Day 22 Friday 6 September

We woke with more confidence this morning, and in a totally weird way are liking this crazy place. Maybe a bit like a roller coaster ride – it’s both terrifying and exhilarating. There is a warmth and strangely and honesty in this city of rule breakers, crooks and organised chaos. I say honesty as it is what it is – there is no window dressing. As a tourist – I could get ripped off just as much or little anywhere else. Main shopping street below, leads to train station.

After a good breakfast we marched off down town to central station and down stairs to get tickets on the notorious Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii. We went on this line to Sorrento in 2013 and know that it is the worst train line in Italy in terms of quality of train (they are totally graffiti covered) and pickpockets. As we entered the ticketing area there were more crowds and noise than usual and signs that said train strike until 1pm. Great. This was our only day left to do the ruins and we would be lucky now to get to do one fully. We bought our train tickets and already sweaty found a coffee shop before using the couple of hours to explore a little more of Naples self tour including the duomo.

Walking to the duomo with the aid of iPad and map to double check us took us through more barrio (poor living) areas with their tiny shops and street life. It was lunch time and people were heading for their local shop or home, old men were sitting on a table on the sidewalk playing cards, meanwhile scooters zipped around the cars amongst honking and the odd siren in a normal Naples day.

1/3 of the city is unemployed and I cant imagine what it must be like to live in these conditions – it is so far removed from my easy life. We are getting really good at crossing the road and relaxing a little into the vibe and pulse of the city.

The duomo was surprisingly well kept inside compared to the way everything else looks like on the outside, albeit nowhere as impressive as others we have seen.

We slowly made our way back to the train station, picking up a light snack lunch of sliders at the train station and made our way through the crush to the train platform. When our train arrived we were well positioned to get inside, albeit no available seats.

As the train took off it became quickly apparent that there was no ventilation or air conditioning and it was bordering on unbearable. I pulled out my trusty fan and waved it on Vern and myself rhythmically (must have been ages as I have a sore wrist now) in order to feel we could breathe. I was wondering if I could manage the “all stops” 45 minute ride to Pompeii when I heard some commotion coming from an Italian woman a little up the carriage. What transpired was she was giving an attendant what for about the strike and the lack of ventilation. He tried to give it back to her but was on a loosing battle. The windows were locked requiring a key to open, and he was making his way down the carriages opening the windows – clearly they should not have been locked in the first place. As she has the last words (or 50) at him everyone cheered and clapped as wisps of fresher air made their way through the thick sweat laden cloak around us.

This provided some relief, but really only made the journey manageable. For distraction I chatted to a young Aussie man, who is a teacher just completing a 4mth OE. He was sweating rivers too, and that says something as Aussies should be able to handle a certain level of heat. In fairness, we have better air conditioning at our end of the world, so maybe we are all be bit soft. He said he was over the heat – having been through the heat waves earlier as well of course.

By the time we unpacked ourselves from the sardine can train it was 2:45pm, fortunately there was not really much of a queue and we got tickets easily. We had downloaded a walking tour of RS for this, and set off with iPad on our self guided RS tour. First founded in 600 BC, Pompeii was a thriving commercial port of around 20,000 that grew from Greek and Etruscan roots to become an important Roman city.

Then on August 24, A.D. 79, everything changed. Vesuvius erupted and began to bury the city under 30 feet of hot volcanic ash. Not everyone perished, but many did. It was rediscovered in. 1599 by accident, and excavations commenced in 1748.

Pompeii was a typical Roman city, serving an estimated 20,000 residents. Streets would have been lined with stalls and had customers, chariots and daily life bustling around from dawn to dusk. There were more than 40 bakeries,130 bars, restaurants, and hotels and 30 brothels. Most of its buildings were covered in a white ground marble stucco, so she would have been quite a sight on her hill top above the port.

First impressions on entering the city gates is how big and orderly (planned) it is. It’s a fabulous feeling to walk around such a place – a whole excavated city and get a window into its life. Definitely well worth seeing the items in the museum first, and the only disappointment is that they have not restored any areas to give you an impression of what it would have looked like – everything is pretty much as excavated, with minimal reconstruction. At the exit there is a room with a movie running giving this sort of detail and showing on a map where the particular places are – but I still think it would have been nice to have some limited reconstruction.

Two key areas were closed off preventing us from viewing which was a major disappointment – both the baths and the House of Vetti, the latter being the best preserved home too. We did get to see the bakery, the plaster moulds of some who perished, forum, streets and stepping stones, the brothel, House of Fawn, fast food outlet, aqua duct arch, Basillica – all under the watchful eye of Mt Vesuvius. I wonder when she next erupts whether they would excavate Naples???

We wandered around for about 2.5hrs before heading home dusty, tired and still slick with sweat sticky and hot. My steps today hit 24,560 – and in 28 degrees and 70% humidity felt like 40) that’s hard work. Note the door detail below – don’t if you are offended by nudity.

It was dark and late – around 7:30pm by the time we got back to the train station at Naples, but we enjoyed the slightly cooler temperature and made our way home cautiously. One area by the train station is very dodgy with lots of black immigrants sitting on the streets so we on advice avoided those areas – they did feel unsafe too as we walked past the top.

We wandered the eat street above our hotel but couldn’t find anything decent other than a ‘Baba’ with custard and Nutella which was amazing. They are very popular here with many different sizes, flavours and in cups like trifles. So after starting with dessert we returned to the hotel and asked reception for a recommendation.

We really didn’t feel like pizza again so he rung around to make us a booking at a trattoria. This proved a bit difficult with good local dinning places getting booked out on a Friday night. Eventually he found us a spot and off we went a good 12 minute walk up hill and through some dark streets till we found the local eat street. I felt a little uneasy in some of the areas, only because it was off the beaten tourist track. However, I reassured myself that reception was unlikely to send us into an unsafe area, and I live to tell the tale – so it was quite ok.

Ordering dinner was a challenge as the english was poor and our iPad which we use for translating struggled in the stone building. I ordered a shared plate of fried stuffed zucchini flowers and the a mixed seafood pasta, Vern having a beef roulade in a tomato base. The pasta was quite simple – no real sauce but flavoured with garlic, the seafood water, and salt and pepper with parsley. Simple, lots of carbs but nice. Verns was ok, but a bit dry. Whilst they were pleasant enough – especially after a big day, the food has not blown me away. I am also reminded how simple the cuisine is, and wonder why the locals go out and eat a plate of cold sliced meats – prosciutto etc. when they could easily get that at home, or perhaps pizza or some of the simple pasta dishes?

Naples really is an intriguing place. Totally crazy, noisey, dirty, scary, did I say crazy? But the people are happy and very friendly and helpful. They have their own order to things. Have totally loved it, but think that 2 days here is my capacity for the noise and heightened state to cope with it all! Looking forward to a slower pace, a relax and some seaside air this coming week.

Photo above – Vern is not scared – just picking his teeth! Big day tomorrow and rock bed was very inviting.