POMPEII & SORRENTO (Italy)
One is the supreme example of what everyone imagines a ruin to be like…the other, a not-quite-forgotten summer playground for old money and old Hollywood, worthy of a Dean Martin song. Both were delightfully surprising places to visit, and both exist in the awe-inspiring shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
(1) POMPEII
Once again, words are inadequate to the task of describing this ghost-town-to-end-all-ghost-towns. I was completely taken aback by the sheer size of the city (to say nothing of the altitude)…and the enormous amount of structure that remains intact. As you will see in the photo series below, Pompeii reveals much that survived the cataclysm of the Vesuvius eruption: marble floors, banquet halls, erotic frescoes, theatres, the Grand Palestra, ornamental gardens, bakery ovens…even crosswalks! The visit was a revelation. I wish I had been given another hour to simply wander the ruins…and appreciate even more the sight of the mighty Vesuvius, misty & ominous on the horizon.
(2) SORRENTO
I can only imagine what this gorgeous little city must be like in high summer…could it possibly be more lovely and more charming than it was at that moment of our visit? It’s full of little treats: the shop-filled alleyways, the vertigo-inducing views of the Bay of Naples (and once again, Vesuvius)…even the stray dogs and cats were positively well behaved. I will have to return here one day…and appreciate the madness and fun of a long, hot, Italian summer night. 
And our decision to arrive by train was brilliant. Considering the torturous, gridlocked, jaw-dropping moutain road required to leave Sorrento, arriving in the centre of town on a smooth commuter train was heavenly.
(3) SORRENTO CATHEDRAL
Missed by the rest of our party (but not me…he of the Lonely Planet guide), I kept my eye out for the moment I could slip past the unassuming exterior and into the rich & sumptuous interior. An under-appreciated jewel.
COMING SOON…Patras, Delphi, and a really deep blue sea! 
