New Year's in Sorrento

Pompeii December 30, 2018 Yesterday in the late afternoon we had a wonderful hour with an art historian, setting the place of Roman and Greek art in a timeline, and placing the frozen art and architecture of 79 CE, when Vesuvius erupted, in context for us.   Especially interesting was her description of the advances the Romans made in the formulas for concrete, allowing for much more advanced construction techniques.   These advances explain some of the changes in architecture even between the terrible earthquake which devastated Pompeii in 62 CE and the destruction of the volcano.   Today was truly, a remarkable day.   The drive along the Sorrento peninsula is breathtaking and somewhat scary, reminiscent of Highway 101 along the northern California coast.   It’s about 45 minutes back towards Naples to Pompeii, and our guide lectured us on the history of Rome up to and including the year 79.   Although the capitol of the state was in Rome, the ...

Sorrento December 29, 2018 We slept late yesterday, and after breakfast went to the Naples airport to meet up with those members of our group who were just arriving after their overnight flights.   We then went to Sorrento, checked in to our hotel, and had lunch (simple pasta with tomato sauce and salad, all of which was very nicely done and delicious).   After a break for unpacking and a short nap, we took a walk around the city. This is not high tourist season (which is spring and fall, summer being too hot for most) and many of the hotels are closed.   But some are open for the holidays, and day visitors are numerous.   The weather is spectacular, with clear mornings in the 40s and sunny days with highs in the high 50s to low 60s. We took a walk in the late afternoon, starting at the main square in Sorrento: There are many very elaborate nativity scenes, some in churches and some free-standing.   Here’s one we visited with a close-up o...

Naples, Day 2 12/27/18 The program of Neapolitan song last night was fun, if not musically wonderful.   Four enthusiastic performers sang and played popular and classic Neapolitan songs.   Here’s a sample (click on the arrow): We had a full day today, with 15,000 steps!   Breakfast at our hotel is lovely, with many breads, including delicious sweet breads, fruit, many cheeses, meats including excellent prosciutto and salamis, strong coffee, fresh juices, and eggs.   After breakfast we began a walking day in Naples, heading to the water.   Google maps is wonderful—without it we would have been lost in the warren of streets in the old city. How many churches can one visit?   We stopped at a spectacular one, the Jesu Nuevo which is nearby our hotel.   Built over many years, it was completed in the early 1700s, and is a bit overwhelming:     The altar is incredible:   A creche in one of the chapels has ...

Naples  December 26, 2018 The trip over was uneventful but long.   There are no nonstop flights from the USA to Naples, so you have to change planes somewhere in Europe; we changed in Paris.   The flight from Paris to Naples on Christmas day was incredibly beautiful, over the Alps:     Our hotel is in the old city in a very old building.   The door is remarkable: There’s an ancient elevator which holds only two people and doesn’t quite stop at the floor—it’s either a few inches up or down depending on the day’s whimsy.   We took a long nap on Christmas afternoon, found a small café open and had a pasta dinner, and returned to the hotel to sleep the night.   After breakfast this morning we left the hotel, and in the adjacent square was a group of musicians entertaining the huge crowd of people out for a stroll.   Click the arrow:   We began walking to Via San Gregorio Armeneo, where we found what seemed t...