Day 12: Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
Early Pickup
Today we had a full-day tour that included a 2hr guided visit of Pompeii and a driving tour of the Amalfi Coast. Those two things aren’t necessarily close to Rome, so we were picked up by our bus driver at 6:30am in front of our Airbnb.
Pompeii
At Pompeii, we lucked out with a fun tour guide. He’s an actual grandfather of three and a figurative grandfather to all the younger tour guides at the park.
After he confirmed that Kassidy and I were married, he continued to refer to her as “young American wife.” And, when talking to the both of us, “young visitors.” He was so friendly and full of jokes.
It was great to see Pompeii in person. Here’s a photo of the ruins of a wealthy person’s house.
In the ruins of the market, our tour guide told us that all of our previous guides in Florence and Rome were wrong about the renaissance. He said they claim that the masters in the early years of the renaissance developed the concept of 3D perspective, but here in Pompeii, covered in ash since the first century, there are hints of layered, 3D perspective.
Pompeii is surrounded by beauty.
Counteracting all this beauty is the evidence of the disaster that has popularized this town. Here’s one of the famous human plasters cast from the cavities left in the volcanic ash.
Drive to Positano
Our drive to Positano was amazing - but at a cost. The never ending winding roads made Kassidy carsick, but it did get her upgraded from the backseat to the front.
We stopped for a breather and one of the vendors was nice enough to cut up a fresh lemon. She told Kassidy it would settle her stomach. We figured we had to take a photo with the lemon.
At least the views were incredible! Here’s a full photo of Positano from the road.
Beachfront Lunch
There was one other couple in our “tour group.” It was hardly a group as we didn’t drive with them - Kassidy and I had our own van and personal driver. Nor did we tour Pompeii with them - we had a private guide for that as well! So lunch was really our only interaction. Once again, though, it’s nice to meet others. They’re from Michigan and are just visiting Rome for a week.
Wandering Positano
After lunch, we had a bit of time to walk around. Similar to Monterosso, it felt like every alley and corner was photo-worthy.
Our favorite part was finding this cozy cat. He wasn’t interested in anyone passing by - he just wanted to nap.
Someone even offered to take a photo of us near the cat. I think it turned out nice!
Driving included, it turned out to be a full day - we got back around 8pm. Time to plan out a final relaxing day in Rome.