Adventures in Italy: Pompeii, Trail of the Gods, Vesuvius, and Naples! (Part 3)

Although we could have stayed in Norma forever (peaceful, warm, beautiful, with fantastic paragliding . . . ), we couldn't quite give up on the rest of our trip, so after a morning flight, we headed south.

We got to Pompeii about 3 p.m. (last entrance is at 3:30 during low season) and unfortunately, all of the official guides were gone by then (normally they are available, just hanging around the official ticket line). Instead, we got the audioguides, which were OK, though I would have preferred a guide to tell the full story. Still, Pompeii was impressive and there was more to explore than we could see in a couple of hours. Of course, one story of Pompeii is those 4,000 who died in the eruption. There are a few casts to remind us of their loss.

The bigger story, though, is of all the people who lived! Pompeii was huge. A thriving trade center where people lived and loved and created. It was fascinating to learn of their water systems and societal norms. 

The mosaics, many of which have been transferred to the archaeological museum in Naples, were stunning. With so much of the art now removed, however, we decided we had to see the full collection (more on that later).  The craziest part of Pompeii for me was how old everything is, but still so well preserved.  And they haven't even finished excavations yet!

Traffic from Pompeii to Sorrento was surprisingly slow and finding a good place to eat was harder than expected. We finally opted for a little restaurant where we tried the traditional Margarita pizzas (named after Queen Margarita and boasting the Italian flag colors—red sauce, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil).

We were a little underwhelmed (one basil leaf?!). It may not be traditional, but I like a loaded pizza! Still, even mediocre pizza in Italy is delicious and we ate every bite. Our hotel had an incredible view of the bay and Mt. Vesuvius and My Man set an alarm so we could watch the sunrise. It was worth the early wakeup.

We drove straight to Positano after breakfast, intent on hiking the Trail of the Gods (Il Sentiero degli Dei). Although most people hike from Bomerano to Nocelle (the path with an elevation drop and the best views), since we were driving from Sorrento I decided to start at the trailhead in Nocelle, above Positano, to minimize driving. My Man and I were going to hike half the trail (roundtrip) to avoid the problem of a transfer. My Man, however, had been hit by a cold and that combined with the terribly hard beds we’d been trying to sleep on meant he wasn’t thrilled by the idea of the hike. Instead of canceling, he gallantly offered to drop me off at the trailhead in Nocelle and pick me up at the other end. He’s really awesome like that. I could have kissed him at the offer (if he hadn’t been so germy) since hiking the trail had been one of my top priorities for the trip. It’s a good thing he is an intrepid driver, because the road up to the trailhead (and back down) is pretty insane—narrow, crowded, and extremely windy (apparently most of the Amalfi coast road is similarly difficult and if we go back we will avoid driving there).

I followed the well-marked signs to the trail’s beginning (and climbed about a million stone stairs on the way!). Unfortunately, that’s where the clear marking ended. I stood looking at the big official map and then turned to look at the trail. Or rather, trails. I could make out at least six paths branching out from the official sign with no official markings or indications about which was the actual trail. The fact that I thought to take a picture at this point to document the many trail options should have been a sign (haha, sorry, bad pun).

Stumped, I set off on what looked like the most well-used path. After awhile, I met a group of goats, their bells clanging merrily as they ate. Not long after that, my well-used path began to dissolve into a series of goat trails and soon it was impossible to tell what was the main path. Hmm, I wasn’t sure if I should head back to the beginning (about 10 minutes behind me) to try a new path or, it seemed that I could see a more established path along the hillside above me. I probably should have turned back. Instead, I climbed up to the other path. It was a lovely path. I was surprised not to see any official markings, but the path was wide and clear and headed the right direction, so I happily hiked along. It had a decently steep incline, but I was expecting that. I was, afterall, hiking the trail backward. The views were stunning.

