Visiting Italy

April 28, 2013
On April 24 I headed to the Lido for breakfast hoping to find another adventurer to ride the Grand Canal. Lo and Behold, Michael and Claire from Australia were sitting trying to decide what to do. We hooked up for an expedition around Venice. We took the shuttle bus that Prinsendam provided from the ship to the People Mover which runs between a very huge parking lot and the downtown. For 1 Euro each it got us to within about 2 walking blocks of the Grand Canal. Once there we needed to buy tickets for a round trip on the #1 vaporetto. We found a PT ticket seller but he only sold tickets for the #2 vaporetto that terminates at St. Mark`s Square. As the cue was building quickly we thought we should just get on and was told to pay on the vaporetto. Well we had a lovely scenic ride along the Grand Canal and to Lido Island and then we came back again. The day was sunny and I spent the whole time thinking about what might happen if checkers came on and I got arrested. We never did pay. Venice has about 15,000 residents but there are about 60,000 that service all the shops and tourist attractions. These folk live outside Venice and commute by vehicle or the train crossing the lagoon from the mainland on the 3 mile expressway. Everyone transfers to the People Mover. AM and PM commute along the Grand Canal is a sight to see. There are stops along the canal for the vaporettos, but there are private boats, taxi boats, delivery boats, boats tied up along both sides of the canal and also police boats. One vaporetto has to wait for another to leave the stop going the opposite direction and then the second can pull into the same place but going another direction. Boat congestion was a sight to see. We saw the Doges Palace, St. Mark`s Square, Rialto Bridge, and the Bridge of Sighs as well as many other older buildings. Allow for a three hour round trip just staying on the vaporetto.
On April 26 we were anchored off the coast of Sicily at Taormina at the Port of Naxos after we had sailed for one day. We took a ride around to see Taormina along with a stop at the Gival Jewelry Factory where we watched jewelry being made from the lava of Mt. Etna. Mt Etna had spewed ashes into the air the previous Saturday leaving black ash 5 centimeters thick on the highways and the fine ash was still on the street and layered on cars when we got to the factory. As we drove along we watched the mountain as it blew smoke into the sky. Mt. Etna is the highest mountain in Europe. It has destroyed the town of Cantania 9 times and has erupted more than 140 times. Currently it stands at 3,330 meters high but the height varies as liquid magma is deposited on the rim. Sometimes it gets smaller as the rim is torn down by the next blow. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean with 26,000 square kms. It is said that ice cream came from Sicily about 1860. Taormina has about 12,000 residents. There is an unemployment rate of 15% among young people as many of them graduate with degrees but can`t seem to find work. Technical training is needed as construction workers, plumbers, electricians are in short supply. I enjoyed the area with its great views and the lovely people. Later in the evening we passed the island of Stromboli with its mountain spitting fire and lava. Passing it at night was beautiful and as we reached the north side we could see the constant orange glow.
Our next port of call was to be Sorrento for two days but there were going to be 3 other cruise ships anchored in the bay so our captain made some changes so we spent one day in Naples. I took off on a tour of Pompei but the rain and the slippery marble caused me some concern so I did not get up to the old city. There was a very nice hotel that a group of us sat in and visited while others went trinket shopping at the outdoor booths which surrounded the walls of the old city. Traveling passed Mount Vesuvius was almost bewildering after seeing both Mt. Etna and Stromboli as active. The ride was a nice one to see the surrounding countryside but I did miss seeing Pompei. Upon returning to the ship we had a very nice dinner and watched the traffic near the port. A tram station is right near the port and we saw trolley buses. There was a great deal of construction outside the terminal. A Hop On Hop Off bus stopped just across the street outside the terminal. Naples seems to be an easy city to get around in. Naples has a population of 1.6 million and is the 3rd largest city in Italy. Pompei and Herculaneum were both destroyed in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Pompei had been an important crossroad for commerce. The last time Vesuvius erupted was in 1944. The area around Vesuvius has about 900,000 residents.
Today April 28 we arrived in Sorrento. Sorrento is a wonderful small town with huge walls that come almost right down to the harbor. Like many of these old walled cities the roads are narrow and they have hairpin turns with high walls on both sides. The view from the upper city looking down on the port and our ship was clear and beautiful. The day seems to go by so fast once we'd returned from our tour that I did not have enough time to get the whole perspective of the town. A trip down the Amalfi Coast was winding and quite spectacular. There were many houses built way up on almost verticle cliffs with swimming pools and hot tubs. Interspersed with modern highend real estate were old watchtowers that sat sedately on points. Summer here is April through October and this was a 4-day weekend so there were lots of tourists out with most of them on motorcycles.I have been introduced to a new liquor made with lemons. It is quite popular here and is known as limoncello. It is sweet and has a thickness like port. The port area in Sorrento is lovely and has a nice walkway along the port.There were a number of small stores but as it was Sunday many of them were closed. It is now around 7 pm and we have left Sorrento and are heading to Civitavecchia which is a port for access to Rome. I have planned to see Rome tomorrow though how much walking I do will be decided as the day goes by.