On to Rome
Leroy was delighted to return our rental car and has sworn he will never again drive on the Amalfi Coast. We took the bus from the airport drop-off into the center of Naples. From there we took the subway to the National Archaeological Museum. The museum houses various collections of statues. Unlike those we saw in Turkey and Greece, the statues in Naples all have their heads and arms and legs intact. Turns out the Italians didn't just display ancient statues recovered from archeaological sites, but they restored them and re-sculpted the missing extremeties. The museum also contains a large number of impressive mosaics and frescoes from Pompeii. We saw a few of these when visiting Pompeii, but most of best artwork was removed long ago and placed in the museum. One of the really curious aspects of Pompeii's art is the suprising number of overtly sexual pictures that hung on the walls of homes. The first archeological expeditions discovered these mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures and were so shocked they immediately re-buried them! They were eventually uncovered again and taken to the museum where they were kept out of view for many years. Only recently has the "Secret Room" been open to visitors on an "adults only" basis. Judging on the numbers of people visiting the room, it is the most popular part of the museum!
Despite having made and eaten pizza the night before, we wanted to get some authentic Napolean pizza from a Naples pizzeria. A security guard pointed to one across the street from the museum, and we made our way through the heavy traffic to the restaurant. It was delicious and cheap! We intended to take the subway back to the train station, but since we had time to kill and were intriqued by the streets of Naples, we kept walking further until it made no sense to return to the subway stop. We were carrying our backpacks plus our knapsacks, so we were pretty beat by the time we eventually reached the train station. The streets of Naples, though, are fascinating. Lots of historic buildings of every kind. We entered several churches, some of which have been turned into museums or performing arts centers. Naple has an elegant air about it, but it is also known as a very gritty city. Graffiti is everywhere. It is also known for crime and is the home of the Mafia. Tourists are often warned of pickpocketers on the street and on public transportation. Despite the negative aspects, it is a lively city and quite fascinating to experience.
We took a high-speed train (250 km/hour) from Naples to Rome and then boarded the most crowded bus either of us has ever ridden (picking up new passengers at each stop, despite the fact that we were already squeezed like sardines) and then walked the final several blocks to our apartment. We are on a narrow street one block from the Tiber River, which divides Rome in half. From the bridge at the end of our street, we can see the dome of St. Peter's Church in the Vatican, a short walk away. Our apartment is in a five hundred year-old building and faces a church built in the mid-1500s. We were up quite late, due to a man playing an electric guitar (with the case open for donations of money) beneath our window until after 1:00 p.m. this morning. We're ready, though, to explore Rome and are starting with the Vatican Museums today.
Leroy was delighted to return our rental car and has sworn he will never again drive on the Amalfi Coast. We took the bus from the airport drop-off into the center of Naples. From there we took the subway to the National Archaeological Museum. The museum houses various collections of statues. Unlike those we saw in Turkey and Greece, the statues in Naples all have their heads and arms and legs intact. Turns out the Italians didn't just display ancient statues recovered from archeaological sites, but they restored them and re-sculpted the missing extremeties. The museum also contains a large number of impressive mosaics and frescoes from Pompeii. We saw a few of these when visiting Pompeii, but most of best artwork was removed long ago and placed in the museum. One of the really curious aspects of Pompeii's art is the suprising number of overtly sexual pictures that hung on the walls of homes. The first archeological expeditions discovered these mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures and were so shocked they immediately re-buried them! They were eventually uncovered again and taken to the museum where they were kept out of view for many years. Only recently has the "Secret Room" been open to visitors on an "adults only" basis. Judging on the numbers of people visiting the room, it is the most popular part of the museum!
Despite having made and eaten pizza the night before, we wanted to get some authentic Napolean pizza from a Naples pizzeria. A security guard pointed to one across the street from the museum, and we made our way through the heavy traffic to the restaurant. It was delicious and cheap! We intended to take the subway back to the train station, but since we had time to kill and were intriqued by the streets of Naples, we kept walking further until it made no sense to return to the subway stop. We were carrying our backpacks plus our knapsacks, so we were pretty beat by the time we eventually reached the train station. The streets of Naples, though, are fascinating. Lots of historic buildings of every kind. We entered several churches, some of which have been turned into museums or performing arts centers. Naple has an elegant air about it, but it is also known as a very gritty city. Graffiti is everywhere. It is also known for crime and is the home of the Mafia. Tourists are often warned of pickpocketers on the street and on public transportation. Despite the negative aspects, it is a lively city and quite fascinating to experience.
We took a high-speed train (250 km/hour) from Naples to Rome and then boarded the most crowded bus either of us has ever ridden (picking up new passengers at each stop, despite the fact that we were already squeezed like sardines) and then walked the final several blocks to our apartment. We are on a narrow street one block from the Tiber River, which divides Rome in half. From the bridge at the end of our street, we can see the dome of St. Peter's Church in the Vatican, a short walk away. Our apartment is in a five hundred year-old building and faces a church built in the mid-1500s. We were up quite late, due to a man playing an electric guitar (with the case open for donations of money) beneath our window until after 1:00 p.m. this morning. We're ready, though, to explore Rome and are starting with the Vatican Museums today.