Italy and Greece Day 9: Sorrento to Patras

July 10, 2024

From the port of Bari, Italy …

Yesterday was a complex day of travel. Leaving Rome by bus on a three-hour ride to Naples. Taking the high-speed ferry to Capri. A boat tour around Capri. And then the high-speed ferry to Sorrento.

Today is also complex. At 7:45a we check out of the Hotel Central Park in Sorrento for a 60-minute bus ride to Pompeii. It takes a while to navigate the tight twisting streets out of Sorrento.

Buried under volcanic ash of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD, Pompeii, Italy, is an ancient Roman city known for its well-preserved ruins. Pompeii offers a glimpse into life during the Roman Empire as we walk along ancient streets lined with villas and public buildings like the Forum and amphitheater. The entire sites covers approximately 160 acres with 40 acres still to be excavated.

Our guided walking tour through the ruins takes a couple of hours, then we enjoy lunch at the cafe near the entrance to Pompeii. Around 12:30 we leave the west coast of Italy for the 4-hour trip all the way across the country to the east coast port of Bari.

We board the 7:30p SuperfastAnek overnight ferry from Bari, Italy to Patras, Greece. According to Brad the ferry is neither super, nor fast. It does serve as a reminder of a different era of European travel when trains and ferries were the main modes of travel before airplanes.

Dinner is on the ferry just before departure. And Mallory gets me logged into the onboard Wi-Fi so I can keep working on the updates. After dinner we are treated to a spectacular sunset in the rear deck of the ferry.

Tomorrow we arrive in Greece!