This time however, we decided to spend some time outside Rome.
Should we do a day trip to Pompeii and see the ancient ruins? Well, yes, but let's stay in Napoli we decided.
Yes, we read the reviews. Yes, we had people telling us all about Napoli and its crime - pickpocketing, people on motorscooters pinching bags and camera.
Sounded like a challenge to me!I can't see the point in letting other people tell me where we should visit, so off we went.
Typical Napoli Street
Napoli
Napoli, it has to be said, is a very dirty city. There is rubbish everywhere. In garbage bins, out of garbage bins, on the street, everywhere. It's also an incredibly fast paced city. The pace is relentless with cars everywhere, motorbikes everywhere, people everywhere...and crossing a road, even at pedestrian crossings is quite an effort. Nobody stops unless they have absolutely no chance of missing you - even then they will swerve rather than stop. We found the best way to cross a road was to cross with locals.
Napoli however, is quite interesting because of these things. It was certainly an experience to travel there.
It isn't for everyone though, that's for sure.
There are also some cool buildings but it just seems like Napoli is a city that needs a little bit of care and attention to make it better...but hey, i'm sure the people of Napoli like it the way it is, so good luck to them.
Finally, one of the best things about Napoli is that apparently pizza was invented here and we went a brilliant pizza restaurant that was established about 130 years ago. The pizza was class.
Galleria Umberto I
Pompeii.
Pompeii was a place we had wanted to visit for a little while and we just didn't quite have the time in 2006 to visit the ancient ruins.Pompeii is only a short train ride from Napoli and after an initial palava of the clowns that run the place running out of English maps AND audio guides, we made our way to discuss this with the management. To cut a long story short, we got our map of Pompeii, and off we went.
Pompeii is over 2000 years old and sits in the shadows of Mt Vesuvius, which apparently is still active but hasn't blown its top since 1944.
In AD79 though, Vesuvius blew its top bigstyle and covered the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum with lava, ash and mud. Many people died and some can be seen at Pompeii, preserved in stone.
Pompeii Temple
It's really interesting to see some of the fresco's on the walls and to think they still exist after so long is simply amazing.
There are also several stray dogs that seem to live in Pompeii and one or two followed us around for a while. They all seem quite friendly and even happy as they were getting a fair few pats
from what I could see.We both thought Pompeii was an interesting place to visit, with loads to see.
Dancing Faun at Pompeii
Capri
Capri is an island in the Mediterranean, so we took the opportunity to part with 60 euros (2 return tickets) for the privelege of a Mediterranean cruise to the isle. Well, more a ferry ride than a cruise but at this stage, that's as close to a Mediterranean cruise as we are likely to get!
The ferry takes around 45 minutes and after arriving, we walked to the ruins of Emporer Tiberius' mansion. Interestingly, Tiberius ran the Roman Empire from here which would have been quite an effort, given the remoteness of the island (for those days). Tiberius was also ruling Rome when Jesus was crucified, which I wasn't aware of previously, so there you go.
View of Capri Harbour
The views from the ruins were fabulous and we looked out over the Mediterranean. The water is also brilliantly blue.
We didn't really have the time to visit the Grotto Azzurro (blue grotto) and besides, it's bound to be quite touristy with boats lining up to go in, so we gave it a swerve and went to another town on the island called Anacapri. We wandered around for a while and had a bite to eat before heading back to Napoli.
Capri is a reasonably expensive place to visit and to be fair, you'd need to spend more time there to get to know the place but for a day trip, it was fun and worthwhile.
So, after a couple of days checking out Napoli, Capri and Pompeii, we boarded the EuroStar train and went back to sunny Rome.
View of Mediterranean Islands from Villa Jovis
Rome
We were staying at a Hotel called the Cavour Hotel. Not flash or cheap, but a decent, clean hotel near the Termini Stazione, in a decent part of this area too.
Rome is an interesting city. Quick, as we had originally thought, but after spending a day or two in Napoli, Rome was a Sunday stroll.
We had two days in Rome so the first day we decided to wander around the streets.
Initially we headed down to the Colosseum. Predictably, there were hundreds of tour groups and people everywhere. It was better in the rain in September! That said, the colosseum itself is fairly impressive and whilst we only checked it out from the outside, it's still amazing it still stands after this length of time, and in a decent condition i'd have said.
The Romans sure could build things to last, back then anyway!
What's happened to the Romans? I ask.
The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill is right next door to the colosseum and whilst Palatine Hill costs, the Roman Forum is free and is seriously interesting. Again, how some of these buildings have lasted this long is truly amazing. Sure, there are buildings that are in ruins, but some of the columns are still in great shape.
Wandering through the Roman Forum is a great experience in our view.
Roman Forum
Capitoline Hill, just above the Roman Forum was next on the list and we had a brief look around here before venturing on to the Pantheon.
The Pantheon is over 2000 years old and is basically perfectly intact. Incredible. The building itself is a feat of architecture with a domed roof featuring a massive hole at the top. Apparently this is designed to strengthen the curved walls of the dome. Very impressive, especially when the sunlight streams in.
The Trevi Fountain was next on the Dave and Sam walking tour of Rome.
Apparently if you throw three coins in the fountain, you are guaranteed to return to Rome. Hmmm. We didn't throw coins in last time, and we returned, so we didn't want to perpetuate any myths and besides, i'm of Scottish descent, so no coin throwing for me, let me assure you!
The Trevi Fountain is pretty damn cool I reckon. The sculptures are brilliant and are essentially built into the back end of a building. Very cool.
Dome of St Peters Basilica, Vatican City
There were a few people about but not as bad as expected.
We needed to cash a travellers cheque so we headed off to the Spanish Steps where the AMEX office is.
We believe that the Spanish Steps are fairly overrated, but everyone is different and there is always a crowd of people milling about there, for what reason we're not sure, but good luck to them.
After the brief time spent at the Spanish Steps, we headed off to meander down some streets and just generally look around.
We ended up going past Piazza Navona with it's impressive fountains. Unfortunately this time the main fountain was shrouded in scaffolding and covers. Good thing we saw it last time!
We ended up having a very nice meal at a small Italian Restaurant....in fact, the same restaurant we visited in September.
The following day we went off to visit another city....Vatican City.
The Vatican, interestingly, is actually pretty cool.
We were amazed that the crowds were at a minimum and we wandered through St Peters Basilica for quite a while. This church is just amazing and some of the mosaics are superb. The most amazing thing is that visiting is free. St Pauls and Westminster Abbey in London could learn a thing or two about this as no church should charge admission in our opinion.
Vatican Museum Hallway Ceiling
After spending a wee while in St Peters Basilica, we headed to the Vatican Museum and wandered through , looking at the amazing art and sculptures that have been collected over the years.
After seeing some amazing paintings including those by Raffaello, amongst others, eventually the tour ends at the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo famously painted a range of paintings on the ceiling.
We really enjoyed visiting the Vatican and would recommend it to all.
This concluded our brief trip to Italy, we had a great time again.
