October 2, 2018 – Naples and October 3 – Getting to Florence

October 2, 2018 – Naples
I had signed up for a tour to Positano, Ravello, and Herculaneum. I exited the terminal and found the man holding a sign with my name (and others). As I worked my way over to him, I heard “I know you” from another guide. It was the guide from the Naples stop 10 days ago.
When our group of 7 all appeared, we headed to the van. Tony was our guide for this day. He explained that the road to Positano was closed due to fires. He suggested we go to Amalfi instead. So we drove up and over a mountain on twisty roads while Tony told us about the area. Down the other side to the sea and the town of Amalfi. We walked around the town for an hour. Back in the van we headed back up to Ravello. We were given almost 2 hours to tour and have lunch. I toured the Villa Rufolo. This is a beautiful villa and gardens. As I walked through the Villa it started raining, then thunder and lightening followed by heavy rain. I ducked into an outdoor, covered cafe. I had a light lunch of bruschetta and a beer. Right before the meeting time the rain stopped.
We drove back towards Naples and stopped for our guide tour of Herculaneum. If you have only time for Pompeii or Herculaneum, pick Herculaneum. Sebastian, our guide, started by telling us the difference in how the volcano affected the 2 areas. In Pompeii, people died from poisonous gases. In Herculaneum, they were vaporized due to the heat. Pompeii was a large market town while Herculaneum was where the upper class lived. There are mosaic floors and wall paintings still intact. We spent 2 hours here and got back to the ship at 5pm.
A very long day. I ran to my cabin to start packing and at 6pm joined my trivia teammates for one last time. We won with 3 points more than the next closest team.
After dinner, I went to the casino to say goodbye to my gambling buddies. Finally in my cabin, I finished separating my clothes into 2 bags.
October 3, 2018 – Off the ship & train to Florence
I was anxious about whether Luggage Forward would be there to pick up my “cruise wear” bag. As I walked out of the terminal, there he was. Thanks Roy for telling me about them. Now half my clothing is on its way back home.
I got to the train station at 930am for my 11:45am train. Since there were 5 ships in port this morning, I decided to keep my later time. I went to a cafe for a cappuccino and then sat on a bench reading a book until time for my train. The ride to Rome was uneventful. At Rome, i scrambled around to find my train to Florence. I had hoped to pick up lunch but no time. I got to my hotel at 3:30pm. The hotel is across from the Duomo. I decided to have early dinner at 4pm. Yum gnocchi with cheese sauce, salad, and red wine.
Tomorrow I am going on an Art Tour.