Naples, Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius

Posted by Anura Samara, 1 December 2014

We flew into Naples for a short stay only to see Pompeii. Many people had warned us away from staying there, but it’s easy to access from the airport and for a (literally) flying visit we thought it was a good idea to make it as easy as possible to get to and from the airport.

Naples

As always, we opted for the cheaper public transport to get from the airport into the city.

Naples has that feeling of other Italian cities of being in slow decline. Some of the buildings are in the same state of decay as it’s Asian counterparts, but without the sense of energy that promises something better in the future.

But it was only when we were dropped off down by the port that we saw Naples in its fully glory – piles of rubbish everywhere. When the rubbish wasn’t in big piles, it was in small piles. When it wasn’t in piles at all, then it was jammed in random nooks and crannies (phone boxes, window ledges etc). It was really hard to tell whether Naples has any beauty because all you could see was rubbish.

Our hotel was in the older part of the city, in a building that had been converted from a 17th century cardinal’s palace. The breakfast room was beautiful, with high painted ceilings and portraits on the wall. A short walk away were the narrow, cobble-stoned streets that we love so much which were lined with Christmas stalls. Here, the big thing is ornaments for your own nativity scene – not just the traditional baby, parents and animals but the whole of society including pizza makers, modern figures and the scenery stands. It’s very popular. And extremely busy.

Pompeii

We had booked a day-trip to * Pompeii on a mini-bus tour.

The trip out was good, but unfortunately it was very hazy so our view of the sea and Capri was non-existent. Looking inland we could just about see Vesuvius.

Arriving in Pompeii, we had the mandatory stop which involved going inside a shop selling endless bottles of limoncello – no thanks, we opted for coffee instead.

Pompeii itself is more extensive than I imagined. Streets that you can wonder up and down, with many remains of buildings up to first floor level. My favourites were the buildings that were intact so that you can go inside them, with murals and tiling intact. There are only two of the recovered “bodies” (ie. plaster casts made from the spaces in the hardened ash where people had died) here, but it’s pretty freaky looking at someone who died so long ago.

Our tour guide seemed to be particularly taken with the brothel, with it’s individual rooms and illustrated “menu” on the walls.

He did a good job of not just explaining Pompeii today, but linking what we were seeing with the daily lives and culture of the Romans who lived here. We ended up in the forum – although the buildings are mostly gone, you get a great sense up there of the layout of the city and the way Vesuvius dominated the landscape.

People say Pompeii is really busy. It wasn’t particularly busy on the day of our visit but I can imagine that on a hot, dusty day and packed with tourists it would be unpleasant. Not so much the people, but the sense that you can’t see everything you want to.

The “traditional” lunch turned out to be a choice between one pizza or one meat dish, with only one drink.

Mount Vesuvius

We then set out for Mount Vesuvius. It’s a fair drive up there on increasingly narrower roads. Once you reach the car park, it’s not exactly a modern tourist site. A couple of souvenir shops and a cafe masquerading as a “restaurant”. The entrance station is pretty basic and there are no toilets anywhere on the site.

And then it’s a steep walk up a gravel track to the top. You might think it’s a walking track, but it turns out there are a couple of old Fiat Punto’s trundling up and down which makes you stop and give way (disabled visitors?). There are also a couple of kiosks along the way – take any old crap, slap a Vesuvius brand on it and hey presto! Genuine souvenir!!

Once you reach the top (a sort of staggered family group as everyone went at their own speed) there’s that amazing feeling of actually being here. Sure, there wasn’t any of the promised smoke from what’s supposed to be a still active volcano. But it’s an incredible view right down on to Pompeii. And I reckon on a clear day the view out to sea and Capri would be amazing. You can walk around 50% of the edge of the crater so you can see it and the view from different perspectives.

Despite my criticism of the souvenirs, we did have to buy one tacky souvenir for the tacky sounvenir shelf. And then it was time to leave, as we were on a strict timetable to get back to the mini-bus.

We thought the combined Pompeii and Vesuvius trip was a good idea. Left to our own devices, we could have wandered around Vesuvius for hours but having a tour guide meant we kept moving and saw both in one day.

Categories: Italy

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