Wow.. I am so far behind in my blog its not funny. But it got hard to write them on my Iphone and then I was too busy enjoying travelling to update everyone on whats been going on. I finally have a bit of time now that I will catch up with everything I have done.
So we arrived to Naples.. I had booked us 5 nights here which I was worried was about 4 nights too many but it turns out it was just enough. We had heard that Naples isnt that nice, bit grotty and of course a city with a high percentage of petty theft (having just come from Madrid where I had my whole purse stolen, there wasnt much more they could steal from me, so I was feeling safe).
After a mission walk to find our hostel we had to climb 100 steps (we climbed them so much that I counted them every time) and those steps are a puff!! We were exhausted when we finally got to our room, luckily it was late anyway so we pretty much fell straight asleep.
Our first full day we decided on walking around alot of the main area of Naples. Our impression of Naples was that it was a less hectic version of Naples. It was grotty as we were told, graffiti covered every single wall, gate, public transport, monuments.. it was insane. The italians were in fine form complete with excessive hand gestures, ciao's and a blatant unwillingness to help you get anywhere you need to go.
After walking through the back streets, checking out shops and peeking in some cathedrals, we went to the underground city. The tour showed us a small part of what has been uncovered of the city the lies beneath. It was built so many years ago and the parts we saw would have housed a small community. It's crazy these people used to live under there!
Our next day Mitch decided he would go diving so I was left to fend for myself for the day and got myself up and down the main streets window shopping and buying books. It was a relief to find some english books to keep me amused!
Our third full day was a big one. We got up early and headed out for a day of looking at the ruins. Our first stop was Herculanium, the lesser known but better preserved of the heritage sites from the devastation of Mt Vesuvius. It was awesome to see these houses, churches, shops that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, spoilt by the devastating ash and erruption. It was crazy that so many places still had marble floors in awesome condition and paintings on the wall still easy to see.
After spending 2 hours there, a lunch of margarita pizza we headed to pompeii. So many people had said you could spend hours and hours there and you still wouldnt see everything... I believe them, although it does get to the point that once you have seen one house/church/shop.. or ten... or a hundred they pretty much just blend in to look the same. Pompeii was amazing though, it wasnt as greatly preserved as Herculanium but still amazing to see. Casts of bodies found buried under the ash, frozen in fear and crouching as to avoid the devasation were a highlight. We went to see the famous brothel and incredibly is still really in tact. Pictures on the walls or various uhh positions are still visable and it was one of the only buildings that we had to line up with tens of others to get into. Pompeii was well worth the visit!!
Our last day we tossed up whether to go to Isle of Capri or Ischia. Due to timings and prices of the ferries we chose Ischia and im sort of glad we did. It was alot less touristy, alot less expensive but still so beautiful. It was a small island, and we spent several hours at the beach, snorkelling (until I started feeling sea sick.. yes it is possible to get sea sick while snorkelling.. It has happened a few times to me now) and wandering the small town. It was great to relax as we had spent so many days on the go and were getting pretty tired!
So Naples was pretty cool. I would definitely recommend it. Its a great place to stay as a base to do the awesome day trips to Pompeii, Capri, Ischia, Amalfi Coast. and pretty cheap too!
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