at sea: part 2

on day five of our cruise, we set sail for the almafi coast.  after docking in naples, our tour took us to the small town of sorrento.  famous for its lemoncello production, sorrento is a gorgeous place overlooking the bay.  in sorrento, we had a short time to explore the town and all its fantastic shopping.  after learning sorrento, we made our way to a small family farm outside the town.  while there, we learned how olives were pressed and made into extra virgin olive oil, how they made mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, and were able to sample the delicious foods made on the farm.  what we thought was going to be a small sampling turned into a yummy lunch!  we started off with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and prosciutto.  we then had a perfectly cooked al dente pasta with homemade ricotta, while washing it down with the family wine.  for dessert we had pound cake soaked in lemoncello creme.  it was absolutely delicious!  g and i bought olive oil and lemoncello creme, both made on the family farm, before we left!   

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after leaving the farm, we traveled to pompei to see the buried city.  sadly, the volcanic ashes that buried the prosperous city is what is what kept the city so well preserved for over a thousand years until it was uncovered.  it was amazing to see the uncovered city, their way of life, and how far advanced they truly were.  streets were slanted to allow for water drainage, grooves were carved in entry ways to allow for store doors to slide shut, and the bath houses were meticulously designed as a meeting place for socialites to discuss politics.  the ruins span many acres and it's difficult to cover it all in a short amount of time.  it would not be difficult to spend a majority of a day touring the buried city. 

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after an exhausting day we were glad to have the next day at sea, relaxing on the ship. 

the last day of our cruise was in majorca, a balearic isaland (like the notorious ibiza).  we visited the capital city of palma.  unfortunately we were dealing with emerson's medical issues when we were in palma, so our tour was brief.  we opted our of our scheduled tour and roamed palma on our own.  the weather was perfect and the views were beautiful.  our first stop was the beautiful cathedral, set atop a hill, overlooking the mediterranean.  afterward, we walked around palma enjoying the sites of the city.  our day was short as we made our way back to the ship. 

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we finally sailed back to barcelona where our cruise ended.  originally we planned to spend a few days in amsterdam, but after making the difficult decision to have emerson put to sleep, we felt it was necessary to return home.  our flight home consisted of flying from barcelona to dublin, connecting to boston and then flying to chicago from there.  it was a long, exhausting day, but we were glad to return home.  while our vacation ended on a sad note, we had a memorable mediterranean trip.