Sorrento to Missanello

We left Sorrento early Monday morning to avoid the crush of traffic. The Monday after Easter is a huge holiday in Italy, a very secular holiday when everyone hops in a car and drives someplace else. The cities are deserted and the small towns and resorts are filled with day trippers. The two lane road to Sorrento was jammed with people escaping Naples. Fortunately, we were driving in the opposite direction.

Vesuvius

As we drove along the two lane road with twists and turns, we were stopped by an amazing sight. We have had wonderful weather during March and so far in April but the last two days were generally pretty poor. Overnight the rain had pounded the pavement and by the morning cold, clear air had moved in. When we have a chance to look at Vesuvius on our way out of Sorrento, we had to find a place to pull off the road. While it had rained where we were, it had snowed on the top of Vesuvius. The snow made the mountain even more striking as Vesuvius soared above Naples.

In the Apennines

The trip to Missanello goes over the Apennines to the valley of the Agri River. The highest point we saw on the GPS was about 3000 feet. The snow that had dusted Vesuvius had accumulated 4 or 5 inches on the side of the road as crossed over the highest point on our trip. Fortunately, the road was clear by the time we passed.

Welcome to Missanello

As we descended into the Agri valley the snow was visible again only in the heights. After a typical misadventure in the last 2 miles of our trip we arrived in Missanello to stay with Annette’s cousin, Maria Micucci.