Italy Part 3: Sorrento with day trips to Pompeii, Capri and Praiano

Italy Part 3: Sorrento with day trips to Pompeii, Capri and Praiano

Monday March 25 - Sorrento
         On Monday we took an early train from Florence to Naples. Once we got to Naples we took this sketchy metro/train thing to Sorrento. Ok, so it wasn't sketchy, it was just extremely graffitied, dirty and old. And packed full of people, we could barely get on! So that wasn't too fun. But we got to Sorrento ok, and checked into our hotel, which we spent a little extra money on since we would be staying there 3 nights. It was really nice and quite big. We got some sandwiches from a nearby store, because on our way to the hotel the man kept telling us about his sandwiches. They definitely weren't paninis like he told us, but they were alright. We spend the rest of the day walking around Sorrento, looking at all of the little shops, getting gelato and going down by the coast. 

Crazy road, and walking path, down to the coast

Sorrento by the coast

Looking down on Sorrento

              It was then time for dinner! I had the house made pasta with shrimp and zucchini, and it was really good!

Dinner

               After dinner we decided to walk up to where we were earlier in the day, to get some night pictures of Sorrento. While we were up there we heard music being played. So we literally ran down the hill back to the main area of Sorrento, and found a procession for the Virgin Mary. There was a full band, with probably 20 to 30 musicians, people in robes and carrying torches and 6 people carrying a statue of Mary. We followed them, and they went into a little church, blessed Mary, and then processed back out so we followed them for a little while. We walked through a lot of small streets of Sorrento, and people were standing on balconies and watching or throwing flowers on Mary. We left because it started to rain, but they were still processing somewhere. In Italy and Spain, there are a lot of traditions and processions during Holy Week (even though it wasn't officially Holy Week), so my best guess is that is what it was!

Statue of Mary

Inside of the church where they blessed Mary, at the altar. On the right side is one of the people holding torches, and some of the band.

Tuesday March 26 - Day trip to Pompeii
           After a breakfast with pastries, fruit, yogurt and bread at the hotel, we set off to Pompeii! We did have to take the sketchy train thing to Pompeii, but it wasn't as crowded this time.
          Since I just visited the Pompeii exhibit in Madrid and wrote a 3 page summary on it for my ancient art history class, I've got all this information down! Pompeii was an ancient Roman city (during the Roman Empire) that was destroyed and covered by ash in a volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Many people in the city died, either encased by rubble, or by asphyxiation by poisonous volcanic gases. The cite was really well preserved, since it was buried in ash, and work to uncover it started in the 1700s, and continues today. Pompeii was a city that was booming at the time, it was very large, was an important center for trade and had all the characteristics of a Roman city - amphitheater for spectacles and gladiator fights; theater for performances; Roman forum as an area for the public; public baths; many bakeries, fruit shops and taverns lining the streets; fish and meat markets; houses of poor, working class and wealthy; temples dedicated to Roman gods and goddesses; administration buildings; and basilica (for public justice). 
           Pompeii is the best preserved ancient Roman city, and helped historians to collect more information on the lives of ancient Romans. Many artifacts were really well preserved because of the volcanic ash, and as I saw in the exhibit in Madrid, some look as good as new! Romans usually decorated their houses with frescoes, and many of these can be seen still remaining in Pompeii, more intact ones have been taken out and are preserved in museums. The frescoes are known for their Pompeiian Red, made from cinnabar and sulfur, which was actually yellow ochre. During the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the volcanic gases turned the yellow to red. Many casts of people who died can also be seen in Pompeii. In 1860, Giuseppe Fiorelli injected plaster between the bones and solidified ash of those who had perished during the eruption, making a cast and preserving their forms. 
           If you ever go to Pompeii, prepare to get lost! The place is absolutely enormous, and if you wanted to see everything you would probably have to do it in like 3 days. And if you really want to know what each building is, you should probably get an audio tour. We didn't do the audio tour, but with our knowledge of Roman things we could kind of piece together what everything was, and overhearing tour guides helped too. Many times we just wandered off the main path, into ruins that weren't blocked off, and kept going through the maze of buildings until we couldn't walk anymore. We felt like real explorers! I ended up taking close to 400 pictures, so I picked out some of the best pictures!

Largest street of Pompeii

Along one of the streets, you could tell there had been many bakeries, taverns, and other food shops because there were many of these. This probably was a tavern (where people socialized, ate and drank), and the holes in the marble where used to keep food heated. The food was put into jars, and then into the circular holes in the marble.

Mosaic at entrance to a house. "Cave Canum" (Latin) = Beware of dog

 

Fresco (wall painting) in a tavern, with Pompeiian Red

Theater, where plays would be performed

Amphitheater where spectacles like gladiator fights, wild beast shows and public executions would take place. 

Cast of person who died in the eruption. The forms of the people were kept because of the hardened ash, with everything except the bones left intact. So, they inject plaster into the space, between ash and bones, and then chip away the ash to get the solidified plaster cast. On this cast you can see that the man is wearing clothes, and also has a pained expression on his face.

