When in Rome…
Napoli hillside… Naples, Italy
Roma, Napoli, Pompeii… Oh my!
I arrived in Rome for a 48 hour “workcation” with thoughts of visiting The Leaning Tower of Pisa and Florence… but it just so happened that today an unexpected re-route took place!
After napping, I headed to the local grocery store to buy some of Italy’s liquid gold - several bottles of extra virgin olive oil! I love always having the good stuff in my pantry and it is worth adding a few pounds to my suitcase for the return flight home.
Next I joined some of the crew to a nearby restaurant, where a super cute Italian waiter greeted us and hugged our lead flight attendant, apparently she flies this trip regularly and always eats there. Envious of her schedule but soon appreciative too - because without her suggesting San Marco Ristorante I never would have had such a great meal! Seriously, I must’ve gained 5lbs from the pasta alone!
Between the food and wine we all spoke of our plans for the next day and several of them would be off to visit Pompeii. Initially I encouraged them to go on the tour without me for a few reasons.
They’re all much closer to my mother’s age than mine
I have been to Pompeii once before
I really do enjoy exploring alone
But wouldn't you know after all that wine, gelato and laughter they convinced me to reroute my plans and join their tour the next morning…
Rise and Shine, It’s Tour Time!
The tour operator said to meet in our hotel lobby at 6:45AM, so being true flight attendants, we were all ready and tapping our feet by 6:35AM. The drive was about 3 hours to Naples, then we had a lovely lunch and toured the ancient city of Pompeii. If you’ve never been to Pompeii, all I can say is add it to your list! The way the volcanic ash buried yet preserved the whole city is astounding! Every day the archaeologists unearth more of what was once a thriving port city. Both times I’ve been, my group spent about 2-3 hours there and I feel as though that barely scratched the surface.
While the locations and tour guides were amazing, the laughs with these ladies made the entire trip worth it! They kept insisting I was their new millennial friend… and even though I’m closer to my 40’s than my 20’s I embraced their assertions of my youth. And gals, I apologize for that one jab about never having owned a rotary phone! LOL! Although I do think that was when the laughs really got started…
Sometimes on my solo travels I forget how much fun it can be to have travel companions. So thank you to these 3 adventurous women for laughing, loving and exploring southern Italy with me! Ciao Bellas!