Pompeii - and the end

The last day of our Insight Vacations media famil was spent driving from Sorrento to Pompeii and then onto Rome for our last night.

Tomorrow night, I fly from Rome to Dubai, spend five hours in the lovely Emirates lounge, and then do the 16 and a bit hour schlep to Auckland (it's an hour or so less going that way). And then two hours and another short hop to Welly.

Before that there will be a last few hours spent in the glorious city of Rome, soaking up the late autumn sun and attempting to off-load the last few Euro.

See you on the other side...

Capri and Positano

No time for words today but instead  images of two of  the most beautiful places on the planet - the island of Capri and, further along the coast, the town of Positano which tumbles dramatically down the steep hills.

Tomorrow we drive to Pompeii and then onto Rone where the Insight Vacations media famil ends. I will be so, so sad to leave Italy - but happy to get home to my two boys.

Into the hills of Umbria - and along the coast to Sorrento

Yesterday we left beautiful Venezia to drive into the Apennines, the winding spine of Italy.
Mid afternoon we arrived in Assisi where we climbed the steep hills to our hotel in this ancient mountain town.

There was a tour of the famous 13th Century Basilica of St Francis, where we saw the bones of the founder of Franciscan order of monks and received a whistle-stop tour of the ancient frescoes which decorate the church.

Today we left a fog-shrouded Assisi to drive four or so hours along the coast to Sorrento, a resort town perched perilously upon a clifftop with astounding views of the Mediterranean.

Venezia

It's my third visit to this magical UNESCO World Heritage site, and yesterday I fell in love all over again.

It is simply stunning, especially outside of summer when more than 60,000 tourists pass through its digestive system, many of them disgorged from hideous ocean liners and touting the most annoying invention of modern times, the selfie stick.

Instead, when autumn ticks over into winter and a moody fog hangs overhead,, like a cold compress, is when this floating city comes into its own.

We were so, so lucky to be staying at the appropriately named Hotel Splendid, smack bang on one of the watery arteries, and to arrive, James Bond style, on a speed boat..

There was a so-cheesy-it's-cool gondola ride, a tour of St Mark's Basilica, a visit to a Murano glass factory and lots and lots of wandering around the tiny cobbled alleyways where getting lost is standard practice. This city is, in fact, made for getting horribly, terribly lost - and discovering all sorts of gems as you attempt to find your way.