Pompeii and Naples

Since I made this trip from Rome, my morning in Rome is detailed in "Rome, Day 5"

The train to Naples was uneventful, but Naples itself was quite interesting.  Once I arrived in Naples it was lunch time, so I decided to go get some of the famous Naples pizza.  Walking through Naples to get to the pizza joint was a bit dicey…there’s a lot of homeless/near-homeless people there.  At one point I wasn’t sure where to turn, and a man on a scooter asked if I needed help, I said the street name, he pointed me in the correct direction, I thanked him and left.  I got a few block down the street, then he flagged me down and started asking me my name, etc.  In my toughest and meanest Italian I said no and goodbye.  He seemed to get the message, as I never saw him again (thank goodness for that too, it’d gotten me a bit freaked out).

Anyways, I made it to the pizzeria (the famous one in Naples – yes, it was the one featured in Eat, Pray, Love).  Once there I pushed my way to the front of the line (I’m becoming more European every day), and I asked the man if I could get a pizza to go.  I ordered my pizza and was sent back to the ovens to wait for it to be made.  While there I got a photo with one of the pizza cooks…taken by another one of the cooks – all I did was take out my camera and ask if I could take photos of the pizza making, and next thing I know I’m being whisked over to the oven to have my photo taken with the cook.  Sweet deal!  And, they didn’t even pick my pockets or anything while doing it, nope, I just got a photo with the pizza cook….I guess being a solo female traveler has its perks and downfalls.

I’m sure you’re wondering about the pizza.  Well, there was nowhere nearby to sit, so I walked back to the area around the train station, found a place to sit (in a somewhat dodgy piazza, thankfully right near the police office…but nobody bothered me there, I had my best ‘don’t screw with me’ face on), and opened the pizza box.  I’d gotten a margherita pizza (tomato sauce with cheese), it didn’t look like much in the box, but it was extremely tasty.  I ate half of it in the piazza, and saved the other half for later.

I left the piazza to catch my train to Pompeii.  Turns out I got on the wrong train…well I was maybe on the right train, but totally screwed up reading the map and took the train one stop too far past my transfer point.  So I had to get off, take another train back to the transfer point, then finally get on a train to Pompeii.  Since the trains only run every half hour, this cost me about an hour of time.  But, I arrived at Pompeii….just in time for the rain.  Luckily it didn’t rain long, and I had my umbrella, so I stayed mostly dry.

Pompeii itself was fascinating.  It was so interesting to walk through.  I saw so many different types of buildings from the 1^st century AD – I saw temples, baths, fast food joints, a bar , a bakery, a brothel and the ampitheatre.

I returned to Rome via Naples (I didn’t leave the station this time), but I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.  My train was scheduled to arrive at 11:30, but I still had to make it to the convent by the midnight curfiew.  When I arrived in Rome I decided that the taxi line was too long, so I took the Metro (the convent was one stop away, and the metro was still really busy with tourists).  I made it to the convent with time to spare, I’d even had time to pick up a nutelle crepe around the corner from the convent.  I was happy I made it, but exhausted from my long day.  I packed my bags, called home, and went to bed.