Back from Rome, flew on Sunday as Elowyn started school again on the Monday.
The Almalfi Coast was breathtaking! We stayed in Sorrento for four nights; what a lovely town! Our hotel was overlooking a deep gorge and also had a pool, but after the first day, it was too cold to swim as the temperatures dropped 10 degrees to only highs of 14C or less during the day. The food there was amazing! The gelato from a place called Davids was really fresh and had bits of fruit and nuts in it. It was a family run company and the owner told us about his grandfather inventing different flavours. My favourite was one called 'Parfume de Sorrento' which was a mix of lemon, mandarin and orange with bits of candied orange peel in it. So good! Apparently, the travel guru, Rick Steves comes there at least once a year and it's his favourite too!
We hired a driver for the day (8 hours!) to tour the Almalfi Coast as Steve wanted to see the towns too without having to concentrate on the road. We stopped in Positano, Almalfi, and some smaller towns. We didn't go to Capris though. I did buy sandals and limoncello and bags of mixed spices and olive oil straight from the farm to take back. Also picked lemons right off the tree to take back to Germany that was right outside our hotel room! Also scarves. Sorrento has a very lively atmosphere and many Italians were there from Naples for the Easter weekend we were there. I actually caught the tail end of a service in Almalfi in a church that had like 100 steps to climb to the entrance. The archbishop was tpresent and it was taking forever for him to make his way down the aisle to the back of the church as everyone and their mother waylaid him for a chat and blessing. The rest of the people were all swarming the church taking family pictures, even right on the altar, so I went up too and joined the party! It was beautifully decorated with fresh grasses and flowers that were very bright and colourful.
The Black Procession on the Good Friday two days before was very solemn in contrast with pointy hooded figures in black holding items and symbols of the crucifixion like the cat o' nine tails whip, the crown of thorns, the big iron nails, a big cross, a rooster, a bag of money representing Judas, etc. As they slowly walked through town. Apparently, they march for three hours, the time that Jesus was on the cross. There was a mournful band at the beginning, followed by the hooded figures in black, then monks at the end singing mournful songs. All throughout, hooded people carried lit torches through the darkness. Everyone was quiet, but were recording or taking pictures. I scored a place at the front, but let kids in front so they could see. One older man kept poking me and telling me in Italian to go to the back because I was tall. I just ignored him, but he was loud until the people around us finally turned on him and altogether at once said, 'SHHHHH!' And that temporarily quieted him. He didn't like being told off like that and complained until his wife whacked him and he was finally silent. 
What surprised me was that all the stores and restaurants were open. It was quite the festive atmosphere in the streets. We were out too having a snack at an outdoor cafe; all crowded together with the locals who were greeting friends and family members. All the children were out late too. In Toronto, everything is closed. I much preferred the atmosphere in Sorrento!
Had a day trip up the volcano of Vesuvius then visitedPompeii. Can't believe that so many people are living on the most dangerous volcano in the world as it is labeled. However, apartments are scarce and expensive in Naples, and the volcanic soil is so fertile that anything grows, and grows well, so people are willing to take that risk. No insurer will insure their houses or apartments though. The last eruption was in 1944 and they are overdue for another one. The government put sensors on the volcano to warn people. Last time they had 4 days warning and everyone made it out, but there's only one narrow two lane road going down and it would be awful if the warnings came too late. Living on the edge! We could daily see the looming volcano from Sorrento. The day we visited, it was clear of clouds, but by the time we left at noon, the clouds were rolling in. Steven climbed right to the top to the caldera, but E and I rested about one third from the top as we were still suffering from the effects of the flu. The views of Naples below was spectacular, even from our viewpoint.
Then lunch and on the bus to Pompeii. I would have liked to spend the whole day in Pompeii; it was so amazing! And so large! They are still excavating and using new methods. Part of their new way of doing things is to reconstruct areas to show it used to look like in the days before the eruption. So on a few houses, they rebuilt the walls and roof which further protects the precious frescoes. I thought that was a great idea.
In Germany, about 60km north of where we live is a medieval town of Xanten which was originally a Roman town. The Roman ruins are all outside the town and it is as vast or bigger than the area of Pompeii. But what they have done, is rebuild many of the buildings. For example, they rebuilt the wall and towers around the town as well as a partial rebuild of the amphitheatre. There are also temples and huge public baths and you can see their water and sewage systems. They have planted gardens too and reconstructed them to the same types of plants the Romans grew there. They also reconstructed a series of houses on site and a Roman villa which has a wonderful indoor and outdoor courtyard with tables and chairs to have something to eat. There is a Roman food menu and a regular German food menu. You can also book an evening meal Roman style. They have colourful togas for you to wear and encourage people to wear sandals and dress the part for a Roman type meal that includes entertainment. Lots of school groups go too. There is a huge museum on site with all the extensive artifacts they dug up and also, there is an ongoing archaeological dig going on too as about 40-50% was left unexcavated for future generations with different methods. It was pretty cool. We're going back in July for the big Roman festival where they'll have Roman artisans there to show you how to make things, also games and theatrical performances in the amphitheatre and Roman food to try. Should be fun!
