Cruise - Naples, Italy

Our last destination was Naples, Italy.  We had tried to sign up for a tour to Pompeii but it was full.  We were disappointed at the time but it turned out to better.

After breakfast we disembarked in search of a taxi to take up to the train station.  This was harder than I expected.  There were several taxis at the port but the drivers wanted to take us all the way to Pompeii.  We did eventually find a driver willing to take us to the train station but he still gave us a sales pitch the entire way.  Mike and I make a good team and we travel well together, even when we have no idea what we are doing.  We got train tickets, found the right train and arrived in Pompeii without issue.

Pompeii is an ancient Roman town 14 miles east of Naples that was buried by the ash of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.  Considered the “best preserved specimen of an ancient Roman town in existence” I still didn’t expect what I saw.  It was a whole town.

At the port just after we got off the ship.




Aerial View of Pompeii (I didn't take this photo.)





Samantha is walking on the far right; Jason is the next person to her left.



Samantha wasn’t quite herself when she woke up and her eyes were runny. Before we went to breakfast I went down to the medical station and was able to get some Benadryl for her.  (I was pleasantly surprised that they only charged me $6 for the bottle.)  She had been fine after breakfast but in Pompeii she faded fast.  Her cheeks were flushed and she said that she wanted to go back to the ship so we cut our trip short and headed back to the train station.

Pizza is believed to have been invented in Naples so it was a fitting choice for lunch.  We split a margarita pizza at a café outside the train station before we boarded the train and headed back.  This time we had no problem getting taxi.  Back on board, having had a chance to rest, Samantha perked back up and was fine the rest of the night.

Both kids again headed to the kids program after dinner while Mike and I packed up our cabin.  They had also left surveys in the room so I took the time to share my thoughts.  With a few minor hiccups, it had been a fabulous trip.  For the kids this trip was “Europe Light”.  It was just enough of a sampling of other countries with the security and familiarity of the same bed every night.  (I liked that too.)