Days 9 & 10: Naples, Pompeii & Rome

We headed into Naples on Sunday a.) to be better situated to catch a train back to Rome, where we were departing for Zambia, and b.) to check out an Italian city that neither of us were familiar with.

And then there's the food.

When we first arrived into the port of Naples, the hot, noisy grind of the huge city jarred us from our rejuvenated state - so much so that we were tempted to hibernate in our air conditioned hotel room for the rest of the day. But that wouldn't have been time well spent, or a good story, so we went for a walk around the main area, cruising by major sites such as the Duomo and doll hospital, the latter of which was strangely recommended as a "must see" by Lonely Planet...

Most importantly, we ate at Da Michele, one of the best, if not The Best, Neapolitan pizza joint in town. Our eyes were certainly bigger than our stomachs as we tried to put away 2 pizzas, one margarita and one marinara (the only 2 kinds they make). We failed, and felt the pain of our overachieving ways throughout the evening.

However, this did not stop us from trying another local treat: sfogliatelle. Hard to explain, but it is essentially layers of flaky pastry made with various fillings. Kind of like a smaller, more interestingly flavored lobster roll from Mike's Pastry in Boston's North End. Which brings me to another question - why don't they make this at Mike's? Perhaps something for their suggestion box.

The next day we wanted to make the most of our last few hours in Italy so we headed to Pompeii for a day trip, as it is a mere 30 minutes by train. It was one of the hottest days we had had so far and with no beach relief (I know, poor us), but we were prepared with lots of water and hats that screamed "tourist." Fortunately if there is any place to look like one, Pompeii is it.

Having learned about Pompeii in high school, it was impressive to finally see it in person. Words cannot fully describe the magnitude of the city. It wasn't some tiny Pilgrim's Plantation or Sturbridge Village deal - there were blocks upon blocks of unearthed houses and streets, at least three huge public bathhouses, several amphitheaters and even a coliseum for gladiator battles (one of the world's best preserved)! It was an exhausting few hours and we didn't come close to covering everything, but we were both glad to have taken the time to finally see it. As with Machu Picchu, it was overwhelming to think of how much more remains to be discovered.

Unfortunately, doing the Pompeii swing meant we had to bite the bullet and travel out of Italy that evening as dirty, dusty hippie travelers - something I'd prefer not to do again, and I think my fellow passengers might agree. One last over-the-top dinner stop in Rome...

 

... and we were finally off on a 14+ hour journey to the Southern Hemisphere. Next stop, Lusaka, Zambia! We don't expect to have much wifi access while on safari on the Lower Zambezi River but we will update as soon as we can...