walk barefoot in an attempt to save my white converse from discoloration. Katie and I arrived to the hotel and decided to wash our feet in the bidet, and blood started leaking from my foot. Long story short, my feet suffered a minor operation by Mr. Churchill. After a quick shower we went to dinner and had a classic Italian meal.