Naples, Sorrento, and Pompeii

Our last stop in Italy was the Amalfi Coast. It was so much warmer here compared to Venice, and much crazier. I'm glad we started the trip in peaceful Venice and ended in "real Italy" Naples.

Oh, Naples. I've been SO looking forward to this post. What can I say about Naples, truly the nuttiest city I've ever been to in my life?? Don't get me wrong, I loved it--and feared for my life. I didn't think a city that did not have any traffic laws could function in the world. I was wrong. We took a taxi ride to the airport---the Superman ride at Six Flags is a little less frightening. Our driver was either terrible at driving or extremely good. He zipped in and out of rows of cars (I won't call them lanes, since Naples doesn't use them). But we made it there alive! It's just as scary to be a pedestrian. There are no such things as "crosswalks" or "lights." To cross the street you book it and hope the cars stop. Seriously, there is no other way of getting past the endless stream of cars. And it wasn't just cars! My first view of Naples from the subway was a moped driving on the sidewalk!! They were everywhere, and people would stop in front of fruit and vegetable stands on their mopeds as if it was a drive-through! A side note: The funniest thing I saw in Naples was a cashier at a store smoking right in front of a "No Smoking" sign. Oh, Naples. On the upside, it had great pizza. ;)

View from our hostel (which was one of the best hostels I've been in, we met tons of cool people):


As exhilarating as Naples was, it was nice to get out and see Pompeii. I didn't know exactly how to approach Pompeii. The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was a horrific tragedy that killed thousands of people. And yet today it's treated as a macabre tourist attraction. My guidebook even implies that it was a good thing, because it perfectly preserved a city and allowed us insights into life in ancient Rome! I'm not so sure, though. When I visited the Archaeological Museum in Naples, and learned more about the victims (and saw their bodies) it made me see the human element behind it.



Still, the city was fascinating. It struck me how similar people back then were to us today. They scribbled graffiti (some of it hilarious) on the walls, they had a nice and a seedy part of town (with brothels, as well), and had shops and bakeries, a bath house, and stadiums (all right, so we don't force gladiators to fight animals to the death). Apart from the mansions, the bath house was my favorite place. It was so well preserved, it was impossible to tell whether we were looking at in in 79 or 2009 AD. I was also surprised by how big Pompeii was--certainly larger than some modern day small towns. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius in the distance was eerie.






From there, we went on to Sorrento, a nice vacation town on the coast. I tried some of their famous limoncello (which was disgusting), we browsed the shops, and sat and looked out at the Bay of Naples.



A great way to end the trip.