Mykonos, the Straights of Messina, Sorrento, and Pompeii

Mykonos, Greece was lovely with the white washed buildings trimmed in bright colors--the water was the bluest blue, and it was nice to play at the beach with the kids. We relaxed, ate at a cafe along the water, ate still more gelato, and did some light shopping. The next day we spent at sea, so I lounged at the pool and napped much of the day. The children continued working on their school work--both finished reports today which were emailed back to school.

On our way to Sorrento, we passed through the Straights of Messina (that's the toe of Italy's boot) this is the legendary home of Scylla and Charybdis. I watched for them, but they let us pass peacefully. We stayed up late on the deck to watch the almost constant eruption of Stromboli, one of Sicily's Lipari islands. We saw several flares of magma against the black sky.

We awoke in Naples, and boarded our tour bus at 7: 45 am. Mt. Vesuvius loomed over us as we drove to Sorrento for a trip to a local farm to see how they grow and process olives into olive oil and lemons for lemoncello. Many of the olive trees are believed to be over 500 years old--and they still produce heavy harvests. The farm also makes salami, cheese, and wine-all of which we eagerly sampled. (hic!) We watched a cheese making demonstration and headed off to into town for some shopping, strolling, and lunch.

We spent the afternoon in Pompeii, strolling the stone streets and listening to our guide tell us about live in Roman times. Did you know they collected urine at the laundry and used it as a source of ammonia to wash clothes? Personally, I prefer soap. . . I enjoyed seeing the communal bread ovens, some looked like modern pizza ovens. We ended our day with a visit to a tourist trap cameo factory.

Next stop: Rome!