ignorance is bliss
Sitting on our flight out of Naples, we read in the in-flight newspaper that in the past week, approximately 1500 minor criminals had been released into Naples due to overcrowded prisons. Ahhh… that explains a LOT about our time in Naples. Ignorance is bliss! Had we known this before we arrived in Naples, our stay may have been one filled with anxiety and fear. Instead, Naples to us at the time, was just a base to visit Pompeii and Capri. Admittedly, Naples was a little on the unusual side – we walked the streets and it was deserted, we searched for an internet cafe and were advised that it was best if we didn’t go there. We saw garbage bags being thrown out onto the footpath from apartments that were 5-6 floors up, right out the window and onto the footpath behind us. We only managed to escape ending up wearing all the rubbish. But, that aside we were able to visit Capri and Pompeii which made us happy.
The ferry to Capri was pretty rough but the view upon arriving was worth it. We had a fabulous tour guide for the day, Fabio…. yes, can it be anymore cliche? The roads on Capri were no different to the mainland Italy. Tight, busy and as Fabio put it… “Mamma mia roads”.
The following morning, we almost missed our day trip to Pompeii because we “snoozed” a few too many times. Fortunately we made it on the tour bus with only minutes to spare! Pompeii was a little eerie but still very fascinating. We were so pleased to see Mount Vesuvius towering in the background. To think in 62AD, it erupted and covered the town in 6-8 metres of ash not lava. We saw plaster casts of 3 people who were found in the same position as they were when the ash covered the town. We saw city streets, shops and houses and artwork that still remained. Its quite extraordinary how intact and well preserved everything is.
To finish up our time in Italy, we had a rather amusing cab trip to the airport. The car was overheating and the driver had to stop three times to cool the radiator down with water. We offered to pay him and flag down another cab, a little fearful that the car might catch fire. There was steam coming out the bonnet…. he insisted that he take us and as we arrived at the airport, we could the see on the dashboard, the little H for HOT flashing red. We couldn’t bundle ourselves out of the car fast enough and onto that plane to Barcelona.
wise monkeys abroad 
November 17, 2013 at 10:46 pm
It hurts..it really hurts! Naples has really a poor reputation, but it’s a great town and belive me , most of them are just stereotypes! This article has been written in 2006 during the rubbish strike. How evere, Naples is stil dirty, is true. But dirty of waste papers, and flyers.And unfortunately the welcome points as well. But tell me just one town where you can combine art, views , food and a n nice temperature too in just one place! More than 300 churches.Baroque, gotic and renaissance style. Museum: The archeological museum one of the most important in the world! Capodimonte museum easily comparable to the ufizi in Florence! Archeological sites like the “underground naples or the archeological park ofausillypon. Royal palace. The most ancient opera house in the world still working, the famous Theatre San Carlo! 4 castels. Pizza, babà, spaghetti . How you can say it’s just a port to go somewhere else? The point is you to know where to go. Of course if you drop off from the station you get a bad impression of the city but just walk in the touristic places and things change. I work as tour guide in all the region campania and I’m pround to show Naples as weel. Best regards, from the city of the sun! 🙂
November 18, 2013 at 6:21 am
Thanks for your comment! Yes, you are right – the post was written over 7 years ago! We started this blog purely to share our experiences with anyone who is interested.
The reason we were in Naples was so we could visit Capri & Pompeii – that is what we meant when we said “it was just a base”. We are not suggesting there is nothing to do in Naples & we are not suggesting that everyone uses Naples in that way.
Thank you for shedding light on the city you know so well!
Maybe one day when we get back to Italy, we can visit Naples & experience it in a totally different way!
Thanks again for taking the time for sharing with us.