Naples - a gateway to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri

Naples is perched at the top of an immense bay with the diamonds of Sorrento, Capri and Isola di Ischia around its hem. After the hot inland cities we were looking forward to seeing water and feeling the sea breeze.

M's happy place - on a boat! Off the coast of Capri after surviving our trip into the Grotto Azzure. The boat captain was keen to chat, gave us some great advice and offered to take the family shot. M felt comfortable giving him his camera cause he couldn't run away with it!

Mt Vesuvius still grumbles away, stoically ignored by everyone except those whose job it is to monitor the hundreds of seismic probes 24/7, first demanded by King Ferdinand II in the early 1900s. It lost its top again during WWII but the 26 who lost their lives in the lava flow were an insignificant number of the masses of Italians slaughtered during that conflict. Over half a million people choose to live in the red zone (most in danger of death from the smallest predicted eruption).  They build without permits to sponge up the huge flow of tourist dollars. The government has offered cash for them to resettle in other places but the statistics of a 27% chance of a catastrophic blow in the next century do not impress; they live by their ancestor's philosophy - 'carpi diem'.

Above - M called our crossing of Piazza del Plebiscito (behind us) in search of water, the bowl of Hades.
The Palace Reale was covered in scaffolding and closed and the Basilica on the other side was closed too.
Below - Poss' shot across the bay to Vesuvius. It wasn't smoking but the heavy haze suggests that the city is.

 A 2013 photo from Google maps by A.Offermans shows the brilliant curve of the Basilica Reale San Francesco di Paola.
We crossed the piazza back again under the shade of its colonnades.

Getting off the train at Napoli Centrale gave us a good idea of what to expect from the city. There was a massive line of 'illegal' taxi drivers trying to grab disembarking passengers. Graffiti covered the walls, unmanned construction projects littered the site and polizia promenaded the concourse with the 'selfie, selfie, bling, bling' boys scattering ahead of them and reforming in behind. Stray dogs trotted up and down looking for scraps. There are so many in this city, all coloured the gold of a retriever and suffering from various degrees of mange and fleas but none of them looked hungry so the locals must feed them.

The narrow, steep and usually crowded streets of  Chiaia - Sunday is very quiet. (Right: Gradoni Chiaia)

The 'legal' taxis are white and line up in the taxi stand. The standard fare from the train station to anywhere in the city of Naples is €20. The driver of a 7 seater saw us heading toward the stand and quickly approached M asking if we needed a taxi. He told us to walk to the front of the stand and drove his van, to the shouts and fists of other taxis he passed, to the front and got us loaded in lickity split. He exercised every English word and phrase he knew between commiserating with M for also being the father of many daughters, (does Poss really look that much younger than me?:() and giving us the names and purpose of places of interest that we speed past. Once we got to Via Chiaia - a pedestrian street, he got out and helped us find our hotel. This was cleverly disguised without a number showing, at the back of a courtyard, behind massive wooden doors. The layers of Napoli so deftly paraphrased.

Left: Inside the courtyard looking up at Poss, Petal, Willow and M.      Centre: Wooden doors sealing off the courtyard - the little door (scuffed rectangle) is how you enter if they're not open after pressing a doorbell on the left.  Right: Poss' flight to Nice was a more civilised time than ours to Athens so she was still on the balcony. If I'd known how crazy this driver was going to be I may have called another taxi. Via Chiaia behind us is usually full of shoppers, 4:30am is a bit early for that.

Top: Facing the bay is Castel Nuovo. When the French invaded The Kingdom of Naples, Palmero (on the island of Sicily) was the capital.  Charles the first shifted it to Naples and had this castle built by the sea. He didn't like the smaller Roman one (dell'Ovo) a Km along the coast. The five towered fortress was designed by a French architect in 1282.
Bottom: I'm not sure if this piece is French of Charles 1 or of the later Spanish conquers.

Left: Naples has an arcade copied from the famous Milan Galleria. It was 2/3 empty and covered in scaffolding - no tradies to be seen - they are probably having a deserved summer break.  Perhaps the city is trying to spruce itself up a bit - a visit in 5 or so years might be a good idea - as long as Vesuvius keeps calm.    Right: The decorative entrance to the castle was completed by the Spanish when they ruled the Kingdom of Naples. It is now the town hall for the area and has a civic museum, chapel and state rooms inside - in bad repair.

