Today we split up for tours again, as Michael wanted to go to Herculaneum, and I wouldn’t have been able to walk that much.
On my tour we saw interesting architecture at the Royal Palace - Greek, Roman, Gothic, Byzantine, Norman, Spanish, Bourbon and Italian statues. Many of the downtown apartments are attractive, and so are the embassies and the buildings in the square with the Palace, but many others are much more worn looking.
Naples is a city of 3 million people, and 85 % are Catholic. Some go to church daily, but those who work full time try to go both days on the weekend.
Naples sits on top of an active volcano, and Mt. Vesuvius is quite close by. It erupted during the time of WWII, so between the war and the volcano, the city was damaged extensively. There was also an earthquake in the 1980’s which caused a lot of damage. Luckily the large fort, built in 1297 seems to have survived these disasters.
Most adults drink espresso, and Naples is where pizza was invented. When we had some free time, I entered a stylish café with many fancy desserts and lots of people drinking espresso. It was so crowded that one could barely move from one end to the other. And when I used their facilities there was a man stationed there to direct the line up! I stopped at a small pizza place, hoping to try the Margarita pizza, which was the first and most popular of all pizzas. It was too early, and when I asked to use the toilet, I was told to go away!
According to my tour guide, pizza was first invented by a chef working for Queen Margarita, who asked for something new. He named it after her, and it consists only of the crust, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, olive oil and basil. After Michael returned from his tour, he suggested we go to a restaurant where I could try one of them. Our guide book listed the most popular place, which was called Da Michele’s so we took a cab as it wasn’t walking distance. There was a huge crowd outside, and it was impossible to know what was happening. Apparently you were supposed to push your way inside a small door to get a number, and then it was rumoured that you would have to wait over an hour. Someone would come to the door occasionally to call out numbers, and people would push their their way out with boxes. Who knew if or when we could get one? And Michael couldn’t eat it if we did! Fortunately there was another place across the street with tables, so we went there instead. It was after 2 pm and still fairly busy, but nothing like the other place. They brought me a whole pizza, and believe it or not I was able to eat most of it! The crust isn’t like ours - this one is much thinner, but the edge is very puffy. I wasn’t sure what I would think of such a plain pizza, but it was amazing!
On the Herculaneum tour Michael’s group made a brief stop at a cameo factory. The cameos are made by carving pieces of seashell so that different coloured layers are exposed. Herculaneum was destroyed by the same eruption that buried Pompeii in 79 AD. The city was buried by lava rather than by ash (as in Pompeii), so the preservation is quite different. Wood was carbonized but otherwise preserved, and many of the frescos and mosaics are still visible. The citizens of Herculaneum had a bit more time to evacuate, but several skeletons were found near what would have been the waterfront. Michael’s tour guide was excellent, and he gave a good description of life in a Roman city. New buildings have been constructed over the ruins of Herculaneum, since it was only discovered by accident in the 1970’s, so it has only been possible to excavate about 20% of the ancient city.
Tomorrow morning we leave the ship at Civitavecchia, taking a bus to Rome, and then we have one last tour around that city for a couple of hours. We have booked a hotel for two nights, and have a Colosseum and Forum tour booked for the afternoon, and the Vatican City, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica booked for Thursday. It’ll be interesting to see how we make out on our own, especially with the wheelchair. I did some walking today and it went well, so I’m hoping that I can do without it tomorrow, as we shouldn’t be on our feet too long. I’ll certainly need it the next day however, so I hope that
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