We survived Naples!!! Okay, that may sound a bit dramatic, but after the last 24 hours of adventures in this city, we just got out of a taxi, saying a mutual "Grazie a Dios!" with the driver and "We Survived!" We arrived in Naples yesterday afternoon and took a cab to our hotel, Hotel San Mauro. In checking out the location, the reviews said big rooms, clean, good restaurant, and it is close to both the airport (where we depart from tomorrow) and Pompeii (which we wanted to visit) - plus, a bonus - free transfers to the airport. Sounds like a winner! NOT!

We saw on the map we'd need a cab to get to San Mauro, which seemed expensive but easy enough, so we hopped in a cab only to discover that our driver knew as little about where the hotel is as we did. So, using his GPS and a holler out the window, we eventually found the hotel - we only had to turn around once. He asked for a tip, and we thought, "no way, he had no clue where he was going," but in retrospect, he probably deserved one!

On first appearances, Napoli is run down and pretty dirty. Our "neighborhood" is a little bit sketchy...or at least we initially thought so. At the front desk, we checked in and then discovered that our "free" transfer does not apply because we booked through a third party. Boo!!! However, after some moping on my (Sarah's) part, we decided to go out exploring. Really, we think this neighborhood is pretty normal...very residential...and best of all, we found a grocery store for some cheap snacks and a pizzeria with slices for 80 cents apiece and water and beer for less than 1€. Things were looking up! There is free wifi in the room, so we were able to use FaceTime. All in all, we survived the night!

This morning, we met with the taxi driver we arranged for through the hotel at 8am to go to Pompeii! Jon teaches about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the preservation of Pompeii. It was raining when we arrived, and we fought or way through those "pesky" cruise tourists to make it inside right away when the site opened :-) Actually, we missed the fantastic tour guides we had with our cruise excursions, but it was nice to go at our own pace.

Pompeii is incredible! After the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, the city was preserved nearly perfectly and avoided plundering, so it remained intact until excavation began in the 18th century. What was beneath the ash and volcanic rock is a really amazing Roman city with columns, homes, mosaics, fountains, and sculptures preserved almost perfectly. There are even paintings on walls in great shape...still brightly colored. There are a few molds of the bodies found during the excavation with plaster formed around bones...incredible!! We really enjoyed walking around the site and spent almost 6 hours there before heading back to Naples.

We were advised not to take a taxi back, so we rode the circumvesuviana (a local train) back to the central train station and then decided to return to the hotel for some pool time (one of the benefits of being far from the city - space for a pool)! We arranged for a taxi with a "special price" and hopped in. This cab driver acted like he knew where Casalnuovo (our suburb) was (no GPS), so we sat back and relaxed. Until....he said "Welcome to Casalnuovo" and started scanning the streets for our hotel, from which we were still a mile too far north. He was VERY good natured about it as we used several shouts out the window and Jon's phone to get us to our hotel. This time, we realized the problem was Hotel San Mauro, not our driver! But, we survived and made it back!! Now for our last dip in a pool before coming home tomorrow! We will miss Europe, but we can't wait to be home!

Thanks for following our adventures! Can't wait to see you!