We all only got 2-3 hours of sleep and we woke up at 4:30ish to walk down to Trastevere Stazione to get a train to Roma Termini to then get our train to Napoli! We were definitely all very loud with our small wheeled luggage at 5:30 in the morning walking down our stone sidewalks...it was probably quite obnoxious. So anyway...we got to Trastevere (20-30 min walk) and found which train we needed to get to Termini Stazione...the big train station. Leah actually went to a different station because she got a different ticket; so we ended up meeting her at the station in Naples once we all got there. It went smoothly and once there it was a little more complicated to figure out where to go to get our Eurail passes validated. Fortunately though we got them and there wasn't any language barrier problem- but I'm sure that they deal with the tickets all the time so it was nice that we didn't have to try to explain ourselves. We finally found a train to take to Naples and they had ones leaving every 1/2 hour so it wasn't hard to get one. We actually got pretty lucky and found a cabin on a train that we probably were supposed to have reservations for...oh well! So it was just Lindsay, Sarah and me in our own lil' cabin for our 2 hour ride- it was very comfortable and it was a direct train so we got to enjoy that landscape and country side uninterrupted...oh yes and we also got to sleep some :) We did wake up though for when the conductor stamped our passes....quite important.
So we arrived in Napoli around 9:30ish and we found the subway that we needed to get into the city. It was on the subway that we got our first impressions of Naples...scary, 'hold on to your possessions for your life' type of dangerous. While on the subway an old, homeless man, without any teeth came up to us with his fingers in his mouth and he was begging for money. Leah and I said sternly: "No!" and finally Leah said: "Basta, basta!!" which means 'enough, enough.' He also smelled like urine and as he walked by everyone turned their heads in the opposite direction and gasped for air. Ha- great first impression! But it's sad to say that it was a fairly accurate impression of Naples, which we found to be dirty, scary and overall sketchy!
After we got off of the Subway we followed our 'sketchy' directions to our hostel, Welcome Inn. They were just strange directions b/c they didn't have any street names...they were just like "take metro line 2 one stop, take right out of station, walk through a garden, turn left after fountain, cross street, turn right, turn left at light, turn right again...you've arrived!" But nevertheless we did find it successfully and it was on the fifth floor of a 'sketchy' building. Fortunately though, our hostel was not sketchy, but it was brightly colored and clad in IKEA furniture (I've looked through those catalogues way too many times!) The owner greeted us and was very friendly, older man...he told us to call him 'Papa'..haha! He showed us our room, it was right of of the main living room and it had 4 bunk beds and 4 double wardrobes. He gave us our sheets and we had to make the beds ourselves- so its in no way a hotel! Speaking of which they also didn't give towels...go figure! And given my towel fiasco last weekend I wasn't prepared for another one this weekend! [I ended up buying a beach towel on Saturday for 15 euro in Capri...So even though it was the same amount as one nights stay in the hostel I figured it was a souvenir and I could finally take a shower...so it was worth it!]
When we arrived in our room there was just one other woman in the room. She was German and was staying in Naples for business- she worked with preserving and studying national monuments...she was quite interesting. Later (after our day in Pompeii) there were two other German girls, one year younger than us who were also studying architecture! They were in Italy to do a two week construction camp as a part of their classes. There was also a middle-aged man from Australia, which was strange b/c we checked in for a 8 bed female dorm. But I think he felt awkward about the situation as well and apologized, even though it wasn't really his 'fault'. He was very nice though and he was living in Italy for a while with a family in the countryside. I really enjoyed meeting new people from different cultures...it was such an interesting experience!
So from the hostel after we quickly settled in we left and made it on our way to Pompeii! First though we got a quick lunch- pizza from a street vendor for 1 euro! It was sooo good and Napoli pizza is much different than Roma pizza- it has more of a chewy, thick crust. I got a slice with a cream sauce, corn, ham and cheese...yum! We took a local train from there to Pompeii and it was about a 30-40 min train ride...it was extremely crowded, we were all standing and I was pushed against a wall surrounded by people. It was hot because there was no ventilation and we all couldn't imagine what it would be like in peak season with tourists packed in like cattle in 90 plus degree weather! It was crazy though because the girl next to me turned pale and slouched down on the floor...at the next stop she literally fell out when the doors opened and was lying on the ground. It was so sad because there wasn't anything we could really do because it wasn't our stop and since we don't know any Italian there would have been no way to truly help her. But some people gathered around her and helped her get up- so hopefully she ended up being ok.
