Our arrival into Naples was interesting to say the least. We were told that we would be picked up in a bus and transported to our hotel, however we exited the train station to find three black Mercedes vans waiting on us with men who were throwing our bags into the back. The students all semester have been joking about being “taken”, and if it were ever going to happen, I felt this WAS it!!! We jetted off, winding through the narrow streets, clothes hanging from lines above us. I truly felt that I was in a chase scene from a James Bond movie, it was insane. We safely arrived at our hotel (which was adorable), gathered our luggage, called home and then made our way to dinner.
We ran into some of the students in the hall, so they joined us. Walking through the streets of Napoli was a completely different experience, cars and scooters honking to get by you, again clothes hanging above drying, but covered in plastic due to the rain, it’s like nowhere I have ever been before. We went to a small pizzaria in the historical center as suggested by a gentleman at the hotel. However, to our surprise on our walk there we stumbled upon Naples Cathedral, a strange man appeared several minutes later asking us if we wanted a guide, I of course said yes, thinking I’m getting a pamphlet, only to find out he meant guided tour! Whoops! But it was worth the €5 donation we gave him, we learned a little about the cathedral and he even had jokes. Parts of the cathedral are still owned by individual families and even the town of Naples, so therefore they weren’t accessible. After our tour ended I saw our guide slip out a side door, so I’m not sure if we were had or not, oh well… at least we have stories to tell.
If you’ve ever been to Naples you will know what I’m talking about… The city and streets of Naples are dirtier than other cities that we have visited, but to see this magnificent place inside these walls was really amazing! The detail was unreal! After our brief tour of this amazing church, we headed off to the pizzaria, because who comes to Naples and doesn’t have pizza? I got one with tomato sauce, olive oil, olives, oreganio and basil, only to realize after it came that it didn’t have cheese – what?!?! But oh – it was so delicious!!!
Our Wednesday morning was spent at the archiology museum, where the artifacts from the volcanic eruption in Pompei. Yes that happened in 79 AD – crazy – they dug all this out and how beautiful it still was is unbelievable! Also what was unbelievable was the detail of these mosaic floors and the beautiful frescos. This is probably one of my favorite things that we have done while in Italy!
After another lunch with margarita pizza and a coke zero (oh how I love Coke!) we set off with our personal guide Fiorella , we set off for Pompei, while the weather wasn’t the greatest, it was neat to be able to see the rain running down the streets and appreciate the detail that went into their systems. I really had no idea what to expect, but really enjoyed out time there. It was perfect to visit the museum first and we now understood where everything we previously saw was once located. We even got to visit a brothel… apparently once they uncovered the city they discovered it was full if these establishments… Interesting!
Our guide was awesome, I loved her and wanted to take her with us… She was constantly saying blah, blah, blah in her adorable Italian accent! Now off to Roma for four days with the human tornado, Giudi! Glad I got some awesome rain boots in Florence so I can stomp my way through those puddles, that ladies always on a mission!