Southern Italy Study Tour: Pompei and Sorrento

After staying in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius for four days, we went to the place that has most famously felt the impact of being so close to that volcano: Pompei.

Mount Vesuvius looming on the horizon in Pompei

Ancient crosswalk in Pompei

Probably the most impressive thing about Pompei is its size. There are ruins all over Rome, but few that cover so extensive an area or retain so much of their original form. Because of Pompei's size, it was easy to find a side street to walk down off the beaten track and distance oneself from flashing cameras and pushy tour groups.

Courtyard in the Baths at Pompei

I walked all the way down one of these less-travelled roads while I was sketching. There were only two other individual tourists and a park ranger walking around as I neared its end. It was eerily quiet, like a ghost town, far away from the constant din of noise and life of the touristy areas. Just by walking 50 feet down the road, I found the real atmosphere of present-day Pompei: a quiet memory lost in desolation.

Everywhere that there were signs of life and vegetation seemed somewhat odd in Pompei. The ruins at Baia and Cuma were not large cities: unkempt plants growing over broken arches and sideways column capitals seemed fitting there, like those ruins were a garden planned to look old and overgrown. But something about Pompei, knowing that it was a city where so many people had died so suddenly, made the maintained vegetation in preserved housing courtyards seem strange.

Garden at a house in Pompei

There were some striking trees around the city of Pompei. Many were the same kind of evergreens I've seen all over Italy, which are maintained to have long, branchless trunks, creating an umbrellalike canopy high above. In Pompei, these trees were so old and so tall that they were able to filter beautiful light and shadows on certain parts of the city to a neat effect. I was also intrigued by a particular tree in the House of the Fawn, whose branches spiraled and intertwined with each other just off the trunk, creating a kind of lovely, natural, freestanding column within the courtyard.

Underside of the tree canopy by the sports complex



Tree like a twisting column at the House of the Fawn

In the afternoon, we left Pompei for various destinations. One of our afternoon options was to visit the coastal town of Sorrento. I had been longing to return to Sorrento ever since I fell in love with the city on my high school trip.

Cloister with a variety of arcades and fragrant flowers in Sorrento

Sorrento is lemons and flowers. Wood and water. As soon as I stepped off the train, I could smell the sweet fragrance of the multitude of drooping purple flowers and lemon groves. We first walked to an overlook on the edge of the cliffs to gaze over the gorgeous, crystalline waters. Then we got gelato (for me, limone e fiori di sorrento--my two favorite scents of the place were just as wonderful as gelato flavors), saw the more significant architecture of the town, and browsed for local handicrafts like handmade shoes, ceramics, and (my personal favorite) inlaid wood along the main shopping street.  

Harbor at Sorrento

I was amazed at how well I remembered Sorrento. At just about every street corner, I recognized a place or recalled a particular memory from my previous stay there. I was so happy to be back in that coastal town, even more gorgeous than I had remembered it with the spring flowers in bloom.

Inlaid wood Stations of the Cross at the Duomo in Sorrento