Day 14, Sept 11. We got off to a very early start for Naples. Passed Pompeii and Vesuvius on the way. Naples has been continuously inhabited for 2500 years, and was one of the most powerful and influential cities in the world for hundreds of years until Italian unification in 1861. Despite being ruled by several entities over the centuries, Naples has largely developed independently and retained its uniqueness. Has about 3.5 million inhabitants today. We toured an outstanding but little visited art museum, the Capodimonte. It started life as a country home of a Bourbon king, complete with a gorgeous park of many acres, and is now a beautiful museum. It is also unairconditioned, with zero temperature or humidity control for the priceless paintings, sculptures, mosaics, and frescoes there. We then checked into our hotel before taking a short orientation walk. Following our tour, a group of us went to a small trattoria on a tiny side street that Tommaso had recommended. It was fabulous! The three of us me Android back to the hotel, getting a field for Naples along the way. We were successful in dodging the mini cars and motor scooters that his past us, not caring a bit for our lives! The advice we had been given was simple. Always Cross in a group, always make eye contact with the driver, and never go back once you've stepped off the curb. It certainly felt like a test of wills. Whose was stronger--the driver’s or ours? We rested briefly, then took off for a second walking tour of Naples. This time Tommaso led us through the medieval section of town. Dark because of narrow streets and tall buildings, scary because of vehicles that appear from nowhere, also tons of graffiti. We saw a bride arrive at the church for her wedding. Very fancy! Also got a feel for old Naples with its bustling population, chaotic streets and piazzas, and how it has evolved for centuries. We sat at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed a lemon Spitzer with some folks from our group, then returned to our hotel for a short rest. Dinner was next door to the hotel. Real Naples pizza! Delicious! The wait staff whose job it is to buttonhole passers by were persuasive and aggressive! Diana showed her rare side as she handed it right back to them and insisted that they leave her alone.
Day 15, Sept 12.
Our first stop today was Chapel Cappella Severo. It was the private chapel of the wealthy family of Raimondo di Sangro in the 1500s. He was a Mason, an intellectual, and a seeker of knowledge about science and nature. He commissioned statues for the chapel with a veiled theme representing the fact that in his time he couldn't be open about his desire to learn about science and nature. The extremely lifelike marble statues from the chapel that are most famous are those of Jesus’s body under a veil and a man peering out from a heavy net. From there we walked to the National Archaeological Museum, where we saw incredible art and artifacts, especially from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Rare Greek bronzes (rare because most were melted down for other uses over the centuries), mosaics, medical instruments, silver, glass. We also saw gigantic figures from the Baths of Caracalla. The 3 of us then took off to find a small trattoria for lunch. There was no menu, just a handwritten chalkboard list on the wall. On the way, Anne had a close call with a car driving on an impossibly narrow lane. It grazed her elbow as it passed. Sheesh!! Next up: Underground Naples. The underground tour included very narrow and low passages (mandatory to walk sideways or ducking some of the time) and many steep steps. We saw how the Greeks and then Romans had excavated and used the tunnels for supplying water to the city, and later how they had been used for shelter from bombs during WW II. Another portion of the tour took us to the underground site of Nero's favorite theater. He sang there many times, according to the guide. Once again, we were overcome with heat and the antidote was spritzer at an outdoor piazza cafe. Before our farewell dinner, Susan looked around Castle Nuovo which was very near our hotel. The farewell dinner was lovely, with pasta fagioli & seafood, zucchini, sea bass, and rum cake. Heavenly! What a great trip this was, with fine and interesting folks.
Day 16, Sept 13. Farewell to Naples- Back to Rome! We had a leisurely breakfast, packed up, and sat at the courtyard cafe beside the hotel until it was time to leave for the train station to Rome. Our train platform was one of the longest in Europe, I'm pretty sure. Nice hour-long ride through hills and trees back to Rome. We took a taxi to our B&B in Trastevere neighborhood, got a thorough introduction of the area from Danielle on duty, and walked to a nearby cafe for lunch. By then it was 3 o’clock and we were hungry! Split ravioli filled with eggplant and zucchini, potato jackets with 3 cheeses and artichoke spread, veal scalopini, grilled vegetables, and wine. A fine, filling meal. Then we made like the Italians and took a siesta! Rest of the evening was spent preparing for our Vatican visit tomorrow and washing clothes.