Blogs from Naples, Campania, Italy, Europe - page 4

This morning we traveled with Francesco to visit the Certosa di San Martino ("Charterhouse of St. Martin"), a former monastery complex turned into a museum. Along with the Castel Sant'Elmo that stands beside it, this is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill that commands a panoramic view over the Gulf of Naples below. We and a group of friends (Lucy Tullo, Danielle and Larry Cobb) had made an attempt to visit this monastery and museum back in 2016, but it happened to be closed that particular day. Built as a Carthusian monastery, it was finished and inaugurated in 1368, dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. During the first half of the 16th-century it was expanded. Later, in 1623, it was further expanded and became essentially the structure seen today. In ... read more

Zum Frühstück gab es heute im Hotel Kuchen, den ich aber verschmäht habe, und abgepackte Marmelade und Corn Flakes, für die ich mich entschieden habe. Dazu natürlich Orangensaft und Kaffee, den man aber bestellen musste. Ich hatte davon drei Tassen genommen. Den Kuchen und andere Überbleibsel des Buffets, darunter anscheinend Teigtaschen gefüllt mit Käse, wurde abends nochmals angeboten, aber die waren nicht nach meinem Geschmack. Danach habe ich heute den südlichen Teil Neapels besucht. Ich bin dazu die Hauptstraße und Fussgängerzone Via Toledo, welche in der Nähe meines Hotels verläuft, am Quartieri Spagnoli vorbei entlang gelaufen, bis ich bei der Piazza del Plebiscito angekommen bin. Dort habe ich die Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola angesehen und bin am Palazzo Reale vorbei zum Teatro San Carlo, wo ich für eine Führung am Nachmittag ein Ticket gekauft ... read more

With our 10:30 shuttle bus from the airport for our lunchtime flight from Split to Naples, we didn't have much time to do anything in the morning other than shower, pack up and eat before walking down to the bus station. The journey and flight were uneventful. The only things of note being that we pwere please and lucky to get the last few seats on e shuttle bus and Split airport is one of the smallest, strangest airports I've visited, beaten only by the shed on the tarmac that was Milos in Greece. Once we landed in Naples we got a crammed bus down to the central train station from which our hostel/B&B 'Robbie's House' was walkable. The area by the station looked pretty dirty and uninviting, as areas of big cities near main stations ... read more

So much has been said and written about the experiences of tourists in Naples. Today we kept all of that in mind as we prepared for our trip into this exciting city. We emptied our carry bags of all valuable documents, our wallets are left in a safe place, if something could not fit in our bag it stayed behind. We only have enough money for food and transport. We join other passengers on this early morning two hour trip into the city. The bus winds its way around the narrow streets of Agerola picking up passengers heading down hill. After an hour of stop start driving and the expert driver swinging the bus around countless corners we arrive at the bottom of the hill. Many passengers get off, maybe to do their Friday shopping, perhaps ... read more

Naples - some above ground and some under Visiting Pompeii was the main purpose of this trip but I did also see some pretty interesting things in Naples also. Here I will give you a quick resume of what I saw and did there. As hinted in the heading above several of the sites I visited in Naples were under ground. I'll start with them. • Catacombs - the Catacombs in Naples date back well over 1,500 years. The underground chambers were used for burials and hundreds of people once had their final resting place. As it turned out it wasn't to be their final resting place because when they opened the catacombs for visitors they also transferred the skeletal remains of the bodies to a new cemetery. Several of the graves are decorated with frescos. ... read more