Saturday, May 16, was a free day. Many students planned to travel the picturesque Amalfi Coast. I took the chance to spent more time in Pompeii and visit its sister city in volcanic tragedy, Herculaneum. Both are accessible by a commuter train that runs between Sorrento and Naples.

The first stop was Herculaneum. In 79 AD, was a smaller city than Pompeii. But the volcano treated the two towns differently, and sent a mighty pyroclastic flow that carbonized organic material. This means that a few pieces of wood can be seen in the city. The wood was flash-heated, so to speak. Also, a greater portion of in-home frescos can be seen on the walls. And in one house, I saw my first interior staircase for what were often two-story homes (though most roofs didn't survive the heavy rain of material from Mount Vesuvius).

Then I hopped back on the Circumvesuviana train toward Sorrento and stopped at Pompeii. This was my third trip to Pompeii but my first without a guide. I used the time to explore the less-touristy areas. I found several homes with marvelous frescos, another bath house, and the (closed to visitors) amphitheater.

I came away from the day amazed by Roman civilization. These people knew how to manage sanitation and water, regulated weights and measures, decorated their homes with amazing color schemes and intricate artwork, engaged in political sign-making and built the city square as a pedestrian-only zone. 

Click on each picture to enlarge or click on the first an treat it as a gallery.

Just a half-hour boat ride from Sorrento is the enchanted island of Capri (CAP-ree). Unfortunately, rough winds made the sea too choppy for a planned boat tour around the island. So we "settled" for an amusement-park bus ride up the hill from the harbor around hairpin turns and sheer cliffs to the city of Anacapri (ANNA-cap-ree). There we took a chair lift to the top of Mount Solaro, the island's highest point: 1,900 feet above the sea. Some students were able to squeeze in a trip to the Blue Grotto.

Click on each image to enlarge or click on the first picture and scroll through the gallery.

Today we took a fast (150 mph) train from Florence to Naples for a long weekend in Sorrento. We learned several things today, including:

• Driving in Naples is like a continuous game of chicken. Everyone has to be an aggressive driver to make turns and enter traffic. But somehow, the folks in this area make it work.
• A good bus driver who can navigate precarious Naples traffic while maneuvering a huge coach in narrow streets is a skilled driver.
• A good bus driver who knows a good place to get a decent 10 euro lunch (salad, drink and big pizza in a wood-fired grill) at a touristy area like Pompeii is a humanitarian.
• Pompeii is like taking a walk back in time.

To tour Pompeii, we split into four groups, each with a professional guide. They were, by all reports, excellent. Our guide, Vincent, was absolutely fantastic. The students were exceptionally attentive and genuinely interested in learning what Pompeii can teach about how everyday Romans lived in 79 AD. We all could have spent more time in Pompeii, soaking in the atmosphere, but we had to travel to our hotel rooms in Sorrento. 


Click on each picture to enlarge or treat this as a gallery.

Today our AIFS maestro and guide, Ged McAteer, offered an optional trip to Fiesole (fee-AY-sole-eh) via a public bus so we could experience a small hill city on Florence's outskirts and hike into the woods. 

The little-visited woods in Monte Ceceri have a stone marker indicating that Leonardo of the nearby town of Vinci (hence, Leonardo da Vinci) tried out his ahead-of-its-time flying contraption on the hilltop. His designated flier was not so lucky. He broke both legs when the flight machine hit the hillside, according to Ged.

After the group departed, I stayed behind in Fiesole to climb to a monastery and then toured the Roman amphitheater, baths and temple. The latter was started by the forebears of Rome, the Etruscans. Thanks for the suggestions, Ged!

Click on each picture to enlarge or treat it as a gallery.

We split into two groups today: half went to the beautiful hill towns of Siena and San Gimignano while the other half of us learned about wine-making at two Tuscan wineries. (We will switch destinations at the end of the month.)

The winery lessons were led by Todd Bolton, a Californian who met a Florentine woman in the United States and relocated to her home city. Bolton, a trained sommelier, explained the agriculture, chemistry and marketing that mark Italian wines. About 20 percent of wine sold worldwide comes from Italy, he said.

At the Castello del Trebbio winery, we learned about its links to one of history's greatest coup attempts: the Pazzi conspiracy to slay the ruling Medici leaders at Easter mass in 1478. The Pazzi crest can be seen in the castle wall at the winery. Todd offered tastes of three different wines and explained the chemistry and sensations that made each distinct.

After a great lunch at Toscana da Sempre restaurant, we toured the Selvapiana winery, where (talk about history!) the seventh, eighth and ninth generations live in the original family home. Todd offered three more wines, explaining how they differed from each other and how they were distinctive from the previous winery just a couple of miles away. In grape-growing, as in real estate, it's location, location, location.

Click on each photograph to enlarge it or treat it as a gallery. 

Part of learning about Italy is to participate in one of its greatest treasures: pasta. For one night, students move to a different classroom, a cooking school named Tavola. The school can handle about 25 at a time, so the group is split into four. The first group held its class on May 11.

The group made several dishes, starting with pasta from scratch, and then ate the fruits of their labors. They are guided by chef Fabrizio Giorgi and others on staff. You can see how they did it in the photos below. (Click on each to enlarge.) 

We had our welcome dinner tonight, after our classes met for the first day. Tomorrow about half the group goes to Venice while the rest have other adventures, both in Florence and elsewhere, including Croatia. But mostly, the dinner offers a chance to show off some superb students. (Click on image to enlarge.)