Covered area used to store artifacts from the site, partially open with a fence so we could see everything but not go in. It had everything from amphoras (vases), pieces of columns, statues, marble tables or fountains and casts of people who died in the eruption. A lot of artifacts that are in better condition are on display in museums, so I guess these things weren't good enough! Although there was a sign that said one of the things had been moved to Madrid, so whatever it was I probably saw it in the exhibit I went to!

 

          After our long day of exploring, we had some dinner and gelato! We ate at the same restaurant, and I got what Claire had the day before, since it looked so good! Onion and bacon pizza, yum!

Dinner

 Wednesday March 27 - Day trip to Capri and Praiano
            For our last day in Sorrento, we took a trip to the island of Capri and Praiano on the Amalfi Coast. It was kind of a messed up day, we didn't really know where we were going, and maps (nor people) were able to help us. But I took some good pictures, saw some pretty views, and was happy when we got back from our forever long day to eat dinner and gelato.
            We started out with Capri. We took a 45 minute long ferry ride to the island of Capri. When we got off, it was so pretty! Then we decided to follow the signs up to the city center, which was a whole bunch of stairs! So many stairs! This entire day all I did was climb stairs! So we walked around Capri, got lost because all the streets are so small, and tried to find this big fortress that we saw. So we asked for directions, thought we were going the correct way and what did we find? A monastery, well certosa in Italian, which was not what we wanted! But we looked around a little bit. We then set off to find one of the look-out points, which we did find and turned out to be really beautiful, and we were able to see the
Faraglioni, three sea stacks in the Bay of Naples, off the coast of Capri. 

Don't drive your car into the water! Sign in the dock at Sorrento.

Dock of Capri

After we had climbed way too many steps, we came to the city center, and this view.

Pretty flowers at the look-out point

Faraglioni, the three sea stacks. Apparently the Blue Lizard can only be found on one of the three stacks.

                We went back on the ferry to Sorrento, where had lunch. Then we bought a bus ticket to go to Praiano, which is on the Amalfi Coast. It kind of looked like it was going to rain, but we decided to go anyway. We took over an hour bus ride that was like a roller coaster. Half of the time we were on the edge of a cliff, and it wasn't too fun. Oh, and we went through some other small towns before we got to Praiano, where the streets were definitely not big enough to fit a bus and a car. We didn't really know where to get off, so when we saw a sign for Praiano, we thought we should get off, and we asked the bus driver and he said it was Praiano. Well we got off, looked around, and there was no one around, no shops and a lot of houses. So we were confused, and tried to go to the tourist office, where there was someone sitting in there but the door was locked, so that was a lot of help. We followed some signs, hoping we would get to the main street, or something! But we found a nice little church. We then followed a sign that pointed us to the beach, so we walked down a lot of steps and finally got to the beach. Well, it definitely wasn't a beach, just a slab of cement...great. So we took some pictures, tried to get splashed by waves and started the trek back up the stairs. We found one shop that was open, and asked what city we were in, and the lady told us we were 2 or 3 kilometers from actual Praiano. By this time it was dark, so we waited about an hour and a half for the bus, and it took us an hour and a half to get back to Sorrento. When we finally got back, we found someplace to eat a late dinner, and then got gelato. And finally our never-ending day was over!!

Church with pretty mosaics on the area in front of it

Snail! There were multiple snails on the way down to the "beach"

And this is the "beach"

View after climbing stairs from the beach.

This is what Praiano was supposed to look like

 And the next day, we finally were on our way to Rome!!!

Things I learned in Italy:

• Courgettes is another word for zucchini
• Be ready to get lost when you go to Pompeii
• Volcanoes can cause a lot of damage...be prepared if you live near one!
• Bring a rain jacket, because from what I saw it rains a lot
• I hate stairs
• Gelato is seriously addicting
• Know where you are going, and what bus stop to get off, before you get there. And ask someone that knows English for directions, unless you can speak the native langauge

 Ciao! Next stop: Rome! 
 

Italy Part 2: Birthplace of the Renaissance (that means lots of art!)

Florence, Italy. March 23-24
       Florence! The Birthplace of the Renaissance! So, a lot of art, and history. An awesome place if you like either of those 2 things. But if not, you should still go because it is so beautiful!

Saturday March 23
        We took a train from Venice to Florence on Saturday March 23, in the afternoon so we could still explore Venice. When we got to Florence, we found our hostel (Academy Hostel, really nice hostel), which was very close to the Duomo, like literally down the street 20 seconds. We learned that Florence was kind of small, and you could walk everywhere, which was really nice. And a lot of things seemed to be around the Duomo which was great.
        The Duomo is the Basilica of Florence and its full name is Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower in Italian. It is both a cathedral and a basilica. In Catholic terms, Cathedrals are churches for the bishop of the area, while basilicas have been blessed by the Pope. Duomo is Italian for cathedral but sometimes a church might be named this because it is the church that the city uses. So...even though the Duomo in Florence is known for its big dome, the name is not because of the dome, but rather because it is a cathedral. The Basilica was built starting in the late 13th century, and in 1436 construction of the dome was started, which was designed by Filipo Brunelleschi, a notable architect of the Italian Renaissance. Brunelleschi modeled the dome after the dome of the Pantheon in Rome (which I saw in Rome...I'll get there eventually), and it is 114.5 meters high. 
 

