We used the frenetic town of Naples as our base camp for a quick taste of the more southern side of Italy. This place moves fast, everyone is moving and you can’t help but get caught up in the energy of the town. And the things that move quickest are the scooters of which there are at least two for every adult citizen.
Our first morning we got the Circumvesuviana train for Pompeii. Pompeii as you probably know was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, but this was actually it’s second bit of bad luck, it had been partially destroyed by an earthquake 16 years earlier and the citizens were just finishing rebuilding when the Vesuvius dumped ash on them. The site was discovered in 1594 but excavation didn’t start until 1748 and continues today. I like to think that the first place to be dug out was this ancient tavern..
Of course they’ve uncovered lots of other buildings including this bakery…
.. a few temples,
and this remarkably intact theatre…
Vesuvius looms over the town and considering that until it erupted in 1944 it had a huge smoke plume you’ve got to question the sanity of the people who founded the town.
George however was not afraid…
After a few hours in Pompeii we caught a bus half way up Vesuvius. There used to be a chairlift and they began construction of a funicular however the bright lights at Greenpeace protested it so now instead of an electric funicular they have dozens of diesel tour buses go up the mountain every day and then people hike the last 1.5 km up the volcano. We didn’t have a lot of time to get to the top, take in the view and get down so it was a good thing that we’ve been using the Cathedral Stairmaster lately.
While there may not be a big plume of smoke anymore the volcano is definitely not extinct.
The next day we set off for Capri; the government run ferries didn’t look much better than these so we took a hydrofoil which got us there in about 45 minutes.
The view of Naples from the boat was great…
But didn’t hold a candle to the view approaching Capri from the sea…
The town was gorgeous on land as well.
After a quick drink we headed for the beach where I got right to it.
Ali was a little more tentative…
but soon was right at home (except of course for shouting ‘Don’t take my picture’).
Mid-afternoon we left the beach and headed up the mountain to see the other side of the island.
The views were great but I’m sure nothing compared to the view this fellow had off his port side.
After a great day we headed back for Naples. We spent our last day in Naples wandering around the shops and just soaking it in before getting a train to Rome and our plane to Athens. We were both sad to leave Italy as we enjoyed every minute of it. We hope to be back soon to explore further…
Cheers,
Mark & Ali
P.S. Sara, I’m glad the girls enjoyed the lobster and that the seasons off to a good start. Take pity on us poor landlocked ‘upper’ Canadians and save a few; pretty please?
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