Tuesday, March 06, 2018

Tough start in Naples

We knew Naples was rough from our previous experience; we had been warned that Naples is seedy by friends and guidebooks.  Within the first five minutes of stepping out of the train station, nephew Ian brushed off a pickpocket attempting to unzip his backpack, totally unbeknownst to John and me, who were busy deliberating the finer points of navigating to our apartment.

When we finally arrived at the place, a little shaken, though unscathed, only to find that the booking.com description was in error.  After much waiting and telephoning, we moved, then got settled into our cozy shiny new home.  After that it was smooth sailing, except for the rain, though the rain did hold off on the marathon day of Herculaneum and Pompeii. 

Day One: A walk through historic Naples. Here is the Royal Palace.
Naples, Italy

Some very nice Fascist architecture.
Naples, Italy

Naples, Italy

San Francesco di Paola.
Naples, Italy

Naples, Italy

Waterfront.
Naples, Italy

Galeria.
Naples, Italy

Evening stroll with the locals.
Naples, Italy

Day Two: First, the excavations of Herculaneum, which was buried along with Pompeii in the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Herculaneum, Italy

Herculaneum, Italy

Herculaneum, Italy

Marble mosaic floor.
Herculaneum, Italy

Herculaneum, Italy

Wine shop.
Herculaneum, Italy

The streets of Herculaneum.
Herculaneum, Italy

Changing room at the baths.
Herculaneum, Italy

Bath mosaic.
Herculaneum, Italy

Bones of people who did not escape the eruption and died on the beach.
Herculaneum, Italy

More Day Two. The excavations at Pompeii. We start our "tour" at the Forum. Mount Vesuvius can be seen at left.
Pompeii, Italy

Looking the other way in the Forum - that is NOT Vesuvius in the distance. ;-)
Pompeii, Italy

Several of the houses at Pompeii have Beware of Dog mosaics at the entrance.
Pompeii, Italy

Pompeii, Italy

Street scene.
Pompeii, Italy

Sun-Ling and Ian cross the street.
Pompeii, Italy

Looking back towards the Forum.
Pompeii, Italy

Bakery with oven (left) and milling stones (right).
Pompeii, Italy

Baths.
Pompeii, Italy

Theatre.
Pompeii, Italy

Corner shop and cafe.
Pompeii, Italy

The Anfiteatro. The Palestra next door was "restored" since our 2001 visit but sadly there was no access to the swimming pool in the center.
Pompeii, Italy

Day Three: The National Archaeological Museum. All the good art and artifacts from Herculaneum and Pompeii is here; and more. It's a great museum!

We spot some electric "car shares" on the way to the museum.
National Archaeological Museum - Naples, Italy

National Archaeological Museum, Naples

Ian and I in front of the Farnese Toro.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples

With the bronze runners from Herculaneum.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples

Same runners from the front with their ivory inlay eyes.
National Archaeological Museum - Naples, Italy

A bronze bust of a "philosopher".
National Archaeological Museum - Naples, Italy

Portrait of a baker and his wife.
National Archaeological Museum - Naples, Italy

The Egyptian Section was very well curated - wonderful.
National Archaeological Museum - Naples, Italy

After the museum we headed straight to Gino Sorbillo's for some pizza. Perfect!
Naples, Italy

Small shop in our neighborhood...
Naples, Italy

...and a vintage scooter parked across the street.
Naples, Italy

Our apartment was in this old palazzo.
Naples, Italy

It was raining like crazy but we visited a few more churches before calling it quits.
Naples, Italy

Walking home.
Naples, Italy






7 comments:

Crash Eddy said...

Yo! A bit behind your itinerary but trying to catch up with you. We had a good visit To CA, but glad to be home. John with the mega-head sculpture, I see a resemblance.

WQZ said...

I saw a map of Italy’s current unemployment. the south is at an astonishing 20%-25%. 15 years ago we witnessed a robbery on the commuting train from Naples to Pompeii. Things haven’t changed for the better.
the forum at Pompeii looks already very crowded. But despite the freeze the rain and the others, you’re having a good time. I like Ian’s furry hat.

john said...

@Crash. Happy that you are traveling with us once again!

Sun-Ling said...

@WQ, Ian was not the only one sporting such hats. it came out later that he thought Rome was what he imagined what Russia was like, arriving in the middle of snow from LA, haha!

I remembered your experience of the circumvesuviana. We were super vigilant, sat in the first car for two of the legs. John thinks he noticed some shady characters. Naples may be the capital of southern Italy. It really stands by itself. The rest of southern Italy we know is more like other parts of Italy.

Kathy said...

Pity about the bad start, sorry to hear booking.com messed up.

I actually preferred Herculaneum to Pompeii, but I did visit Pompeii on a hot day. Liked the stepping stones!

Great pix.

WQZ said...

Rome & Russia, umm, makes me wonder. they were both authoritarian, each built an empire, and were on the same team in WWII... and now the snow and the hat:)

Kathy said...

@WQZ - the USSR was only on the Axis side in WWII until the German invasion in June 1941. After that it was on rhe Allied side.

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