Pompeii was absolutely incredible! We bought a little guide book and gave ourselves our own tour. There was so much to see because everything was just so well preserved due to the volcanic ash. Looking up toward Mt. Vesuvius was humbling to say the least- to see how nature so quickly destroyed and preserved an entire civilization. Actually at the same time though, I couldn't help but think of Lisa's 2nd grade paper-mache Mt. Vesuvius that has been such a part of our family these past 11 years! Ha!! We walked around for about 5 hours and I don't really even feel like we scratched the surface. But after so many columns and frescoes, many things started to be repetitive. The theaters and stadium were really neat to see as well as some of the temples. The wealthier families had large homes with atriums and gardens, and some of those houses were extremely well preserved, it was just so crazy to think that even though some things didn't look that old that this culture was destroyed almost 2 thousand years ago! But don't even think for a second that this was some nice, innocent, ancient culture- oh no! The craziest thing we saw was the brothel, with stone beds and erotic paintings on the walls. Even worse were the markings around the city that pointed the way to the brothel...there were carved penises on stones in the street and on corners of buildings. So from the temples to the brothel, it was clearly an ancient 'sin city'...Imagine how shocked the archaeologists were when they found some of these things around the city...ridiculous! Another interesting things that archaeologists were able to do was make plaster castings of some of the bodies that were found...you can see one man on his knees praying, another crawling on the ground gasping for air, etc. The died so quickly and so it was not uncommon to have found the bodies in action.
Overall though Pompeii was amazing to see, it was just so much to take in at one time! So after that overwhelming experience we got a train back to Naples, and this time the ride was much smoother and not as crowded. We went back to the hostel and asked them for their recommendation as to where to eat- they told us that the best pizza in Naples was at Sorbillo Pizzeria and it was only a 15 min walk! We went and we got their early by Italian standards- 7:30 so we walked right in and sat down. All of the pizzas on the menu were from 4-8 euro and they were all undescribably amazing! Check out my new profile picture to see the size of the pizza that I had all to myself :) It was a red sauce with mozzarella, 'special mushrooms' (that's what the menu said!), artichokes, basil, and ham. And yes I did eat the whole thing! It was so amazing definitely the best pizza ever... we all loved it so much that we vowed to go back the next night!
I can't believe that that was just one day!!! It was such a long day and we did so many things so I slept very well and got up bright and early the next day for our adventure to Capri! I didn't have my towel by this point to I just washed my hair and wrapped it in a T-shirt! Oh yes and the bathroom was a shared bath down the hall- it was pretty small but it served its purposed. The hostel gave us breakfast each morning- coffee, cornetto, juice, etc. It was pretty much a basic continental breakfast...but it was nice that it was included. We headed out after eating and walked down to the harbor to buy ferry tickets. We didn't have to wait very long and it was 17.50 one way per person...so a lil' pricey but b/c it's the only way to get there the ferry company has a monopoly on it. The ferry was fun though and we stood outside the whole time- approaching the island was awesome- almost like a movie.
You could see the cliffs along the coast with of the buildings built in along the mountainside and small cable car that went through up to the center of town. We got off and bought a map ...we decided to not take the cable car so we just started walking up through lil' side streets. The streets were somewhat comparable to the Medina in Fes (Morocco), but they weren't as crowded, plus they had names and there was a map! But they were definitely narrow and windy like they were in Fes. We passed beautiful country houses with large gardens; and many beautiful doors (I have a fascination for doors). We found a grocery store and we bought bread, meat, cheese, fruit, snacks, juice and lil' bottles of vino for our picnic lunch. Our plan was to walk up to the highest peak were Tiberius' villa was and eat lunch. From the store we just kept walking up until we got to the center of the city. It was very ritzy and expensive but we just walked through until we could start the 'hike.' They were still narrow streets and we just passed lil' villas, gardens and vineyards up to the top. There was just amazing views from all around- it was so beautiful. The best views though were a the top of the peak, on the uppermost levels of the ruins of Villa Jovis. It was pretty much a 360 view around the island and to the surrounding islands. It was so peaceful...except for when...
I decided to pet a lizard...I saw a lil' lizard (5 in.)with no tail on the railing. He looked so sad so I reached my hand out and the lil' guy walked towards my finger. As I went to pet him though- he bit my finger! I violently shook him off until he flew back into the bushes. I guess I've just always had bad experiences with "lil' lizards" :(
The walk back down the mountain was pleasant and once we got back into the center of city we took a bus to Anacapri, the other largest village on the island. The road to get there was steep and windy, with cliffs on the one side. The buses would pass each other on tight turns- it was crazy...but by far not as bad as the Road to Hana in Maui! Anacapri was much nicer than Capri Centrale- it wasn't as expensive and there were more street vendors (three cheers for another sweet spoon!). After walking around for an hour or so we took the bus back to Capri Centrale and from there we took the cable car back to the bottom of the mountain. We bought our return ferry tickets and then went swimming!!!
