Parrocchia S. Caterina

Day 2 - Trip to Ercolano

‍I started the day with the hotel's breakfast buffet while John slept in.  At 10 am we headed for the Train Station. We purchased tickets and figured out which train took us to Ercolano.  The train was about 10 minutes late arriving. I wasn't paying attention at the 1st stop, but the next stop was not on the schedule nor were the next few. It turns out the schedule doesn't list all the steps. But there is a diagram near the doors that shows all the steps. After the initial fear that we were on the wrong train, I was able to relax  and enjoy the train ride.  At Ercolano it was a straight shot to the Herculaneum Excavations.  Our guide, Felicia, met us at the ticket office and gave us a little overview, before we headed in.  Herculaneum was destroyed in the same volcano erruption as Pompei, but was covered with a type of lava that preserved skeletans, furniture and other artifacts.  Felicia, who is also an Art Historian & Restorer was excellent. We spent about 2 hours at Herculaneum then we got lunch and headed back to the train. We got back to the heal at about 4:30 to discover that the Welcome Reception was moved up from 6pm to 5:30pm, so we had to rush to get ready.  There are 26 people in our group including 2 teenagers. The two teenagers are very mature. I guess I am going to have to reassess my opinion of teenagers.  Each member of the group (or a member of traveling companions) introduced themselves and told 1) where they were from 2) how many Tauck tours they had been on before and 3) why they had chosen this tour.  After the intros and some info from our Tour Director, we headed on foot to the restaurant for dinner. The food was wonderful and we enjoyed the wine.  We sat with a couple (Bretna and Lonie) who had been picked up at the airport with us. I enjoyed getting to know them better.  After dinner we all headed back to the hotel since we had to get up early (breakfast at 6:45am and on the road at 7:30am).  It was a good first day.Read more