As the trail neared a steep ravine, it also became smaller and steeper. It was clear I was not, afterall, on the Trail of the Gods, but on the Trail of the Goats. So, faced with the decision whether to continue or head back and try to find the official path (now more than 30 minutes behind me), I opted to push forward since it was such well-used trail that I figured maybe it would still go through and I didn’t want My Man to be waiting too long for me on the other side (this is where My Man would interject that while I am a master planner, my on-the-fly decision-making skills could use a tune-up). Soon after, however, the trail deadended into a spectacular cliff—towering above and below. There was no option but to turn back.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the ocean was spectacular in front of me. So, while the setback was frustrating, it wasn’t all bad. As I backtracked, I considered the experience a bonus hike. About halfway back, I spotted the real trail far, far below me down the mountain. With a wooden banister and other people hiking there, it was obviously the real deal. The question was how to reach it. I could continue all the way back to the original sign and hope that I made the right choice this time, or try to make my way down to the path I could see. Since there were myriad goat trails heading down and I was already behind schedule, I opted for the more direct path. There were a few setbacks when goat trails ended in drop-offs, but it didn’t take too long for me to make it down the mountain to the actual trail to “begin” my hike.

My shadow selfie celebrating finding the correct path at last!

And wow. The earlier hiking had been wonderful but the Trail of the Gods was really phenomenal on a whole other level. I loved stumbling across old stone ruins, turning back to see the precarious and colorful seaside towns perched on the mountainside and running down to the ocean, and the cliffs set a dramatic backdrop for everything.

I counted myself very blessed to have a husband patient enough to humor my passion for getting away from it all and hiking. As I climbed, drinking in the fantastic views and sunshine, I was grateful just to be alive.

I would hike that trail again tomorrow (or tonight) or any time I have the chance. It was definitely worth it and one of my absolute highlights from our trip (and the real trail is well marked with red dots/dashes every few meters. Not sure how I missed it originally—must be less clear at the end because most people are traveling the other direction). Anyway, I made it to the end in just over 2 hours (estimated time for the trail that direction without detours is 3 hours, so I felt pretty good about myself). My Man just barely beat me to the other side and took the chance to hike a bit of the trail himself. Perfect.   

Although hiking the full trail meant I missed the Amalfi Coast drive (we didn’t stop at the Emerald Grotto as I’d planned or lunch in Positano), I felt like I’d seen plenty from the trail and My Man had had more than enough of that drive, so we headed overland toward Mt. Vesuvius.

The trail up Mt. Vesuvius isn’t very long, but it’s steep and after my morning scamper my legs were burning! We reached the top and were adequately awed by the views of Naples, the ocean, and Pompeii. We looked over the edge into the deep gulf of the crater and watched the sulfurous steam waft toward us. It was humbling to imagine the magnitude of the eruption that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum while standing on the rim of the volcano that is overdue a similarly huge explosion. After a sufficient time spent gaping and imagining, we headed back down the hill to tackle the chaos of Naples.

Parking on the edge of town (at Parcheggio Brin), we taxied straight to the Archaeological Museum of Naples to explore the riches of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The mosaic collection is unbelievable, especially after exploring Pompeii. I was amazed to learn that the museum has housed the Pompeii artifacts since 1750—that means that the museum has been a museum longer than the United States has been a country!

After the museum, we had one goal: pizza from the birthplace of pizza!  We walked from the museum to Spaccanapoli, soaking in the intensity and grittiness of Naples. It was fascinating. And then we found it, the best pizza place in the world: Vesi Pizza. My personal pizza smothered in mozzarella cheese and tomatoes and arugula was big enough that I ended up eating it for three straight meals! My Man managed to finish his pesto pizza in one sitting (impressive!). You'd think that after all this pizza we'd be ready for something else, but no. I would eat that pizza again tomorrow. And the next day. And . . . well you get the picture. After pizza it was time for one more Italian gelato (yum!) before heading for home.

And that was our trip: sun-drenched, cheesy pizza and gelato-filled chaotic cities, historical sites, and beautiful mountains and sea. Did we see all of Italy? Nope. But saw a lot and we loved every bit. Italy—we love you! This trip was not our last!

