Our European Adventure | Day 3 | Naples, Sorrento, Pompei

We woke up at 5am and headed to breakfast on one of the lower levels of the ship.  I was a bit seasick that day, and not being able to see outside and feeling the slow motion and engine rumblings at this point proved unfortunate for me!  Did we come prepared with seasickness prevention patches?  Yes, we did.  Did I have one on?  No.  Did I learn my lesson?  Of course!  Well, sort of…I will definitely use them the next time we cruise!  Once I got some fresh air and could get my bearings, I felt much better.  I did not want to miss anything, especially our first day in Italy!  We met up with our new friends Donna and Shane without any expectations of what the day would bring!  We decided to share a taxi.  And that was one of the best decisions we could have made!  Carlo was amazing!  We thoroughly enjoyed his company and local expertise.  We zoomed through the streets of Naples, his hometown, to the beautiful, colorful, charming town of Sorrento!  The four of us agreed that we would love to come back to this place and spend more time exploring and taking it all in.  We had an hour to explore on foot before Carlo picked us up for the  next leg of our trip: the ruins of Pompei! On our way, Carlo stopped so we could take photos along the coast, overlooking the Bay of Naples, views to Capri, and some delicious fresh squeezed orange and lemon granitas!  (See my previous post for the coastal images!)  He also purchased some delicious fruit candies to enjoy!

Our next stop was Pompei, where we spent 2 hours walking around the ancient ruins.  Again, you could spend so much time here!  It was so amazing to see what has been preserved by the volcanic ash and how they are working to preserve all of the ancient structures today!

We hopped back in Carlo’s taxi and headed back to Naples to enjoy his favorite pizza and gelato.  And oh my goodness, it was the best pizza and gelato (in hand-rolled cones) ever!  He carefully gave us directions and made sure we knew the way back to the ship.  We really should have taken a photo with him, because our time with him made our whole day of adventure so much more fun and personal.  He hugged and kissed us each goodbye, while again making sure we knew how to get back to our ship!  Carlo, mille grazie!  Thank you so much for sharing your day with us, it was absolutely wonderful!!!  He gave us his business card, and I plan to send him photos from our trip!

As we enjoyed our late lunch of the best pizza ever, we strolled up and down the pedestrian streets taking in as much we could.  We were invited to take photos sitting on a 30 year old motorbike by friendly locals.  And we took photos of each other in a colorful alley that captured a slice of Naples, Italy.  We saw the main square downtown, and Donna helped me chase some pigeons for photos, and we browsed a huge castle with intricately carved details.  As Donna said, it was such a lovely day!  It’s safe to say we enjoyed our time and already knew it was such a special place to visit!

We made it back to the ship on time and were greeted by Norwegian Cruise Line’s staff and music.  They really make you feel welcome each time you set foot on the plank!  That evening we enjoyed some cocktails and got rested up for our next day in Rome!