All things Ancient, including the Mafia

For the last three days I have been chilling out on the beach in Corfu and I have loved every moment of it. I was in desperate need of some R 'n' R, so going to Corfu was perfect for me as well as many of the others on the tour. Quite a few people are starting to get sick from the Contiki cough and I have been struggling for the last few days but now I feel great. It might also help that I have been drinking cocktails today. I feel pretty damned fantastic right now.

Going back a bit though... From Florence, where I purchased an awesome leather belt, we headed off to Rome. I love Rome. I really do. It is one of those places where the buildings never get old (so to speak). This time I finally got to the Roman Forum too. I cannot express how amazing the forum is and I got to walk

down the Via Sacra, which I have heard so much about but never visited before. I also got to finally see the remains of the ruins of the Temple of Vesta and the Temple of Romulus. The city ruins are simply stunning and to have seen it in its heyday would have been awe-inspiring, I imagine, given the scale of the buildings.
I revisited the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain, the Colosseum and the circus maximus, and I walked the streets a fair amount. The highlight was the forum though. Now, having been three times, I finally feel like I have seen Rome and if I was to go back it would be for the forum alone. There is just so much to see that you need to spend a lot more time there than I really had.
Also, when I visited the Colosseum, I had no idea that there was a museum inside, so spent a wee bit of time there, enjoying the sculptures. There was even this ginormous hand and head that had once been part of a statue that stood outside the building. I didn't even know that.
I did, however, have to cringe at some of the stories that our tour manager told of Rome that were wrong. Being an ancient history teacher does mean that I sometimes die a little inside when the stories are mangled.

From Rome we headed down to the Isle of Capri for the day. We left Rome at the crack of dawn. It wouldn't be so bad except for having to put down the tents. It is a pain in the arse.

We ended up missing our original sailing time due to the traffic so we didn't get to the Isle of Capri until a little before 2pm and we had to sail back at 5.50pm. The crossing wasn't too bad from Napoli to Capri, but I could certainly tell we were in Mafia territory. The buildings were so much less than the towns before and the people were poorer in looks and shops. We left that and entered another world entirely on Capri.
Marica, Will and I had all opted out of the optional boat cruise around the island, so we had a bit of lunch and caught the funiculare up to the town of Capri, half way up the hill.
The sights from the top are phenomenal. The seas were a rich blue, the skies clear and the bay spread out with boats.
Up on Capri it is very expensive. The shops are all designer, with big names and famous people coming here to shop and eat. I saw a pair of sandals and thought, I could really do with a new pair - picked them up and then quickly put them down - 160 euros for literally two straps and a bit of sparkle. No thanks. My6 6 pound jandals will continue to prove themselves instead.
We walked around the narrow streets, jumping aside each time there was a little motorised 4-wheeler that runs of electric. It was actually quite nice as it was quiet and clean. No beggars on those streets.
We left the Isle of Capri at around 6pm and travelled back to the mainland. This time we landed in Sorrento.
I have never seen anything quite like it. The  port is at the bottom of a very steep cliff which acts are a natural barrier against invaders. When we got off the boat we actually had to zigzag our way up the cliff face via a narrow set of steps. Amazing. Loved it. Calves were burning by the time I reached the top.

Our next stop on our way out of Italy was to Pompeii. We once more entered Mafia territory. It was a little bit annoying - actually, it was a lot annoying. I had booked myself on the tour of Pompeii because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get in with enough time if I had to line up myself. So I paid the extra 9 euro, on top of the ticket of 11 euros to do the tour. The guide was okay but when I asked if we would go to the Villa of Mysteries I was told no. I was told that I could make the 20 minute run down to the site myself if I wanted to. I would have if we hadn't been led to believe that after the tour we were to have lunch and then we were leaving. Tour ended up finishing at 10.30am. So I left the site with the rest of the group only to find out we have another hour and a half here and that we should all sit down and eat at this one particular restaurant. The place happens to be run by the mafia and Contiki have a deal with them. They send us to buy food there and they don't get beaten up - supposedly.
For me it was way too early to eat so I asked if I could go back inside the site. No. Apparently once you are out you are out. Grrrrrr. Another grrrrr is that they lied to us about the supermarket. We had asked if there was somewhere to buy food and was told there was no where. Turns out it was just down the road but the Mafia don't like us to take our custom elsewhere. Boo efffing hoo! We all went down and got food.

Pompeii itself however is amazing. I really did enjoy it and although I am still bitter about not having enough time due to Contiki-Mafia politics I was amazed at how much is there. I loved that I finally got to walk down the streets and to see the brothel houses that I had read about and seen pictures of. I loved that it was there without glamour or casings. You could see it as it was. I got to see the site where the gladiators trained before being shipped off to Rome and where the sailors would go after months at sea. Funnily enough the red light district of the day
didn't have any written signs pointing you towards it. Instead it just had huge stone penises sticking out of the walls of etched onto the ground pointing you in the right direction, so to speak.
The city also had some amazing buildings that were pretty much standing and they had a bunch of plaster-cast remains of people who had been caught in the eruption. They even have one of a pregnant woman. It is very sad but it is amazing that they are so well preserved.

After Pompeii we drove across Italy to catch an overnight ferry to Greece.
I have never, ever, been so grateful for an upgrade to a cabin on a boat in my life. Seriously. There were people, with bad, bad hygiene and serious problems staring. They just couldn't help themselves it would appear. I told Marissa and Felicity, who I was rooming with, that I wouldn't open the door if they knocked and didn't name themselves. There were some bad types on board and I didn't want myself or them to be caught.
The ferry arrived in to Greece at 4 am and then we transferred to another ferry at 6am before finally arriving at Corfu for three days of RnR.