Mom in Napoli

My first day Naples and I start off with a tour of the city.  I was go to Pompeii but the tour company switched on me.  So a tour of the city it is and an earlier start too.  I was to be at the Theater at 8:15 and according to Erin it was, maybe, a half hour walk.  So I find my way out of the 4 Seasons and now the big, big door is open.  I head towards the theater and now the goal is to find a diet cola prior to the tour.  The bar/pastry shops are open and I find a Coke Zero.  My day is now VERY good!  I find the theater and the area is just beautiful and rich in so much history.  The tour company and I find each other and into the van I go. 

It is difficult being in a country that you do not understand the language.  The van picked me up and I knew I was in the correct van but the driver spoke to the other couple in Italian and not in English at all.  I had no idea if we were picking up other people, or if this was the tour, or what was happening.  Eventually we did meet up with another van with Americans on it from a cruise ship with a guide that speaks English so all was well.  The tour was short but very nice and informative.  I got the lay of the city and figure out what I wanted to see and do. 

Most of the rest of the day is just spent exploring and watching people.  I enjoyed stopping at the cafes with the outside seating and having a glass of wine with my meals and just soaking it all in.  After lunch, I was trying to find a monastery and I got myself totally turned around.  If you saw these streets you'd understand: not one of them straight and the majority of them not being longer than just a couple of blocks.  So I stopped for directions and they were "no, no walk, train!  Up...you go up." Finally realized that this place I was looking for was on the hilltop while not more than a mile, it was all uphill, steep uphill.  But to find the station was to go this way for a block then left and around this piazza, then stay right, etc.  I thought no way I would find this but I was enjoying walking so I just walked in that general direction and I actually came upon it. 

So up I went and immediately upon exiting the station, a man, upon seeing me, told me the fort was this way and pointed.  I laughed and asked if I looked that confused.  Hearing my accent, he asked which part of the United States I was from.  He said he would show me the way as we chatted.  His family is actually in the cameo business and he showed me his family's shop and there was his brother making them out of coral shells. Very interesting and fun to see. 

One of the things that amazed me the most was that all the people came out at night.  Not just the young, but entire families.  People running errands, people shopping, people socializing with each other.  The other thing that I am still trying to really understand is what is a typical work day? And what's up with these really long lunch hours (typically 1:00 - 4:00) where a lot of shops and establishments close during these times. 

My second day in Naples was actually spent on tour.  They brought us first to Pompeii.  It was a two hour tour so on the shorter side but it gave me an impression what Pompeii was all about.  The city was actually very large and very advanced but they really didn't know that Vesuvius was a volcano.  They believed it to be just a mountain so they had no idea what the preliminary signs meant or what they should do.  I asked our guide if the area has an evacuation plan now.  She indicated yes, the various cities do but no one really knows what the plan is.  People all assume that there will be signs and time to escape.  I hope they are correct as this is a very populated area.

The people of Pompeii built their city with streets going north/south and east/west and with slopes so they could wash away the dirt and sewage by removing the plugs in the fountains and allowing the water to flow through the streets and wash away the filth.  And they figured out how to control the water pressure in the water system to allow it to flow properly throughout the city.  They had "fast" food places where they could purchase ready to eat food.  They had a "red light" district and symbols to help the sailors in from the port to find it.  The Forum area was for pedestrian traffic only so they actually put up vertical stone pillars to prevent the carts to enter the area.  Just a few of the things mentioned on the tour.

Our next stop was actually Mount Vesuvius.  A very different volcano than Etna.  After a hike to the top, about a mile, you can see the crater: basically a big hole in the mountain.  It looks very dormant: not very much visual activity.  I believe there are one or two fumaroles but that is about it.  But the longer she remains dormant, the more explosive she will be.  Vesuvius was much larger than it is now.  Now there are actually two craters but earlier there was just one gigantic cone that encompassed both craters and it was much taller.  When she last erupted, I believe in 1944, she lost a lot of her cone and created the second cone.  (This part may or may not be correct, says Erin…but I can’t actively remember, so I can’t actually make a correction for mom here, and would hate to correct her and be wrong.)

Tonight I had to move out of the 4 Seasons and to the Ramada Inn.  While the Ramada was very nice, it was by the train station.  The night life or the friendly/family pedestrian traffic didn't exist.  I went out to look for food but quickly turned around as the streets were dirty, dark and fairly deserted.  My recommendation anyone traveling to Naples is to stay on Via Toledo and enjoy the flavor of the street.