IntrepidFromDC

They quarried local stone to build the city. The streets are made of volcanic rocks from eruptions prior to the big one in 79AD. The divots are from Roman chariots. The stepping stones are crosswalks, the streets were used as the sewer, containing pee and poop from horses, dogs and humans.

Pompeii was well preserved when all its inhabitants were killed in the 3-day eruption, 79AD. This is my third visit and everything I saw was brand new to me. The tourguide said we covered about 5% of the city in our two-hour guided tour (excellent). I recommend Positano and Pompeii enthusiastically! Where you see color frescoes, it's original and was preserved because the home/public bath/shop used stone or ceramic roofs instead of wood.

Sorrento did not impress and the included lunch was disappointing. In fairness, we had an hour free time in Positano and only 40 minutes in Sorrento. I recall that I was not that impressed with Sorrento the first time I visited, either, about 20 years ago.

Lots of street artists. Positano is beautiful. I wonder which I'll like more, Positano or Cinqe Terre?

The beach is very rocky with volcanic rocks. It's the best place to take beautiful pics of the town, I think.

Positano is very hilly, all downhill to the beach and all uphill back to the minibus. Very clean and beautiful. Lots of shopping, mostly for the ladies and a lot of unique items.

Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii for small groups.

I never check luggage. Slows me down. I fit everything in an overhead bin sized roller, plus bring an empty backpack for souvenirs.

If any of my Positano pics are dups I apologize... On the way to Positano we stopped at a limoncello shop. I taste several kinds of chocolate and several limoncello. All were fantastic quality! Being the cheap bastard I am, I bought nothing. Zoom in on a couple of these pics and you can see the olives and lemons growing on the trees.

For PLATINUM and diamond with self assist it's 645am.

We changed time twice going from Rome to Turkey but I only noticed it once coming back. That probably doesn't help, sorry, but that's what I noticed.

Sorry, that first pic is actually the 4 towns of Meta, Piano, Sorrento and one other, as we passed them on the way to Positano. The other two are Positano.

Today is Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii. We just left Positano, a beautiful town on the beach and very steep cliffs and mountains.

I was there yesterday. I have lost track but I think that was Monday or Tuesday?

As of yesterday, 10,000 feet was not allowed. We did Etna and Taormina through Carnival, including lunch. I think it was around $150?

The amphitheater has great acoustics and this year has hosted a wide range of artists including Italian opera singers, Carlos Santana and Simple Minds, according to Nadia.

I think got off the ship at 745am (early because Carnival excursion) and we were in line about 845am.

Back on Pride, the views of Europe aren't quite the same.

Note the lack of cars on the streets. Taormina is a small walking town but you can park just a few blocks away. Last time I was here we took the train from Messina after crossing the Messina Strait, the narrow body of water between Sicily and the toe of the Italy boot, by ferry, looking out for the sea monsters from Homer's Odyssey.

More Taormina

The ancient Greek/Roman theater was originally built by the Greeks for tragedies and comic theater. When the Roman's conquered Sicily they tore out the front rows of the theater, dug out the ground under the stage and built 8ft walls around the sunken space and men vs beast competitions became sport of the day. Today all that remains is the columns and about 20% of the brickwork you see. Everything else is post-Roman renovation and reconstruction over centuries as civilizations preserved history instead of razing/pillaging architectural achievements.