We went to see Naples, and we came back alive.
Blanche wanted to run away and hide for her birthday – so we did.
On our original planned departure we had an idea to explore Italy, which would have started in March 2020. We also had Pompei and Sorrento on our bucket lists. Because of Stella (sorry Stella) and the environmental impact of the Defender we decided that we would have a quick recce, fly in/fly out rather than get to the Amalphi coast in May and find the logistics of visiting and exploring defeated us. So we booked it up. Easyjet, Bookings.com and Expedia all let us down, and the nightmare of getting refunds began. Blanche managed it of course, we came out disappointed, but no poorer.
In September, when it looked a bit quieter on the “C” front we rebooked, but on BA, and arranged with the B&B Elena that we would pay on check-in. It was nerve-wracking, knowing our flights were on the Sunday, but not knowing if we were actually going to get there, right up until we got through immigration and baggage reclaim in Naples.
I had looked at public transport from Naples to Pompei, it seemed easy enough, it was a Sunday, and we had an early flight so plenty of time. You take the bus from the Airport to Naples Main Station, then descend to the equivalent of metro line to take the Tranvesuvianum, which is a local train, which we discovered on the top 10 things to do in Sorrento.
In the untypical pouring rain we arrived that afternoon, soaked but ecstatic at the BB Elena, which is right next to the Pompei excavations (Scavi) Quick explore and a pizza, and we celebrated the fact that we had escaped the UK, and so what if we had to do a 14 day isolation when we got back, the infection rates were much lower that we had encountered in Nottingham a month previous.
Monday it rained, in fact it stormed, very spectacular, but it was the only rain forecast that week , so we made it a day of rest and recuperation, and local wine (region is called Campania) and took more pizza and some Morretti as well.
Tuesday was Blanche’s big day, she opened her cards, carried all the way from Crowthorne, and then we set of for Pompei, actually we walked the 400 yards to the entrance. Covid measures meant we had to book in advance, over the internet, but apart from that there were no restrictions. What we did find in our time in this region of Italy is that Social Distancing, temperature checking, mask wearing, hand sanitising etc. put the UK to shame, it was the norm. It also had a plus in that Pompei was virtually deserted, meaning that our private guide could cover a lot of ground in his two hours, almost running between Houses, Shops, Villas, Baths, Gymnasiums, Brothels, Amphitheatres, Warehouses and Forums, Temples and just about everything else that a Roman Town of 12,000 inhabitants could possibly need.
Tusday was of course the big day, restaurant time…..
Wednesday we decided to go to Vesuvius, the volcano erupted in AD 79, which caused the total burial of Pompei. It was a fascinating experience. We got the bus from Pompei, nearly to the top. About a half hour of walking followed, but not before our temperatures were taken. A guide gave us a talk about the volcano, and how it was a pressure cooker , waiting to explode. It last let off a bit of steam in 1944, and the longer it goes the worse the carnage will be. The core, down to the magna, or whatever it’s called is blocked, so the release will be sudden, explosive and extremely spectacular. One will get a few days notice before it happens, there are ships in the Naples harbour permanently on standby, and it did make us feel a little nervous to be up there, staring down into the crater. Pompei was just visible below us, as was Herculaneum, and it was very easy to see how they were in the direct line of fire, and how little chance the inhabitants stood of escaping.
The following day we decided to take a road trip.
Armed with our UK Tom Tom and a downloadable route, we set of for the Amalfi coast some 40 miles south. We upgraded the hire car from a small fiat , to a slightly bigger fiat, so were very pleased to be presented with a VW Beetle convertible as our chariot for the next couple of days.
Getting to the Amafi coats was easy, mostly motorway , getting along it was another matter, tortuous roads, hugging the cliff face, descending suddely to picturesque vilages, the ascending just as quickly to contnue the route. I would hate to do this in the summer, no parking places, no opportunity for passing, or being passed, busses and coaches at every hairpin and motorbikes sometimes struggling by, at other times just a flash of green and yellow. After a couple of descents, a look for parking and an ascent we began to get the measure of the coast. One of the advantages of Covid is that the roads and towns were almost devoid of tourists, so we did manage a couple of relaxed stops, Amalfi, and a quick lunch, R…. which is at the top of the cliffs, and affords magnificent views and finally Sorrento for dinner.
Capri can be seen from almost every vantage point in the bay of Naples, an island sticking out of the sea. We hadn’t planned on visiting due being not able to find a day in our schedule but we were so close. We investigated ferry times, it was possible, so booked int a harbourfront hotel for the night and the 10 o clock ferry / hydrofoil the following day. The trip takes about 40 minutes, and deposits the tourists, or “full wallets” as the Caprisians probably refer to them. A quick sortie up to the top of the cliff , by fenicular, and some amazing buses, think of a coach, but 1/4 the length, then back to the harbour for our boat trip around the island.
Capri is beutiful, and from the boat we were able to observe how rugged and exclusive it was. The main town is called … and that’s about it really. There are a few beachside properties, one restaurant on the beach around a thrid of the eay round, but otherwise it’s rugged cliffs, waves and caves to be appreciated. We saw the emarald cave, as the boat incided nto it, but the blue cave took a bit more preparation.We were unlaoded into small rowing baots, the taken to the cliff face , where we were asked to lie flat on our v=backs, as the “gondolier” pulled on the chain taking us under a rock into a cavern, where it really was blue. Back to,,,, where us “empty wallets” enbaked on the hydrofoil back to Sorrento.
The hour journey from Sorrento to Pompei was relatively uneventful, but did serve as a reminder of how poor the region is, lots of tennament blocks, washing hung outside, shops mostly boarded up, with brightly lit anf freshly painyed Bookies and Phone shops on the corners, with the occassional pharmacy , seeming the only ones making any money.
Herculaneum is very different from Pompei, It was a smaller town, and in the direct line of fire of Vesuvius (literally) . The excavations only cover around 25% of the original town, but enough to give a total understnding of the town. Herculaneum is also different from Pompei in that it was completely buried, so that multi stories exist, and roofs and woodwork remain intact. Having seen excavations at Vindaleum (see the roman roads section) which were in relatively soft earth, it would be easy to assume that it was just a matter of uncovering the town. No so, the ash, dust and red hot pumice solidified, the town in AD79, and completely burried it. and redefined the shoreline as being several tems of meters higher than original. Recent excavations have gone deeper that before and found bodies of the women and children sheltering in the dockside wharfs, and those of the men on the foreshore, obviously trying to arrange an evacuation. This excavation is some 30 meters down, through solid rock, I hope the picture give some idea of the depth. In a better state of preservation of Pompei the ruins are 3 dimensional, charred stairs, railings and even a bed are visible. Paintings still retain their colour, and there is also a wooden boat, which is preserved and on display.
For our last day we travelled leisurely to Naples as we had an evening flight. We walked to the port, and the square, which was busy, but respectfully socialy distanced, everyone wearing masks, even the street vendors with their blankets, fake watches and a wary eye for the police. We saw the cruise ships moored in the bay, some to evacuate the city, should Vesuvius rumble again, but others redundant, empty and sitting out the time until cruising might continue.
So we returned, we found the Camanga area of Italy taking the Covid measure extremely seriously, temperatures and been taken at every restaurant, shop, boat etc. We returned to UK without having to quarantine but 7 days later Campagna locked down and the UK was shutting its boarders again. Time to move on.