On Saturday we left Positano and made our way to Gaeta via Castellemare where a friend of Tracy's has an institute. He picked us up in Positano and drove us to the Institute in Castellemare where we had lunch. The Institute is involved in the excavation of ancient Roman villas at Stabia, which were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in the late 1st century, at the same time as Pompeii. Thomas graciously took us out to the site and we toured one of the villas. It really is a remarkable example of first century, upper crust Roman living, very grand and extensive, overlooking the gulf of Naples. The excavations are far from complete, and they believe there is a great deal more to be found beneath the layer of volcanic rock in that area. It will take significant money to finish the excavations. What they have so far is quite amazing, however. The villas were first found in the 18th century and lots of the frescoes and other art on the walls was removed at that time and put in private collections. Some of it has since been recovered and put in museums, but a lot was lost. At the site, there are many places where reproductions of the original artwork is there now in place of the originals which have been removed for preservation purposes. After our tour of the villas, Thomas drove us to Gaeta. We didn't arrive in Gaeta until 7:30 and had to hunt around for the guy who had the key to our little studio apartment. When we found him we did a quick change and then the three of us went to dinner at a lovely old Gaetan restaurant in a building that probably dates from the Middle Ages. Gaeta is a lively seaside fishing village with a NATO base and a nautical training school. It is a popular place for Italian families to vacation, as it has beautiful sandy beaches.
On Sunday we walked through a national park trail from our part of the city over to the big expanse of beach that is most popular with tourists. We rented chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed being by the sea. We had lunch at the beach. Then we walked back to our apartment via the main market streets and later went to dinner in a lovely little local restaurant where I had my first plate of pasta since coming to Italy!
Monday was a long travel day. We got the bus from Gaeta to Formia, and then the train to Rome. We stopped to pick up our bags at Tracy's friend's apartment and then took a taxi to the Trastevere section of Rome where her university is and where the apartment that she rents is located. It's a very lively and young section of town that is absolutely teeming with activity at all hours. We got into the apartment and then went out to do grocery shopping, got a load of laundry underway and just settled in. We had dinner in a lovely trattoria, sitting outside, with Sam and his friend Ian who are here taking courses at John Cabot, where Tracy teaches.
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