July in Italy

We were able to spend time in southern-central Italy. We visited Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii, Rome and the Vatican City.

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Here we are below in Sorrento. We've got Mt. Vesuvius is behind us on the left and some of the Sorrento coast on the right.

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This is Positano, it's got some of the most desired real estate in the area. It's just an incredible landscape with some amazing views.

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It used to be a prosperous part of the Amalfi Republic in the 16th & 17th century. Through the 18th & 19th centuries it hit some hard economic times and become a poor fishing town.

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The hard economic times lasted from the mid 1800's up until about 1953 when John Steinbeck wrote an essay about it and it became a tourist destination. Today the main industry is tourism.

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This is a picture perfect look east along the Amalfi Coast. Our tour guide told us that the Amalfi drive is ranked the most beautiful drive in the world. He just might be right!

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The Island of Capri

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We spent one day on the island of Capri. It's a 20 minute boat ride from Sorrento. Oddly, it's named from the Italian word for goat.

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We rented a scooter in Capri so we could explore the whole island. We rode to Anacapri, Faro beach and the old city of Capri.

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Here's a picture of the mosaic floor in the Cathedral of San Michael in Anacapri. It depicts the garden of Eden so beautifully.

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The picture below was taken from the Villa San Michele. It was built by Axle Munthe on the site of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius's villa.
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Here we are turning in our scooter. WE SURVIVED UNSCATHED!!! This let us see the whole island in the short one-day we spent here. Well worth it!

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Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius

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Here we are in Pompeii in front of Mt. Vesuvius. The last eruption on 24 August 79 A.D. lasted for 2 days. It buried the city and all it's inhabitants in 30' of volcanic ash.

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The whole city remained buried for 1700 years when it was discovered in 1748. Because it was covered for so long, what is visible today in incredibly well preserved.

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Below the city that we visited there is evidence of earlier volcanic activity. Carbon dated evidence suggests that the 79 A.D. volcano was at least the second eruption. It looks like the first city of Pompeii was built in the 8th or 7th century B.C.

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Here we are on the main street of Pompeii. We can see painted signs on businesses and perhaps names of politicians running for elections, etc. The preservation is incredible..
Seeing the trees, flowers and plants today, it looks like the people just moved out. Hard to imagine it either as an active live city or buried under 30' of ash.

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Pompeii has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Ancient Rome

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Here we are in front of the most well known Roman Colosseum. This thing was completed near 80 A.D. and could hold 50,000 spectators in it's day!

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It was used for nearly 500 years, well after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D.

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Here we are in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The fountain was initially designed for Pope Urban VII by Bernini in 1629, but abandon shortly after the Pope's death.

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The fountain we see today was finished in 1762 and holds many of Bernini's touches. We were close to jumping in it was so warm!

Click here for our video of Trevi Fountain.

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Inside Vatican City

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The Vatican Museums have so many priceless pieces of art. Here are sculptures of the three muses.

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This is one of Michelangelo's most famous sculptures, Pietà, finished in 1499. This marble sculpture is fascinating partly because of the youth of the Virgin. Michelangelo may have sculpted her that young to try and portray her incorruptibility.

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Here is a picture looking down the 120m of the Gallery of Maps. The artwork on the ceiling is really incredible.

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The ceiling is actually flat. All of the contoured texture on the ceiling is painted in with absolutely expert shading.

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Here is a picture from inside St. Peter's basilica. The guide we had claimed it was the largest church in the world (but our Lonely Planet guide said the largest was the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, in the Ivory Coast).

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Initially, this approach to the basilica was a mix of winding narrow road that never offered a direct view to St Peter's Square. The square was a final reward to the people who navigated through the tiny roads.

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Mussolini didn't like that method, so he bulldozed it all down and created this long bold approach road instead.

Click here to see our video inside St. Peter's Square.

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We stayed in a town called Fiuggi. Here's a picture inside a mineral spring in the town. It's called L'Acqua di Bonifacio VIII, for Pope Bonifacio the 8th. He claimed his kidney stones were cured by drinking the water back in the 14th century... hence the name.