After our time in Sorrento, we had to leave at 7:15 on our last morning to drive to Rome and return the rental car by 11:30. We were on the toll roads to save time, but at one point there was a huge accident that we bypassed with one SMART car being sandwiched between a van and another car. We only saw the wreckage, hope no one was hurt. The other delay was the toll booth. They are automatic tolls and you just throw your money in, but there was a huge delay and no one was moving. Honking started, then people all got out of their cars to see what was going on, then yelling, then people brought out sandwiches and started eating by the road while discussing the situation. We started laughing and got out of our car too! Finally, the police showed up and they were yelling at everyone, and everyone yelled back. There was a lot of talking with the hands, but eventually, everyone packed up their picnics and went through the broken toll booths without paying as the police were yelling at everyone to leave. Sounds good to me!
We made it to a parking garage to return our rental near the Termine Station in Rome with seconds to spare! Then we taxied it to our airbnb apartment and was met by the manager of the apartment. Great apartment with two large bedrooms, two terraces, one on street side and one on the quieter courtyard side. Elowyn was happy that she had her own room! We finally did all our laundry and hung it to dry right from the balcony on built in lines like everyone else.Toronto needs this! There are laundry lines everywhere.
Loved Rome! I think it's now my favourite city of every city in every country that I have visited. First, the food was amazing, the local people are really friendly and welcoming, the sites are a mix of ancient, medieval, Renaissance and modern, and thank God that the entire city is not over-run with tourists like Florence, because as much as I loved Florence, all the historic sites are close together in walking distance and you can not go anywhere without hoards of tour groups at every step. I cannot believe how many tour groups there were! Very pushy, selfie sticks high in the air recording everything and bumping into you. Even the locals were commenting; good money though for vendors as they were buying all the luxury goods in bulk, probably to copy, then undercut the merchants with inferior quality and inferior goods. The merchants were complaining about that too.
We saw the Vatican Museum which was spectacular, but totally overcrowded with tour groups so that we felt like cattle moving along. The Sistine Chapel was jaw dropping, but again, we were only allowed 10 min. I loved the map room too and the gardens. The Duomo of St. Peter's basilica was better as the crowds were dispersed throughout and not crowded into narrow galleries.
Later, we saw the much less crowded, but no less spectaclar, Burghese Galleries in the Burghese Park. Not only was the heart shaped and extensive park full of fountains and statues and pathways everywhere with mature trees, but the villa itself was a showpiece with the beautiful statues by Bernini and ancient Roman statues and gladiator mosaic floors found on the vast estate. Only two floors and you have two hours to go at your leisure without pushy crowds to enjoy the sculptures and paintings. There is even a Circus Maximus on site! I loved it!
Then of course, there was the audience with the pope; us and 60,000 other people, but we got there early and were quite close, especially when Pope Francis made his rock star rounds in the pope mobile! Lots of screaming and cheering...and that was from the nun section! 
Lots of teenage school groups too, from many countries, even Canada! There were two Italian school groups in front of us and they were doing a religious song sing off like Glee. We were laughing. Everyone was in a great mood, and when the pope showed up at 9:15 am, everyone stood on their chairs...everyone! Like we were all at a rock concert. Even the grannies climbed up and cheered.
We took a tour of the very crowded Colosseum and then the much less crowded Forum; both spectacular. At night, we came back for a couple of shows going through the underground tunnels of Julius Caesar's Forum, then into the forum area itsefl where we all had headphones and listed to the commentary with music. They also projected images of how it used to look onto the walls and re-enacted Caesar's death etc. It really brought the Forum to life and was really well done. At 10pm, we walked over to the ruins of Augustus' forum and they did domething similar on the ruined walls, including a simulation of an earthquake and fire that happened. Totally recommend. Those shows!
We saw many of the other churches and basilicas in Rome including the Scala Sancta and also the Archbasilica St. Giovanni de Laterno which is the oldest church in the world, (founded by Constantine in 324 AD) and is the seat of the pope and the official cathedral of Rome. I didn't know that this was more important than St. Peter's, but it is and also much older. It has many relics including a fragment of the table of the Last Supper. Apparently, Helena, Emperor Constantine's Christian mother went on a shopping spree in the Holy Land and brought back all sorts of relics, including the 28 marble stairs that Jesus climbed on the way to his trial with Pontius Pilate. There are still blood stains on them, but they have been protected by an outer wooden staircase with slits cut in so that you can see the marble. The steps are only allowed to be climbed on the knees and then your sins can be forgiven. It's like a penance. A lot of people were on their knees. There is a copy of the Shroud of Turin in a chapel on top in one of the rooms.
So much history!
We wandered the streets and stopped in churches and gardens, refilled our water bottles at the many free public fountains, and of course stopped for yummy pizza and pasta, and Caprese and Caesar salads, and dinners and gelatos. I had my best gelato ever at one tiny shop near the Burghese Villa and savoured it on a crowded bus as we rode public transit with the locals who were on their way home like us.
We also threw a coin in Trevi Fountain to come back because 5 days in Rome is not enough after you've fallen in love with this eternal city.
