Italy by Rail - North to South (Part 7): The Oldest Cities of Pompeii and Naples!!

- Dec. 28, 2017, Thursday.

- If Rome tops my list of places I wanted to see in Italy, the second would be Pompeii. Pompeii is an ancient city, known by many, that had an unfortunate fate. Being located so close to a dangerous volcano called Mt. Vesuvius, the moment it erupted in 79AD, the whole of Pompeii, as well as neighboring cities and villages like Herculaneum, was buried in volcanic ashes; life in those places was wiped off in an instant. Today, the ancient city of Pompeii is a well-visited site while staying in or as part of a day trip (like us) to Naples in the southern Italian region named Campania; the ancient city is now part of the "comune" (i.e. an administrative division) of Pompei (notice the single "i" for the present-day comune, and the double "i" for the ancient city,) which in turn is part of Metropolitan Naples. It is said that the city of Naples and the comune of Pompeii are some of the earliest-inhabited areas of Italy.

- To go to Naples and Pompeii from Rome, just book a train - better if booked beforehand as usual - to Napoli Centrale railway station; the trip takes around two hours. This will get you to downtown Naples. To get to Pompeii from Naples, once you reach Napoli Centrale, follow the arrows to "Circumvesuviana." This is a regional commuter train that goes to the other neighboring communes and cities of Metropolitan Naples. Once you're in the ticket machine/office of Circumvesuviana, buy a ticket to "Pompeii Scavi - Villa dei Misteri" (aka "Pompeii Scavi") station via the Sorrento Line. Pompeii Scavi station is just a 1 minute walk (or less!) to the ruins. From Napoli Centrale to Pompeii Scavi takes around 30 minutes.

- Now it's quite easy to get lost or overwhelmed with all the details, so much so that we got on the wrong train. Thankfully, a friendly local Italian dude felt that we wanted to go to Pompeii, so he asked us if we wanted to go to Pompeii and if so, we were on the wrong train. The regional railway only had two tracks, and multiply lines pass by the same platforms; so again, make sure you check the screen to see if the train arriving next is the train that you want to hop on. Thankfully, the doors had not closed and we were able to go out again; our train was the one following the wrong train. While on the way to Pompeii Scavi, I also found out that the Sorrento Line also passes through Ercolano (aka "Herculaneum,") which also has ruins like in Pompeii as it was also a victim of Vesuvius' eruption. Speaking of which, the trains going to Pompeii are called the Circumvesuviana trains not only because it's the name of the company managing the trains, but mainly and also because the trains go around the Vesuvius (circum + vesuviana.)

- Upon leaving the train station, we headed towards the entrance of the ruins. Bear in mind that there are other offices beside the train station that claim to sell tickets to the ruins. I am not sure if they're legit/legal, but just to be sure, DO NOT buy tickets anywhere else except the ticket booth at the main entrance of the ruins. You'll know it's the main ticket office since you need to enter the main entrance first before buying your ticket to see the ruins.

- The moment we entered the city, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I felt ecstatic that I was finally in one of the items of my Italy bucket list, sad because of what happened to the city, and a bit scared because I could not help but feel that there might be ghosts that still linger and go around the ancient city. Speaking of which, Pompeii is HUGE, and it's always best to get a detailed map at the entrance. in addition to that, thorough research on the specific places you wish to visit will come in very handy. Pompeii probably needs a full day or more to cover, and since we only had a day trip to Naples, I thought we'd finish Pompeii in an hour or two before heading back to downtown Naples. We ended up going around Pompeii the whole morning - and we just saw a tiny fraction of the city!!

Centaur.

These ancient columns "stood" the test of time. (See what I did there.)

Mt. Vesuvius (Awesome to see its snow-capped peak.)

Ancient streets.

On the way to Lupanar, the most well-known brothel in Pompeii. 

You can still see some of the erotic paintings on the walls. A sexual position is painted above a certain room, which sort of acts like a sex "menu" for customers. The paying customer will get the same sexual act as painted above the room's door. 

Here's a clearer view. (Boy it must be hard to get it on on a bed as hard as that!!)

See those little bumps/rocks on the road? Those are guides for donkeys and carts.

Old bath.

- The list of places in Pompeii I wished to visit included the open areas of the amphitheater and the main squares, but apparently some of the houses, mostly by the higher class, were partly intact, and so it's possible to see what a traditional upper-class Pompeiian house looked like. By the way, we were quite happy that the sky decided to be clear that morning - until it hailed!!!! This was my first hail experience by the way, and thank goodness the pellets were just small. It started to rain just as we were able to leave Pompeii.

Ancient Roman aesthetics.

House of the Tragic Poet. (Yes, this is how it's called.) It's famous for its dog mosaic, which apparently is a fancy ancient way of saying "Beware of the Dog."

Food containers.

Awesome tabletop colors!!

ACTUAL HAIL OMG.

Amphitheater.

At the grand palaestra; this was an ancient wrestling school. Now, it's just used as an exhibit hall.

Someone just finished cooking bread when the volcanic ashes covered the city!! (Yes, this is volcano-burnt bread.)

At the Garden of the Fugitives - where one can see the plaster models of the inhabitants of Pompeii. It was honestly hard to see the faces of despair of these people from before.

More #aesthetics.

What used to be a table's base.

At the large theater.

A photoshoot, of course, was a requirement. This is one of my "minimalist "costumes. I just wore my shirt, pants, and shoes for the day, then put on a sheet of white cloth, my (not real) gold olive branch headbane, and my golden cuffs. 

- We left Pompeii around noon and another nice Italian local helped us out at the train station, since the train station in Pompeii was not as high-tech as in the main station. The local also told us to rush since the next train back to Napoli Centrale was arriving in a minute!! 

