Italy - 9, Pompeii

Hi, On our way from Sorrento to Rome we stopped at Pompeii for a few hours.  The photos should provide a general impression of what can be seen there.

One thing that is very different from the other Roman ruins we have seen is the presence of statues, some huge.  Samples are above, below and scattered through out the post.

Bits of some of the murals survive.

Here are the rooms of two homes (above and below).

This art work was part of a ceiling.

From Pompeii our group drove to Rome where we were dropped at our hotel at the airport.  The next morning we would fly to Barcelona, Spain.  Thanks for looking.

Italy - 8, Capri

Hi, During our free day in Sorrento Ruthe and I took a ferry over to the Isle of Capri.

Capri has a beautiful, busy harbor (above and three below)

with ferries to Sorrento and Naples coming and going.

There is a funicular from the port (Marina Grande) up to the town of Capri.

This is the view from the top of the funicular looking back toward the port.  From here we walked to the Giardini di Augusto taking photos as we walked (see below)

One of the shops had a display of bikinis.

This sculpture is outside the Bank of Naples.

Art in a store window.

An optometrist had eye charts in greek (above), Egyptian hieroglyphics (below), and Chinese (not shown).

We passed a perfumery.  The copper object is a still.

While the park was very small it was packed with things and views to photograph.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning Harrisburg, PA - 8/6/2016

Hi, On Saturday, August 6, I was accompanied by next door neighbor Jacob Patterson, age 14, on a trip to Harrisburg, PA to show him some mainline railroading. This was his first railfan trip.

We arrived at Enola Yard about 9:00 AM and after some exploration at the east end of the yard and a stop to overlook the center of the yard we headed to the west end where a pair of switch crews were working (above and below).

While we were there a coal train arrived on the run through track led by an SD71Ace.

Next we staked out the west end of the Rockville Bridge but, although we could hear what sounded like westbound trains ready to depart Harrisburg, nothing happened for almost an hour so we relocated to Cove.  Of course there were now westbound trains (one shown above) but nothing running east until

the eastbound Pennsylvanian came through.  We did note an eastbound auto rack train sitting east of us.  It turned out the area seemed to be having some problems including the signals at CP Banks.

Trailing the Pennsylvanian was this private car.  While at Cove I learned from another railfan that he had spotted the NS Veterans Commemorative locomotive in the yard.

We went searching for it and found it leading train 14R at the west end of the yard.  Just as it began to pull a yard job came out on an adjacent track (above and below).

After learning that the train would cross the Rockville Bridge and head up the Buffalo Line we set up on the Rockville side of the river and photographed the train as it slowly pulled across the bridge (above and two below).

The train was moving slow enough that we had time to photograph it from the PA 453 overpass.

Our final location of the trip was along the Buffalo line.  We went back into Harrisburg to look around the Harrisburg Amtrak Station but there was no free parking in the area.  As the weather had been mostly cloudy to cloudy all day we decided on an early quit and headed for home.  Thanks for looking.

Italy - 7, Sorrento

Hi, The drive from Priano to Sorrento on April 20 was about an hour so even with a late morning departure Ruthe and I had the afternoon to explore Sorrento.  What follows is a selection of photos from that exploration.

It pays to look up.  Ruthe spotted this interesting staircase and Patio.

The road to the port follows this narrow cleft down to the sea.  A ferry can be seen leaving on the left side of the photo; probable destination - the Isle of Capri.

Lemons are grown and sold everywhere.

Produce shops were well stocked.

A selection of Liqueurs.

We stopped in a park overlooking the Bay of Naples where this woman had paused for a rest.

From another vantage point the coast along the north side of the Gulf of Naples can be seen.

Here is a view of the port and the Gulf of Naples from the same spot. Note the ferry at the dock.

Gelato, mmm good.  Thanks for looking.