**Disclaimer, we visited during the beginning of low season when crowds and prices were down but we lucked out with perfect weather.  We probably would have had a less enchanted view of Italy if it had been cold and rainy or hot and crowded.  November travel is a gamble, but for us it worked great!

Adventures in Italy: Vatican City and Paragliding Norma, Part 2

The next morning we checked out of our hotel early and set out for our morning Vatican Museums tour (8am exclusive tour with Italywithus.com). Normal admission to the Vatican Museums is at 9 a.m., but I’d read that the crowds were so dense it was hard to appreciate the grandeur, so we elected to splurge a bit for the pre-admission ticket at 8. Frankly, I can’t imagine the 9 a.m. crowds because by 8 the place was already an absolute zoo! And we were there in the low season! 

Unfortunately, our headsets didn’t work and our guide was a bit obnoxious so I can’t recommend the company, but I still would recommend getting the early tickets since it saved us lots of time in lines and the crowds got worse and worse the longer we were there. 

Sadly our itinerary didn’t allow time for the Vatican City paintings exhibits (definitely have to go back), but we did wander (fairly quickly) through some of the Vatican Museum's sculptures and tapestries before arriving at My Man's favorite exhibit: the Gallery of Maps, which outlined with stunning accuracy the breadth and power of the Vatican's dominion (all the better to intimidate supplicants).  In addition to the maps along the walls, the ceiling's frescoes are amazing.

My favorite room was the Raphael room.  I loved seeing the paintings and imagining the rivalry between the two starkly contrasting personalities of Rafael and Michelangelo.  

I especially loved the symbols of diversity--whether indicative of a progressive Pope (as our guide indicated) or of Rafael himself (as I am more inclined to believe), it was wonderful to see the culmination of various religious symbols and philosophers and races brought together to represent enlightenment. 

By the time we got to the Sistine Chapel, we were shoulder to shoulder with other people staring up at Michelangelo's masterpiece on the ceiling and at his Last Judgement on the alter wall. It is really amazing to see in person. I recommend Steve Rick’s audio guide for both the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica (our tour guide left us right before the chapel). After a sufficient time of neck-kricking staring at the ceiling and walls (although really, there are so many paintings and stories in this room you could really spend hours), we reluctantly headed out to see the Basilica. (No pictures allowed in the Chapel, but here is Wikipedia's complete gallery of the ceiling and here is the Last Judgment.)  And here's one picture of the iconic Adam by open source pics: 

Just before heading into the Basilica from the Sistine Chapel, we passed by these mosaic gems depicting the life of Christ.  Nearly hidden, they were stunning in their vibrant simplicity.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the entire Vatican City experience for me, was to see Michelangelo's Pieta’, housed in St. Peter’s Basilica after just having seen his fresco masterpieces (in spite of his adamant claim that he was a sculpture, not a painter) and then gazing up at the dome he designed as his last artistic triumph. To consider the man who so completely epitomizes the renaissance, re-making himself again and again as an artist to such acclaim from the beginning to the end of his life, is truly inspiring. 

The sheer scale of the art in the Basilica is another jaw-dropping experience. Until you are there, you simply cannot appreciate the hugeness of it all. The “little” cherubs are bigger than a person and everything gets bigger from there. It’s simply stunning (and a little much, honestly). 

For me, the entire experience was inspiring and fascinating and wonderful, but too busy and gaudy to be sacred. Give me a quiet mountain top or forest glen, and there is where my soul renews.

And that is exactly where we headed next. After stopping for one last pizza in Rome, we grabbed our rental car and headed for the hills of Norma. 

Our little AirBnB apartment was literally perched on a cliff (the balcony stuck out over the drop off) and it was impossible to drive to (we meandered on foot through tiny rock alleyways to find it), but it was enchanting. The bed faced full-window walls on three sides and the sun shone in brightly.

