A tale of two visits - Amalfi Coast and Naples

I was going to get on the rock and do my best "MerMAN" pose, Melanie said that wouldn't be good.

Firstly: This post is the second we've done today, the first, by my awesome wife, is below.  If you haven't already, read it first!

The Amalfi Coast was every bit as amazing and beautiful as we had been led to believe.  From Sorrento, it is the easiest thing in the world to catch a bus over the mountains and along the coast on the craziest, zaniest, death-defying road that I have ever experienced.

Mere inches separate the road from...nothing but air

The bus drivers, being Italian, naturally drive not like they are driving a humungous bus with 80 people (some standing in the aisle), but that they are James Bond driving his Aston Martin.  So the typical hairpin turn consists of the following sequence:

1) bus driver calmly speeding along at 80mph, sees the corner approaching,
2) Honks really loudly, while veering into the other lane,
3) right before the bus crashes through the barrier over the edge (surely sending everyone on board to a shallow, watery grave), the driver slams on the brakes and cranks the wheel, causing everyone on the corner side of the bus to scream as a rock wall passes within inches of their windows
4) curve almost complete, the driver stomps the gas and speeds towards oncoming traffic (who he clearly warned with his horn) and turns at the last possible second, coming within inches of their vehicles (causing everyone on the traffic side to gasp) while swearing and gesturing.

There are a lot of curves on the road, so the above sequence was repeated about every 2 minutes the entire 90 minute ride.  It was even better in the dark, with alternating rock walls and headlights flashing across the windshield.  Wowsa.  But it was totally worth it, because the scenery took our breath away.

There are two towns on the route, Positano and Amalfi, and both were stunning in their own way.  The scenery reminded us a lot of Cinque Terre, but when we asked ourselves which one we like better, it was impossible to compare.  The mountains of the Amalfi Coast were certainly more intense, and the ride on the bus was the most high-adrenaline thing we've done so far, but we liked the vibe of Cinque Terre and the difference between all cinque terre (he he he...italian is so fun) was more pronounced and fun, so ultimately it came out as a tie.  We debated for a while, but ultimately it was like arguing which flavor of gelato is best - who really cares, just be grateful that you have the opportunity to try them!  It was a magnificent, glorious day in an amazingly beautiful place. 

No complaints here...just happy Beasleys

Positano - up, up, and away!

Us and Amalfi

 

End of the day in Amalfi

 To make things a little wilder, the Ferrari club of Naples was making a tour of the Amalfi coast while we were there and had stopped in Amalfi.  So we get off the bus, and there are around 50 red Ferraris (do they make another color?  I'm not sure) of varying age and style all just parked there.  Sweet!

View of Amalfi - fantastic!  And some Ferraris.  And a Rolls Royce

Now for something completely different - Naples!  We hadn't heard to many good things about Naples, mainly that it was crazy, loud, and has the highest population density of any city in Europe - stelar.  But it did invent pizza, so that's one good thing it has going for it.  but it also invented the mafia...hmmmmm.

Anyways, we had a self-guided walking tour in our guidebook for it, so we went for it.  What an unusual experience we had!  I was hoping the craziness would prepare us for Bangkok, and I think it did.  It was a little of everything!

The first thing we did upon arriving in the crowded, dirty, scary train station in Naples was promptly leave the train station...in the wrong direction.  We saw some strrraaaaaange things at this point, including:
1) Trash, absolutely everywhere, and graffiti 8 layers thick
2) Everything that could be stolen, faked, or weird for sale.  I thought we were going to see two belt sellers come to blows, but it always looks like italians are about to fight to us and they didn't.  They are just a passionate language and people I suppose!
3) Plastic buckets and mop buckets being sold out of a shopping cart.  Hmmm... we joked that people in Naples must think "I need a plastic bucket, and I know just where to get one!"
4) Old ladies selling cigarettes out of buckets
5) Christmas ornaments ?!?!?!
6) Roving north africans approaching people to sell them things.  It was terrifying when the first one looked around shiftily then approached us, but hilarious when he revealed his contraband was...lighters?

