Blue Lagoon Traveler

Sun Oct 16 - tour day -#9 Today we headed out early from the Amalfi Coast and went to Pompeii.  In 79AD, Mt Vesuvius (which is approximately 5.6 miles from Pompeii) erupted.  The lava flow did not reach Pompeii, but the city was covered in 20 feet of stone and ash.  The perfectly preserved ruined city was rediscovered in 1748 when an engineer was surveying the area. The systematic archeological dig didn’t start until at least 100 years later  Current day, 700,000 people live in the red zone of Vesuvius, which is still considered a dangerous volcano.  It sounds a little scary to me that it could blow and wipe things out again.  The area does have an advantage,   because of the volcanic ash the soil is very rich and they grow world class fruit and tomatoes.    Hopefully the pictures can tell the tale.  It was very crowded, but we had a great guide and he got us away from the crowds.  He painted a picture of a large modern city, with t...

 Sat Oct 15 - Tour day # 8.  We are on our own for a full day to enjoy the Amalfi Coast!  Some took boats, and buses to all different destinations.  I stayed close and went to the neighboring town.   Because I am in Italy, where over 80% of the population is Catholic, I started the day at the big Catholic church in town.  It was Santuario Santa Maria a Mare.  I am glad I went and read the info on the walls, because it just occurred to me that in Italy, the churches were the center of the communities and not just a place to worship or to go to on Sundays.  For example, during WWII, during some close bombings, townspeople sheltered together in this church.  (The Allies landed to the south of here). There is also a cool organ in the church, here is info about it - The monumental organ that towers above the main entrance was built in 1904 by the renowned firm of Zeno Fedeli of Foligno and was commissioned by the City Council. At the national leve...

 Friday October 14. 7th day of tour.  We are over 1/2 way through.  We are traveling over to the west coast of Italy, to an area called the Amalfi Coast,  The town is called Maiori.   But first, on the way we stopped at a buffalo farm and watched the process of making of mozzarella.  We saw it all the way from milking the buffalo to eating a lunch of mozzarella, ricotta, tomatoes and lettuce there.  We also enjoyed yogurt and ice cream made from Buffalo milk.  Next stop Paestum Italy, which was settled by the Greeks in the 7th century BC.  It was occupied for about 1400 years, and then for reasons unknown, abandoned.  It was rediscovered in the late 1700’s when explorers were out looking for Pompeii.  Unlike Pompeii, it was never covered up, so it is still very well preserved.   If you want to know more about it….  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paestum We spent a couple of hours wandering thru the ruins and the museum th...