We dropped off bags and headed straight for the paragliding launch at the Norba archaeological site. There, a herd of sheep grazed, families picnicked, the sun shone, the grass and wildflowers smelled enchanting, and the half-ruined stone castle stood sentinel on the hill behind us. 

My Man launched into the sunset and soared as I soaked in the last of the day’s sunshine and my soul expanded. As much as I loved Rome, I loved the quiet hills of Norma even more.  In fact, we loved Norma so much we were tempted to ditch the rest of our trip and just stay there!  To find out what we decided, you'll have to read Part 3 . . . 

My Big Fat Greek Adventure Part 2: Athens Acropolis, Agora, Temple of Zeus

One of the only unfortunate parts of our Greece vacation was the logistics of getting from one place to the next.  If we were millionaires, we could have saved a lot of time and inconvenience by flying straight to Thessaloniki, driving (or better yet helicoptering!) to Leptokarya, then catching the train down to Athens.  Instead, we ended up doing quite a bit of backtracking.  We flew from Athens to Thessaloniki, rented a car, drove to Leptokarya, then drove back to Thessaloniki (past the bus station) to drop off the rental car by the airport, then had to catch a cab back to the train station and catch the train from Thessaloniki (going back past Leptokarya) to Athens.  All in all, it added several hours to our travel time but saved several hundred dollars.  Worth it.  Barely.

My Man volunteered to do the rental car exchange, dropping the kids and me off at the train station to avoid the extra backtracking.  Inadvertently, he also dropped off all his money, which meant he was stranded at the rental car office with no way back to the train station, even though the bus fare was the equivalent of less than a dollar!  And we had no cell service so he was completely on his own.  Fortunately, he still had his debit card and was able to find an ATM and get back to us in plenty of time to catch our train.

We'd opted to take the train to Athens rather than fly, not only to save the money, but also because the kids had never traveled by train before (unless you count our trip to NYC a few years ago, which for some reason, they don't).  It was a fun trip.  We got a huge discount for being a "large family" (at least three kids) and upgraded to first class for a few extra bucks, which meant that we had a compartment with six seats all to ourselves . . . until an unfortunate sixth person arrived about half-way through the trip.  I'm not sure he thought his upgrade was worth it, being stuck in a compartment with our crazy group.  He put on his headphones and feigned sleep the whole way.  But we will never forget the gum incident of 2017 (I can't bring myself to publish it to the world--you'll have to ask Young Man for the dirty details).

My favorite part of the train ride was standing in the caboose and watching Greece fall away behind us outside the windows.  It was beautiful.  We chugged past ruins and villages, through mountains and along the ocean.  I only wished I'd prepared better food to bring along, since the restaurant car didn't have any gluten free options and six hours is quite a long ride without any real food.  Luckily we did have a few granola bars and apples.  And gum. . .

We arrived in Athens around 3, caught the metro to within a block of our apartment, and walked in.  It was a beautiful apartment just blocks from the Acropolis (almost next door to the Acropolis Museum and metro stop), with a grocery store and bakery downstairs.  It was definitely our best-ever AirBnB experience!  In fact, after a quick shopping trip to stock up on groceries and then making and cleaning up dinner, it was still early enough that we decided to hit the Acropolis that night.  It was a fantastic decision, since (as we saw the next morning), it was much less crowded and cooler than if we'd waited until morning, plus it left more time for exploring the next day.

The Acropolis ruins are really fantastic, but there is restoration work going on that mars the experience just a little.  At first, I thought we'd timed our trip badly, but turns out there has been ongoing restoration work and scaffolding on the Parthenon since 1983!  Even so, the experience was incredible and some strategic angling allowed some good photos.  Even better was just being there, soaking in the views, contemplating the history, the beauty, the experience.

Before we even got up to the Parthenon though, we walked through several ruins of temples and theaters and were wowed by the Theater of Herodes Atticus, built in AD 160.  It's huge!

