Buongiorno, Italia!
Jan. 13th, 2023 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crystalcazzieNow we're in the new year I finally have a bit of time to post my pictures from my trip to Italy. Only three months after the event, which isn't that bad for me!
Part One: Pompeii & Capri
I arrived at the airport around 7, where I hoped there would be someone from the travel company there to guide us through what to do and where to go, but there wasn't. I did see another passenger with a luggage tag from the company so I screwed up my courage and asked her if she was flying to Naples too, and she was. I was very proud of myself for that! We went through the airport together but didn't meet up with anyone else from the group until the boarding area.
So first hurdle down. I do wish the company had made it clear that there wouldn't be anyone there to meet us though. I like to know in advance how things are going to work!
I was so excited to be on a flight for the first time in four years! And I had a window seat, which is my favourite. Our group was sat together so even people who hadn't found each other in the airport were able to chat and get to know each other. I was sat next to David, who'd been on a lot of these types of trip.
According to the pilot, Mont Blanc is down there somewhere.
Getting serious 'Breath of the Wild' vibes from this view!
~*~
After landing we made our way through passport control pretty quickly, which was nice after hearing so many horror stories of lengthy queues at airports. The company rep was waiting for us on the other side of customs and we all got on a coach to the hotel.
The hotel was pretty nice. My room was a bit small with no view, but that was made up for by the fact that I was on the top floor and so just had to take a few steps outside my door to be on the rooftop terrace.
Which had a pretty good view of the moon.
Moon!
And in the other direction we found the main attraction itself. The thing that Pompeii is best known for:
Mount Vesivius!
And in yet another direction:
A church!
Night time!
Photographing the moon is always harder in the dark...
We made good use of that seating area during our week in the place. Not so much the sun loungers, although the weather was mostly very nice.
I sat and wrote at least one diary entry at these tables.
~*~
The next morning we walked the short distance to the ruins of Pompeii. One of the first things we saw when we went in was this...
Doggy!
A good start, I feel!
We then went in to the amphitheatre
The dog is now part of our group...
And out the other side into the ruins themselves:
That's a bit of an ominous mountain in the distance...
Vineyard. Good to see they had their priorities in order!
Speaking of priorities, yes that is a penis. Apparently it pointed the way towards the local brothel, but that may just be a legend.
There's an un-excavated area (cos there's a house on it) that gives you an idea of just how deep the ash that covered the city was. This is the view down from it, which annoyingly doesn't really give a proper sense of how high up it is.
Hey, look, it's me!
After we left the ruins some of us decided to walk back alongside the site.
Quite a pretty pavement.
We weren't just wandering aimlessly though. No, we had a specific destination in mind. An ice cream parlour that we passed on the way there that came highly recommended.
Naturally I had to try it...
It was indeed very good.
It also had giant doughnuts:
(Also very good...)
We headed back to the square near the hotel, which is the home of the church I showed you the back of earlier:
It's pretty big!
And looks very pretty in the sunset.
As does Mount Vesuvius.
We had dinner out that evening, at a place called Pizza & Pasta, so I felt like it only made sense to have a pizza with pasta topping. It was actually really good!
And the square looked really pretty at night:
~*~
The next day saw us board a coach and head down to the harbour where we caught one of these:
Bye for now, Pompeii!
A bit windswept! But another lovely day, which was perfect for sailing to Capri.
This is not Capri. This is Sorrento. We picked up some other passengers there.
This is Capri!
We got straight on another coach, which took us up to Anacapri, at the top of the island.
Anacapri has funky decor!
Although we were now pretty high up, there was something else we had to do to get to the very top...
Not everyone was on board with the chair lift, but it won't surprise anyone here to find out that I was very happy to go on.
Pretty views from the chair lift!
Almost there!
At the top we were rewarded with a lovely area and more pretty views:
And a bar. A few of us decided to get a drink. I was undecided on what I wanted, then Janet and I heard someone ahead of us ordering a limcello spritz and thought that sounded good. We expected limoncello and soda water. The prosecco was a welcome surprise!
Cheers!
We went back down the same way, which meant more views.
Including of this person who thought apparently thought they were going skiing...
A few of us went to a local restaurant for lunch where I had possibly the best ravioli I've ever tried:
So good!
We then headed back down to Capri and explored more of the island:
View of the Little Harbour.
Kitty!
And a dog bar! Nice.
I then went on a boat ride around part of the island:
Well, hello there!
A popular cave.
Inside the popular cave.
Apparently you're supposed to kiss your true love or make a wish as you go through these rocks. I made a wish.
And from the other side.
Back on dry land it was time for an ice cream:
(To be fair, I always think it's time for an ice cream...)
I made time to buy my usual load of souvenirs before it was time to board the boat back.
Farewell, Capri! Thanks for a lovely day!
As we headed back while the sun set, I tried to take some nice pictures of this boat near us:
Not bad, I feel.
