Campania
Monday 5th May 2008 to Wednesday 7th may 2008 we were on a bus tour driving through Naples to Pompeii and onto Sorrento and the Isle of Capri then returning to Rome!
We drove from Rome to Naples along the motorway this took us through some interesting little towns and villages, some with very old history and of course “World War II” history, unfortunately there was no time to stop and explore
On approaching Naples you get your first glimpse of Mount Somma and then Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius becomes a very dominant landmark from Naples right through to the Isle of Capri, the Bay Naples is literally in the shadow of the Volcano.
Naples was a drive through experience – we were probably lucky as the garbage collectors had been on strike since September 2007 due to the fact that there was no place to put the rubbish once it was collected, the land fill areas were full. The army came in about a week after we were there to move the rubbish. Definitely not the Naples of Sophia Loren and Clark Gable’s “It Started in Naples”
Coming into Naples you see a very over built city, and it looked dirty due to this overcrowding, you have the “Old World”, “Medieval World” and “Modern World” all rubbing shoulders against one another.
We came down to the main esplanade of Naples with some wonderful Victorian era hotels and official buildings, some amazingly missed being bombes. We passed the hotel that “Enrico Caruso” lived, past the stable and around the corner to the port terminal and an “Art Deco” terminal built by Mussolini. Then past the town hall and on to Pompeii
Naples has become an urban spread – right up to the walls of Pompeii, this urban sprawl has happened within the last 20 years.
We had lunch in a non-descript restaurant, but the food was quite palatable, then the Cameo factory, I think they explained how cameos were made in 10 seconds flat, then it was into the shop to buy, buy, buy (we did not).
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Welcome to Herman and Carolann’s Travels to Europe
Italy Trip 2008