Front of Duomo

Dome of Duomo

 Giotto's Campanile

              Another well-known aspect of the Duomo is the Florence Baptistry, or Battistero di San Giovanni, which sits in front of the cathedral/basilica. It is considered to be in Florentine Romanesque style, which greatly influenced the Renaissance period, and shows different elements than the Romanesque period. The Baptistry was finished in 1128, and in the 14th century, the city held a competition to design and decorate the Baptistry doors, which were to be done in bronze reliefs. Lorenzo Ghiberti won the competition, and his reliefs can be seen on the doors today. The north side gates by Ghiberti are known as the Gates of Paradise, and greatly inspired Michelangelo, as he grew up in Florence. 
 

Baptistry doors - Gates of Heaven

Close-up of bronze relief on Baptistry doors, Gates of Heaven

     After looking at the Duomo, we found a great (and cheap!) pizza place to eat at, which the waitress told us had open not very long ago. Apparently the chef was from Naples, which is supposed to have the best pizza in Italy (or where it originated in Italy?), so we were getting authentic pizza! Well if not, it was really good. After that, we got some gelato and ate it next to the Duomo. 

Sunday March 24
       The next day was Palm Sunday, so we went to mass early at the Duomo. It was in Italian, but I could understand a little bit of it, since Italian is similar to Spanish. Instead of getting palms on Palm Sunday, we got olive branches, I guess because olive trees are more readily availbable than palm trees....and the Mediterranean region loves their olives, and olive oil. I was able to get this picture of the Duomo from the inside (we didn't know we weren't supposed to take pictures until someone told us!):

Inside of Duomo, Dome painted by Giorgio Vasara and Federico Zuccaro in the late 1500s, of the Last Judgement. 

        After Palm Sunday mass, we climbed 414 steps to the top of Giotto's Campanile, the Duomo's bell tower. There were 2 or 3 levels that you could look out onto the city of Florence, before you got to the actual top. We got a pretty good view, it was awesome!

Baptistry of Florence

Dome of Duomo

View of Florence, with hills of Tuscany in the background

        After we reached the bottom of the Campanile, I toured the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze (usually just called the Accademia) while Claire and Luke did a walking tour of Florence. The Accademia is known for Michelangelo's David, which was finished in 1504. David is a good example of Renaissance sculpture, as it shows movement, perfected human anatomy, and has a lot of expression, especially in the face of David. The sculpture is of David from the biblical story, David and Goliath, where David fights the giant Goliath, and wins, who eventually becomes king of Israel. In Michelangelo's David, David is holding a rock in his right hand, has a sling over his left shoulder, and wears a very determined expression, before he defeats Goliath. During the Renaissance, artists were inspired by Greek sculptures of heroes, gods, and athletes, which can be seen in David. Up close, you can see the veins and muscles in the figure, as well as the expression he has on his face, which I found the most interesting. 

Proof that I saw Michelangelo's David!

 

Close-up on David's face, from www.examiner.com...since you weren't supposed to take pictures.

          After visiting the Accademia, I met up with Claire and Luke for lunch, where we ate at a little cafe (or whatever they call them in Italy - places that sell pizza and panini's), and had a panini. After lunch, I walked around Florence by myself until I toured the Uffizi gallery, while Claire and Luke went on a wine-tasting tour. 

Ponte Vecchio. Medieval stone bridge over Arno River, which now houses shops of jewelers and art sellers. 

So much gold jewelry! On Ponte Vecchio

Basilica di Santa Croce, Basilica of the Holy Cross

Palazzo Vecchio, town hall of Florence

Copy of Michelangelo's David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

         And finally it was time to tour the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is a well-known art gallery, and has many works from Italian Renaissance artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio. It was amazing to see works of art that I have seen in textbooks and in powerpoint presentations in class. Seeing the real thing was just extraordinary!

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. This is in the Uffizi Gallery, and is a well-known Renaissance painting, where the goddess Venus is born from the sea. Image from www.wikipedia.org

Inside of Uffizi Gallery. Apparently we could take pictures out in the corridor (which was lined with statues) but not inside the galleries. 

               After my tour of the Uffizi and Claire and Luke's wine tour, we met up for dinner. We ate at a restaurant close to our hostel, and I had spaghetti, which was pretty good. After dinner, we ate some more gelato....it's quite addicting! The next day we woke up early for our train ride to Sorrento. 

One last look at the Duomo, the night before heading off to Sorrento!

Things I learned in Italy

• Gelato is really good...and addicting!
• Florence is full of art and history, and is the birthplace of the Renaissance
• It is an Italian tradition to use olive branches instead of palm branches for Palm Sunday
• The Duomo is beautiful, and was an easy landmark to find if lost
• Michelangelo's David is totally worth seeing in person
• Buy tickets ahead of time for the Uffizi and Accademia, or else you have to stand in a long line and might not get in
• We met some Americans studying in Florence...how cool would that be? 
• I want more gelato!!!

Ciao!