On Friday afternoon we arrived in Naples/Napoli. Giovanni, who owns the hostel, is a very interesting man. He gave us a one hour introduction to Napoli and the surrounding area including a safety talk that freaked me out a little and was somewhat contradictory to what we'd been told elsewhere. We also found that if you didn't do things his way it could get awkward so we never told him if we deviated from his plan!

He did however tell us about the best pizza place, Gino's, that was just one street away. It was absolutely delicious and became the spot to be between 7 and 8pm each night.

On Saturday we started out early traveling to Ercolano to climb Vesuvius and visit Herculaneum. The drive up to the walking track was pretty hairy, but after Switzerland and Lake Como Tom and I didn't freak out like the others. The walk was tiring but thankfully short, unlike Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, and the fresh, crisp, cool air was a lovely change from the heat of the last month. The views of the bay of Napoli are beautiful and the volcano is still smoking which was the best bit! The soil is so fertile that there are plants growing inside too.

Herculaneum was also buried during the Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii. However it was covered by a muddy sludge rather than ash, which meant better atmospheric conditions for the preservation of houses, frescoes and artefacts. We wandered around there for an hour as it most tourist sights were free that weekend.

In the afternoon we moved on to Sorrento which we really enjoyed. It is made up of white buildings, bars, restaurants and middle aged tourists. But it has lovely little shopping strips with lemon shops (local Campagnia specialty) and knick knacks. We found a lovely little marina, the Marina Grande, where we had a drink and gelati while watching little boats come in and out and kids playing on the small beach. It was a relaxing end to a busy day.

On Sunday we went with Tine to Caserta, where the Bourbon family built a Versailles-like palace during their reign over Napoli. There is a huge staircase carved out of one piece of marble and the ceilings especially were gorgeous. Some were themed, such as each of the seasons, others based around mythology, and all were simply beautiful works of art.

The garden is perhaps longer than Versailles but is not as elaborate nor does it have the width with so many side gardens like Versailles. It was a lovely day though to walk all the way to the end where we were rewarded with beautiful fountains and sculptures.

On Monday we spent the day in Napoli with three girls from Sydney (Jenny, Natalie and Jasmine) and Robyn from Toronto who had arrived the night before. Our first stop was the National Archeological Museum, where many precious artefacts such as Roman and Pompeiian are kept. There are some great sculptures and frescoes there. The highlights were the mosaic exhibition with such tiny pieces of tiles and such intricacy, and the secret room which was nothing like what we expected. The outdoor areas of roman homes were places for expression and daring - this room certainly was, being full of phallic symbols and erotic art. Everyone in the room, including much older men and women, were reduced to child-like giggling!

Next we went on an underground tour of Napoli to see the vestiges of Roman Napoli. Some of these sites are only recent discoveries such as an old roman theatre that had since been incorporated into people's homes without them even knowing. Many of these houses and stores have now been bought up by the government to enable further investigation. We entered into a small home that incorporated the old Roman arches into the walls and used part of the backstage area as a wine cellar. The guide pushed the bed all the way back in to the wall and we descended through a small hatch through the floor into the cellar. Another home used part of the stage as a garage and a carpenters shop housed one of the audience entrances. Next we were taken into the old Roman aqueducts that have functioned also as bomb shelters in WWII and now biological experiments. We even ventured through very low and skinny tunnels with candlesticks into cavernous water holes - it was all great fun!

We spent the afternoon visiting a church, wandering down to the first ever opera house and visiting a very famous and stunning marble sculpture of a veiled Jesus. We of course finished the day the famous pizza from Gino's.

On Tuesday we visited the Amalfi Coast which I was very excited about. We went with two German girls, Anna and Ilke, and a Canadian couple, Allandra and Tyler, who we'd met over the past couple of days. It was a lovely but busy day hopping from town to town along the windy coastal road. As i said before, thankfully all our driving through Switzerland, around Lake Como and up to Mt Vesuvius made us seasoned travelers and totally unafraid or carsick. Amalfi was busy and full of buses but Positano was simply gorgeous, rising up from the water right up into the hills. The beaches were a little strange, with dark, rocky and dusty beaches, but the water was nice as were the small winding streets lined with cute little shops - and don't forget the amazing views!!

Wednesday was the scariest day for me as I ended up on Giovanni's motorbike. Tom was asked by Giovanni if he could steal me for a while and then I was told that I was going for a ride - not asked, but told. I'm still not sure why I didn't put up more of a fight but next thing I knew I was flying around Napoli for two and a half hours on a big red motorbike, up the hills to see a good view of the bay, round the back of Napoli to see the islands of Procida and Ishcia, to the mechanics to get the brake lights fixed and finally back to the hostel. Admittedly he's a good rider but everyone else in Napoli is crazy and although I was kind of enjoying it by the end, all I wanted to do was get off in one piece!! Anyway it was very entertaining to everyone else we stayed with, some who had also suffered the same fate but never for as long as me!

On Thursday we went back to Rome with Allandra and Tyler and then had dinner with Jenny, Natalie and Jenny. We had a lovely night swapping stories from our two days apart and wandered up to the President's residence where we were surprised with great fireworks coming from the Castel Sant'Angelo. I was even lucky enough to spend Friday with Jasmine while she waited for her flight home and I waited for my tour to start that evening. Meanwhile Tom was able to have dinner again with Jenny and Nat as they also flew to Athens on the same morning.

It has been quite the whirlwind week but has been so much fun for the friends we made, the sights and of course the food!