Tuesday May 3, 2016 – At Sea en route to Naples Italy – Again it was nice to have a day at sea to catch up and rest, but as usual, there is always some activity. We set the clock back an hour overnight to be in line with European time. Graham Howell gave his final World Voyage lecture on Cadiz, our last port before Southampton and the “official” end of the World Cruise. He will do one more lecture on “The best places we did not go to” at least in his opinion. Paul Sloane talked about assumptions we make every day and how these can sometimes “make an ass of U and Me” as his talk was titled. For example of many, he said – “The Carpenter’s brother has no brothers”. This is a true statement, how could that be? Answer – The carpenter is a woman! So often we make assumptions which lead us to wrong conclusions. He lectures and has written 27 books on “Lateral Thinking” / “Thinking outside the Box”. Right after that was the big event of the day – The Country Fayre! During the world voyage, there have been various events that raise funds for half a dozen charities, with this being the biggest. Apparently, they usually raise some US$10,000 from the passengers through donations. This event included the transformation of the large Queens ballroom into a typical English County Fayre. There was no livestock, but rather a lot of different games that we could all participate in and get prizes. Such things like putting a carrot through a slanted tube and have the person cut through the carrot as it come out the other end; throwing rings on bottles; pass a current through a wand with a circular end which has to trace a wire set in a map of the voyage without touching and sounding an alarm; throwing beanbags through holes with values; poker chips thrown onto a multi square table with dots and if one lands completely in the square you get a prize etc. Also hot dog, candied apples and crepe vendors were present. One purchased paper Fayre Dollars and each activity cost a different amount. Lots of fun and was a great distraction for a couple of hours. The captain and a volunteer choir of 50 guests performed, starting the event off.
Wednesday May 4, 2016 – In Naples, Italy. We arrived early and docked bow in and Port to Dock, so most of the city was on our Port side however the two Volcanoes – Vesuvius (4,189 feet high) and Somma (3,713 feet) – were on the starboard side. Nevertheless, the spectacular view of the “camel hump” dual volcano is on the Port side with the sun shinning on them in a perfect way for pictures and viewing when sailing out of the harbour. So Port side is the best for the sail-away. Today, there were many choices as to tours – Naples City, Pompeii, Herculaneum or Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. We opted for the latter and based on the Port lecture, Graham advised sitting on the right side of the coach. Was this the best recommendation ever and virtually all the gorgeous sights were on the right side of the coach! With this knowledge in hand, as soon as we had our stickers and knew our coach number, Nelson took off and went through the check point exiting the ship getting to the coach reserving the four seats before we were called to leave the theatre. An excellent move and one that we have learned over the course of the trip. A good tip, but one that the ship Organization does not want anyone to know! We boarded the coach and the acceptable guide Roberta and excellent driver Tomasso, greeted us and off we went, leaving the city behind and headed to the base of the still active Vesuvius Volcano to Sorrento. Naples is on a U shaped bay located on the Northern shore and we headed to the southern peninsula that ends (after crossing a small stretch of ocean) in the Island of Capri. Vesuvius last erupted in 1944, but the big eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum took place in 79AD. It would have been interesting to visit those towns to see all that the archaeologists have uncovered, but will have to wait for another day. The drive to Sorrento, particularly the last section, gave one a sense of the magnificence of nature and architecture of the Amalfi coast we were to see in the afternoon. The day was perfect from the weather standpoint which made it even more special. It was a major change of pace from our last tours as upon arrival in Sorrento we were dropped at ‘Cuomo’s Lucky store’ that specialises in wood inlay – Tables, chairs, pictures etc. All very high quality and equal price. It was fascinating to see how they work the patterns and see the exquisite work they do. We then had 2 hours to wander around the town, see the shops and get a feel of the town with its narrow streets and charm. Tachy and I stopped at a street cart vendor and sampled lemon juice, freshly squeezed in front of us, to which they added some home made limoncello liquor. It was delicious and we promptly had to find the nearest market to purchase some limoncello, which the town is famous for. It was fun to have some time to wander in and out of shops as opposed to the usual “Power shopping” (20 minutes) that we have been used to during the voyage. We all met up and headed on foot to a local restaurant (Parrucchiano) for lunch. An amazing restaurant, which is outside, but covered, sitting under the large lemon trees filled with softball and even up to nearly soccer ball size lemons. We enjoyed a pasta lunch with local wine, before heading back to the coach and doing the Amalfi Drive with its 3,000 curves!!! Fortunately we only did a little more than half!
The Amalfi Drive along the southern coast of the peninsula is within Mont Lattari National Park and goes from Positano to Salerno. Our drive took us through Castellammare, Vico Equense, Metta, Piano, San Agnello on our way to Sorrento, then along the coast to Positano, Furore ending in Amalfi. How can one describe this most spectacular and unique scenery? The answer is impossible, but I’ll try! Hairpin bends along the coastline with 200 and 300 foot sheer drops to the sea, houses that appear to form part of the rock face or perched over air, terraced gardens and fruit and vegetable plants, perfectly coloured azure seas all in sight for mile after mile. To quote John Steinbek, The Amalfi Coast is “a dream place that isn’t quite real”. The coach river has to be extreemly experienced to manage the curves and traffic coming the other way with very narrow roads. There were places we had to reverse to allow the oncoming traffic to come through. Tunnels and very narrow winding roads were the essence of the day. However, the views of the coast and small towns, homes and greenery were spectacular. Pictures cannot do it justice. It really has to be experienced to believe nature and architecture in unison. When we reached Amalfi, we were given an hour to walk through the old church, which meant climbing the 50 steps to reach the entrance and a lot more inside. As we paid and entered, we saw an attractive cloister with central garden and then into a large whitewashed church with a single hanging crucifix, lighted so the shadow appeared that there were three crosses. There were no seats but rather a museum holding chalices, monstrances and other religious objects. We thought, what a waste of time. We felt that the guide who had just pointed out where to go but did not join us or explain anything should have told us what to expect. However, there was a sign indicating the crypt and seeing no other exit, we descended into the crypt which is the burial site of St. Andrew. As soon as we got a glimpse of the large room with it’s mosaic domed ceilings and lavish colour and decor, we took all our misconception of the place and made them disappear. It was stupendous and we sat in silent awe for some time, taking in the beauty of the place. We then walked up the other entrance to the crypt and entered an equally magnificent church with incredible decorations and was obviously the main church still in use. It all now seemed well worth while and we thoughourly enjoyed the visit. Descending the stairs, we headed straight for the gelateria for limoncello ice cream which went down very well in the now warm day. Making our way onto the bus we realised we could have spent a lot more time there, wandering through the streets and soaking up the atmosphere. However, it was time to return to the coach and take a different road back to the ship. Given the narrowness of the curvy coast road, coaches are only able to travel one way, automobiles can go both ways, but there is not enough room for coaches. Thus the critical importance of being on the right hand side of the coach. We arrived back at the ship just in time for departure after a very enjoyable day, thankful that it was not as frenetic as the days before.
One of the best parts was the sail away. As the captain pulled away from the dock and did a 360 degree turn to head the bow toward the harbour exit, Vesuvius, in all it’s glory came into view on the Port side of the ship. The lighting was perfect. The sun was at our back and lit up the mountains and towns along the harbour leading to a truly majestic sail away. Now for 2 days at sea and then to the last port of call before Southampton, which is Cadiz, Spain.
Roger & Anne Travels 