The Grand Finale

Today was a bittersweet day. We've had so much fun on our trip, but we're also ready to be back in the comfort of our own home. We've made wonderful new friends we won't see every day anymore, and we'll resume the craziness of life at home. With all this in mind, we began with another early day. After meeting Carol, Denise, Nick, and Fontaine at the bar, we made our way to the gangway and found our handsome Italian driver, Mario. After a few minutes in the van, I was again reminded that no one could pay me enough to drive in these cities!

The plan was to take in the Amalfi Coast via a van ride (with Johnny's Tour Service), while stopping a few times to explore and take pictures. I'll be honest. When we got in the van and began to drive I was disappointed. The weather forecast included fog through the day, and it certainly didn't help our tour! However, the fog slowly began to burn away which made viewing (and picture taking) much more enjoyable. The scenery along the way was like nothing I've ever seen before. After a relatively short drive through Sorrento and a few stops for photos along the Coast, we ended up in Positano. Of course the town was gorgeous, but also had a quaint sophistication about itself. We wandered and stumbled upon an old ornate chruch, which is still used today. A few of us ventured down to the beach. I think it was the most stunning view we saw all day. This shot from the beach, up the cliff is just amazing! It almost looks like the buildings are just stacked on one another. Positano had some super cute shops, but I was more impressed with the bakery. I got a meringe cookie the size of my hand for €1.50! It was almost like being in Venice again, but without the canals and with a very steep hill to climb.

From Positano we traveled to Amalfi Town. We had the most time to explore here, and I'm glad! After some window shopping, John whippped out his handy dandy Rick Steves book and found that the oldest paper mill (now museum) in Europe, Museo della Carta, was just a short distance away (uphill, of course). We made it up the hill just in time to join in with a tour that had recently begun. To watch the paper making process was interesting, and the old presses and tools were ancient! Well, maybe not literally, but does that even matter? Once we finished the tour, we rejoined the touristy area of the town, stimulated the economy, indulged in some pizza and much needed gelato (I couldn't help it. After being spoiled with it for an entire week, I was jonesin' for it!), and met up with our group in time to board the van for our next stop. As you may or may not know, this particular area of Italy is known for many things: ceramics, beautiful coastline, citrus fruits, and of course...limoncello! In true Nick fashion, a decent sized bottle was purchased, and it was gone (with everyone's help) by the time we arrived in Pompeii. But I digress...back to the tour!

The final town we visited was the highest we traveled, Ravello. To this point, most of the scenery looked similar. But, as we climbed the cliffside, we were awestruck. Terrace upon terrace layered the landscape with farms of many types: vinyards, olive trees, citrus trees, and even some shepherds with their herds of sheep. This town was much less crowded (and less touristy). We attempted to make the most of our time there, but we had less than an hour. We found a few treasures (both to bring home and to visit), and look forward to exploring more at some point in the future. The end of our tour here began our decent down the cliffside.

We arrived in Pompeii and allotted two hours for the tour (even though RS says three hours). There's only so much you can accomplish during the time you're in port. However, we had all seen so many ruins throughout the trip that we weren't exactly jumping with joy to trip over more, and some were already dragging from exploring three other towns prior. Not to mention that some more than others were feeling mighty fine after polishing off that bottle of limoncello! John played tour guide with his RS book and led us to the major sites throughout Pompeii. He did a good job; we all returned to the ship in one piece having learned something new. We saw the theatre, fast food joints, the largest home in Pompeii, and the most visited attraction: the brothel. As we exited, we finally captured a phenomenal picture of Mt. Vesuvius, the reason this site is so famous. One last look at the distant volcano and so came the finale of our land tours. It was a short trip back to the ship, and we all dreaded the imminent threat of real life as the ship came into view: packing. Mario took very good care of us all day, ensuring a safe trip and a timely arrival at the cruise port. To be honest, I don't quite know how he managed with all of us being loud and obnoxious all while driving up and down a cliffside of crazy sharp turns and scooters weaving in and out of traffic. But, he did and bid us farewell with bottles of more limoncello.

Our final embarkation was just another reminder that it was time to pack, and so we did. Well, we tried. First we packed. Then got frustrated and went to dinner. Then we packed again...and still we weren't finished. So, we met Nick and Fontaine for drinks. Then, you guessed it, we packed again! This time we finished and were glad to be done with it! We left the luggage outside the door and headed to the bar for one final get together with part of our group.

We enjoyed spending time with our Aussie and American friends, but the day's trip was taxing, and some of us were fading a little faster than others. Then, the life of the party showed up, Dustin! We all made sure to leave rave reviews about him on our comment cards, and we're hoping the next time we see him, he'll be our Cruise Director. A heartfelt and misty-eyed goodbye to our new friends left us feeling a little blue as we headed to our room. Although it was a long day, it was difficult to fall asleep with the excitement of returning to our own (much more comfortable) bed, along with the amenities we've evidently been taking for granted all our lifes (washer, dryer, iron, normal sized refrigerator). So now, it must be time to get some sleep, or it's going to be a long day of traveling back tomorrow!