June 30-July 3, 2024
After we left Sicily, we sailed past the island of Stromboli – which has an active volcano. My own phone photo camera could not get a pic – but pro Matty had the right stuff! (From the ship you could see the flames spouting in the distance)
We docked in Naples about 1.5 miles from the train station, and had the option to walk all the way or part way and do the rest by subway. Even though it was warm, we opted for the walk. Our companions for the day were Andrea and John – who proposed the trip to Herculaneum, a thirty minute €3 pp train ride from Naples. Since I can’t resist a walk among ancient ruins, we agreed to tag along. Entry tickets were €16 pp, and an audio guide was €16 for 2. The train station tuned out to be further from the site than we’d thought – as the only current entrance was on the opposite side (about another 1.5 miles).
Herculaneum, like Pompeii, was destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius blew in 79AD. Where Pompeii was covered in ash, Herculaneum sustained the initial hot blast followed by lava. Unfortunately, very few made it out alive.
But what has been uncovered offered a glimpse of life in the 1st century AD
Except for a lunch with pretty good pizza, we didn’t spend much time in Naples (though longer than we thought – John did the “good doobie” thing and handed a small wallet he’d found over to nearby police. They took his passport before combing through the found wallets contents. After about 20 minutes they finally returned John’s passport and we continued on to the ship).
The dock for Rome is over an hour away in Civitavecchia. John chose to explore the immediate area and I took the Royal “World Wonders” tour to Rome included with the cruise (even though I’d been multiple times I still can’t resist a walk among the ruins). They provided an OK lunch with entertainment and “atmosphere”.
Then along the coast to Carrara – known for marble, and a jumping off spot to visit Pisa or Florence.
It is also very close to the Cinque Terre towns along the Italian Riviera. We’d seen the Rick Steves episode on the area (https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/season-8/italys-riviera-cinque-terre) and with only a 45 minute train ride to the furthest town – Monterosso – we decided to head to the idyllic towns that dot the coast. The train ride to Monterosso was an express from Carrara – and the station dropped us next to the start of the hiking trail. After a short walk around, we grabbed a quick coffee and croissant before starting our hike to the neighboring village of Vernazza. We did not realize when looking at the lovely paved path that this section was judged the “most rigorous” of the paths between the towns. 2 1/2 miles apart, with a very steep climb up, around, then descending into Vernazza. Its a good thing I do yoga and balance work!
We enjoyed a lovely lunch in Vernazza (and John took a quick dip) before grabbing the very crowded local train back to Carrara.
The next day we tendered into the very exclusive (read expensive) town of Portofino. The area is known as a “playground for the rich” – with villas dotting the hillside. Hiking was not on the agenda, but we ended up on the E12 trail (The EU provides and maintains many public hiking trails – this one along the Italian coast). We started up the occasionally steep trail, coming across the little St. Sebastian Church, up to a park, and then we found a trail down that my GPS said would only be about 1 km – much shorter than the previous, so we decided to return that way. It was shorter – but extremely steep (basically a 1km stairway straight down with an occasional landing). Generally well maintained, but recent rains had washed dirt and loose rocks over some of the steeper sections, making us watch our feet closely with very small steps. Along the trail we saw one gentleman both John and I agreed was a character actor that always played the second-in-command to someone else, though we couldn’t name a definite show, we had seen him a lot. We also encountered a number of fellow cruisers – some of whom we discouraged from attempting the steep uphill climb. I shared my photo of the view.
As a way of being “exclusive” – Portofino restaurants charge a fortune – €20 for a simple mixed salad and €50 for a cocktail containing sparkling wine of any sort. I opted to return to the ship after grabbing my requisite magnet, John chose to head to the next town by bus (and had a nice menu del dia for €21).