Naples & Pompeii, Italy

Posted on November 24, 2023  •  16 minutes  • 3277 words

I had heard mixed feelings about Naples, but I wasn’t too concerned as we were so excited about seeing Pompeii, nothing could deter us. Yes, it felt a bit rough around the edges, but we liked it. Felt a lot like Genoa, another Italian port city.

Our Airbnb host let us check in at noon because no one had been there the night before. Quickly did the walk through and headed to a pizza place for lunch she recommended. We got a table in the back and ate delicious pizza! I think it’s the dough that makes it amazing…I usually don’t eat the crust, but I was taking the crust off the kids plates when they were getting full.

Even though travel was minimal that day, we still were low energy. We headed back (2 blocks away!) to our place and Max went down for a nap. The rest of us did some reading about Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii to prepare ourselves for our visit there in a couple days and I ran out for groceries. When he woke up, we wanted to do something but nothing big, so we planned to take the vehicular up to a hill in the middle of town for some views.

We walked through a new part of town to get to the station, got tickets and got on right when it was about to leave. It went straight up, yes as vehicular do, with one stop before the top.

We arrived and really had to idea which way to go. The plan was to go up, but nothing was planned out. With the sun setting, we thought following the majority of the people made sense. On the way, Ben and Sam found the key hole in the side of the mountain for some mountain in Lord of the Rings.

Everyone up here is for the sunset view, right? Then, we saw a sign that said view point with an arrow. We got there with some light left and it was pretty cool. The clouds were a bit dense so you couldn’t see more than the base of Vesuvius, but the city below twinkled below. The picture kind of sucks; it really was a dramatic view.

The castle was right behind us and even though we saw people inside, we figured it was about to close. Deciding to check it out anyways, Dan found out it was still open! Even though it was very dark, it was only about 5:30pm. As we walked in, and with the tall castle walls, it kept getting darker and darker…to the point Max requested a flashlight.

We loved walking around a castle at ‘night’ and the kids were talking about how they were getting lots of ideas for ghost stories. We wound our way through dark passage ways, found small off shoots and made it to the top with even cooler views! It really was a cool experience being there like that and hardly anyone there. Probably very cool to see in daylight also, but totally different seeing it like this.

And anytime we see a very large gate, talk begins about how people used to try to sneak into the castle and how the defenders would smash it down on them.

By the time we got to the top, the sky was amazing.

We knew the hunger-craziness would set in soon so we started towards the exit and Dan started looking for a restaurant. Not a ton of options up there, but we didn’t want to wait to get all the way back down for food. As usual, Dan found a spectacular place!

It was a small plates/cheese/wine place. We got a table by the fake fire, which the kids pretended was warming them up.

The waitress was so nice and helpful. She helped us navigate the menu and picked out glasses of wine for Dan and me. Food came in a weird order (for an American) but we devoured each plate as it came.

The cheese sampling plate came last and we were a bit worried we were too full, but being so delicious, we suffered through it. It came with honey and jam, and the honey drizzled on a couple was to die for. Sam claimed one of them was the ‘best cheese of his life!’. It was a Swiss cheese that was shaved so thin that it looked like lace and dissolved in your mouth.

Ben loved the blue cheese, that was extra stinky. Max loved all that had honey on them. We headed home, back down the vehicular and right to bed after a little reading.

Feeling that I needed pastries (I didn’t really) for my birthday, Dan went out and came back with a huge load. Weather wasn’t looking great, so we thought doing an underground tour made sense. I made a reservation for the noon tour. Before then, we headed to another castle and made the mistake of doing the tour there with 3 boys that just didn’t want to be contained or could keep their hands to themselves.

We learned a bit, but it wasn’t that fun. The kids did enjoy seeing the bones still in the location that they were found through the glass floor.

My favorite part was a giant dome with concrete ribs. It divided the roof into 8 parts and gave an impression of (or really it was) a incredibly intricate roof that was staying up based on a lot of geometry.

The tour ended with climbing 4 flights of stairs up to the top. Rain more or less held up while we were outside, which was greatly appreciated.

And we finally got an almost unobstructed view of Mt Vesuvius.

We left after the 40 minute tour and stopped to get food before meeting at noon at the meeting point. After finishing up a standing lunch (as it started raining) we walked the last 2 blocks to meet up in very hard rain. We waited and texted that we were there and never got a response or had someone show up. Kids were kind of being shits and it just didn’t feel like a day to push it with the rain. We headed back to the Airbnb and with it being a bit of a strikeout and kids that couldn’t behave, I was feeling a bit down on my birthday. Dan offered for me to get out for a bit and I decided to get a haircut. Maybe it was the rain or the stress of the morning with the kids, but I decided to go for short and bangs. Maybe it was all that, or maybe mini midlife crisis? That’s why people get bangs, right?

