Yes, it’s half term holiday again and Mrs Young is wrapping up her week away from school with a trip to Naples to tick off a couple of her ‘must see‘ places, Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Our flight, British Airways BA2610 from London Gatwick, pushed back on time, the subsequent smooth two hour flight, arriving in to Naples International Airport 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
Picking up the Alibus outside the terminal was a little tricky to find, with the signage from the terminal being a little misleading, but the single deck bus soon filled up and transported us to the Piazza Garibaldi. Pre booking the Alibus tickets online saved us having to rummage around for change or the effort of finding a ticket booth, but it didn’t really speed things up significantly and the conductor was a little confused by our paperwork having to shout to the driver who was taking a cigarette break a few yards away.
Our home for the next few days, Serendipity B&B, was easily found entering through the huge doors alongside McDonalds and up the stairs on the right to the second floor. We were soon in reception checking in, our host was delightful, swiftly sorting out the formalities, pointing out some local attractions and tourist areas on a map and also making us a hot drink too!
Our room was really quiet for a city center and it’s location on the Piazza Garibaldi right across from the railway station. Our room had high ceilings, traditional wooden window shutters and a well fitted bathroom. Lots of electrical sockets around the room and thoughtful USB port chargers in the bedside light switches.
Our first day had already been earmarked for visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum using the train, with queue jumping tickets already purchased online for both sights, but a TrenItalia strike forced a change of plan with us ending up renting the smallest, cheapest car that we could through my AVIS app while sat in Gatwick airport. Conveniently for us, the AVIS rental office was diagonally across the Plaza Garibaldi in the Starhotels Terminus hotel.
Our drive down to Pompeii was simple enough though, straight down the A3 autostrada with the ruins being well signposted and really easy to find. Parking was cheap, plentiful and easy, with lots of unofficial carparks to choose from and plenty of curb-side attendants vying for your custom. In no time at all we were through the turnstiles and walking the famous cobbled streets of Pompeii.
Pompeii is a truly massive site and makes for a compelling and interesting visit. With the backdrop of Vesuvius looming behind the town acting as a constant reminder, you can only imagine how terrifying that event must have been for its inhabitants.
After a hot and sweaty few hours exploring the site we were back in the car heading back up the A3 autostrada towards Herculaneum.
Again, these ancient ruins were well signposted and we soon parked up in the car park adjacent to the site.
Our pre booked ticket soon got us through the gate and in to the amazing ancient ruins of Herculaneum.
Our first day ended with a walk to the Duomo, the main cathedral of Napoli. Cavernous, ostentatiously ornate, yet sadly soulless and empty, but it is certainly worth a visit.
One road up from the Duomo and a short walk down a darkened side street was Insolito, a small local pizzeria. We dined on two massive pizzas, a half litre of house wine each, one red and one for a meagre sum of €22. This is by far the best tasting pizza I’ve ever eaten.
Just along from our guesthouse was a wonderful pasticceria, Sfogliatelab, serving amongst other delights, the local sweet treat, sfogliatelle, a sweet cream topped crispy pastry. This nicely, and stickily, wrapped up our first night in Naples.
Saturday kicked off with a slightly later start and following our buffet breakfast we headed out into Naples on foot to explore. Nothing really on our agenda except taking in the seafront and the shopping precinct Galleria Umberto.
The older quarter of Naples is dissected by a long road – Spaccanapoli – lined with eateries and shops; a great place to spend time wandering and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Naples. Along our route we explored several amazing churches like the Chiesa del San Filippo e Giacomo, wonderfully decorated but with massive cracks running through the beautifully frescoed ceiling! Chiesa di SAN Giovanni a Carbonara, again delightfully ornate with a frieze thought to be by Donatello. The Gesu Nuovo Chiesa, again, another cavernous building but possibly the most awe-inspiring as it was hidden behind a grubby graffiti strewn entrance tucked in the middle of the busiest road. Opening the door with expectations of a small chapel we were shocked to discover a church to rival El Duomo. Perhaps the best way to explain the vastness would be to add that there were 20 individual confessionals just in the main basilica! Opposite the royal palace sat the San Francesco di Paola, a beautiful circular building with a calm air to it based on the Pantheon in Rome but with a closed oculus. In one of its side chapels was a wonderful exhibition of photos taken in various churches around the globe and also a copy of the Turin Shroud with the apparent outline of Jesus clearly visible.
Saturday dinner was a roving safari supper through the main high street (our favourite way to indulge in as many types of street food as possible) taking in some local delicacies like cuopo, a paper cone of fried stuff, I had various fried vegetables, arrancini and pizza dough balls, while Mrs Y had the mare, a mix of fried seafood.
This was followed by a local dessert of baba and babanocce, washed down with Aperol Spritz!
Samples of limoncello and limoncello cream were taken and the evening was wrapped up sat at a table on a cobbled street with a couple of Aperol Spritz and a bowl of nibbles watching the good folk of Naples partaking in their evening promenade.
Sunday morning started with another great buffet breakfast and some last minute packing/stuffing of cases. Checking out from the B&B we crossed the Plaza Garibaldi and joined the Alibus queue right outside of the main railway station, luckily the stop was situated under the station canopy as the weather was less than perfect.
Several people were already in the queue with several more joining behind us, which got us thinking it was going to get pretty crowded, especially as everyone was carrying cases. With that an minibus arrived, a local taxi driver offering a ride to the airport for €5 each, the same price as the bus fare. Nervous of this we hung back, but after two other couples accepted his offer, we boarded the bus. In no time at all, we were dropped right outside the terminal.
Our return flight was ontime but after being herded like cattle through departures we finally boarded the plane for a rather bumpy flight home.
And that was the end of our trip to Naples. Our trip had introduced us to some amazing food and drink and we crossed off one of Mrs Y’s “must sees” seeing some amazing sights in Pompeii and Hurculaneum, but Naples itself was shabby, dirty and the streets mostly full of overflowing unemptied rubbish bins.
mrandmrsyoung 