Nick and I left early Saturday morning and, despite having to run to catch the train out of Termini, I am happy to report that we made it to Naples on time, in Italian terms, with no break-downs, transfers, or buses. We got into Napoli Centrale around 11a and immediately proceeded to find our way to the Circumvesuviana, the connection to Pompeii. It is a little over 2 hours to Naples, from there you have to hop the Circumvesuviana for another half-hour or so. The archaeological site of Pompeii is literally a block away from the station - helps add to the juxtaposition.
The main thing that people reference when talking about Pompeii is its size - now I know why. The place is massive. It is always rather surreal to walk through ancient ruins, trying to see them as they once were while, also, imaging what life must have been like. (Of course, this is always made slightly more difficult by the constant intrusion of tourists with their iPods, which are droning on with the most recent audio guides, while lugging around intimidatingly large digital cameras. Again, helps add to the juxtaposition.) As with so many experiences on this trip thus far, Pompeii is difficult to put into words, so I will leave you with pictures to tell the story. The one thing I will say is that it is quite impressive to think of what they were capable of close to 2000 years ago - Pompeii is hardly mere ruins, it is a city.
We spent a good 2-3 hours wandering around and barely scratched the surface, but, alas, we were getting tired and hungry - not a great combination. So we hopped the train back to Naples and headed back to Pizzeria de Michele for some authentic pizza. (If you missed my previous post about Naples detailing Michele's, you can find it here.) Admittedly, we were not entirely sure that the pizza could live up to our memory, but, somehow that incredibly simplistic Margherita pizza was just as good as the first time - delicious is a major understatement. I will miss having access to Naples for that reason alone.
Finally, after having refueled, we headed back to Napoli Centrale and caught a train back to Roma Termini. Nick and I both napped on the ride home before being approached by 2 friends, one from the Ukraine and one from Poland; the language barrier made for an interesting exchange. I digress. All in all it was a long, but successful day for our first trip to Pompeii and our second trip to Naples.
Ciao, Ciao!!
Oh! And this is the German Shepherd puppy that I almost walked away from Pompeii with. He (my general assumption) was absolutely adorable and I wanted him so badly!! My rational side kicked in though and we left him behind. After all, not only would we have to figure things out in Rome, I'd then have to get him home!! Best souvenir ever, though!!
That's where one of my favorite Pink Floyd videos was shot:) I love your photos, and your blog!
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I've seen the video, but I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. As always, there is more to come!!
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