We are lucky to get all of our Fridays off so that we can spend time traveling throughout Italy and other countries. At the end of September the art school organized a trip for us to go to Naples and Pompeii. Naples is kinda dirty and not very safe at night. The mafia still exists and has a huge presence in Napoli. The public notices when the garbage collectors strike. Italians are known for their frequent strikes. The mafia owns the garbage collection agencies an they are the only ones who can do this cheaply because they don't really care where the garbage goes mostly they dispose of it in open fields. All of this leads to piles of garbage in alleys and side streets for the duration of the strike. One just ended before we got there so there were still some streets. 
So we stayed in Sorrento, just south of Napoli, on the ocean. These fist three pictures are actually of the island of Capri, but Sorrento looks very similar. The next two are of Sorrento at night. 
We took the ferry to Capri on Saturday after visiting Pompeii to see the Blue Grotto, but it closed do to choppy water 10 minutes before we got there. :(
On the very left hand side of this picture are the buildings that lined the harbor. We ate outside at a restaurant in front of the building furthest left. Mussels a Limone and gnocchi with clams to follow. A shot of Limoncello, a traditional Italian liquor, was desert.
This next group of photos is from the city of Pompeii. In 79 a.d. Mount Vesuvius erupted, something it hadn't done in the 700 years since the city was founded. The southeast section of the volcano exploded off, sending ash to the south and southeast. Pompeii remained buried in ash for over 1500 years before being rediscovered as a perfectly preserved, ancient Roman city. Naples is about the same distance from the base of Mount Vesuvius but was spared because it is to the northwest.
Pompeii is also home the most intact amphitheater, the Colosseum in Rome is in shambles compared to this one.
The Romans also hated plain, white walls and sculpture. Most of what we see in museums is white marble because the paint wore off years ago. During the Renaissance the artists decided that they liked the unpainted marble of the worn out sculpture. So even though they copied and were inspired by the classic sculpture of the Greeks and Romans they left the marble blank.
The paint on the walls here has not been retouched at all.
This is also one of the best preserved Roman frescoes.
An Ancient local bar.
While excavating they found old grape vines and have been able to replant and grow more grapes. they have enough that they can make wine as well.
Almost everything lies as it did when the volcano erupted. This is in a workshop just off the main forum. Inside the glass box is a plaster cast of the form left by a body that had been covered with ash.
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