Fall Break (Part II) - Naples and Pompeii

After a brief sojourn in my own bed in Florence, the second part of my break consisted of meeting up with Katy and Aneisa in Naples to see Pompeii. I took the train from Florence to Naples, which proved to be a hectic experience. It was the first train I'd ridden where seats were assigned, though it took me about 15 minutes to actually realize this. I sat in a number of other people's seats before picking up on the fact that I should find my own. Of course, it took forever to figure out where on the ticket my seat number was listed. Once I did that, I headed to the correct cabin. (The train was already moving at this point.) Naturally, once I got to my seat someone was sitting in it. Ordinarily I would not have had an issue asking them to move, but the occupant of my seat was a nun. Now I don't know if there's some sort of Italian code where nuns can sit wherever they want or what. I felt terrible asking her to move, but there was no way I was going to stand for a three hour train ride. I felt so guilty the whole way there.

Naples is a horrible city, from what I saw. It's dirty, noisy, full of traffic, and hobos sleep on piles of cardboard boxes in the piazza right in front of the train station. As quickly as I could, I made my way to the Archaeological Museum--the only reason I had even stopped here in the first place.

Thanks to a snarky receptionist who didn't want to deal with me, I got into the museum for free. I proceeded to the exhibit on the ground floor, which was artifacts from Herculaneum. (There are three main sites that were preserved when Vesuvius erupted. Pompeii is the big one, but Herculaneum and Stabiae are the other two.) It's amazing how many statues and reliefs they were able to recover from the site. From there I headed upstairs to see the mosaics, jewelry, and glasswork. I was very disappointed that all of the rooms dedicated to artifacts from Pompeii were closed. It was a major portion of the upstairs that was closed off. What I did get to see, however, was very interesting. Finished with my tour, I headed back to the train station along a different and much nicer route, and hopped the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento where I met Katy and Aneisa for dinner at a pizzeria.

After dinner and hearing about their various exploits from earlier in the week, the three of us headed to Sant'Agnello, the tiny town where our hostel was located. The hostel was amazing! It was like a three-star hotel, where you simply shared your room with a bunch of strangers. The staff were really friendly, as were the guests, they served breakfast, and everything was very clean and neatly decorated. I crashed pretty early, as the day of travel had worn me out.

We got up early, took advantage of the free breakfast, and hopped back on the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. This was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. I bought a map and guidebook at the entrance, and we proceeded to tour the vastness of Pompeii. Unfortunately, several of the houses I was interested in were closed, namely the Suburban Baths, the House of the Vettii, and the House of Menander. There was still plenty to see.

We walked up the steep hill, stopping to look at the Basilica and Temple of Apollo on our way to the forum. After exploring there, we headed north to a more residential part of town. We passed an ancient Roman fast-food stand and several houses, namely the House of the Tragic Poet, with it's distinctive mosaic in the doorway proclaiming "Beware of Dog." At that point we had been in Pompeii 2 hours and had barely seen a third of it. Katy and Aneisa left at that point to go hike Mt. Vesuvius, but I was not done exploring. I strolled west, stopping to see the triangular forum, Doric temple, and large and small amphitheaters. Then I saw some of the major houses and work areas in that part of the site, including a lupanar (brothel) and fullery (place where they made and dyed cloth.) The tour culminated with Pompeii's own mini-Coliseum, which is located in the eastern most part of the city and surrounded by very pretty Mediterranean pines. (In case you couldn't guess, Pompeii is HUGE!)

At that point I was in the southeast, and the exit was all the way in the northwest, so I trekked all the way back across the site. The final stop was also the one I was most interested in--the Villa of Mysteries. It's famous for the frescoes in the dining room, which depict the initiation rites of a girl before her wedding. There are fauns and dancing nymphs, as well as the girl and her various attendants. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures with flash or actually go into the room itself, but I did get to stand at the doorway. It was very cool.

From there, exhausted, I took the train to Naples and then all the way back to Florence. Fortunately, this time there were no nuns.