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| 3rd November 2009 gasiorr | pompeii guide - From: Buried Alive Hi Honeymooner, Congrats on your new marriage! Grace and I wondered around on our own, but the information desk at Pompeii does provide you with a free map and booklet describing the significant sites within Pompeii, which was helpful and informative for us. They also have audio guides available for purchases. There will be several tour guides for hire right outside the entrance to Pompeii. Haggle hard! So plenty of options at Pompeii. No tour guide is needed for Mt. Vesuvius. Our driver, mostly drove, but was able to provide some background about the mountain and the surrounding community while driving up the mountain. The only difficulty was that he didn't speak much English, but we were able to understand. Hope this helps! |
| 2nd November 2009 honeymooner | pompeii guide - From: Buried Alive Thanks for the information! It was exactly what I was looking for. My new husband and I are going to be in Naples for 12 hours on a cruise stop and we want to see Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius in one day. Did you and Grace hire a guide at Pompeii or did you just wander around on your own? Are there guides available for hire at Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius? Are the van drivers at the train station for Mount Vesuvius guides as well or do they just drive you to the top? Thanks for all of your helpful information! |
| 22nd October 2009 gasiorr | - From: Experiencing Oasis Culture (plus Obama-mania in Cairo) Yes. I would love to go back and maybe we will meet next time, inshAllah. |
| 21st October 2009 bedouinsafari | - From: Experiencing Oasis Culture (plus Obama-mania in Cairo) Great photos, It's a sham I didnt meet you here in siwa. maybe next time :) |
| 21st October 2009 Jeff B | thanks for the photo credits! - From: A touch of Poland in Cairo ya ra3b! |
| 10th September 2009 Glacier1 | Great Advice - From: Buried Alive Yes I definitely found your blog helpful and entertaining! I loved the part about Grace's broken flip-flop! I once broke my brother's flip-flops and we had to share mine on a three mile unplanned hike, in the dark, in Hawaii. He was not happy with me. Lava rocks are sharp. Your logistic descriptions are great! Sounds like good advice to do Pompeii 1st and see if we have time to climb Mt Vesuvius later. We are going to try to take every port with a flexible attitude. It will be hard sometimes since this is our 1st trip to Europe and we want to see so much. Rome is our 1st stop and we have too many things on or list for sure. The research has been a lot of fun and I am certainly learning a lot Thanks again for your great advice! |
| 9th September 2009 gasiorr | Subscribe - From: First Days in Cairo You can subscribe to this blog and you will receive emails every time I post something new. Enjoy! |
| 9th September 2009 gasiorr | Traveling Advice for Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii - From: Buried Alive Thank you for reading my blog and I'm happy to know that someone finds it helpful. I've have been debating on adding a travel logistics section to each post to help people out with their planning, but have been lazy in doing so. I believe you can fit both Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii in 10 hours, but you might be cutting it extremely close. Therefore, I would do Pompeii first and then see if I had time after to visit Mt. Vesuvius. I have included directions for both. Safe travels! 1. From the port of Naples you would have to take the R2 bus to get to Piazza Garibaldi. There is a ticket machine next to the bus stop where you need change to purchase a ticket (1.10 euros) 2. Once you get to the piazza you'll have to walk across the entire piazza to get to the Central (train) Station. 3. Follow the signs for Circumvesuviana trains once inside the station. 4. Purchase your tickets after you follow the signs about ~6.00 euros round trip. 5. Take the train to Pompeii-Scavi-Villa dei Misteri train station, which takes 40 minutes to 1 hour. 6. Coming out of the train station, take the road to your right and flow the wall to the main entrance of Pompeii. Ticket for the site costs about 11.00 euros. 7. Take the train heading back to Naples 8. Get off at the Ercolano-Scavi (Mt. Vesuvius) train station. 9. Option 1: There were several guys on the steps of the train station soliciting a ride to Mt. Vesuvius. We ended up taking them because we were unsure of where we were going. I think the company is called Vesuvio Express and they run minibuses to the summit car park. It costs 10 euros for the ride and 6.50 euros for the entrance to Mt. Vesuvius, a total of 16.50 euros. This trip takes a total of about 1.5 to 2 hours. Option 2: There are only two other buses running at 8:25am and 12:45pm and returning at 1:55pm and 4:30pm. They depart from Via Panoramica (about 50m from the train station) and it will cost you ~8.00 euros for a 90 minute roundtrip. This doesn’t include the entrance fee of 6.50 euros. * I think you would be better off choosing option 1 because of time. 10. Get back on the train to Naples, taking the R2 bus from the other side of the piazza and get off at the place to you caught the bus. Walk back to the Port. |
| 9th September 2009 gasiorr | Thank you - From: Byblos: The oldest inhabited city in the world! Thank you for bringing this to my attention. And thanks for sharing the link to Çatalhöyük; I would love to visit Turkey and I would definitely want to explore this place as well. I forgot to add the term "continuously inhabited" instead of just inhabited to my title. Thanks for reading! |
| 9th September 2009 Glacier1 | Convinced - From: Buried Alive This is exactly what my husband and I would love to see in Naples! Our problem is we arrive on a ship and will only have 10 hours there. Do you think that is enough time to negotiate the public transportation(trains or buses) to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius from the port? Thank you for sharing your pictures and 1st hand experience in Naples. |
