A Day in Napoli

Naples City Street

A friend of mine told me that if I wanted to see "true Italy" that I had to visit Naples. And I do believe she was right! Andrew's wife, Lia, wasn't arriving for another day so he and I took a trip to Napoli for the day/night, and planned to meet her plane back in Rome the following day.



Main Road Through Naples



I feel bad for Naples, in a way -- I was still so put off by our janky "cab driver" and the epic failure that was the evening prior, that I was not very happy with Italy at the moment  and maybe I didn't give Napoli the chance it deserved. It's not that I hated it there or anything, I just didn't get the greatest vibe, and was a little unimpressed with the city. Just my opinion! If anyone loves Naples, please don't hate me. Remember I only had one day to get an impression. :-) 



One of the City's Squares



Naples, to me, was very "raw" for lack of a better word. It had an older, more worn-down feeling than any of the other cities I have visited. Typically I would have relished in a place like that, enjoying the nitty gritty, the locals, the hardcore Italians...but like I said before, I was not really into it at this particular juncture. The never-ending noise of bumper-to-bumper traffic at all hours of the day, not being able to walk on the sidewalks because they were crammed with street peddlers who had spread their fake purses and cheap sunglasses all over the ground and are pushing goods into your face, auctioning their items to everyone who walks by, people yelling down from balconies to each other, pushing past you in a hurry to get through the traffic jam of bodies...it was a very claustrophobic sort of feeling. Everywhere we went was just crammed with people and noise and chaos. Now, because we only had one full day there, we didn't get to do any solid sightseeing outside of taking a few decent walks around the immediate area of our hostel and between there and the train station which is located on the main drag of the city, so maybe we missed out on some of the more relaxed or cozy places the city has to offer...but for me, it was a very overwhelming experience to walk through the streets of Napoli. 

Pompeii Ruins

Pompeii House - Sectioned rooms & preserved pottery





Ruins from the top of the theatre



After a walk around, we spent the afternoon at Pompeii, which was really awesome. The thing that stood out to me the most was how unbelievably HUGE it is! I mean, I really had no idea. I always knew it was a ruined city, but I guess I just never imagined it would be so big. We walked around the place for a good 4 hours, and I honestly don't think we covered half of the area. It was really amazing to see the remaining structures and see how they designed where everything would go...neighborhoods, town squares, a theatre, market, etc. My one regret is that I wish we had sprung for either an audio guide or a guide book. Both cost extra money, and I think Andrew and I both figured they would have plaques up that explained what everything was. Although they did have some plaques and reading boards, there were suprisingly very few, and almost none of them had an english translation. Anyway, it wasn't a deal breaker necessarily -- we had a lot fun walking around and exploring the ruins, but it would have been nice to have a little information and know what we were looking at. There were so many things I saw that I wanted to know more about. We also got there too late to take the shuttle up Mount Vesuvius (The volcano that exploded and covered the city, for all you non-history buffs!) and check out the volcano crater...THAT would have been cool! We were really bummed that we ran out of time for that. The photos I have uploaded here are just a glimpse...I took so many pictures there was no way I could have included them all! I will try and post more on Facebook soon.

Mount Vesuvius watching over the city

The hostel we stayed at was pretty cool, free internet (score! ...y'all have no idea how big of a deal that is here), and it had a nice, cozy atmosphere. I enjoyed my time there, even though it was short. And the people we met there were really chill and friendly. My only complaint was that they kicked me out of the common room at midnight and made me go to my room, which made me feel like an 8 year old, and also like I wanted to punch the receptionist in the face a little bit. This was the first hostel I had been to where they enforced some sort of "curfew." I was the only one in the common room, and I was sitting there, quietly blogging at the computer, and the guy came over and said "You have to go to your room now, the common room is closed." I asked if he was serious, and if I could stay a little longer just to finish what I was working on, but he wouldn't let me stay, so I just kind of laughed at him and gave him a nice "Ok, Dad" as I gathered my things. Also, I am fairly certain I am at least 6 years older than him, which made the whole exchange that much more ridiculous to me. I couldn't believe I was sent to my room! It makes me laugh out loud even writing about it now. Wow.

We did get to eat some pizza in Naples (where pizza was invented!), but it was in a rush at the train station so I didn't really get to appreciate pizza from Napoli the way I would have liked. Ah well...it was a bit of a rushed trip, only having one day, so we did the best we could.

Overall, my trip to Napoli had both it's highs and it's lows, but if I am being honest, it left me wanting. I would have loved to have had a little more time so see more of the city and have an opportunity to give it a second chance, but with that said, I am not sure if I really have a desire to go back. I guess everyone deserves a second chance though, right? So who knows, maybe I will find myself back there one day. Then I can eat pizza the right way and get on up to the top of that volcano to see that crater! :-) Regardless, I was glad for the experience, and happy to have had it, and be able to share it with a friend! We left Napoli the following morning and headed back to Rome to meet Lia, who was arriving from Greece where she had just finished a study abroad program. I was so excited to have friends to travel with for the next few weeks and was really hoping that the rest of my time in Italy would not disappoint...and that things only got better from here.

Peace & Love till next time!

"Appreciate every moment of every day no matter what, because in retrospect they will all have gone by too fast." -- M. Buchwald