Sorrento, Pompeii, and Ostuni

Ciao friends! It's been way too long since I've heard from you wonderful people, so POST ON THIS BLOG and tell me all about your lives! 

I write to you from the beautiful land of Italy, where I am vacationing for three weeks with my family to celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary. Our first stop in the land of olives and pizza was the coastal city of Sorrento. It sits snuggled up against the treacherous cliffs of the Amalfi coast, and the villa where we stayed had an incredible view of the Bay of Naples. Note Vesuvius chilling in the background: 

Sorrento is not far from the city of Pompeii. So on day 2, we went to check out the archaeological ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii, destroyed by Vesuvius almost 2000 years ago! It was so amazing to see history preserved like that, and my brother and I spent most of the hike history-geeking out ("Look! Corinthian columns!" "Over there! A necropolis!"). It's still hard to believe that we were just walking around beside human beings who were alive at the time the Colosseum was being built: 

After Pompeii, we drove east across the boot to Ostuni, where we met up with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Fifteen of us in total, and for one week we're all living together in this absolutely beautiful villa in the middle of an ancient olive grove just outside the city walls: 

It's a bit crazy having everyone together in one house, with ages ranging from 2 to 72, and there's never a dull (or quiet!) moment. Ostuni is known in Italy as "La Citta Bianca" or "The White City." It's pretty obvious why: 

The Ostuni area has been occupied since the Stone Age! It's one of the major producers of olive oil, and there are olive trees behind our house that are over 1000 years old! 

In other news, yes the pizza is incredible. As is the gelato. And limoncello (the chief export of Sorrento!). The weather is gorgeous. We've been spending a lot of time by the pool (don't worry Amelia I wore lots of sunscreen!), and today we went swimming in the Adriatic Sea. My cousin kept asking if he could swim across the sea to Greece. I told him I wasn't optimistic. 

Anyways, sorry this is a million years long. But I'm just blown away by this country. I'll send another update later - we still have to visit Rome, Florence, Venice, the Vatican, and Cinque Terre! 

Much love,

Gorick