Dan reported back that 2 kids had fallen asleep so there was no rush. Good thing because even though they said they had time; I wait an hour. I guess that’s just Italian time. Super happy with the result and loved the hair dryer…basically a heated lamp that rotated around my head.

Dan, Sam and Ben gave me compliments when I got back and we talked about where to go to dinner. I found a place that looked great and seemed to be a bit off the main walkway…taking a page out of Dan’s book. Well, big fail! That restaurant was not in business anymore and the new one didn’t serve food until much later. Ugh. We had walked a bit out of the way and in that area, Dan took over now, he couldn’t find another place. We decided to walk back to near our place, but finally caved into some of the street drinks. We got the kids orange/pomegranate juice and a apple juice/prosecco…which turned out to be an overly sweet slushy with some alcohol mixed in.

We found a pizza place that had other options too. Ben wanted the swordfish, but Dan and I aren’t fans and didn’t want to waste it incase he didn’t like it. Felt a bit bad, but told him he can order it when Grandpa Hohenshelt is around and he will gladly help.

A bit underwhelming overall for a birthday, but we made the best of it and did have some highlights between meltdowns. No energy for anything, we headed back to put the kids to bed, drink a bottle of wine and do a bit of planning for the next day.

From our research there was going to be so much to see at Pompeii. We had a big breakfast at home and walked to the train station. Dan got us tickets and coffees for the 15minute wait.

Good thing we got on the train at the first stop, because by the second stop it was standing room only. Maybe 30 minutes and we were piling off the train with loads of others right at one of the entrances and got right in. Loving this Italy in November thing.

*Disclosure: No amount of photos or explanation can show the size and wonder of this place. I will try, but it really is something that should be experienced. I was on cloud 9 the whole time…even when I was annoyed at my kids.

Unfolding the map, we were only not sort of understanding the vastness of it all. We started up the path and turned into the first area to see the ruins and indoor spaces. It seemed everywhere we looked, there was something else to see. Something that just blew your mind.

Floors in almost perfect condition. So well done that you knew they had to be old because things just aren’t done that way anymore. But so crisp and clear, they looked new.

We continued up the road. As I said before, and will probably say again, everywhere you looked, there was something else to capture your attention.

We continued up the road with our trusty navigator to some open areas with old columns.

The columns were pretty cool, giving the shape of multi-pointed stars due to the pattern of how the bricks were placed.

Having the area to ourselves, we explored around a lot. We definitely didn’t get there when it opened, but if still felt empty and it was really nice to have areas to ourselves as we walked about.

We talked about the columns, the construction, the pyroclastic flow. The kids had so many questions about the eruption, the city, the people, the timeline. To be honest, I did too a bit and I missed the National Geographic show they watched the day before. It is a very hard concept to grasp, especially for a kid…a whole city completely wiped out in hours.

Even a city that was preserved in ash/dirt for 2000 years isn’t going to come out unscathed, but it is fun to visually fill in the pieces of some of the taller columns.

I’m assuming this needed help to be put back together after excavation, but I don’t know. I would love to know how so many of these ruins were found and how many were pieced back together. Something as spindly as this, probably had help.

And I was loving the contrast of the bright green grass with the grey of the stone.

Just walking down a 2000 year old road.

We found the old bakeries they would mill grain for bread. They were called ‘donkey mills’ and you could see the spot where the wood would go in, that would be attached to the donkey to turn. The bottom part was coned shaped, and the top an hourglass.

It was fascinating to see all the stone that was still so preserved…2000 years old, but didn’t look it’s age like so many other places we had seen. There was a dramatic difference in that, yes some had probably been stacked back up, but there weren’t big sections where they had added new stone to fill the gaps. There just weren’t that many gaps.

We really couldn’t figure this one out. The wood was wrapped in thin steel (to prevent rotting, we assumed), but why use the wood at all? It wasn’t a big span…the brick could have done it in compression.

So hard to decide which way to go, so we just wandered down the old roads. The roads that had barely been walked on in 2000 years. I just couldn’t get over it. The roads consisted of giant rocks that had been worn down by cart wheels. At intersections, there would be larger rocks that stood up, positioned so carts could still make it through, but people could hop across them. It led me to believe it flooded often and this was their simple way of keeping their feet dry, but still letting carts through.

We rambled a bit without direction, mesmerized by all the buildings and the shear size of the area. We’d walk a bit, look where we were on the map and realize we hadn’t gone far at all. We did route ourselves to find the house of the fawn, that Ben told us was mentioned in The Magic Treehouse book about Pompeii.

