We have been away from the Internet facilities for a few days so while this could be a mamouth entry, I will break it down into sections to make it more manageable.

Saturday 3 June

After completing the laundry on the first day in Sorrento, as the sun was shining we decided to explore the coast a little more. To save any further driving we took the local bus to Positano on the recommendation of an American couple we met in our hotel. This proved to be great fun as the bus twisted and turned along the cliff-side. The driver was taking no prisoners, so all oncoming traffic scattered out of his way. Positano is a small village built up the cliffside from a tiny port and beach below. It is really pretty to see all the white-washed houses tumbling down the hillside. We meandered downhill in the sunshine and wandered about before taking the shorter and less steep circuit out of the village back up to the main road and the bus back to Sorrento. By the time the bus arrived there was a bus load and a half waiting to board it. The driver was a real star and did his best to get everyone on, encouraging everyone to squash up and apart from his knee I believe every other space on the bus was occupied. Then it was foot down and away back to Sorrento - quite an experience!

That evening we dined in the hotel which was located like an eagles nest high up on the cliffs looking out over the Gulf of Naples and down onto Sorrento below. We could not have imagined a more delightful place to be.


On Sunday, the 4th June we decided to have a cultural day and visit the sites of Ercolanum and Pompeii.

We took the hotel shuttle bus into Sorrento and then caught the local train, first to Ercolanum. The day started well with the sun shining on us and as we had made an early start there were not too many people at the site. We really enjoyed wandering the narrow streets and exploring the villas of the wealthy who had lived in that area. Many of the buildings were pretty well intact and there were mosaics and wall paintings intact in many of them (of course the best bits were in the museums). On the way out of the site we bumped into a local parade - Italy down the ages were represented. The parade was led by a centurion in his chariot, then Byzantine Italy, 19 century Italy and then down through the 20th century with flappers, post WW2, and 60s. Jeff managed to catch the eye of a medieval lady in a carriage and she gave him a carnation!

After a bite to eat we caught the train again, just a couple of stops down the line and we were in Pompeii. The enormity of the site was quite mind blowing, plus the fact that there is still much more to be discovered. Everything was on a much bigger scale here, making it less intimate. There were huge temples to Appollo, the forum area and surrounding shops being interesting and we found 2 open air theatres plus a huge amphitheatre (not quite Coliseum size). During the afternoon the weather changed and mount Vesuvius disappeared from view beneath thunder clouds - we had obviously chosen the wrong gods to favour. We had to shelter from the rain for a while but there was a convenient arch or two nearby.

It was two weary people who got off the train in Sorrento and it decided to rain again so in our dash for the hotel bus we got very wet - but it had been a good day and we had all evening to enjoy our view, even if the clouds did roll around Vesuvius across the bay.

Monday 5th June

Monday morning dawned bright and clear and we had a lazy breakfast before packing up again and set off around the Sorrento peninsuar towards Salerno. The whole of that coastline is so pretty. We went through Positano again, a quick coffee stop in Amalfi and through, above and around numerous other little cliffside villages.

Salerno was a great disappointment. A bit scruffy, busy, industrial port, so we headed further south, keeping to the coast road to another historical site I had read about - Paestum. This turned out to be wonderful. We found a hotel immediately opposite the entrance and arrived early enough for Jeff to have a swim in the pool (I paddled - it was a bit chilly for me). Then it was across the road to the site of 3 most wonderful Greek temples, probably more complete than the Acropolis. Obviously a site not known to many outside Italy and although it is cared for, not a lot of money had been spent on it (unlike Pompeii). It was magical wandering around it in the late afternoon sunshine with only a few people about. We were glad we had made the effort to come that little bit further south.

The next morning we retraced our journey to Salerno and then across Italy from west to east. This journey took us through a range of mountains and then across a vast wheatland plain. It took about 3 hours and we decided to make a slight detour and visit a castle I had read about.

Castelo del Monte was interesting for the fact that everything about it was 8-sided. The body of the castle was built in an octagone shape and there were 8 octagonal towers on each corner and all the internal rooms were octagonal too. It was built around the time of the Crusaders and had been occupied until around the 17 century when it fell into neglect. The Italian Government have been instrumental in restoring it in recent years and now it stands magnificent on a hill overlooking the countryside for many miles around.

Then we drove to Trani on the coast - another town with a large cathedral unusually built right on the side of the port. It had an interesting old centre to the town and it rained there too! We drove up the coast to the area on the map that looks like the spur on the boot of Italy - the Gargano National Park. Here we stayed in a small town call Mattinata in a hotel called The Veranda, that overlooked the sea.