Naples was a last minute plan. We were contemplating leaving from Rome to Milan to Paris (remember, our original plan was to go everywhere by car from Milan, and thus our Milan to Paris flight was booked). We changed it to Naples after we saw a crazy 800 rupees ticket from Naples to Milan. That is an astounding 80% less than any other ticket, train or flight, to Milan. One thing I have always been fascinated about as I grew up was in history. And Naples had tons of it in Pompeii, the village that was burnt to ashes by an angry Mount Vesuvius.
Mt. Vesuvius is the heart of Naples. It's on every board, and you can even see the mountain if there is a clear sky. We had an early morning train on Nov. 6th from Rome to Naples. Exhaustion was already evident as we got down in Napoli Centrale. Naples was the Mecca of pizza, but we were in no mood to eat any more bread, or cheese. We wanted dal and rice and potato fry, and that didn't seem like happening. My parents were so exhausted they backed out of the day trip to Pompeii and offered to stay back at the hotel. The hotel, or apartment, was a one bedroom flat in an extremely closely knit community in downtown Naples. The city was a lot like any other Indian city. It was filled with a middle class and lower middle class population. The working class vibe was evident in everything. Food was cheaper, there was no air of European superiority that was evident in a Rome or a Venice.
I did the trip to Pompeii alone. In the beginning, I almost gave up too. On my mobile app, I purchased the TrenItalia tickets to Pompeii. The only issue was finding the local train station. After 15 minutes of searching all over, I managed to locate the station, only to be turned back by the harsh Italian security. This was the Circumvessuviana, the 'other train' that Naples had. TrenItalia was a different station. I missed the train I booked for, and had to get into the next train. Fortunately train tickets in Italy are time bound, and not journey bound. Which meant I could do as many journeys as I wanted within the time frame. Things got worse on the train as we were stalled for an hour due to an accident en route. We finally reached Pompeii at 11 AM. From Pompeii station, I waded past the tourist guides, the folks selling audio tours, etc. to get into a cab and then to the entrance of the historical site.
Pompeii today is rabble and dust. Though it is maintained extremely well, one can't help but notice the sadness in the entire place. There are laundries, washing rooms, kitchens, etc. just like it was hundreds of years ago. Some of the items have been restored, but most of it is as is. Getting buried under hot conditions without any oxygen entering the site has helped it stay preserved. There is even a restored body of a local who tries to flee Pompeii but is burnt in the process. There were about five hundred people that day inside the site, but it wasn't the least bit crowded. This site was huge and divided into 7 areas. I could only see 3 in the 4 hours I spent. My train back was at 3 PM and I made the same mistake by walking down to the Circumvessuviana station instead of the TrenItalia one. On the way to the correct station, I got a hazelnut gellato for 1 EUR, and this was easily the best ice cream I had on our trip. If I went back to Naples, it would be for their food. It must have been quite a sight for the small quiet town of Pompeii that day - seeing a 25 year old run on the streets, but that is exactly what happened. I managed to catch the second train to Naples, and walked to our apartment.
Food was all ready, thanks to the sister and mother. Though it didn't taste even a bit like the food in India (we had only olive oil in Italy), I didn't mind. I slept like a log till 8 PM and then went out to get some groceries and snacks for the next day. There was a Spar in the locality that we walked to. On the way, we saw the real Naples. The tea stalls, their love for football. The Europeans are lucky to have their football matches happen in the evening. They don't have to stay awake at 1 AM like we do in India. Especially on a big Champions League day like the one we were in Naples (Napoli were playing PSG), the atmosphere was electric.
Naples did not give us the feel of being in a European city. There was no Western European charm here. It was more local. Even the next day in the airport, we found most of the passengers to Milan were Asians. Naples to me is a one time visit. The weather, the people, and the sights - you can get them all on a good evening walk in Marine Drive.
Mt. Vesuvius is the heart of Naples. It's on every board, and you can even see the mountain if there is a clear sky. We had an early morning train on Nov. 6th from Rome to Naples. Exhaustion was already evident as we got down in Napoli Centrale. Naples was the Mecca of pizza, but we were in no mood to eat any more bread, or cheese. We wanted dal and rice and potato fry, and that didn't seem like happening. My parents were so exhausted they backed out of the day trip to Pompeii and offered to stay back at the hotel. The hotel, or apartment, was a one bedroom flat in an extremely closely knit community in downtown Naples. The city was a lot like any other Indian city. It was filled with a middle class and lower middle class population. The working class vibe was evident in everything. Food was cheaper, there was no air of European superiority that was evident in a Rome or a Venice.
I did the trip to Pompeii alone. In the beginning, I almost gave up too. On my mobile app, I purchased the TrenItalia tickets to Pompeii. The only issue was finding the local train station. After 15 minutes of searching all over, I managed to locate the station, only to be turned back by the harsh Italian security. This was the Circumvessuviana, the 'other train' that Naples had. TrenItalia was a different station. I missed the train I booked for, and had to get into the next train. Fortunately train tickets in Italy are time bound, and not journey bound. Which meant I could do as many journeys as I wanted within the time frame. Things got worse on the train as we were stalled for an hour due to an accident en route. We finally reached Pompeii at 11 AM. From Pompeii station, I waded past the tourist guides, the folks selling audio tours, etc. to get into a cab and then to the entrance of the historical site.
Pompeii today is rabble and dust. Though it is maintained extremely well, one can't help but notice the sadness in the entire place. There are laundries, washing rooms, kitchens, etc. just like it was hundreds of years ago. Some of the items have been restored, but most of it is as is. Getting buried under hot conditions without any oxygen entering the site has helped it stay preserved. There is even a restored body of a local who tries to flee Pompeii but is burnt in the process. There were about five hundred people that day inside the site, but it wasn't the least bit crowded. This site was huge and divided into 7 areas. I could only see 3 in the 4 hours I spent. My train back was at 3 PM and I made the same mistake by walking down to the Circumvessuviana station instead of the TrenItalia one. On the way to the correct station, I got a hazelnut gellato for 1 EUR, and this was easily the best ice cream I had on our trip. If I went back to Naples, it would be for their food. It must have been quite a sight for the small quiet town of Pompeii that day - seeing a 25 year old run on the streets, but that is exactly what happened. I managed to catch the second train to Naples, and walked to our apartment.
Food was all ready, thanks to the sister and mother. Though it didn't taste even a bit like the food in India (we had only olive oil in Italy), I didn't mind. I slept like a log till 8 PM and then went out to get some groceries and snacks for the next day. There was a Spar in the locality that we walked to. On the way, we saw the real Naples. The tea stalls, their love for football. The Europeans are lucky to have their football matches happen in the evening. They don't have to stay awake at 1 AM like we do in India. Especially on a big Champions League day like the one we were in Naples (Napoli were playing PSG), the atmosphere was electric.
Naples did not give us the feel of being in a European city. There was no Western European charm here. It was more local. Even the next day in the airport, we found most of the passengers to Milan were Asians. Naples to me is a one time visit. The weather, the people, and the sights - you can get them all on a good evening walk in Marine Drive.
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