10th October
Sorrento, Italy
We travelled 218 sea miles overnight and arrived in Sorrento at 7am. Early start today. We caught the first tender (lifeboat) from the ship to land. We planned to visit three places today: Vesuvius, Herkulanium and Sorrento. We forget how frustrating it is in Italy to try to do more than one thing in a day!! We love Italy however they don't like to hurry, have schedules, be on time or give out any information. We bought train tickets to Ercolano Scavi (2.50 Euro each). The rickety Sorrento train left on time but we managed to arrive 25 minutes late in Ercolano. We bought bus tickets to Vesuvius (10 Euro bus plus 10 Euro volcano entrance each return) the Vesuvius Express leaving in 20 minutes however we had to wait over an hour.

Vesuvius erupted in 79AD and it still has a smoking cauldron. We walked up hill to the crater on dark grey pummus for about 30 minutes. There was a mild sulphur smell and some steam rising out of vents. We were able to walk around the top of three quarters of the crater. The mist was coming down and meeting the steam. It was quite eerie. Back down to the car park. Our bus was not returning until 2:15pm (if on time!) and it was 1:30 and if we waited we would not have enough time for Herkulanium. We decided to pay 40 Euro for a taxi to take us to Herkulanium.

Herkulanium was buried in a sea of boiling mud sometimes up to 10 metres deep which spilled from the slopes of Vesuvius in 79AD. Some of the inhabitants tried to escape by ship but a tidal wave washed them back. Very few survived. Some sought shelter in the storerooms and their remains can still be seen. The site is much smaller than Pompeii. It was a resort for the wealthy and only a fraction has been uncovered as most of it is under the city of Ercolano.

Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum (Italian: Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Lost, along with Pompeii, Stabiae, Oplontis and Boscoreale, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Unlike Pompeii, the deep pyroclastic material which covered it preserved wooden and other organic-based objects such as roofs, beds, doors, food and even some 300 skeletons which were discovered in recent years.

We trained back to Sorrento and walked some of the self guided tour. We visited the ancient wall dating back to the Greeks and restored in the 16th century. The Cathedral Bell Tower dates back to the 6th century. The Saint Philip and Saint James Cathedral dated 1474 contains paintings from 1700s and wooden inlaid choir from 900AD. Sedile Dominova church dating back to 17th century and the Basilica of Saint Antonio dating back to 11th century.

On the way to the port to catch the last tender we walked through the shopping street and I bought some shoes. So excited!!

We departed from Sorrento about 6:30pm under a double rainbow. The evening entertainment was Brazilian singer Valdeci Oliveira.