Up early to catch the 8:26 Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii. Bought our tickets and audioguides, then mostly followed the itinerary from the London Times, designed to help avoid the "Billy Bobs in baseball caps." This route had us heading first past the tombs outside the walls to the Villa of the Mysteries, some distance from the main city, and one of the most complete and beautiful of the Pompeii homes. It was a successful plan, since we had the villa all to ourselves except for one British couple, also readers of the Times :-)

We were very impressed, as we came back into Pompeii proper, at how deeply immersed in Roman civilization we felt while walking the paving stones and viewing so many facets of the daily life. We definitely recommend the audioguides, both for their commentary, and for the excellent map that comes along with them. The young woman at the audioguide booth was extremely helpful in pointing out the "best" places to see, telling us which were closed, and noting the "extra" commentaries (such as Pliny's first-hand report on the eruption) that we should be sure not to miss. With the plastic-overlay book (purchased in Sorrento, but also available at the Pompeii bookstore) that helps you imagine how the buildings looked at their prime, we never felt the need of a live guide. (By the way, we also bought similar books for Paestum and ancient Rome.)

Continuing with our routine of skipping lunch, we pushed on for a solid 6 hours of Pompeii perambulations. We were just too fascinated to stop our explorations. The day left us exhausted but very moved. Everyone has read and heard so much about Pompeii (and we highly recommend Robert Harris's recent historical novel), but the experience of being there, walking the streets and entering the houses where life stopped in its tracks 2000 years ago, is completely overwhelming.

We made it back to Casa Astarita just in time to avoid getting wet in the regular PM thunderstorm. M. napped while I played on the computer, and alerted a few friends to look for us on the Sorrento webcam, which was en route to the restaurant we'd chosen that evening. (Some of them did spot us, and in fact emailed us screen shots, which were fun to have.)

Dinner was at Pizzeria Giardinello, via Accademia 7. Food was good (antipasto, lasagne, grilled swordfish) and quite reasonable, at under 40 euro for 2 dinners, with a nice bottle of Aglianico del Vulture vino rosso. However, I have to say that the place didn't seem up to the usual Italian cleanliness standards, and this was the only meal of the trip that found me on the next morning with a case of traveler's trots. Fortunately, it wasn't serious enough to delay our departure for Rome.

We enjoyed our stay in Sorrento, but more for the day trips out of town than the place itself. It was a good base for the things we wanted to see, and a good choice for this time of year, as the other towns along the coast would have been mostly closed up tight. At least there was a little life in Sorrento, although we didn't see any sign of the evening passeggiata that we've read is supposed to happen along the Corso Italia. But it didn't strike us as a place with much soul of its own -- not much reason to exist except for the tourist trade -- and we don't feel any strong pull, despite the song, to return.