It wasn't the type of place you stop and take pictures, so we didn't.  This is unfortunate for blogging purposes, but we are not serious enough about our blog to risk our lives to get the perfect shot.

We eventually found our way to one of the famous pizzeria's, which had been in business since 1923.  The pizza was pretty good, but it was more cool to be surrounded by Neapolitans eating pizza at one of the places.    

The real deal!

Our stomachs full of delicious pizza gave us the courage we needed to fight back the urge to just catch a taxi back to the train station and be back in beloved Sorrento and hour later, so we pressed on with our tour.  There was plenty more craziness ahead, and even some history.

Part of the Old Town

The Spanish Quarter, aka the most dangerous part of town.  This is as close as we got

While walking through the tiny, dirty, crowded Old Town, we saw lots of arguments, happy children, christmas stores, and armed guards outside every single bank.  We were stunned by the tour, it was really fun to see the "real" italy, in all its craziness and history.

This building was a church, then a fortress, now apartments!

Hard to see in the shadows, but this lady had just delivered a pizza to two nuns.  Nuns get hungry too!

The walk ended with us heading down the main drag to the Royal Palace, opera house, cool mall, and Pantheon.  They were pretty neat.

100 year old shopping mall, completely enclosed in a glass dome

Naple's Pantheon

Cool fort

 The Royal Palace had statues of the different kings who had ruled Naples, before Italy was unified, and it was a diverse group from all across Europe.  We loved that the most dashing, the only one in action, was the only Italian.

That's right, I'm Italian and I rule!

Just a side note: we've had a lot of catching up to do, and we're doing our best.  I'm actually writing this from Istanbul; we flew here on Tuesday after we decided to skip Greece (whew).  Bangkok is next, and we'll eventually catch up, but first, one final Italy post to go.  Having a lot of fun, thanks for reading!

Sorrento and Pompeii

After our week in Rome, we were looking forward to a nice relaxing visit to Sorrento and we were not disappointed... once we got there. Our journey took us first to Naples where we would change our high-speed train for a smaller commuter train to nearby Sorrento. We have come to accept that in Southern Italy, signs are more suggestions than actual information. Most signs conflict other signs, or lead you to something that isn't there. But thankfully we kept our wits about us and got on the correct local train. Along with about 5,000 other commuters. We were literally stuffed into that train by people pushing on the crowd at the doors. Also when someone was in the back and wanted to get off at the stop, they would start yelling "permisso!" (which I assume means something like "get the heck out of my way") and would push the crowd out the doors. I had someone's elbow in my face and Brannan had someone's face in his armpit for the first 45 minutes. I would have taken a picture of the insanity, but my arms were pretty much pinned to my sides.

So this was our first impression of Naples. We actually went back later in the week for a true visit, but I'll leave that for another post. (Spoiler alert: it didn't get any less crazy!)

We arrived in Sorrento in a downpour and walked down to the street to our hotel. I was just looking through our pictures, and we didn't get any of the actual town of Sorrento where we stayed. Whoops! But we did get one of the square outside of our hotel when a marching band came blasting through on Sunday morning for their version of Veterans Day

So there you go. Isn't Sorrento beautiful?

But we did get loads of pictures from all the surrounding places we visited, so don't go thinking all is lost.

For our first day, we went to Pompeii. It was amazing to me that an entire city could be buried by a volcano, and then forgotten about for 1700 years, and then rediscovered and dug up. During those 1700 years, it never occurred to anyone "Hey, what ever happened to that town, Pompeii?"

Ta Daaa! Ancient Ruins!

The famous volcano Mt. Vesuvius looming in the background - thankfully obscured by clouds and not fiery ash and lava

What was even more amazing was how well preserved it was from 79 AD when the volcano erupted! There were still mosaic tiles on the floors and even painted frescoes on the walls.  Most of the items found at Pompeii are now in a museum in Naples, which made Pompeii feel a little bare, but still neat.

Check out the painted frescoes! Oh yes, and the plaster casts of two victims... creepy.  They apparently have many more of these casts in the Naples museum, along with animals they found too

Clay pottery

They also had pedestrian-zoned streets where chariots could not go.