The main reason for our stay in Naples was to visit the excavated, Roman town of Pompeii. We decided to get off at Herculaneum first which many sites had advised was a better place to visit. Pompeii was badly damaged in the 1940s quake and bombed by the allies in WWII so much is damaged and shut off to the public. The Metro system in Naples was clean and efficient but the trains and stations around the coast to Sorrento were not. Later in the day, as we sat sweltering in the sun waiting for our next train, we saw a beautifully airconditioned 'tourist' train that you had to pre-order separate tickets for with lots of free seats. The Campania Express is only €15 each return and only stops at the three places we wanted to go to. The regional Circumvesuviana(around Vesuvius) line was hot, dirty, overcrowded and slow and more expensive than the bright new 2015 Campania Express.  Oh the heartbreak of ignorance. Another sorrow was that in the haze of obscurity that I fold myself into whenever too closely packed with my fellow man, I missed spotting the Ercolano Station, the stop for Herculaneum, until the train was pulling out.

Toledo Metro station - closest to Chaiai - was stunning. It is part of an Urban renewal project and the 13th Metro station to be beautified by clever architects and artists.  The future is looking beautiful for Naples if this is the vision.
Centre top: a gizmo that turns cosmic waves into sound - the eerie pings echo around the smooth mosaic walls and make you feel a bit weird knowing that something from outer space, unfelt and unseen was probably travelling through you.  
Centre bottom: A huge funnel from the steep escalators down to the platform and up to street level - this is looking down from the street. 

Having missed the Herculaneum stop we got out at Pompeii. Another good looking tour guide ticket seller pounced but we decided that a 1 1/2 hr guided walk was better than a 1 1/2 hour ramble missing the best bits so we succumbed. Knowing that Petal was young enough to get in free and that Willow should be getting 1/2 price as a student, I was pretty annoyed when the tour guide announced that we needed to give her the money and she would go in the back to get our tickets and because the people in the booth were doing her a favour they wouldn't do the kids tickets. There was a very short queue at the entry point so I asked if I could get my money from the tour back then and go buy my own tickets.  A miracle happened and she let the 6 kids under 16 in the group go with her to get the free tickets but not the students.

A Pomegranate tree at the entrance gate to the Museum.  Centre: Pompeii had a gladiator training facility -these were their private rooms.  Right: the Gladiator training arena.

Left: A wealthy home, through the vestibule to the atrium with a central fountain where business would be done, water was taken from here to the kitchens and private rooms when required. Over the little wall is a central garden courtyard with dining room overlooking it.  There was one large meal a day, late noon to late afternoon.
Right: Our tour guide in action.

There were many tour guides with many groups speaking many languages. It was quite entertaining when one tour guide got in the way of another and they started  bickering in Italian. The burning heat, crowds and massive size of the site evaporated the eerie feeling I had always thought I'd feel standing in a place of such an instant loss of many human lives. The experts now agree that the people in Pompeii in 79AD died instantly of intense heat. The wave of burning air at 300+degrees C would have put people into a body spasm and instant rigor mortise according to studies of bone and metals on site.  As ghastly as that sounds, I think it would have been preferable to a slow agonising death through ash inhalation which is what I remember reading as a kid in my Grandmother's National Geographic collection.

Kitchen facilities were limited in private homes - even the wealthy merchants paid servants to go out for food.
Left and Centre: the Pompeii McDonalds - Each block or so of houses had one of these, they were like canteens where servants paid for their plates to be filled from different dishes in the pots. No drive through windows for you to work in though Willow.  Right: A bakery, the brick arch was an oven and the circular stone in the center was for milling the wheat. Bread was made daily and picked up in the mornings.  The very wealthy had it delivered to their homes.

The main streets were designed to slope because they were also the city's water management system(sewer). The raised stones are for pedestrians to be able to cross without stepping in muck and the spaces were measured so that carts and wagons could still pass through.  Right: One of the city gates.

The Sex trade was legal and one of the main industries of Pompeii. The Phallus was considered a good luck symbol and was sculptured and painted on many of the buildings. Left:  The engraving into the stone is a street sign on the road helping sailors find the red light district.  They lead from the water gate to the hotels and brothels.  Centre left: Second stories were built to overhang giving more floor space above and shelter below. We stood in a long queue waiting to enter this brothel!
Centre right: Each room in the brothel has pictures to show the service provided inside.
Right: the room that the slave prostitutes worked in - many were chained.