~*~
So, that was our first couple of days. Next up I'll be heading to the top of that mountain I kept taking photos of!
Part One: Pompeii & Capri
I arrived at the airport around 7, where I hoped there would be someone from the travel company there to guide us through what to do and where to go, but there wasn't. I did see another passenger with a luggage tag from the company so I screwed up my courage and asked her if she was flying to Naples too, and she was. I was very proud of myself for that! We went through the airport together but didn't meet up with anyone else from the group until the boarding area.
So first hurdle down. I do wish the company had made it clear that there wouldn't be anyone there to meet us though. I like to know in advance how things are going to work!
I was so excited to be on a flight for the first time in four years! And I had a window seat, which is my favourite. Our group was sat together so even people who hadn't found each other in the airport were able to chat and get to know each other. I was sat next to David, who'd been on a lot of these types of trip.
According to the pilot, Mont Blanc is down there somewhere.
Getting serious 'Breath of the Wild' vibes from this view!
~*~
After landing we made our way through passport control pretty quickly, which was nice after hearing so many horror stories of lengthy queues at airports. The company rep was waiting for us on the other side of customs and we all got on a coach to the hotel.
The hotel was pretty nice. My room was a bit small with no view, but that was made up for by the fact that I was on the top floor and so just had to take a few steps outside my door to be on the rooftop terrace.
Which had a pretty good view of the moon.
Moon!
And in the other direction we found the main attraction itself. The thing that Pompeii is best known for:
Mount Vesivius!
And in yet another direction:
A church!
Night time!
Photographing the moon is always harder in the dark...
We made good use of that seating area during our week in the place. Not so much the sun loungers, although the weather was mostly very nice.
I sat and wrote at least one diary entry at these tables.
~*~
The next morning we walked the short distance to the ruins of Pompeii. One of the first things we saw when we went in was this...
Doggy!
A good start, I feel!
We then went in to the amphitheatre
The dog is now part of our group...
And out the other side into the ruins themselves:
That's a bit of an ominous mountain in the distance...
Vineyard. Good to see they had their priorities in order!
Speaking of priorities, yes that is a penis. Apparently it pointed the way towards the local brothel, but that may just be a legend.
There's an un-excavated area (cos there's a house on it) that gives you an idea of just how deep the ash that covered the city was. This is the view down from it, which annoyingly doesn't really give a proper sense of how high up it is.
Hey, look, it's me!
After we left the ruins some of us decided to walk back alongside the site.
Quite a pretty pavement.
We weren't just wandering aimlessly though. No, we had a specific destination in mind. An ice cream parlour that we passed on the way there that came highly recommended.
Naturally I had to try it...
It was indeed very good.
It also had giant doughnuts:
(Also very good...)
We headed back to the square near the hotel, which is the home of the church I showed you the back of earlier:
It's pretty big!
And looks very pretty in the sunset.
As does Mount Vesuvius.
We had dinner out that evening, at a place called Pizza & Pasta, so I felt like it only made sense to have a pizza with pasta topping. It was actually really good!
And the square looked really pretty at night:
~*~
The next day saw us board a coach and head down to the harbour where we caught one of these:
Bye for now, Pompeii!
A bit windswept! But another lovely day, which was perfect for sailing to Capri.
This is not Capri. This is Sorrento. We picked up some other passengers there.
This is Capri!
We got straight on another coach, which took us up to Anacapri, at the top of the island.
Anacapri has funky decor!
Although we were now pretty high up, there was something else we had to do to get to the very top...
Not everyone was on board with the chair lift, but it won't surprise anyone here to find out that I was very happy to go on.
Pretty views from the chair lift!
Almost there!
At the top we were rewarded with a lovely area and more pretty views:
And a bar. A few of us decided to get a drink. I was undecided on what I wanted, then Janet and I heard someone ahead of us ordering a limcello spritz and thought that sounded good. We expected limoncello and soda water. The prosecco was a welcome surprise!
Cheers!
We went back down the same way, which meant more views.
Including of this person who thought apparently thought they were going skiing...
A few of us went to a local restaurant for lunch where I had possibly the best ravioli I've ever tried:
So good!
We then headed back down to Capri and explored more of the island:
View of the Little Harbour.
Kitty!
And a dog bar! Nice.
I then went on a boat ride around part of the island:
Well, hello there!
A popular cave.
Inside the popular cave.
Apparently you're supposed to kiss your true love or make a wish as you go through these rocks. I made a wish.
And from the other side.
Back on dry land it was time for an ice cream:
(To be fair, I always think it's time for an ice cream...)
I made time to buy my usual load of souvenirs before it was time to board the boat back.
Farewell, Capri! Thanks for a lovely day!
As we headed back while the sun set, I tried to take some nice pictures of this boat near us:
Not bad, I feel.
~*~
So, that was our first couple of days. Next up I'll be heading to the top of that mountain I kept taking photos of!
