Its so wonderful that as we travel we continue to fall in love with every location. Sorrento is such a beautiful coastal town filled with shops, cafes, churches, and lots of people buzzing about. The whole town is filled with LEMONS! Who knew?! They grow as big as grapefruits here and add such a wonderful aroma to the markets and cafes.
It is very italian in nature but very tourist friendly as well. There are lots of older northern europeans here at the moment. We could sit all day and watch the dapper old men and the cute couples share gellato and cappucinos.
Sara and I spent the beginning half of the day exploring the main town area. From there we caught the metro to the ancient ruins of Pompeii, which are only 30 minutes away.
If you aren't familiar with Pompeii, I highly suggest you research it. It is an incredibly tragic and interesting story. And it is very difficult to describe the site of the remains. In short, Pompeii was a budding young town well ahead of their time back in ~200bc. They lived fruitful lives and had a very beautiful location for their town- ideal soil for crops, views of the valleys of italy, and the majestic Mt Vesuvius. The civilization could contribute a lot to the active volcano, and unfortunately, it ultimately led to their demise. On august 24 79ad, mt vesuvius errupted, covering the town in volcanic ash, smothering every living soul.
Because of the nature of the disaster, the town was preserved under the ash. Many of the roofs and columns crumbled by the weight of 6 meters of ash, but what was left underneath remains intact. To this day there are still excovations occuring while tourists walk through the town. Its a bit eery that you can still smell hints of burnt ash as they continue to dig. The old houses and building must've have been very remarkable back in the day. You can still observe paintings, tiling, and decorations that survived the catastrophe. It was a very humbling experience yet very impressive and fascinating as well.
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