GHOST

We continued hopping north up the Italian coast from Scario to Acciaroli to Amalfi. Amalfi was particularly beautiful and we had a great pizza ashore in a little pizzeria tucked away in the winding back streets - Stasch said it was the best pizza he'd ever had, but I guess we are nearing Naples - the home of pizza! We were anchored off the beach and after a bit of a rolly night we set off early and continued our sail along the stunning Amalfi coast. We motored in close for a quick look at Positano, another beautiful town and then headed off to Capri and even managed some sailing on the way.

Capri looked amazing but was absolutely packed and with the pilot guide quoting extortionate prices and the imminent departure of my cousins the following day we decided to head for Naples for the night. We finally found a berth in Sannazarro marina right in the centre of town, where we were quoted EUR128 per night - a new record! We set off for a brief bit of sightseeing and ended up at the Certosa di San Martino, an old monastery overlooking the town situated next to the Castel Sant'Elmo (which was unfortunately closed). The monastery was certainly unusual with a lavishly decorated church, a courtyard of human skulls and a naval museum!

After the monastery we walked around town to take in the Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples' largest square with the Chiesta di San Farancesco di Paola - a neoclassical copy of the Pantheon in Rome. We then had a few beers and a lovely seafood meal in the shadow of the 12th Century Castel dell'Ovo (Castle of the Egg!) and walked back along the foreshore to the boat.

In the morning it was time for my cousins to head back to the UK to continue their holiday so we all jumped in a cab. Taking to the roads in Naples is certainly an interesting experience, at one point we were looking at a head on collision with a bus which the taxi driver managed to somehow avoid! It seems that no one pays any attention to road markings or traffic lights unless it suits them, and a wailing ambulance was completely ignored. We left the taxi at the central station and waved goodbye to my cousins.

After being completely misinformed about trains to Pompeii, narrowly missing the train to Salerno and facing a 90-minute wait we decided to head to the hospital for my final check up. The chest x-ray and bloods came back fine so that was all good news and didn't take too long. We then returned to the station and after missing another train to Salerno due to a platform change we finally found out that there are local trains "Circumvesuviana" which go every 10 minutes - aaargh, sometimes Italy is so frustrating!

I had a great, if somewhat hot time at Pompeii and Brad managed to demonstrate some enthusiasm despite it being his 4th visit! We had some audio guides which provided a lot of information and a couple of very hot and sweaty ears! Having taken Latin at school where the characters you follow for years finally all die in the explosion of Vesuvius I have always wanted to visit Pompeii, but was particularly surprised at the scale of the town. The most interesting parts were the plaster casts of people who died in the ash and left detailed imprints of their bodies, the preservation of some of the properties down to mosaics and wall paintings and the town brothel, with lurid frescoes and carved masonry beds in each room.

The next day we stocked up the boat with water, fuel (there was a pump that stretched down each pontoon - great) and food and headed off north again. As we were only planning a short trip to the Isola di Procida we decided to sail despite wind on the nose - tacking certainly isn't something we've done for a while! We anchored in the cala di Corricella near a pretty pastel town for a quiet night. We now have a week to cruise up to Rome where we have some friends visiting and a lot of sightseeing to do.

More pics at: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bradmcmaster1/Italy2009AmalfiCoast#