Wildest dreams became fairy tale: An adventure around the world: Italy Part 1: Naples and Mt. Vesuvius

We started our trip a bit rocky. We were 10 weeks pregnant and I was sick as a dog! To the point that I even considered not going and getting my money back for the tickets. But I pushed through and am glad I did! This was the start of a month long Italy visit seeing both our parents. It didn't start out so long but once everything came together it was a monster of a trip. Planning was rough being so sick but I pulled through and although I forgot my wonderful highlighted and marked rick steve's Italy book at home we still managed to pull together a good trip.

The first night we flew into Naples, Italy for two days as just the three of us before we were joined by my in-laws for two weeks. The flights were a challenge for this newly pregnant and very sick momma but thanks to snacks every four hours and seats close to the restroom I survived. Our last flight was the most trearous as we flew in the smallest plane I've ever been in. It was funny because as we rode the shuttle bus pasted it I joked "wouldn't it be awful to have to fly on that little of a plane, jokes on me!" It had a propeller, 4 steps to get inside, a cargo net, and trey's head easily touched the roof. Good thing by this point we were just ready to get to Naples.

We choose this quaint little hotel in the center of Naples and planned a lazy day and a half before my in-laws arrived. Reading most guidebooks it's hard to judge how Naples will be, some books say it's crime central and stick to Rome and North while others praise it. We were in between, our main draw was the Naples Aracheological Museum which houses a large collection of the artifacts from Pompeii. We did roof side dinner at our hotel, had delicious pizza at road side cafes and crashed in our beds both nights. I was especially exhausted after doing nothing more then laying around for the previous couple of weeks. Our visit to the museum took us on a metro adventure and some steep walking, the museum itself was a bit of a disappointment as most of the Pompeii related artifacts had been removed for restoration for a upcoming show and other note-worthy pieces were in Milan at the World Expo 2015.

Maddy loved this statue so her and dad recreated it!

Grand staircase to upper floors to Naples Archeological Museum

Just a little perspective, the statues are giants!

The following day we picked up Bonnie and Gus at the airport and got our rental car then headed to our Mt. Vesuvius apartment. Maddy was so happy to greet them and stood at the barrier literally bouncing up and down waiting to see them. I'm so glad they got to come and join us on vacation. After settling into our beautiful home in the Mountain we spent the evening catching up and enjoying each other. Being the person I am I had made an itenrary for our stay there, but I was proud of myself I left it sorta flexible (some of it was even written in pencil) and even left some days blank! But my obsessive self kept us pretty on schedule each day.

Sunset from our villa home

Beautiful grounds of our stay in Mt. Vesuvius

The following day we headed to Pompeii to see the ruins, it was our only 'bad weather' day and turned out to be just light rain a couple times. It kept us nice and cool for all the uphill walking and climbing. We took a tour and got to really experience the city for what it was before. It amazing how much remains and how much we can learn from it. The next day we headed down the other side of the mountain to Herculeam which is a less known town that was covered in lava and equally well preserved as Pompeii. I personally liked this town better if I had to pick because more of the art and artictecture survived. Gus wasn't able to join us for Pompeii but came to Herculeam with us and it was nice to have everyone together.

Our first views of Pompeii outer city walls

Ruins left of the 'Main square' where everyone would gather for worship, meetings and justice

You can still see the carriage tracks in the cobblestones

Gladiators arena - Maddy's favorite spot

family at the amphitheater - the acoustics were still amazing you could stand in the middle and whisper and be heard at the top

The murals were gorgeous and amazing well preserved for being exposed to the weather

Pompeii from above

An original roof estimated to be from the people that pre-dated those destroyed by the eruption

Most of the bodies were gone for restoration for the upcoming exhibit but they left a man, child and dog

We found out about the process of casting the bodies, nothing was left behind because the gases actually dissolved the bones and skin over time, all that was left was holes in the rubbish in the shape of the body. So to preserve the shape historians sent glass tubes into the voided space and filled it was plaster to make these casts. So the casts actually contain no genetic material.

Murals in homes were often used as shrines to worship ancestors

The first McDonalds! Roadside fast food places would serve take away simple meals warmed in terra cotta pots

Tile mosaic on the floor of the public baths at Herculaneum, they used an elevated floor with terra cotta bricks to heat the floors and vented roofs for steam circulation, amazing technology for so long ago

Mosiacs on the wall of the meeting place of freed slaves

The main difference between Pompeii and Herculaneum was that Herculaneum was on the other side of the mountain and got covered by volcanic mud and lava. These process actually better preserved the bodies and even wood structures

Ordering menu for the wine bar, my kind of place!

well preserved shell shrine within a home

Many of the homes were originally two stories or more but the structures were destroyed. Sadly a lot of these buildings were inaccessible.

How most 'false' columns were constructed with bricks and then covered in marble or tiles for cost effectiveness

The outer limits of Herculaneum that used to be the water level were boats were stored. This is the place they found most of the bodies trying to escape the lava and mud.

We headed into Sorrento the following day for some exploring and a evening cooking class. In hindsight a cooking class was an adventure I should have skipped being super smell sensitive and nauseous but since we were still trying to keep the pregnancy a surprise I went along with it. We learned some interesting techniques and cooking styles and when I got too sick or maddy got exhausted we went on a walking adventure of the Sorrento streets. We got to eat our food and overall it was a delicious dinner. After some shopping we made it back to where we parked the car and headed back to the apartment.

Maddy was the star of the cooking show of course!

Our starter we made from scratch

He was VERY liberal with the wine

beautiful views of Sorrento that maddy and I found exploring the streets during our breaks from the cooking school

We found ourselves back in Sorrento the next morning for a driving tour of the Almafi coast, I had read it was kinda dangerous to drive yourself and you couldn't enjoy the views so we opted for the driving tour. The sites were beautiful on the cliff sides and we were able to capture some breathtaking photos. We stopped off in a couple beautiful coastal towns of Almafi and Postanio then the hillside town of Ravello before heading back. Overall though I'm glad we didn't stay on the Almafi coast as planned it was touristy and seemed non-authentic. By the end of the day we were all worn out and I don't think any of us were awake to enjoy the beautiful coast on the way home.

Views of Postanio and the sea

Look at those lemons ;-)

hidden garden we found climbing the steps of Ravello

We worked hard to reach this view! Ravello is a hilltop town with many ways to keep climbing up, this is the view from the top

Another view from the top of Ravello

Small man made beach area that used to be a fisherman's dock

Church at Almafi, Maddy and I climbed the steps and visited, much prettier on the outside

The next day we headed up to Mt. Vesuvius to enjoy the view from the top. It was beautiful and although we decided to skip the climb to the crater we still enjoyed the sites and shopping. We spent the remainder of the day lounging around our villa and recharging. That evening our wonderful host gave us a real treat by teaching us how to make pizzas in the wood burning oven. It was a great night of fun, laughing and eating! We were sad to leave our little mountain oasis the next morning but excited to head to Sicily for the next part of our adventure.