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 Italy 2nd day

　After waking up, I took pictures of the city of Naples, the Bay of Santa Lucia and the Vesuvius volcano. It's a pity that the hotel's breakfast venue was on the 2nd floor (I wanted to see the view of Naples from the top floor).
　We left for Pompeii by bus. The guide was Robe (Roberto). He graduated a university in Tokyo and was very good at Japanese. (He says that Italian and Japanese are similar in reading and pronunciation is easy, but the grammar is complicated)
　The air was clear because of the strong winds that had been blowing for a few days, and the view of the city of Naples and Mount Vesuvius was very good. However, due to this wind, the waves were rising and the blue cave sightseeing was closed. The Italian flag was hanging around the houses seen from the car. It's not for a national holiday, but the aftermath of last month's 2006 Germany World Cup soccer victory.

 Mozzarella cheese factory

　We visited a handmade cheese factory in an apartment house on the way to Pompeii. The manufacturing process can be seen closer than in a large factory. My family practiced cheese making. It looked easy, but it seemed to require skill and strength.
　When I tasted it, it had a simple salty taste. It's freshly made and delicious, and looked great with tomatoes and ham. I wanted to drink wine!

 Pompeii Ruins

　The weather was very nice and I could see Mount Vesuvius clearly. Seen from Naples, it looked like a two-humped mountain, but on the right is the main peak of Mount Vesuvius (1281m). The other is Mt. Somma (1132m), which is an outer ring mountain. It is said that it was one mountain of 3000m class before the big eruption.

　The cobbled streets were lined with bakeries, small restaurants, and other streets that were unbelievable to have existed since 2000 years ago. It is said that it was a port town 3000 years ago, and there are traces of a dock (the coastline is far away nowadays). There were dogs here and there. The temperature was 34 degrees Celsius and the sunlight was strong, so my nape got tanned and felt painful. An American group of young men and women was excavating and the area was full of dust. At Villa dei Misteri, a red mural called Pompeii Red was mysterious.

　We took a break at the exit and ate a cold Italian sorbet. It tasted sweet and sour lemon. Then we had lunch in Pompeii. The bread was delicious with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The pasta was slightly al dente and the vegetables, mushrooms and eggplant tasted normal, but the squid frit and the beer after walking were delicious.

 Sorrento Peninsula

　We went sightseeing on a 30-seater minibus. The road was very narrow and it was nice to get on a small bus (still struggling to pass each other). All my family were sleeping on the bus. Probably due to the motion sickness medicine they took at noon.
　In Positano, the buildings are firmly mounted on steep slopes. It was a beach resort with many boats floating in the sea and colorful umbrellas lined up on the beach.The red peppers and fruits at the observatory stand were very colorful.

　In Amalfi, a newly married couple was taking pictures in front of the Duomo.We entered the Duomo. The grand staircase in front of the Duomo was very impressive.Fashion shows were sometimes held on this grand staircase. We headed to Naples after overlooking the Amalfi Coast from a hill.

 Naples

　Since I had free time after returning to Naples, I took a walk alone in the old town to Spaccanapoli. Arrived at Gesu Square in 10 minutes from the hotel. It's a popular meeting place at night.
　Spaccanapoli is a very narrow road with a width of about 3m, and the aspect ratio between the road width and the building height is extreme. The church of Santa Chiara was just after the wedding, and the church of Jez Nuovo across the street had a majestic mass. There were many police officers on the street, and I didn't feel the security concerns that were written in the magazine.

　Return to the hotel and headed to a restaurant along the Bay of Santa Lucia. We passed Castel Nuovo in front of the hotel and got off at the coast near Ovo Castle. Ovo Castle is a surprisingly small castle. After taking a picture, we entered a restaurant overlooking Mount Vesuvius.

　Appetizers were eggplant and fish frit, tomato & mozzarella cheese. The main was Pizza Margherita. It was a simple pizza with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce spinach and it was very delicious.It was said that it was made smaller for the Japanese, but it was still difficult to eat one whole pizza. We finished dinner with dolce (cake) and espresso.
　We returned to the hotel while watching the night view. The first day of sightseeing was full of cheese all day long. I fell asleep while backing up my photo data. We decided to postpone enjoying the view of Naples from the top of Vomero hill. (This was achieved on a cruise eight years later.)

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