Southern Italy

I'm proofreading a book about Southern Italy at the moment and it's bringing back lots of memories of my trip there in 1998 - can't believe it was that long ago! My sister, her partner and I stayed in Sorrento (south of Naples)

Hotel Loreley, Sorrento

From Sorrento we did day trips to Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius, the island of Capri, and down the Amalfi Coast to Positano.

I studied archaeology at university (among other things) so enjoyed visiting the excavations of the town of Pompeii, which was buried under a layer of burning pumice stone when Mt Vesuvius erupted. After that we trekked up Mt Vesuvius to look down into its crater.

On Capri we had a fantastic pizza with lots of fresh garlic, and insalata caprese, a salad of fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella bathed in olive oil.

My sister and her partner at lunch

The chairlift to Capri's highest point, Monte Solaro (589m), wasn't operating the day we were there, so we decided to walk up. The views were worth it!

My sister and I at the top

Positano was very picturesque, but there's no sand on that beach, just pebbles!

Hmm, I can feel the travel bug coming back again!