But as soon as we turned one of the corners and saw the view of the Mediterranean, instantly this became my favorite part of the trip. This literally was the most beautiful place I have ever been. The cliffside homes and villages were so cool. I can't describe it well enough to do it justice. Everything was basically built on top of one another along the side of these mountains/cliffs. There were little farm stands on the pull-offs of the cliffs that sold flowers and vegetables. It was all too movie-like and good to be true. We parked the bus higher up on the mountain side and walked down about 30 minutes worth of old cobblestone steps until we reached the little village in Positano which lined the Black sand beaches. One which aided in filming the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun.
We soaked up the sun for a little while and around 1 o'clock, the company had scheduled cave swimming and cliff jumping for us. So we took off on the coast of Positano to do a few exciting water activities. When we got to the cliffs for jumping, there were a good few hundred jellyfish in the water so many of us didn't go in to get to the cliffs, others did and got stung. haha. Yup...I was stung as well. But it didn't swell so that is a plus! The jellyfish had moved to the shorelines so it was difficult to get from the boat, to the beach, to the cliff. After a few kids in the group got their fair share of adrenaline, we headed further off the coast towards the caves. Here, there was not one jellyfish and we all jumped in and and swam into a huge cave that had two ways in and out, but only one way in to an even smaller cave which was pretty much just a big area of rock that you were able to stand up in. It was still a fun experience. After cruising around the Mediterranean for awhile, we headed back to Positano and grabbed some lunch, hung out on the beach a little more, and headed back to Sorrento, where we had dinner at the hostel bar and had cocktails on their rooftop deck which overlooked the beaches in Sorrento!
The next day we headed to Pompeii. We took a guided tour which is really the way to go, otherwise you're just looking at the ruins wondering what they are. It was truly amazing how the structures in this city were still holding up after the eruption. But it was equally amazing how much of it was gone. A lot clearly has to do with the architecture and the types of stones used in construction of each individual home and building. Although I never had any real idea of what the city would look like in person, I was amazed at what I saw as a whole. My favorite part, which is a little weird, had to have been the perfectly preserved bodies that they kept in the glass cases. I couldn't believe the ash covered skeletons of these people. It was eye-opening and fascinating. We walked through many different areas of the city and the cobblestones were quite dangerous to walk on. It was the most uneven streets and alleys I had ever seen. The city was huge and used to hold roughly 20,000 people before the eruption. It also used to be a seaport, about 100 yards from the ocean but now its 5 miles, give or take.
Mt. Vesuvius was HUGE! I had never seen a volcano, so that blew my mind. It happens to be still active...as well as overdue. I just can't believe I was even able to experience seeing all of it.
The trip overall was BREATHTAKING. One of the best experiences of my life!! I would go back in a heartbeat, especially to Positano...I think that was my favorite overall.
I will post Positano Pics on this page but make a new post for Pompeii so it's not too crowded.
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