Naples

Naples… busy and lively.  Here I had my backpack unzipped and lost my extra (not good) phone charger.  Good thing they never got anything else.  I didn’t even feel it.  Happened as I was walking from ferry to bus station.  Need to be more careful.  This girl stopped me and said someone was trying to get into my backpack and that I should be careful.  When I checked all my zippers were unzipped.   From then on I turned my backpack around.  I also misplaced my new jacket I bought in Zadar.  Don’t think anyone stole it I think I just misplaced it.  Oh well.  Good thing was  I met up with friends in Naples.

It was nice having others with me.  I didn’t have to worry about where I was going and let them plan most everything.   Ended up going to Capri without my friends because they were not feeling well.  I still had a fabulous time.  It was wonderful but very busy as I felt like we were herded on to the boats, tran and buses.  Met these 2 ladies from the cruise ship from America.  We had a great time in the grotto and in Capri town.  Finally made it to the grotto and it proved to be all that I thought it would be.  However, it was for such a short time and was a somewhat costly adventure.  They must make a tremendous amount of money with this experience.  

After they left I headed to Anacapri to see the view.  Took the tram and had a wonderful view of Capri. 

The Blue Grotto was fantastic.  Glad I made it here.  Capri was great, but very crowded. 

Pompeii was an experience that I won’t easily forget.  When Mt Vesuvius erupted it totally destroyed the thriving cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD.  The recovery of these cities has been intensive and is still ongoing.  I have been told that they purposely leave some digs for future generations so that learning can continue.  These ancient civilizations were very advanced.  The way they built their cities you can tell they knew about urban planning, engineering and artistry.  The frescoes on the walls show dimension and depth, something we thought wasn’t used till much later.  The rich were very rich and they had many slaves.  The women were inferior and the men were dominant.  Man builds massive wealth and structures, but nature can take it all away in an instant.

Lots of tourists there, but it remains a place to see at least once in your life.  It takes more than one day to truly explore Pompeii ruins.  I went twice… once on a tour by myself and once with Malika with another guide.  I saw different places and we walked around by ourselves for another 3 hours.  The only sites that the guides repeated were the brothel, the bakery and the basic layout of the houses. 

I also went to Mt Vesuvius.  It was a steep but short climb to the crater.  The crater was massive.  One day it will erupt again.  Hopefully the damage next time won’t be as significant.   Only time will tell.  Meanwhile the people still live in the area and prefer to live in the present. 

Taking the local buses was a trip.  The buses are not labeled… only labeled with graffiti so you just have to hope you’re on the right bus.  Plus they don’t announce or indicate what station you stop at.  One time these local guys told us we needed to get off amd transfer.  Malika didn’t think so.  However, we followed their directions and all was fine.  Thing is there is no way to tell if it is a direct or special bus.  Only once when coming back from Pompeii did an announcement come on.  All the other tourists cramped on the bus were wondering as well.  We made it fine, though and after you figure it out then transportation is ok.  It is an interesting challenge. 

Naples city center was very busy and quite interesting.  Streets filled with vendors, colorful and lively.  Loved the Spanish Quarter and the market areas.  I will come through Naples one more day on my way through to home.  Then I can see whatever I missed or want to see again.  Now we are on to the Amalfi Coast!