| 9th September 2009 56 | Çatalhöyük - From: Byblos: The oldest inhabited city in the world! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catal_huyuk "existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC." "It is the largest and best preserved Neolithic site found to date." ********** Maybe you could use .... "Byblos: One of the oldest cities in the middle east" |
| 14th August 2009 hesham | Knowledge - From: First Days in Cairo I would like to be a friend of the new site |
| 21st June 2009 Katlyn | swine flu fear - From: Welcome to Manchieyet Nasser [Garbage City] When we were in Cairo this weekend visiting the Citadel, people who saw us began to cover their mouthes and noses with their hands and move away from us. There is definitely a huge fear over swine flu here. |
| 16th June 2009 Brent | Proud - From: A touch of Poland in Cairo I'm proud of you. I learned how to make pierogi from the educational Polish Club demonstration. |
| 14th June 2009 mom | hi - From: Basata yes you much darker, I am glad you taking time to relax |
| 13th June 2009 mom | Nile - From: Down the Nile: Luxor and Aswan (Family Trip cont.) We have very good time too, that was very interesting trip. thank you Robert |
| 6th June 2009 gasiorr | Israeli Stamp - From: Jordan: a taste of the West I've had some friends who asked to not get stamped and they gaurds stamped their passport anyway. I didn't want to take that gamble. |
| 2nd June 2009 Mike Radtke | Israeli Stamp - From: Jordan: a taste of the West Hey Rob, Just so you know, you can ask the Israelis to not stamp your passport. They will oblige you. This was a common Passport Snafu at the U.S. Consulate. We had to check with Israeli authorities to see if a person entered/exited their country because they don't stamp if you ask. |
| 29th May 2009 gasiorr | Hi Jen - From: Jordan: a taste of the West I'm definitely enjoying myself - this has been a great experience. Not sure where I will go from here. I'll keep posting! |
| 27th May 2009 Jenefer | Awesome! - From: Jordan: a taste of the West Hey Rob - what awesome experiences you are having! Thanks for the pictures and especially your insights. Looking forward to the next installment. |
| 26th May 2009 gasiorr | not at all - From: What do I exactly do at the Center I noticed that we took the SAME picture. Sure I can link to your blog, because mine is horrible and I haven't updated since March! Send me the link |
| 25th May 2009 Jeff | thief! - From: What do I exactly do at the Center you gonna give me a photo credit there amigo? how about a link to my post about it? |
| 5th May 2009 gasiorr | Church - From: St. Catherine's Monastery & Red Sea Yes, the church was beautiful. I was said to find out that no pictures were allowed inside. While I was admiring the church my friends were let into the Library (off-limits to tourists) in the Monastery, because a friend of ours recommended finding a Monk he knew. Needless to say I was extremely jealous |
| 27th April 2009 Teri Swan | St Catherines Monastery - From: St. Catherine's Monastery & Red Sea Hello I agree the climb up the mountain is beautiful, did you not think the Monastery was also peaceful and beautiful, you did not mention the Church. I was there in the beginning of Dec. found the area breath taking. Enjoy your travels Teri swan |
| 23rd April 2009 Maple | - From: Black and White Desert I love the shroom!!! |
| 23rd April 2009 Maple | - From: Black and White Desert I love the shroom!!! |
| 17th March 2009 Mike Radtke Jr. | Move Back Home! - From: Update: Tanis, Bubastis, and Cairo bombing Hey champ, You should come back home and move to DC with me when I graduate in May. We can finally be roommates. I might even have a line on a few jobs you might be interested in. I have a friend who works on Rural Housing Issues and I think you and her would get along great. Just recently she was hiring too. There are jobs in DC if you know where to look, so I'm searching too. I sadly do not want to be a personal assistant or a scheduler with a college education. I really do still want to visit, but the cost is somewhat prohibitive. I might be more amenable to meeting someplace in Europe this summer, maybe with Kels in tow. Let me know what you are upto. Mike |
| 17th February 2009 Karim Beltaji | My view on the conflict - From: Arab-Israeli Conflict: Perspective from an American living in Egypt I have lived in Egypt my whole life but my father is actually a palestine refuges who was brought up in jordan because of this ongoing conflict. Even though i may feel sympathy to who i could consider to be my home, i feel that by keeping the borders closed, egypt have done the right thing. By opening any borders not only will u have many refugees into egypt's suffering economy but also, the repercutions this would have on the egyptian israeli peace but also egyptian american relations, which to be frank the egyptian goverment and economy can not do without at the moment. |
| 14th January 2009 Katy | sounds nice - From: My favorite part of the day Rob- it sounds absolutely amazing there! |
| 14th January 2009 Mike Radtke | Paragraphs? - From: My favorite part of the day They help champ. Believe me, they help. Mike |
| 14th January 2009 Brent | Who Would Have Guessed - From: My favorite part of the day that you are a science student with prose like that? |
| 18th September 2008 Maple | - From: Work and the Pyramids! hahaha love the pics! Hope your feeling a lot better :) |
| 17th September 2008 Corey | hi! - From: Work and the Pyramids! Hey Rob, the pyramids look amazing! And the sphinx...i recognize it from some movies I've seen. It's good to hear everything is going well for you in Cairo. |
| 9th September 2008 szchrist420 | I'm so jealous!!! - From: First Days in Cairo Don't work too hard sweetie and have a good time. Send some more pics when you can:) Talk to you later. |
| 2nd September 2008 Jenefer | - From: First Days in Cairo Hey Rob - so glad to hear you made it safely and it sounds like your adventure is already off to an incredible start! Can't wait to hear more. |
| 31st August 2008 Kelly Wang | - From: First Days in Cairo Cairo sounds amazing, I would love to try some authentic Egyptian food! Post your pictures! |