There was a very small beach adjacent to the harbor area, but there was no one there so it was very nice :) Ha...funny incident...so the beach was mostly rocks, boulders, and as I was climbing up and woman was coming down so she tried to help me up. She was half my size so it didn't work very well! Fortunately I didn't pull her down (yikes!) but in the process my sunglasses fell off in between the rocks in the water. I am not sure what language she spoke but she called her husband over and so they were trying to help me by verbally telling me what to do in a language I didn't understand! I crawled b/w the rocks and practically did a split as I stretched down in to the water with some bamboo I broke off. After a few minutes of me struggling and with them encouraging me I finally got them out! It was so funny! Sadly no one else was around to laugh at me- so it was just an awkward moment b/w me and two strangers!
As I said, it was very rocky, so we went to the end of the beach and put our stuff on the rocks. The water was so clear and blue, it was beautiful...it was difficult just to tell how deep the water was. Sarah and Lindsay tested it out though and they enjoyed jumping off some of the rocks! After swimming we sat on the rocks with an awesome view and enjoyed our lil' vino together as the sun began to set :) How 'ro-tic'! From there we each went off on our own...I stayed on the rocks and watched the tide come in- I could see Mt. Vesuvius in the distance and the coast of Italy...it was beautiful to watch the colors change as the sun set...I kept singing: "Lord of all creation; of water earth and sky; The heavens are your Tabernacle; Glory to the Lord on high; God of wonders beyond our galaxy; You are Holy, Holy; The universe declares your Majesty; And you are holy holy; Lord of Heaven and Earth; Lord of Heaven and Earth..." It was awesome :)
So my day in Capri was amazing and I wish I had more time to spend there, but sadly we had to leave and go back to stinky Naples :( But we did once again go back to Sorbillo Pizzeria for dinner! It was around 9pm, which is normal dinner time for Italians so we had quite a long wait for a table. I was nominated to push through the crowd to get up to the front so that I could get my name on the list. I asked for a table for 4 in Italian (...one of the other important phrases I know...thanks the the cheesy 'Drive n' Learn Italian' my mom got me this summer!). When I gave him my name: "Rhodes" he had no idea what to do with that...so he wrote down "Roz", read it back to me and showed it to me for my approval! There was no point in trying to correct it...it probably would have been more effective if I made it sound Italian like "Rodeselli"! But it was totally worth the wait and this time I got an "annealed" pizza which means it was a pizza the same size as the one the night before but it was folded in half. The pizza had red sauce, mozzarella, ricotta cheese, ham and fresh basil. Once again...amazing!
After dinner we headed straight back to the Welcome Inn, it was somewhat of a challenge to climb 5 stories of stairs after just eating an entire pizza! Once there though, I finally got a shower with my nice new Capri towel and then I went right to bed!
Sunday was much more laid back- we only had the National Archaeological Museum on our itinerary. Saturday and Sunday were national free museum days in Italy so we got in for free! The coolest part was the 1:100 scale model of Pompeii...it was beautiful and they had the details down to every fresco!
After the museum we walked around the city a bit- we were hoping that more stores would have been open but most things aren't on Sunday. But we got to see some interesting side of the city, nonetheless! The first part were walking (through quite a busy area) and we saw half of a car being towed away. A closer look to the scene revealed the aftermath of a small bomb that was put into a trash dumpster- It completely incinerated the entire dumpster, half of the car to the left, and half of the recycling dumpster to the right. For your info- the Mafia is still quite active in Naples and just two days prior to our visit 500 soldiers from the Italian National Army were sent in to control some of the situations. So we did sense a strong military presence when we were there. In addition to that the streets were also very dirty (reminded me a lil' of Kensington in Philly but worse!)- there were used needles on the sidewalk, poop everywhere...it was so gross!
We ended our walk at Castel Nuvono (sp?) by the harbor. We sat outside and people watched for an hour or so until we finally went in the Civico Museo. It was a small museum and we only stayed until we got kicked out b/c they were closing...My favorite part was seeing a local artist: Paolo Ricci...his stuff was beautiful and very inspirational for me.
After the Museum we found a restaurant for lunch, da Gigino- I had some great pasta with meaballs (1st course) and then 'random' meat (2nd course). And from there we headed back to the hostel to pick up our stuff, check out and head to the train station. The coolest part about our ride back was that it was a local train, which meant that it stopped at every single stop (it took over 3 hours!) however it also meant that the conductor never came around so we rode for free!! So I still have 4 more train rides left on my Eurail pass...which means I can go somewhere else now!! Yeah!
All in all it was a great weekend despite Napoli. But I am glad I visited it because it makes me love Rome soooo much more, however I would never go back there. I would love to go back to Capri though!
Phew...well this was a novel and a half!
Yikes...I need to get to bed...bueno notte!
All in all it was a great weekend despite Napoli. But I am glad I visited it because it makes me love Rome soooo much more, however I would never go back there. I would love to go back to Capri though!
Phew...well this was a novel and a half!
Yikes...I need to get to bed...bueno notte!
