Naples and Sorrento

Naples is a city known for its crime and lack of good city government. We traveled to Naples from Venice by plane and took extra precautions because of the bad reputation of the city for preying on tourists. We had no problems. Our main reason to go to Naples was to see Herculaneum and Pompei. These tourists attractions were a must on my list because they were towns frozen in time from 72 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried them under ash and mud. Much of the artwork has been preserved. This is unusual because in the 600s many towns were destroyed by marauders who burned and pillaged the cities along the Italian coastline.

We arrived at our hotel which was on the harbor and found beautiful views. There were three castles in Naples, one outside our hotel room, but we did not have time to visit them. We dropped our bags off in our room and took off for the Archeology Museum which housed the art of the Baths where we saw the opera in Rome and that of Pompei and Herculaneum. On the way we passed by some government buildings that had some sculptures.

The museum was the last that we were to see on our trip to Italy. It had a special exhibit of Pompei and a map of the part of the city that had been excavated. We found treasures in the museum of silver, glass, and everyday items that people used. It was an informative trip and I was glad that we went to the museum before we set off the next day for the sites.

These are some famous pictures from the sites. This lady in the picture did not actually live but was a representation of women writers. Jenessa was making another famous picture pose in the museum also. She was imitating a muse.

The view out our hotel room the second night was fantastic. You can see the mountains where Sorrento is located in the distance and the island of Capri where all the jet set crowd goes.

We took the train in the morning to Herculaneum and found a wonderful guide there. While I was in the restroom he came up to Jenessa and told her that since she was a member of his church that she could have a free tour of the site. He was a tour guide and bore his testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration while we were with him. He explained how the church have evolved from the pagan beliefs of the people and the Jesus Christ had different ideas in the formation of his church. I loved it and loved the fact that although he had been inactive for 5 years he still considered himself a member of the church. The guide is the one in white with his arm pointing.

In Herculaneum we found that there were roofs that still covered the houses and that in some places the wood had been carbonized and preserved. We saw gardens, homes, baths, and art. It was a great experience.

Here is Jenessa in the bath. These shelves are where people put their clothes in wooden lockers before they entered the bath. They had the choice of cold, warm, or hot baths. It was cheap and inexpensive because it was run by slaves.

We went up a steep hill to the entrance to Pompei. It was also a seacoast town and you could see the docks where the ships were tied up. This town was much larger than Herculaneum and had a more varied population. Herculaneum was a resort where there were more rich people while Pompei had everyone mixed together.

Jenessa is standing in the forum or the main square where the people gathered for government. Behind her is the temple of Jupiter and Mount Vesuvius. While we were there Jenessa read to us from the guide book in her hand.

Here is Kerry and Jenessa standing in front of the main road in Pompei. The rocks behind them were to stop the chariots.

These were rocks that were placed in the street for people to cross the road. You can see that there were sidewalks. They paved their sidewalks with broken pottery and cement. People were still using them today.

At the end of our visit we sat in the little theatre to rest for a bit and then we took the train to Sorrento. It is a beautiful little Italian city built on a cliff. When we got off the train we walked through the town and ate at a restaurant that had the nicest atmosphere before catching a boat back to Naples.

You can see in the background how high the cliffs were over the sea in Sorrento. The boat ride back was relaxing and enjoyable. It was nice to feel the cool wind after the hot day we spent being tourists. The next morning we got up at 2:30 AM and traveled to Rome by train where we picked up Jenessa's luggage at the mission office. We took a taxi to the airport. From there we traveled 9.5 hours to New York City. We had a pleasant surprise when Keith, Cherie, Lily and Sawyer met us at the airport. They even made a little welcome home sign for Jenessa. Afterwards we traveled 6 hours home. We didn't sleep for 24 hours but I would do it all over again. It was worth every minute to spend time in Italy with Jenessa.