When we left Sorrento in the late morning, it was very hot, humid and of course, windy, but none of that mattered, because we were on an adventure back to ancient Italy!
After a brief tour around a Cameo shop where we saw artisans handcrafting cameo pieces from seashells, it was time to see the ancient ruins of Pompeii.
The ruins span a vast area, which is far too large for an afternoon tour, so our guide, Alexander gave us a selection of highlights featuring theatres, homes, businesses and public baths.
We hoped the weather might improve from our morning in Sorrento, but to no avail. It was now very hot and the sirocco wind was whirling dust and Saharan sand everywhere (we were positively filthy by the end of the day!), thank goodness for sunglasses!
Can you believe how vibrant these colours still are?
It was quite incredible to see such history preserved, but it was never far from our mind as to why Pompeii was frozen in time. It was heartbreaking to see the casts of some of the poor people whose lives were taken when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.
The decor and art is beautiful with many pieces still completely in tact. There are also some very suggestive pieces of artwork, which are definitely not fit for the blog!
These beautiful sculptures are by renowned Polish artist Igor Mitoraj. There are over thirty of them around Pompeii and they are very striking.
Sadly our tour of Pompeii had come to an end and it was time to drive back to the ship. Our day on the Amalfi coast was a very last minute addition to the ports of call, but it was absolutely fantastic and we cannot wait to return and fully explore the region.
I shall be back soon with our penultimate destination of the cruise, Palermo, Sicily.
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