Southern Italy: Sorrento, Naples, Positano, and the Amalfi Coast

I met a new friend named Danielle in Rome.  She graciously invited me to travel to her hometown Sorrento.  We also visited Naples, Positano, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast.  This was an experience I will never forget!

Sorrento

This tree is amazing!

You can see the sea!

This is Sant'Antonino, the saint of Sorrento.

Danielle and her sister Carla are ahead of me, showing me around their beautiful hometown.

There are beautiful orange and lemon trees all over the streets of Sorrento.  Sorrento is known for a delicious lemon liquor called Limoncello.

Sorrento is known for beautifully narrow streets such as this one.

The holy grail is everywhere in the Catholic churches of Italy.

This tile pattern is in many churches all over Italy.

In Italy, most churches close midday.  We were busy exploring the lower level, apparently unnoticed and almost got locked inside!

Roman Catholic churches are full of eight-pointed star imagery.

The marble used in Roman Catholic churches never ceases to amaze me.

The interior of this church is a beautiful color.

Here is a very subtle use of the eye of providence.

Here is another very subtle eye of providence on the top of a church exterior.

Here is an example of a sacred geometric shape called Vesica Piscis.  It is also known as Mondorla or "almond" in Italian.  You will see many images of Christ and saints placed in the center almond shape throughout Catholic imagery.

These tiles are painted by hand.

Sorrento is known for handcrafted wood, with over 40 steps to cut the variety of wood and assimilate them.  I purchased a beautiful little box in Sorrento shown below.

Here are more stars with eight points.

I am so lucky to have met Danielle!

Danielle and Carla, beautiful sisters that are half Italian and half English.  In their home, they speak a mixture of English and Italian, whichever words come first.  It was amazing to be a part of their lives for a short period.

School plays are performed here.

Here is the beautiful view from the edge of Sorrento.

Mount Vesuvius is covered by the clouds in the distance.

Pompeii

Here are some of the ruins of Pompeii.

Naples

We took the train to Naples.

This is a shopping center.

Here is the beautiful floor mosaic, which is surrounded by zodiac signs and other astrological images shown below.

The Spanish Quarter of Naples

We met an artist in Naples, who explained that his friend did all of the paintings shown below to cover up doors that were heavy with graffiti.

I had the most phenomenal pizza in Naples.  This shop is run by a family and I saw the the process of spinning the dough.

The masked figure is called the Pulcinella, an iconic character in Neapolitan culture.

Here are some images from churches in Naples.

The three dimensional shapes on the dome are very interesting.

I had the opportunity to see the street in Naples where everyone buys the characters for their presepio or manger scene.  

Danielle took me by moped to Positano and the Amalfi Coast.  I have never experienced anything like this before!

This is the most amazing church I have ever seen.  We happened to arrive just as a funeral procession was taking place.

Here I am back in Sorrento.  Danielle's friend has a legit Vespa from the 1960s.  I got to wear the American helmet haha.