After a couple of days getting acclimatized to Positano (it's such tough work!), and having already made the trek to Isola di Capri, we decided to wrest our car from the clutches of the parking Gods and head down the coast through Amalfi and onwards to Ravello.

What an delightful journey (from the passenger's perspective anyway). And watching 30+ red Ferrari's tear by one after the other along the coast road was an added kick (here's one of 'em). True, we did have to mediate a dispute between a bus and a stone wall, wherein the bus won, but the damage to our beautiful little orange Citroen was modest ('though it made one H of a gut-wrenching noise). But the sun was shining, and it WAS the Amalfi Coast, so who cares?

Seven km from Amalfi, up a winding road through the "Dragon's Valley", sits the lovely little hill town of Ravello, perched 350m above the Gulf of Salerno. What an Incredible View, or so they tell us. Our only choice was to believe 'em, 'cause by then the sun had disappeared and all we could see was haze.

But even on a less-than-good day, Ravello's certainly worth a visit. Just don't overstay your (2 hour!) welcome at the parking meters - they love to hand out parking tickets - at €15 a crack.

The next day it was off to see the ruins of Pompeii. Until I saw Pompeii, mention of the word "ruins" conjured up the remnants of building foundations or whatever a few inches above the ground. Pompeii totally blew me away, not only because of the substantial nature of the "ruins" themselves, but the sophistication of the society to which they bear witness. However, that's for some other time and place. For an intro to Pompeii and Vesuvius, click here. (The site has, unfortunately, been "re-arranged" so it doens't "flow" quite as well as before. But it's still well worth your the time to explore.)

Across the bottom of this page are some erotic paintings still adorning the roman baths in Pompeii, together with material from Pompeii now housed in "The Secret Museum" of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. Intriguing insights to this aspect of life in ancient Pompeii are available on this BBC page (Feb. 2005). A 1/2 hour discussion is available if you click on Listen to the programme on the BBC page just below the first row of images in the centre column (be patient - the first 60 seconds aren't relevant). If the BBC page and/or the discussion is no longer available, click here for a copy of the page and here for the discussion . If you have any curiosity at all about the subject, both will be well worth your time.