Volcanoes, Pizza and Fountains! Hannahlina & Jamesone Take on Central Italy!

This is the third and last addition of the Italian Adventures of Jamesone and Hannahlina. We might be near the end of this adventure, but there is certainly a lot left to see: namely Pompeii, Naples and Rome: all in two days!

We started at the ruins of Pompeii, and knowing we were about to be overwhelmed with information, James and I decided to get a guided tour of the highlights before embanking on our own explorations. I didn’t realise not only the size of the place, but also how much of it is still standing. I could really imagine what the town actually looked like, how people lived, worked, shopped... standing in the streets I could almost hear chariots going past and people hurrying along the sidewalk.

The Forum (large open public area) provided a great view of Mt Vesuvius, whose pryoclastic eruption decimated Pompeii. Apparently if the winds were going on the other direction that day, it would have been Naples that we would be walking though, leaving Pompeii a bustling city.

We had a look through the Roman Baths where the picturesque ceiling is still largely intact. Back then they used to only bath once a week because they thought the water would make their skin fall off!

Pompeii has both Greek and Roman influences. The Romans adding to what the Greeks had built and also added white marble to a lot of buildings, which lit up at night from the moon.
There were bodies of two people caught in the eruption; one was a slave which you would tell by his belt, and the other a free man who wore a ring.
You could see the pain in their faces as they were no doubt trying to escape from the eruption.
It’s hard to believe these were really walking, talking people 2000 years ago!

We had a look through various houses, buildings, the market place etc and then James and I headed down to the far end of Pompeii to the oldest amphitheatre ever found to date: the ‘Arfiteatro’.
It was amazing to stand in the middle of the fighting floor imaging thousands of spectators surrounding you, and peering down while yelling out whether you lived or died….

After 4 hours of exploring around in the heat, it was time to find the gelato man and then catch the train to Naples - The home of Pizza!

It didn’t take me long to notice all the great clothes shops (which were also having sales!) so left James to the sightseeing while I spent my coin.
However, it soon got dark, and it certainly didn’t feel like the safest neighbourhood, so it was time to check out what Jamesone was up to. We went for a walk through the historic city centre of Naples to find a pizza restaurant - a must while we’re here.
Unfortunately, I still hadn’t gained my appetite back, so didn’t make much of a dent on my pizza (sacrilege!)

Apparently there is only one way to start the day in Naples - and that’s with a 5 kilogram jar of Nutella!
We spent the morning looking around the rest of Naples. We walked round the waterfront to the Castel Dell’ovo which gave us unobstructed views across the Bay of Naples to the Isle of Capri and Mount Vesuvius.

We had a rushed look through the National Archaeological Museum, which houses a lot of the excavated treasures from Pompeii. There were even whole wall sections and columns, but the most impressive were the extensive mosaic works, including one of Alexander the Great.

We caught the high speed train up to Rome and had just two hours to do a whistle-stop tour of our favourite places.
First stop of course was the amazing Trevi Fountain to throw our coins in, followed by a mandatory gelato at ‘Rome’s best gelato’ place.
We headed up to The Vatican: I think one of the most powerfully feeling places in Rome. We had just enough time for a walk past Castel Sant ‘Angelo, and along the River Tiber to the Spanish Steps before it was time for Hannahlina to head back to London and leave Jamesone to explore the northern half of Italy.

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