Trip - Naples-Vesuvius-Rome

Naples

What can I say about Naples? Haha. As I said earlier, I liked Marseille.. it was dirty and run-down, but at least it had some redeeming qualities. I don't know if I can say the same for Naples. Naples made Marseille look like Beverly Hills. It was filthy, falling apart, full of rude people, drunk people peeing in the streets, graffiti everywhere, thugs on every sidewalk, and a hotel that tried to rip me off.

But to be fair, all of those things made Naples unique, and I'm very glad I went there. I'd be happy if I never returned, but I also enjoyed visiting such a place. After all, I seek out places like Liberty City/Miami, Camden NJ, Detroit, South-central LA, the north Bronx, east Oakland, north Memphis, etc. I like visiting da 'hood. And Naples fits in well with those places.

Herculaneum and Mt. Vesuvius

I headed south from Naples and walked through the ruins of Herculaneum, an ancient city that was very well preserved by the ashes of a Mt. Vesuvius eruption. After that I climbed to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, still an active volcano, and looked down into the 1000+ foot crater. The views were amazing. I took a very wild bus ride down the mountain and eventually went up to Rome from the Naples train station - yes, I went back, and this time I got a great Italian sandwich that was very cheap, even by U.S. standards.

Rome

I arrived in Rome and walked around for a couple hours. To be honest, I wasn't impressed during that time. It was hot, no air conditioning, and the prices of drinks were ridiculous (as much as $4 euros ($5) for a 500ml bottle of Coke). The people were generally unfriendly and didn't speak much English. As with all European cities, it's easy to get lost, and I did.

I was looking for the Coliseum and eventually I found it. At the moment, my negative impression of Rome turned around. The Coleseum was awesome, but everything around it was even more so. As interesting as Herculaneum was, it was nothing like the ancient port of Rome. Very few cities in the world (maybe none) have a history that can compare to that of Rome. It amazed me to think about all of the history that occurred in the city where I was standing.

I eventually made my way northwest to the Vatican. St. Peter's Square was a very impressive sight, especially at night and with relatively few people there. After that I had a great dinner -- a very thin pizza that was folded in half, wrapped in paper, and sold by the kilogram. Interesting! I also had an excellent & unique orange soda of some kind. Outside of the touristy areas, the food prices were very reasonable compared to England.

Then I tried to find my hostel that I booked before I left, and my feelings of Rome started to change again. I thought it would be easy to find, as it's right next to a Metro (subway) stop. However, for some reason that I can't figure out, the Metro does not go toward the center of Rome after about 9pm. It only goes away from the center. So I took a bus with a very unfriendly & unhelpful driver that left me somewhere near my hostel, but not close enough that I could actually find it. I eventually made it back to the central train station, and from there took the Metro to the stop where the hostel was.

By this time, I was soaked in sweat because it was hot, humid, and no air conditioners anywhere. The hostel room seemed like it was about 90 degrees inside, but otherwise I liked it - and figured that any other place would be just as hot, so I stayed there.

I walked around a little after that, and saw another side of Rome -- one that was much like Naples but with a lot more homeless people and not quite as much thuggery. It was sad to see.

posted by Matt @ 9:22 PM