Naples… We see Sorrento and walk through Pompeii….

As we came into port today, Mt. Vesuvius greets us.

  The volcano, and the fact that it’s active, dominates the environment.

 You can see it from every point. Today we take a drive to a little costal town known as Sorrento. The home of the Italian delight Limoncello! We get to experience more windy Italian roads to wind our way up to the town.  There were magnificent views of th coastline everywhere.

Looking down on Naples

Sharp cliffs as we enter Sorrento

Olive groves surround the area along with lemon orchards

 

The town square

  And as many churches as the East has temples!

Quaint roads

Interesting produce stands

  And of course lemons! Lemons as large as your fist!

After a lovely Italian lunch featuring the San Marsiano tomatoes which are from this area also, we jumped in our bus ( or more like rolled into it after a great lunch) to head to Pompeii 

On entering the National UNESCO site, we walked along the sides of the city wall. I must admit, this was not anything like I thought it would be.    Heading into the theatre areathe theatre walking along the city

Inside one of the villas

A fountain upon entry

A view of the marble tiles of the floor

Frescos on many walls

Steps to an upstairs

Along the Main Street there would have been venders. This one was selling food from these big pots

Stepping stones across the street

A bakery

A sign designating one of the 25 brothels they found here

Insid were frescos with the description of services and prices

A room with a bed and stone pillow 

  Al and I in the forum. Mt. Vesuvius and th temple of Jupiter in the background. There is a museum of artifacts found on the grounds. Inside we were treated to seeing many household items, statuary, and of course the ashen casted bodies of those who died. We only saw a small portion of the artifacts that have been excavated.

 A horse

Mosaic wall art

 

 Pompeiians who were killed first by the volcanic gases and then covered in ash for centuries. The explosion was in 79 AD. 

It was rather sobering to see. And after the walk through the site, nothing better than a lemon sorbet to wrap up the day!

 

We enjoyed seeing the site and Im glad I could see it. I have many more pictures of the site and chose to share only a few..its just overwhelming.

 Tomorrow we’re heading to Rome….

The days are rapidly going by and the next two days we have stops…..can’t believe the end is near!

“In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns” Calo.. from The Godfather

 Well today we visit Messina, Sicily and Al and I took a tour of the parts of rural Sicily where the movies scenes from “The Godfather” were filmed. 

Heading into dock this morning.

The above picture is taken as we travel in the bus. Once again the tinted windows cast their color over my pictures.

Our first stop was up the hillside (lots of hills!) to a small town of Forza d’agra. This is an old town on a peak with a higher peak that has the remains of a Norman castle on it that overlooks the bay. Getting there included many hairpin turns up the sides in a large bus…meaning that whatever was oncoming had to stop and back up while we took the turns!

After many curves we come into Frorza d’agra. The importance of this little town is that there is a church that was used at the set for “The Godfather” movies.

Entering the town

In the distance.. Mt. Etna 

Snow covered peaks of Mt. Etna

Walking along the streets to the church

The front of the church.

  

Inside the church was beautiful. Its called the church of the Annunction or church of St Mary.

Outside the streets were jut as quaint as I had hoped!

 

After walking around for a while we decided it was snack break time…

Cannoli and cappuccino! Delightful snack!

Down every street there’s something interesting!

Another church! 

 

After our visit to this town it was time to head to Savoca  another film city from the movie. Here we will visit a coffee shop and another church that was used in the movie. Churches here in Sicily are so old and beautiful I can see why they are used as backdrops for filming.Not only that, they often are rather dark and perfect for any film type.

As we drove to Savoca we again needed to travel on curvy bendy roads and close to the guard rail….that was excitement enough!  Then we arrived at the town square…a lovely little area with benches and trees providing shade. Across the street was the coffee shop where a scene ( that Albert quoted to me, just in case I forgot it) where Michael Corleone asks the father for his daughters hand in marriage….You all know Al so you can use your imagination on this one…anyway, we were invited inside to get a sample of good Italian gelato..and was it ever delicious!

In the movie, Michael sits underneath this sign when talking to the father.

The name was written above the bar by the movie props department

View of the bar from the  city square

Inside Bar Vitelli

Lots of memorabilia 

 Up the hill is this city’s church where the wedding scene was filmed.  The group will walk up the hill to look at the church.. I ,on the other hand will take a local taxi because I don’t think I need to try the uphill walk:

Its a modified golf cart but has lots of power to head up the hill at a break neck speed. Lots of fun and certainly worth the 5 euro it cost me!  No sweat, no worry!

 The front of the church

Baptismal font

St Andrew

Its a very small church inside but has a very large patio where the wedding scene was filmed.  We watched a few videos when we returned to the ship and sure enough..there was the front of the church! Its kinda cool to see the actual location!

This is the woman who played the mother

Along the way to the church are the stations of the cross

This was a jewish synagogue before WWII and then left and abandoned due to persecution.

Interesting to see pottery shards imbedded in this buildings walls

Another station of the cross

An arch over the walkway.

The openings in the wall are where the synagogue was

The road heading down the mountain to the port

Two happy travelers 

From the bus returning to the port- the port is watched over by a gold statue of Mary, the patron of the city of Messina.