Pompeii to Florence

June 30th, Sorrento to Pompeii to Florence

Art wants to add a Florence leg to our Italian itinerary so we wake early, eat a quick breakfast in the garden and Gioseppina drives us to the nearby train station. There are no fast trains between Sorrento and Pompeii and the local train stops at all the stations. We arrive at the Pompeii Scavi stop at 8:00 A.M. The opening information in our guidebook is wrong and Pompeii opens at 9:00 A.M, not 8:30. We are one of the first in line but the morning is already hot and we stand impatiently in line to purchase our tickets. Like bulls out of the shoot, we rush into the site along with throngs of other early bird tourists.

Hurrying to enter Pompeii

Immense paving stones to slow chariots

Pompeii Central Forum

Pompeii Forum

Column detail, Pompeii

Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and put an end to the prospering city of Pompeii. The impressive archeological site spans many acres and we attempt to follow the Rick Steve’s pod cast but many of the routes have been diverted and some ‘avenues’ closed for renovation so we are frustrated and confused following the audio narrative. Nevertheless, Pompeii is amazing and I am in awe of the public squares and forums with immense, if incomplete, columns surrounding the perimeters.

Listing to our Audio Guide

Streets of Pompeii

We enter a stunning and beautifully preserved public bath house with ornate carvings still intact and faded frescoes on the walls.

Public bath house Pompeii

Ceiling decor

Detail of bath house

The stone streets are paved with immense stone blocks with obvious chariot wheel grooves cut deep into the rocks. This city prospered in the first century A.D. prior to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and had a sophisticated aqueduct and lead pipe water delivery system.  We see remains of private estates with re-created manicured gardens and shopping streets where restaurants once thrived.

Private estate garden

Stone work

Estate fresco

Restaurant counter with cooking holes

Art heads for the entrance but John and we retrace our path along uneven stone streets in the sweltering heat until we come to the plaster casts.  Discovered in the 1748 the body cavities within the ash have been filled with plaster and we gaze with compassion at these figures who suffocated in the ash some 2000 years ago.

Plaster casts of Pompeii casualties

Before going to our prearranged meeting place to meet Art; John and I visit the exquisite Temple of Isis and the impressive Amphitheater.

Amphitheater, Pompeii

When we arrive, Art is just leaving the Amphitheater so after our intense four-hour visit of Pompeii we rush to the train station to catch yet another slow local train to Naples where we will change trains to Florence. We are traveling well as a family, each of us contributing in our own way. John with his youthful strength hauls suitcases up and down stairways and carries our day pack; Art figures out train schedules and our plan of attack for Florence and I keep our tickets organized and our valuables safe. Once on the train between Naples and Florence we all relax and nap to the rhythm of the train. 

The fast train to Florence

We have no hotel accommodations in Florence but walk across the plaza to the Tourist Information Office and while I am buying our Florence sightseeing passes, Art calls a nearby hotel that happily has a triple room available for two nights. The Florence pass is expensive, 72 Euros for 72 hours of sights and we expect to be in Florence for just 36 hours and to use these passes for just one full day of sightseeing. Nevertheless, the pass will allow us to skip the lines and we have come to Florence to see the art.

Hotel Montreal, a two-star hotel just two blocks from the station is simple but acceptable. Our triple room costs 109 Euros and although worn, is clean and has a great bathroom which we immediately take advantage of to wash the Pompeii dust and sweat from our bodies. Refreshed we head out to get our bearings and to find dinner. Florence is a small jewel of a city and the Duomo is within walking distance.

The Duomo facade

The Duomo, Florence

The evening light casts a golden glow on the multicolor marble of the immense cathedral and we stroll around the bustling plaza, people-watching and stopping to admire the bronze Ghiberti doors of the Baptistery. These doors are old friends of mine but are no less impressive on my fifth visit to Florence.

Harikrishna

Sunset on the Arno River

Ponte Vecchio Bridge

We walk down to Arno River and across the Ponte Trinita Bridge. Bicyclists and a parade of Harikrishna are just part of the entertainment. The late afternoon light is magical and we sit upon the stone block banister of the Ponte Trinita bridge and see the covered Ponte Vecchio Bridge beyond.

We have worked up an appetite and meander back along narrow cobblestone streets in the direction of our hotel reading all the restaurant menus. We suffer our usual indecision but eventually settle on a small restaurant just down the street from our hotel. Art orders a mushroom fettuchinni, John a pizza and I order a chicken breast in wine sauce which is served pitifully naked and unaccompanied on a plate. I ask to taste the red house wine before ordering a carafe that is sadly uninspired and the waiter bring me a taste of another red wine, also uninspired. Resigned, I settle on a carafe of the house wine for 9 Euros. We share the warm and watery wine, pay the modest bill and return exhausted to our hotel.