Naples & Pompeii

You knew it was coming--the last theme song for my Italy posts is the classic, That's Amore. This song is especially appropriate here because it starts out, "In old Napoli," and that is exactly where day 4 of my break brought me: NAPLES!

(If the clip doesn't work right away, try reloading your page. If it still doesn't work, find it yourself on YouTube? Or just sing it yourself. I know you know the words!) 

Lauren and I found a good deal for a daytrip on Viator.com that would take us to Naples and Pompeii. Overall, the tour wasn't amazing; Naples was nothing special and the included restaurant lunch provided easily the lamest meal I had during my time in Italy, but the Pompeii portion of the trip definitely made the daytrip worth it!

The tour bus picked us up at our hostel at 6:30 AM. Since our hostel breakfast didn't begin until 7 AM, we snuck a couple croissants from the kitchen (don't tell). We were soon joined by a mix of other tourists, such as some college students studying abroad in Prague, a vacationing family from California, an older couple from Scotland, and a dozen or so others.

The bus ride to Naples took about 2.5 hours. We made a quick snack stop halfway through the journey, and a guide pointed out the sites along the way. I had a great view of Vesuvius from my window:

Mt Vesuvius

Again, Naples wasn't anything special in my opinion. A good portion of it was an industrial area with dull buildings and gray landscaping. The center of town was pretty empty, and we were able to drive through the whole town in half an hour. However, it was neat to see yet another part of Italy. Naples felt much more residential and real than the often-touristy Rome and Florence. Wet clothes hung out of windows, dogs roamed the sidewalks, groups of young Italian men smoked on street corners, and souvenir shops were outnumbered by cafes and grocery stores.

Industrial part of Naples

The bustling(?) center of town

Seeing the coastline was really nice. We basically just viewed Naples from inside the tour bus, but we got out by the water for some fresh air and a photo opp. The rocky shore was bright against the Bay of Naples, and the populated land jutted out into the blue.

We stopped at a coral shop to learn about this part of Naples' commercial market. We watched someone crafting a necklace, and Lauren found an "L" necklace to buy.

Coral shop

Goofing around

We made a short drive to Pompeii where we stopped for lunch. The plate of spaghetti, side of iceberg lettuce leaves (seriously, that was basically the whole "salad"), and over processed tiramisu left much to be desired. I don't mean to complain, but after being spoiled with genuine and delicious Italian food for a few days, I felt there was no time to waste precious stomach space on bad cuisine. I was also disappointed that we weren't given pizza, considering that Naples is the birthplace of pizza!!!  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

The lunch may have been blah, but the ancient ruins of Pompeii were certainly not! This place was AWESOME. The city was buried by the two-day long eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, and was discovered/excavated in the 20th century.

Pompeii

Our tour guide Franco was a short, white-haired Italian man with a slow, drawn-out voice, a dry sense of humor, and a funny purple cap. Whenever other tourists wandered by our group, he would announce, "No free loaders. My group stay close."

We spent a few hours walking into ruined houses, baths, shops, temples, recreational areas, and gardens. I really enjoyed seeing an entire ancient village, rather than just a few old buildings here and there.

Original paint

Original streets

Bath

Not-so-comfy bed

We also got to see bodies of people who had been killed by the volcano. Their bodies left an empty space in the layer of ash, so archaeologists injected plaster into the negative space to create an accurate molding of the individuals. The original skeletons still remained.

Poor dog

Being a theatre nerd, one of my favorite parts of the city was, you guessed it, the theatre! (Notice how I spell it the British way instead of the American "theater" way.) Gotta love the dramatic arts...

Two thumbs up for drama!

Claiming my seat for the next show

I think I slept most of the three-hour drive back to Rome. When we got dropped off around 9 PM, Lauren and I were eager for dinner. We ended up in one of the first good-looking restaurants we found by the Trevi Foutain. It turned out to be rather touristy, but my food was still great! I ordered raviolli filled with pumpkin puree and practically licked the plate clean. We couldn't head home without indulging in some gelato, so we stopped at "Il San Crispino," hailed as one of the best gelaterias in the world. Accordingly, my scoops of banana and chocolate meringue were quite delectable.

Sunday went by quickly since we flew home that night, so I'll tag our last day onto this post. Our plan was to visit the neighborhood of Trastevere, but confusing directions from one of the hostel owners caused us to change our plans. Instead, we got on the metro and visited Piazza del Popolo. This vibrant area houses the twin churches of Santa Maria and once served as the main entrance to the ancient city.

A nearby stairway caught our attention, so Lauren and I hiked up to a cool viewpoint.

We walked down the main street of the city, Via del Corso. I found a pastry shop with mini cannoli, so of course I had to try one. Although it was satisfactory, the shell was a bit soggy and the cream was just okay. I think Mike's Pastry is Boston's North End is still my favorite place for a good cannolo :-)

Not in any rush, we leisurely explored the area. We came across some markets, the old house of Emperor Augustus, Piazza Navona, and a bridge across the Tiber river.

Domus Augustana

For my last meal in Italy, I chose a classic margherita pizza.

Full disclosure: Although my taste buds LOVED the food in Italy, my stomach did not. I think I'm a bit lactose-intolerant, hence all the cheese and gelato meant that I had some sort of tummy ache every day. Nothing bad enough to ruin the trip, just an annoyance. At this last lunch, I actually decided to peel off most of the cheese topping...probably offending my Italian waiter as a result. Oh well!

Another note about this meal; while waiting in a long line for the restaurant's washroom, the old Italian woman behind me through up her hands in exasperation and impatiently exclaimed, "Mama mia!" I loved hearing this phrase being genuinely used. I gave a "Mama mia!" in return. Consequently, the woman must have thought I was Italian, because for the next few minutes, she continued speaking to me in Italian. I just kept nodding and saying "Si. Si." I could've been agreeing to marry her son for all I know.

We had to have one last gelato before leaving, so I got a cone of strawberry and nutella by the Trevi Fountain. I think the nutella flavor was my favorite overall.

We picked up our luggage from our hostel and headed to Termini station, where a train took us to Fiumicino airport. I was back in my London dorm a little after midnight, where I immediately went to sleep since my internship started in the AM. And so ends my Italian adventure! Overall, it was truly an amazing experience, and I hope to go back someday!

Until my next post, ciao!