Pompeii or Bust (Part One)

This is where I am supposed to talk about how awful Pompeii is because Joe, Debbie and Derek changed their minds about visiting Pompeii on the "Free day" in Rome and instead, hung out with us. I will say vehemently, that I still think they made the right choice, but I am afraid I will not be able to report a sad story about Pompeii. Today was wonderful in every way.

The drive from Rome to Pompeii was a needed break but was also another glorious look outside the windows at areas in the Southern regions of Italy. Ironically, the area around Pompeii looks a lot like the Texas City in that it's a very industrial (read as UGLY) area until you drive right into the area around Pompeii. Carmen did point out that we have entered the region of oranges and lemon's which will become present in our drinks, on our plates and in the swag for sale at gift shops from Pompeii, to Sorrento, to our last stop at Capri.

When I traveled to Italy in 2007 with my pal Anne, I regretted not having bought hand carved Cameo's for my girls, as Italy is known for it's hand crafted Cameo's, especially around the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I was determined not to make that mistake twice and Patrick was fully on board here too. Carmen assured us to wait until Pompeii and that she'd take us to a nice Cameo store so this is where we kicked our day off when we exited the bus to Pompeii. In the shop, we were welcomed and then gathered around a very old man, who had been carving cameo's from sea shells there for over 30 years. He spoke ZERO English but had a smile bigger than Dallas and was happy to sit and entertain the kids with his carving abilities, long after the adults moved away to shop for cameo's. The prices were much much better than at the Ponte Vecchio and the service was charmning. Mission accomplished in that we bought the girls cameo earrings of their choosing, two small rings for me, and a beautiful cameo pendant for my sister as her birthday has passed during our being in Italy. We were not alone as it seemed like most everyone was shopping for a cameo of some sort before heading across the street to Pompeii.

We walked through some stalls and were immediately taken back by the mass of the lemons there. They were double fisters, about the size of cantaloupe's. Every vendor offered fresh squeezed lemonaide or orange juice made from these beautiful fruits grown locally. This is undoubtedly "Limoncello" ground zero as well. Limoncello is an after dinner liquor that may as well be a whisky shooter. The Lemon in it makes you think it'd be sweet and savory but instead, it's enough to burn all the way down and finish with a cough. I'm sure someone, somewhere, thinks it's delicious. :-(

We were able to enjoy a fixed menu lunch at a swanky hotel that is perched near the entrance of Pompeii, or a self serve lunch in which you could pick and choose the pieces to your meal. Everyone except for Patrick and the girls and I chose the fixed menu meal and said it was great. Pizza, wine/soda's and dessert. Patrick and the girls and I had a great meal, filled with local veggies which we have been missing in the land of carbs. Patrick and I had a plate of roasted chicken with eggplant, carrots, roasted potatoes, peas, roasted red and yellow peppers and zuchinni. Mackenzie had ravioli and Madelyn had Lasagna and we all shared a big bowl of fresh cherries and a plate of carprese (roma's, mozerella and basil)

Now that we've shopped and filled our guts...it's time to enjoy Pompeii.