Our 3rd Italy stop was Naples. We walked around town in the morning. It's daunting trying to cross the street here...there is no official crosswalk and cars never want to stop for you. When one eventually has to stop because you are right in front of it...the cars behind will automatically honk. I don't know how wheelchairs or the elderly cross the streets here. This seems to be a more commercialized district, which is a drastic difference compared to nearby Sorrenti and Capri. This time we decided to visit the historic city of Pompeii.
We joined a tour and arrived in Pompeii in the afternoon. It was beating hot the whole day, we were all drenched wet from sweat before we even entered the city! Needless to say, it would've been much more enjoyable given some shade or breeze. When I came back and looked at the photos, I realize they all looked similar of stone and it's difficult to appreciate its historical value unless you've been there to see the scale of such a discovery yourself. Above shows the entrance to the city and below shows a seemingly never-ending road in the city. It was so clever of the people back then to put marble stones along the roads equivalent to our present day streetlamps to see in the dark.
Upon returning to the ship in the evening, I thoroughly enjoyed pianist John Bressler's lively performance. As you can see, he was very interactive with the piano as well as the audience. Performances such as this one happened nightly and gave us something to look forward to besides dinner each evening.
The following day came to our last Italy stop -- Venice. This was the only city on this trip I've visited before; yet, I didn't mind it at all that we were revisiting. Venice is such a romantic place and it was extra special that we got to sail in and out of the narrow canal to fully capture the stunning views. Below is actually evidence of, unfortunately, flooding in Venice. This is why you can park your boat and get off to walk and swim in the middle of the sea at the same time. According to the cruise ship captain, Venetian government is suppose to have a plan to stop this flooding, but nobody knows the plan yet.
Another interesting but perhaps dangerous observation we noticed while sailing through Venice is that many of their church bell towers are not straight! We think it's due to old age and perhaps acid rain and water below eating away the foundation of each tower?
The amount of people gathered in Venice, especially at St. Marc's Square is never to be underestimated. Perhaps it's the people causing the rapid detioration of the town?
I was especially happy that we got to enjoy Venice at night this time around. Last time it was just so rushed with a tour group that I missed out a lot of the architecture and details. Turns out there are also tons of things to shop for in Venice. We got some great deals! And then, of course, back to the ship.
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