Pedes defessissimi!

140,000 steps on my pedometer!!

Thank you for the thank yous!!!!!

Day 11 - Katie and Andy

Today we enjoyed a four hour bus ride back to the city of Rome. On the way back, we stopped at the ancient Greek settlement, Cumae. Here there was a Greek acropolis Which is a city center built on top of a hill. When we first Walked In, we saw a section of the Aeneid written by Virgil That Introduces the underworld. Next to this was a large cave Which Was used to store Roman weaponry. Near this was the path Took Aeneas to enter the underworld. He Considered it the entrance time time immediately Because birds would fall dead out of the sky two to the large amount of sulfur.

We then Walked to the top of the hill where we found a temple dedicated to Apollo, the god of light and sun. It was here That We spent a solid half hour chasing lizards through rocks and cracks while enjoying a beautiful view of the lake.

After leaving this site, we drove to the crater of the volcano Solfatara in Pozzuoli. We found That if you stomped, somebody nearby could feel the vibration of the hollow ground.

On this crater, there were areas where steam of sulfurous fumes arose.

When we finally returned to Rome, we ate a three course meal at the local restaurant That We've become very familiar with. Here we Celebrated Sophie's eighteenth birthday (again) with a large cake. We also gave our tour guide, Linda, and bus driver, Pasquale, cards to thank them for making this trip as great as possible.

Now we are preparing for a very early morning wake-up call.

Solfataras

12/20/2014: Our Day in Amalfi

Today we drove along the coast from Sorrento to the town of Amalfi. This was around a two hour drive, through the mountains and along cliffs. The road wound through neighborhoods and farmland up into the mountains. The roads are very thin. Very very thin. All these roads have two lanes but in reality they should only have one lane. How ever our bus wizard Pasquali navigates the terrain with ease. Some times we came so close to other cars and the wall that I thought that we would have to squeeze like the Night Bus in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

After a hour and a half this weaving and twisting through tunnels and mountains we began to descend into Amalfi. This road seemed even more windy and narrow with an even more sheer cliff. The water, a beautiful blue green, seemed to be just on the other side of the three foot barrier, until you got close to the barrier to see that there is at least a fifteen hundred foot drop.

We descended a little bit longer and slowed to admire the Fjord of Furore. Fjords are some of my personal favorite geological aspects of our earth. The rest of the drive was more of the same very sharp turns except now on a decline.

Arriving in Amalfi the first thing I noticed were the huge cliffs overlooking the water. They just gave off a feeling of power. We walked into the town square where there was a magnificent example of a romanesque church, but Ill get to that later.

Once thing Amalfi is famous for is their homemade paper, one of the more popular stores is located in the square. Seen in the picture below.

Here they sold lots of really cool stationery and leather bound books. From here we went up to the church.
The church was really a purrfect example of what romanesque art/architecture looked like. On the outside you see pointed arches overlapping. The alternating colors on the arches is also a huge characteristic of the romanesque style. The tympanum above the door is also a huge part of romanesque art/architecture.

For the rest of our time in Amalfi we sat on the beach eating sandwiches and looking for sea glass. The beach was not a sandy beach, it was a black rocked beach.

This is the view we had while we ate lunch.

Exhausted from our day the majority of us slept on the way back to our hotel in Sorrento. Once back some people napped while others walked through the shops of Sorrento. There was some sort of Christmas/Winter time festival with in the city, Lots of good deals in the shops and live music playing through the streets.

And Last but definitely not least at dinner we celebrated Sophie’s birthday at dinner.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!

Amalfi Beach

Anacapri