-  Back at Naples, we had a few-blocks walk from the train station to eat at the oldest pizzeria in the world (and possibly where pizza was born): L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele. This restaurant's fame rose after being featured in the book/move "Eat Pray Love." The place was so popular that we weren't able to get our pizza from the swarm of tourists also wanting to get their bit of this "pizza institution." Since we only had half a day left in Naples, we decided to eat some place else - because tourist spots are more important than food, as far as I'm concerned as a traveler. (This is why I love food, I like trying food, I love making/cooking food, but I never labeled myself as a "foodie.") My family also had no choice but to agree since they also wanted to see what Naples had to offer. We just ate at the restaurant beside the pizzeria, which was also a highly-rated restaurant (too bad they didn't have pizza though. Boo.) My only complaint was that it took forever for the food to arrive - and of course, it had to be on the day when we were really pressed for time. However, the Italians will tell you that that's how they do things in Italy, and Europe in general. They like to take their time as food needs to be savored with endless glasses of fine wine and great conversations.

Goodbye delicious Neapolitan pizza. HUHU. (See the crowd? There's more INSIDE!!)

- After our unsuccessful attempt to eat authentic Neapolitan pizza, I realized that we had to hasten ourselves, and prepare for a cut-down on the rather ambitious Naples itinerary. Instead of taking the metro, we just hailed a cab to our next destination. This has been one of the nice compromises the heaven bestowed on us. The moment we needed a cab, an available one will be driving down the street out of nowhere like it was our private limo. (Grazie mille, heavens.)

- Our first stop for the afternoon was the Castel dell'Ovo or "Egg Castle." This castle's history goes way back to 6th century BC, though the actual castle was built after the 12th century AD. Throughout the years the site was used as a monastery, the city's seat of power, a prison, among other uses. The funny name of the castle came from the belief that a magical egg was planted by the Roman poet Virgil in the foundations of the structure. Also, the land where the castle stands used to be an island just off the coast; a pathway was then constructed to connect the island to the mainland, making it a peninsula. Today, it houses the Museum of Prehistory, among a other offices and centers. Entrance to the castle is free by the way, and has a picturesque (and windy!!) view of the Gulf of Naples.

Not a painting.

Castel dell'Ovo.

It was almost deserted when I was there, probably because of the weather. By the way, things were flying when I was there - like metal fences. Yikes.

Small rooster statue.

At the deck.

No filter.

Framing.

See the line where the sky meets the sea.

Just to give you an idea of how windy it was - the waves were insane!!

- It was difficult to battle the wind while walking the short path back to the "mainland." The wind was no joke; I'm already on the heavy side and I almost flew away!! Anyway, we hailed a cab to go to Castel Nuovo ("New Castle"), also known by the locals as Maschio Angioino ("Angevin Keep.") This 13th-century castle became the seat of power after Castel dell'Ovo; the castle is easily recognized by its great walls, pillars, and of course, the grand entrance. Today, it houses an art gallery that proudly exhibits 17th- to 20th-century Neapolitan art. However, my favorite part of the caste was the Baron's Hall, where political meetings were held, as well as the glass floor at the armory that shows the old foundations of the castle. 

Castel Nuovo.

Courtyard.

Chapel at the ground floor.

I thought it was me.

Bronze door with cannonball stuck.

Giant bronze helmet at the courtyard.

Not sure if it's clear but this is supposed to be the glass floor showing the original foundations. 

Baron's Hall.

The hall's ceiling reminds me of a spider web.

Palazzo Reale from afar (Piazza del Plebescito should be behind that.)

A last look at the castle before leaving.

- It was around 4pm when we finished going around Castel Nuovo. I had badly wanted to visit Palazzo Reale and Piazza del Plebescito, both of which also iconic landmarks of Naples, but we decided to head to the National Archaeological Museum. This structure that houses the museum was a barracks for the soldiers before becoming a museum in the 1800s. This is one of the most important museums in Italy, especially since it houses things relating to the ruins of Pompeii, Herculaneum, among others. Since there was a long line at the entrance (one of the rare times that I didn't buy a ticket beforehand due to unpredictable schedules as it was just a day trip,) we had even less time to go around the museum, and just focused on the main halls relating to Pompeii and the other villages and cities affected by the Vesuvius eruption.

While waiting for our turn to buy tickets at the long long line.

Large map of Pompeii.

Old walls.

Weird enough, the Romans also had the cult of Isis (as in the goddess.)

I like the warm but not glaring colors of old Roman houses.

Main hall at the top floor.

- We finished our fast-track round in some of the important halls in the museum before heading to the subway, conveniently located under the museum, and rode the metro to Napoli Centrale. We had around half an hour to rest before catching the train back to Rome.

Thank you fast trains of Italy. (I took this photo at Roma Termini, just before leaving the platform. Our trip back to Rome was the last long-distance train that we had to take for the trip.)

- One of my biggest regrets in my whole trip to Italy was that I wasn't able to spend more time in Naples and Southern Italy. Although it had something to do with needing to squeeze in everything since our schedules did not permit us to stay longer than we did, I was still thankful that I was able to see at least a glimpse of Naples and Pompeii. I know and understand that Naples has a leaning-towards-negative reputation in Italy in terms of safety, but still, a visit to Naples (including Pompeii) won't make a trip to Italy complete - aside from the usual popular/touristy landmarks of course. Next time, hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to visit Naples again - if I do, I'll surely get my hands on that Neapolitan pizza!!!! For now, next stop, the country in Rome - Vatican City!!

- Please don't forget to ready about my other Eurotrip adventures during the holidays here:

France: Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here Part 4 here!!

Italy: Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 8 here, and Part 9 here!!