Mediterranean Cruise 2005

Sorrento

Waking up in a different amazing place each day starts here.  I arise as I feel the ship come to a stop, anchored in the Gulf of Naples, just offshore of Sorrento, Italy.  The added bonus is an amazing sunrise just over the distant mountains.  Getting ready for our shore excursions today is matched with breakfast that we had requested delivered to our stateroom.  

Unfortunately, we only have one day here in this region, but there were two amazing choices for shore excursions.  One was for the ancient city of Pompeii and one was for the breathtaking Amalfi Coast. 

Paul, Geri, and Kathy had their hearts set on the Amalfi Coast, but there was no way that I was going to miss going to Pompeii.  So, we had separate destinations today – nessun problema! 

Making sure we have all of our passports, money, and cameras (!!!) at the ready, we board our tender and transfer over to Sorrento to climb onto our separate buses for today’s destinations.

Pompeii

I have written a fairly extensive blog post about my travel to Pompeii.  Rather than recreate or duplicate what I saw and how I felt, I think I’d rather you just go read that.

So – here ya go. Just make sure to come back after you’re done.

We’re not even CLOSE to being finished!

Amalfi Coast

Kathy, Paul, and Geri set off on their bus ride to the gorgeous Amalfi Coast.  Apparently, there are some quite narrow and harrowing sections of the mountainside road, so I’m sure Geri was on the floor once or twice.  🙂

Yet another place that I wish we had been able to spend multiple days, as I was very jealous of the beauty and the fantastic food it looks like they enjoyed.  Trust me, I don’t regret spending my day in Pompeii ONE BIT, but two days in Sorrento would have allowed us to enjoy both awesome tours.  Oh well … NEXT TIME!  

The beautiful coastline scenery both from the road and from the lunch destination were stunning.  Oh, and after shopping for giant mutant limes, I think my mother-in-law had a crush on their tour guide, Luigi.  

The primary stop on their trip was to the coastal village of Positano, Italy.  The significance of Positano dates back to prehistorical times, with various sites and excavations showing that there were people attracted to this region from the earliest of times.  Seeing their photos, it’s not hard to imagine why.  The abundance of growth, fish, water, and temperate climate would make this ideal.

Modern Positano is a village literally built into a the hillside above an incredible Mediterranean beach.

The views looking up from the beach and the church in the center of Positano are the stuff of postcards.  The colorful homes and decorations along with the many beautiful flowers look like they were lifted from a movie set. 

This is truly a magical place, and it’s very easy to see why it’s one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations!

As with many of these small Italian villages, “just wandering around” is the best way to see everything.  Strolling through the narrow streets and seeing the beautiful wares in the storefront windows is the experience that sometimes means as much as the grand vistas and ancient historical sites.

It’s time, however, to get back onboard the Voyager… there’s one more treat left for today!

Circling Capri!

We all return to the ship within 30 minutes of each other, which is really amazing considering how many people and the different directions our tours had taken us for the day. The Radisson folks do a great job managing large herds of people and doing it in the most comfortable ways possible.

Once back in our cabins, we had already decided that a quiet evening would be best – so we were going to do dinner on our own to rest up for the next day.  But, as we were deciding what to order from room service and have out on our balcony, Captain Knut – our well-qualified and highly-skilled commander – came on over the shipwide announcement system and said that, since we had all done such a great job in getting onboard and we were ahead of schedule, he had been cleared to take Voyager on a lap around the Isle of Capri!!!  This is where our having a cabin on the *port* side of the ship came into such good fortune, as it would put Capri right out our balcony the entire time!

The absolute BONUS (as you can see above) was that the sun was just hitting that golden hour as we started, giving an amazing photo as we were rounding the western-most edge.  But before then, we were able to glide slowly past the main town of Capri, which has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic! 

We had dinner delivered and it was greedily devoured on the balcony as this amazing view went past.  The Punta Carena Lighthouse is still active and was just starting its nightly beacon sweeps of the Mediterranean as we rounded that corner.  At times we passed so close, I felt I could reach out and touch the shoreline!

It was the southern side of Capri where we saw the stunning Faraglioni features of rocks (above), eroded over the eons by Mediterranean waves and tidal forces.

It is time to bid buona notte to Capri as we complete our lap and get a good night’s rest, as tomorrow’s another busy day in Italy!!