Then we climbed the stairs to the top of the acropolis to see the Parthenon and other ruins atop the hill.  The views of Athens were stunning.  The beauty of the ancient buildings was powerful (as was the wind!).  The whole experience was surreal.

I couldn't believe I was actually there, in the city of mythology and philosophy and ancient texts, seeing it all with my own eyes, imagining how it might have looked when it was alive, not ruins.

We left just as the Acropolis was closing and headed to a nearby hill for sunset.  The path was lined with wildflowers and we had the place practically to ourselves.

The views were even better than they'd been from the Acropolis (because now we were actually looking at it!).  The only problem was the wind made pictures difficult for those of us with long hair.

The kids had fun goofing of, running around, and posing for pictures.  It was a nice way to end a day that had been mostly travel, and the perfect introduction to Athens.

The next day we headed to the Agora, and I was enchanted.  I love how one website describes the space:

Strolling through the ruins of the Agora one can't escape the unbearable weight of history that hovers about the place, and yet, the form of the landscape reflects none of the splendor of magnificent buildings that once adorned the landscape. The lacy arguments of ancient Greek philosophers who strolled the ground leading their pupils scattered in the winds throughout the globe, and the ruined stones speak of fiery orations only in a silent sort of way. Despite the magnificent rock of the Acropolis that commands the landscape of the Agora from above, and the majestic presence of the Temple of Hephestus that balances the Parthenon across the plateau, the Agora remains a shy, humble and tranquil place.

Of all the historical ruins we visited in Greece, the Agora was one of my favorites.  The Temple of Hephestus (built in 450 BC) still stands impressively on the hill, with several well-preserved friezes along the tops, the museum is wonderful, and the grounds are beautiful.

The quiet sunshine of the morning, the relative emptiness of the place, and the abundance of wildflowers all contributed to its charm.

One of my favorite parts, though, was listening to Funny Guy explain the myths and stories behind each of the characters we encountered (at the Agora and throughout our whole trip).  I would read a brief description about a ruin or statue, and we would all look to Funny Guy who would say, "Want to know more about so-and-so?" and launch into a colorful story about how that particular Greek historical figure made history.

It was even better in the museum where we paused at each statue so that he could regale us with stories, breathing life into the headless, armless relics, each centuries (some even thousands of years) old but still alive in the imagination of our 9-year-old.  Simply amazing.

Funny Guy kept the trip interesting in other ways as well, making it his personal mission to photo bomb as many pictures as possible.  After we'd wandered through the Agora for a couple hours, we headed out to climb Mars Hill, site of Paul's Biblical confrontation with the people of Athens.

The steep climb was rewarded with more incredible views of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis.  And we could see the throngs of people already filling the place, reminding us how wise we'd been to visit the evening before!

Although it was already way past lunchtime, we decided to take the long way home so we could stop by the Temple of Zeus (stopping along the way for some delicious gelato of course).

The Temple of Zeus is (rightly) ginormous and that's with only 15 of the original 104 columns left standing!

It's history is fascinating--construction began and stopped and started again multiple times over hundreds of years as the area was conquered.  It was finally finished by the (reputedly cruel) Emperor Hadrian in 131 AD, who had a giant ivory and gold statue of himself erected next to the similarly giant and ornate statue of Zeus inside.  He also had this arch erected, to remind the people that he, and not the Greek gods of mythology, was now in charge:

But not anymore.  Fully quenched of our historical thirst for a time, Funny Guy declared the sight-seeing over for the day (little did he know what was still in store . . . ).

We relaxed in some ancient arm chairs (surprisingly comfortable, though they could use some cushions!) in the beautiful park nearby until hunger overcame exhaustion and we were able to walk the rest of the way home for lunch.

Although we were out of time for sightseeing in Athens, our trip was still far from over.  In a few hours, we were scheduled to pick up our rental car so that we could head out to the Temple of Poseidon for sunset that evening, then head out for our adventures in the Peloponnese early the next morning.  But that will have to wait for another blog post.