It was almost easy to imagine families lounging about on their patios, with the mosaic floors and fountains about. Although, it was hard to imagine it so long ago…so much looked like a current backyard patio.

Did I mention how much I love simply engineering?

We found out we were close to the café and decided better be safe than sorry with calorie intake in this family, but not before stopping for a few more column pictures.

Not the best food, but not too bad. And my cappuccino was delicious. Actually, Dan’s was that I ended up drinking half of. I have found they can be so hit or miss in certain areas…a café in a tourist area does fall into the ‘miss’ category, and will refrain from ordering. Dan ALWAYS orders one and sometimes he just has to sacrifice a bit to me. The other option is for me to always order as well, but then Dan can get stuff drinking 2 bad ones…which honestly, he probably wouldn’t care. Just finishing up and stepping outside, Max found a friend.

Caffeine-ed and calorie-ed up, we set our sights on a different area where the old amphitheater was. It was a bit of a walk…maybe 15 minutes with no stops, but we stopped everywhere. It didn’t matter if it was indoor or open, we HAD to check it all out, still fascinated 3 hours in.

Showing off my new bangs!

When we got there, it was too cool! It looked like it would be still functional. Steps in great shape, no much loose rock, never mind the stairways that were death traps if you had a slight misstep. We thought here would be a good time for some journaling for the kids and sitting around for the adults. Super bonus: no one there!

Good views from the top.

After a bit, we continued to a mini colosseum. Maybe a 5 minute walk with no stops, but that was literally impossible here.

Finally arrived.

Cool to walk in from (sort of) below and have it open up around you. This area had only partially excavated and seemed that this was intentional, not just not completed. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to stumble upon this area and see little bits poking out; then to see what appeared as earth was removed. I love engineering, but something about uncovering ruins might have been a bit more exciting.

Seeing the main parts we wanted to see and knowing out limit could be hit with the kids any moment, we decided to head back. This was not an easy feat, as we still continued to stop everywhere. How do you not stop to look at everything?

We had noticed a lot of the rock in the old buildings were very porous, making us think that it was a city that was made of volcanic rock that was then buried by volcanic ash. I’m assuming the roads were made with the same material and you could see how they were worn down by the carts. Seemed to work well for the buildings, but countless passes of carts made significant tracks in the rock. Inches worn away.

There was an exhibit that showed food that had been burnt yet preserved. Ben’s favorite was the loaf of bread and Sam loved all the olives. The bread looked just like a round loaf of bread that you left in the oven for quadruple the required time at double the temperature…because yes, I’ve done a version of this. Probably not exactly the same…hot oven vs pyroclastic flow at X temperature.

In another exhibit we saw more castes of bodies. It hit me a bit seeing them, especially the people hugging or the pregnant woman. Going in we all knew what happened…the town was decimated and 20,000 people died within hours, but seeing the shape of how their bodies lay in the exact last moment was hard to see. At least for me, no one else seemed phased by it. The kids just wanted to know how it was made and more about what actually happened with the volcano.

We made one more stop to walk through a garden with fountain upon fountain and then finally made it to an exit.

As we were leaving, on the peripherals, we could see a lot of areas that hadn’t been fully excavated yet and realized there was so much more to it.

Max and Sam were running around when they shouldn’t, right before it was gelato time, so they missed out. Ben, Dan and I got ridiculously over priced bad gelato (Ben loved it) and we were nice enough to share a bit.

Short train back and walked back to our place and either Max was upset about his lack of gelato or mad we left.

We were exhausted, to say the least. I had zero desire to go out for dinner, so Dan headed out to buy pasta and sauce…I requested some pesto and traditional sauce. Dinner was a huge hit, except for the fact the pesto was broccoli pesto!

Seriously, the jar should have come with a giant yellow sticker on it warning you of this. Sure, I like broccoli, but not when I was expecting some amazing traditional pesto. Dan claimed it wasn’t that bad. I begged to differ.

Flight was early, so we put the kids to bed and stayed up to finish off the bottle of wine.

There was some back and forth about taxi or train to the airport. We weren’t sure we would find a taxi and if we did, would it take all 5 of us. The train was straight forward, but required an even earlier wake up. Our host had said she’d call to reserve us one, so we went with that, even though we were a bit worried about finding it in the morning…or if it would even come down our small street.

At 6:55am, 5 minutes before the taxi was due to show up, I headed down with 2 kids. Just as I stepped off the stairs and looked to the left, I saw the taxi drive by! I raced to the gate, buzzed myself through and chased after him up the road. Luckily, it only took a block and he saw me. He backed up, we loaded in and were there within 20minutes. Smooth travel day and we were home totally beat, but with it being a Monday, the restaurant across the street was open and we had pide for dinner.