Adventures in Italy

Dustin and I spent all of last week in Italy - half of our time was in Rome and the other half we spent in Naples.  The two cities are complete opposites.  Rome is romantic, with golden torch-like lighting in the evening.  It's clean (at least compared to Naples), relaxed, and full of things to explore.  Naples, on the other hand, is "in your face" Italy.  The people are loud (often speaking with large hand gestures...some that are awfully rude), the traffic is horrible (it is a miracle that we weren't hit by a vespa while crossing the street), and it is really dirty.  But, it is the birthplace of pizza and mozzarella.  What's not to like about that?!

Our first stop was Rome.  We took a bus tour on our first night there to get a feel for the city and how it is laid out.  As you can see, we were the only crazy people sitting up top in the freezing cold wind!

Our entire second day was spent in ancient Rome.  It was absolutely amazing to see all of the ruins.  They took me right back to high school Latin class. 

The Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

There would have been a wooden floor here when the Colosseum was in use.  Here you can see where they kept the animals and gladiators.  

In the Roman Forum

Looking down on the forum.

Next, we went to the Pantheon.  It was built around 126 AD.  INCREDIBLE!

We ended our day of exploring at the Trevi Fountain.  I got to enjoy my first true Italian gelato!

Day 3 in Rome was spent in Vatican City at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's.  Below is the Hall of Maps in the Vatican Museum.  Besides the Sistine Chapel, it was my favorite part!

I was able to discreetly take a few pictures in the Sistine Chapel on my iPhone!  Dustin and I sat on a bench for about an hour taking it all in.  It is truly a masterpiece!

St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

We spent day 4 exploring Trastevere - a very authentic Italian neighborhood in Rome.  It is off the beaten-path, so there weren't very many tourists around.   

After exploring for a bit, we hopped on a train from Rome to Naples.  Naples is a little bit less-tourist friendly.  It was an adventure just figuring out how to get from the train station to our hotel.  After we finally discovered where we could buy a metro ticket, we made it to the hotel no problem.  At this point, it was getting pretty late.  We grabbed a pizza at a place that is supposed to have one of the best pizzas in Naples.  I was super excited about it because Naples is the birthplace of pizza.  The place was packed full of locals and the waiter obviously did not speak any English.  All of that was a great sign!  No tourists (besides us) around!  We stuck out like a sore thumb.  Unfortunately, the pizza did not impress.  It was good, but not all that I had been expecting. 

Day 5:  Pompeii.  It is pretty amazing to think that a volcano exploded nearly 2000 years ago, covered a city in ash, and perfectly preserved a civilization for us to explore.  People have been literally digging Pompeii out for the last 300 years, and they are still finding parts of this amazing city!  Unfortunately, most of the household items (pottery, medical instruments, shaving kits,etc), paintings, mosaics, statues, and surviving furniture have been removed and are now in a museum in Naples.  But when you go to the excavation site, you get to walk through the streets of this ancient city.  I had no idea how large it was!  If we saw everything, it would have taken over 6 hours.  We didn't have that kind of time, so we saw all the highlights - some of the better preserved homes, a Roman "fast food" joint, a brothel, Roman baths, and a few fountains.

The original city gates.

 Mt. Vesuvius in the background.  It used to be one giant cone, but the explosion that covered the city left an indentation. 

As excavation work progressed, scientists realized that there were hollow spaces in the packed down ash.  They discovered that these hollow spaces once held the bodies of people who hadn't managed to escape the city.  The bodies were decomposed by now and nothing was left.  So, they pumped plaster into these holes and were able to make plaster molds of the shape of the bodies when they died.  Unbelievable!

 A perfectly preserved Roman bath!  The ceiling is even intact!

This is a mosaic floor mat at the entrance to a home.  It reads in Latin, "Beware of the Dog!"

An oven in a bakery.  Italians still build their pizza ovens in this fashion!

Inside of a home.

Can you spot the grooves in this road?  They are from chariot wheels!

The town's stadium

Inside the stadium

After an exhausting day of walking around Pompeii, we took the train back to Naples.  We were still in search of Naples' best pizza.  For those of you who have read or seen Eat, Pray, Love, there is a scene where the main character (Julia Roberts in the movie) eats pizza in Naples.  She claims it is the best pizza she has ever had.  So, we decided to eat at the same place.  There were definitely some tourists there, but there were also several locals.  Whenever eating out in another country, you will always have a more authentic experience if locals choose to eat there as well.  Anyway, this restaurant is definitely a no-frills kind of place.  It's only decoration was a pattern of green and white tiles on the walls, a few pictures of people who had worked and eaten there, and a small picture of Julia Roberts eating there in the movie.  There are only two things on the menu: pizza with cheese (Margherita) or pizza without cheese (Marinara).  We ordered pizza with cheese and got to watch the men make the pizzas in the wood-burning pizza oven.

All I can say is that the pizza was INCREDIBLE.  Literally the best pizza I have EVER had.  It had a thin crust, perfectly flavored sauce, and chunks of mozzarella on top.  I had no problem finishing off a whole pizza myself.  It was so good that we ended up eating there the next night as well!

The outside of the Pizzeria.  

On day 6, we took a bus ride along the cliffs of the Amalfi coast.  The coast is known for its breathtaking views and for the amazing lemons that come from the area. 

We stopped in a cute little town, Amalfi, on our bus ride.  

I enjoyed a delicious cappuccino there!

In another town we stopped in, Sorrento, lemon trees lined the main street!

On our last day in Naples, we went to the National Archaeological Museum.  It is the museum that houses much of the artwork found in Pompeii and other Vesuvian cities. 

A fresco found on a wall inside someone's dining room.

A mosaic with extremely small pieces!!

That afternoon, we got back on the train to Rome for one last night in the golden city.  We spent the evening checking out some of the major sites at night.  The Colosseum did not disappoint!

We left the next morning to catch a flight back to Paris.  What an incredible trip!