Pompeii

Thankfully, Napoli has improved on further inspection...
Yesterday I visited the archeological museum, which has most of the statues and relics found in Pompeii, as well as a pretty cool Egyptian wing (Egyptian stuff was apparently very 'cool' in Roman times). I couldn't take my camera in which is a pity because some of the statues were over 3 metres tall (maybe ;o)) and pretty impressive.

I also visited the excavations underneath the Church of San Giovanni, which were amazing - much better than the museum. I walked along a Roman road and you could wander in and out of the buildings - a bakery, a treasury, a laundry... and I had the place all to myself which was even better. I think it's been one of my favority places so far, and they don't advertise it at all so you'd never know it was there. You can hardly even tell where the churches are in Napoli.
Anyway, here's a photo of me in front of the bakery - in the background are the ovens.

Then, after spending the night drinking beer, eating pizza and watching Spanglish, I went to Pompeii today with two guys I've met at the hostel (it's called 6 Small Rooms and it's brilliant) - Pompeii is so well preserved that you can see the murals on the walls, the rooftops, the fountains... it's like walking through a town that's been neglected rather than buried under ash and dirt for around 2000 years.

A couple of pictures:
This is the amphitheatre which could hold 20,000 people (although my guide book reckoned that the population of Pompeii was 20,000 so that seems strangely convenient...) and is one of the best preserved in the world - it looks like it does in the picture the full 360°.






This is a mural that we spent a good 10 minutes hunting for because it's pretty famous. It shows a young girl being inducted into the cult of Dionysus (and I'll leave you to work out what that entails).

This is Mt Vesuvius in the distance, which is the volcano that destroyed both Pompeii and Herculeum in aruond 62 (72?)AD.

And this is me, Greg and Hamza.

All in all, been a pretty good day. This hostel has been really lovely and rejuvenated my travelling enthusiasm, mostly because I met a few people who enjoy sitting around and having a chat, which is what I was missing most of all. Am off to Ishia tommorrow, the island of hot springs and spas so should be good :o)

Napoli, Finally

Well, it took two and a half hours longer than it's suppose to but I finally made it to Napoli (or Naples as we backwards foreigners renamed it). There was a free concert in Rome yesterday and on top of people trying to get home, the particular track we were on had problems so we were delayed.. by two and half hours! And they wouldn't open the doors at one point, people were starting to panic. Not a nice experience.

And then Napoli hits you. Again, not a nice experience but maybe it will look better in the morning... maybe...



My grumpyness probably has something to do with the fact I've been up since 5am to line up for the Vatican. It opens at 8:45. So the majority of the day has been spent waiting for stuff. No wonder I'm a bit blah at the moment.
Anyway, the Vatican Museum was great but the best bit is definately the Sistine Chapel... you spend a few minutes in there and eventually it starts to overwhelm you with the colour, detail, vibrance... they restored it a while ago. Unfortunately, no photos allowed so this is of the reading room to give you an idea



(oh, and I've finally managed to add photos to my previous posts if you have a look :o)

Where the buffalo Rome (ok, that's stretching it...)

Suggestions gladly taken for new titles - you'd think after working with Allen and Jamos for so long I'd have puns coming out of of my ears but apparently not...

The good news is I've finally reached that point when I know whether I'm paying too much for food. The bad news is that I've worked it out through endless trial and error and now have €6 left. But never fear, my bankcard is here and I only withdrew enough for Rome anyways so I think I've done pretty well budget wise.

I spent most of yesterday wandering around the streets, looking for the Trevi Fountain (and failing miserably) and had planned to visit the Vatican today... except being the 1st of May, it's a national holiday in Italy and most of Europe. So it's not open. Instead, for a change, I spent the day wandering the streets, looking for the Trevi Fountain... and this time I found it :o)
I've tried to upload photos but it's not working here for some reason so keep an eye on this space and I'll try again later...

I also had lunch at this great little place where they spoke no English and we somehow muddled our way through conversations. People keep apologising for their bad English but it's much better than my pathetic Italian.

I've also started to realise that I'm not going to be able to visit everywhere I want to go - particularly the Amalfi coast, the Abruzzi Nat. Park and the deep south... it's going to be a stretch anyway so I'm thinking I'll come back for a second swing during winter, when I'll be glad to be around the mediterranian.

Long post. Am missing everyone a bit - haven't met any Australians in Italy yet, I'm sure they're around somewhere... but thats all good - had a great chat with a Argentian and Mexican y'day, with the Mexican interpreting for us both.

Hope you're all safe and happy. I'm heading to Napoli tommorrow (which is near Pompeii and Capri, south of Rome) so will write again from there.

On the Rome again

NB - I wrote a post yesterday but for some reason it wouldn't post, hence the double posting today.

The sun has finally come out here, it was raining all morning so I bought an English newspaper and ate pizza. I've managed to muddle my way through things - most people speak enough english to understand me and I know enough Italian to know when the retailer shouts 'Due Due' at me he wants €2.20 which is helpful. And I can ask how much things are, which isn't as useful.

I'm not feeling great at the moment, I've got a head cold which makes wandering around the museums ect. pretty tiring. I was in bed by 8:30 last night and am still tired today. But will go drink more coffee and be shouted at a few more times and I'll be fine.

Well, now that it's nice weather again I guess I'll continue strolling along to the Trevi Fountain since the Shelly-Keats museum near the Spanish steps is shut. Hope everyone is well back home, I'm starting to miss your voices.

Rome, sweet Rome

Lessons I have learnt so far:
1. Getting drunk at the pub the night before an overnight train ride is not a good idea.
2. Neither is getting on said train without any food or water because of 1.
3. Neither is not checking which station said train leaves from and then frantically racing around London, missing out on breakfast and making 2. much worse.
4. French people are not rude, in fact they are lovely, but they expect everyone to speak French or understand French or generally be French.

Finally arrived in Roma this morning after the overnight train from Paris, which was great. Dumped my bags, had a quick shower and then caught the Metro to the Colloseum. It's pretty impressive- you walk out of the tube station (which is nothing special) and run smack into this amazing building. Wandered around there for a while and visited Palatine Hill, which is where the Emperors built their respective palaces (except of course for our crazy friend Nero, whose palace took up the area where the Colloseum now is plus Palatine Hill).... and I am aware I am spelling colloseum wrongly but meh... anyway, it's a gorgeous area and so peaceful. You're in the middle of Rome but all you can hear are birds. And tourists. But I'm beginning to think that no-one actually lives in Europe, they're all just tourists that never left.
Anyway, will have to do because people are looking anxiously at the sole computer in this hostel (which I love, but more on that later, I'm about to be thrown to the floor...