That plaque on the pillar showing figures walking is a "pedestrian only" sign.

The 3 stones at the end of the paved street kept chariots out of the pedestrian area.

They were also surprisingly advanced - they had running water and indoor plumbing, fast food stalls, pipes under raised sidewalks. They also flooded their streets to clean them, so they installed ingenious stepping-stones for people to walk on to get across the flooded streets. Plus, they kept the stones a standard width apart so that chariots could still pass over them. Smart!

Don't want to get my feet wet!

You can see the deep ruts from chariot wheels

Part of the aqueduct system

There was also a bath house still in great condition. They had the dressing room, with cubby holes that stored your stuff, like a locker

Oooh, nice ceiling

 And the steam room where the floor was heated. They would fill up a fountain and let it overflow and pour onto the floor to create the steam. The ceiling was grooved so that the condensation wouldn't drip on you. So smart!

The fountain that would overflow onto the heated floor

That's one big tub!

There was a lot to see. We spent the whole day there and still didn't see the whole thing.

The government building on the main square. Those pillars were in the middle of being reconstructed in 79AD when the volcano blew up.

Main entry to the biggest house

Remains of the courtyard of the biggest house

Look! A mini Colosseum. Awwww

The inside of the colosseum/amphitheater where they had horse races

They also had a smaller theater nearby, which was used for plays and speeches

Brannan addressing his subjects

Heading out, with Mt Vesuvius in the background

We did much more during our stay in Sorrento, including the Isle of Capri and the Amalfi Coast, but that will be for our next post. Stay tuned!

The Beasleys "Veni, Vidi, Vici" Rome!

After our fun in Tuscany, it was off for a week of Rome!  How to put this?  Rome is a city that can drive you totally, screaming insane one second:

Above: Doctors protesting.  Ok...

 

Is that the ol' communist's hammer and sickle on that flag?  Yes, this is a communist rally, on the same day as the doctor's!

and astound beyond measure the next,

A little scoop of heaven...

Vatican Museum, you rock my world!

 and that was our experience.  Rome, more than any other city we've been to, is such a paradox to describe.  On one hand it has so much to offer, a history that is unique of any city in the Western world, endless amazing sights and art, and a really fun, ancient vibe that it carries really well.  It also has frustration, crowds, confusion, a (seemingly) random transportation system, and art like this:

Above:  Brannan after too much Rome...

Michelangelo thought this torso was the coolest thing ever.  Me?  Not so much.

Ditto for the Vatican's Swiss Guard costumes.

Having learned our lesson in Paris, we figured on a week in Rome, and that was about right.  We saw so much that was amazing, check it all out:

On a night walk tour, some fantastic atmosphere

We'll be back, Rome!  It's assured now! @Trevi Fountain

Il Colosseo!  50,000 people could fit in it!

Michelangelo's Moses ready to lay down the law!

I think the Forum, right next to the Colosseum was my favorite part.  It is so crazy to walk there and imagine it back in it's prime, as the heart of an empire of 50 million people that contained basically everything in the world that mattered and that has never been matched since.  And they are still digging it out!

Archeology or slowly moving dirt around?  Both!

Below is Brannan crossing the Via Sacra, the main street of the Forum.  It was here that Roman generals marched after a victory, that the Ceasar's and senators walked, the very heart of civilization itself.

  ...and I'm wearing period-appropriate footwear!

The Roman Empire at it's peak...

The remains of that Empire

We saw the Pantheon, basically in the same condition as when it was built,

Celebrating it's 1,886th October!  Doesn't look a day over 1,000!

The Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basillica, home of the Catholic church as long as it has existed:

The Laocoon - Most influential piece of art of the Renaissance?  Nope, that's probably the Torso...

????  Seriously.

 Then there's St. Peter's, which is impossibly big.  The brain can't even compute how big this place is because everything in it is so massive that it all feels normal size, somehow.  It feels like just a big church, until you look at other people.

Can you spot the security guard in this picture?  Hint - look under the left statue

The Beasleys!

Overall we had a great time in Rome, but it is a place impossible to describe.  It just must be experienced to be believed.