The Romans built their cities where there was an abundance of food and hot water. The geothermal streams in Pompeii were plentiful. Their public baths were used by every level of society although there were private rooms that could be booked by the most important.  Top Left and bottom centre: the art work must have been amazing. The ceiling medallions had still discernible portraits in each. Top right: just like any gym today, people stored their belongings in lockers before heading to the baths.  Bottom Left: raised floors allowed for hot steam to be pumped(by slaves) underneath making the tiles hot.  We were all sweltering enough without the added though of steam!  Right: a lead pipe - all the fountains and water sources in the town had water delivered through lead pipes and clever aqua duct design.  The life expectancy of the inhabitants was short - they all eventually died of lead poisoning.

Top left: Main road.  Top right:The large public square where the markets, public meetings and entertainment happened. Vesuvius looks quite harmless in behind.  Bottom left: The Hall of Justice. Bottom right: The edge of town.

The plaster casts of two of Pompeii victims. Left: a dog  Right:Found in one of the gladiator rooms.

Left: This is the gate that lead into town from the seaport.  Can you imagine the panic as hundreds of people try to flee to the sea through that little gap when the eruption began? Thanks to the big blow in AD79, the coast is now a few Km away.
Right:A series of caged cells store collections if items uncovered from the ash.

After leaving the park we gratefully sat in the lovely shady places provided to sit and drink cold liquids in. Among the shops and stalls is a beautifully air conditioned Cameo factory store with free, clean toilets. Granny had a Cameo brooch that Poss always loved so she was keen to have a look at the displays. I didn't realise that true cameos are carved from shells with two tones.  The white surface is polished then carved through to show the darker shade as the brownish golden background. Clever hands! The blue Cameos are made from a stone that has an outside white layer and is treated the same way. Lots for sale at reasonable prices at shops in Naples but I'm not sure how to tell whether they are genuine or not without snapping them.

Left: blue stone cameos  Right: a poor quality shell decorated with the traditional profile style. (Thanks Poss for the photo)

The gentle stroll from Sorrento town to the beach.

We headed back to the station to catch the train to Sorrento.  We were hoping to find a lovely beach for a Mediterranean swim and a decent restaurant for tea. We discovered that the Sorrento beaches were at the bottom of towering cliffs, we were directed to a steep and winding stair case that took us down to the water but had to traipse through a couple of carparks before getting to the 'beach'. Once down there we discovered that there was an elevator to the top - €1 each but well worth it.

The beaches of Sorrento - the whole time we were down here I could hear Tina Arena singing Sorrento Moon in my head.

Sea, sun, shade but no surf at Marameo.

A small and crowded section(with a gravelly sand) was available for free public use. The entrepreneurial Campanians have built jetties that they have furnished with deckchairs, restaurants and bathing huts. We passed a couple that would only take cash then found Marameo (opposite the lift entry) that had card facilities and paid €8 per person for entry a chair and use of a bathing hut for changing and a couple of umbrella's for 6€. It may have been cheaper because it was mid afternoon. I haven't swum for over two years - that weightless cool joy washed over and unknotted my muscles. The water was the perfect temperature.  Even though the daily thunderstorms of the Napoli Gulf boomed away in the distance and the haze turned slightly darker, the sun kept sparkling on the water of the Marameo bathing platform co.

The view back down to our bathing platform and out across the gulf gives you a better idea of how tall the cliffs were.
The afternoon thunderstorm still booming away over Naples.

A sudden and powerful circular wind gusted around us at the end of dinner back up in the middle of the town. I felt sorry for the people who had plates of food in front of them. We were about to leave and had just polished off our complimentary limoncellos and lemon granitas - once again Poss was mistaken for our eldest daughter and was given a granita instead of the limoncello!

Big salads - Sorrento was a really yellow town.

Another popular holiday destination - very expensive looking sea view hotels.  We saw two weddings - everyone was dressed to the nines and looking very uncomfortable in the heat surrounded with people in summer holiday clothes.
The restaurant we had dinner at to the left - Fauno Bar -right on Piazza Tasso it was a great place to sit and watch people - the menu was huge - a tourist something for everyone type but with family prices. Excellent service.

The next day we decided to go to Capri, the island that legends from the 50's Hollywood scene made famous. For once I decided not to double check ferry timetables thinking that on the weekend they must be quite frequent.  The catamarans were and faster and three times the price so we caught the complimentary bus over to the ferry terminal bought our tickets and waited over an hour until the next boat - hmmmmm.  There was a good cafe and newsagent so we were able get maps for Naples(I have not been able to find a pop up map of Naples like the rest of our collection) and Capri.

Big Ferry terminal in Naples. Lots of boats to watch.                 Top right:The Circumvesnuviana line - we could have taken this to Sorrento and ferried to Capri from there but nothing was going to get us back on that track again!

It is now covered in tourist shops and the exclusivity bubble - and associated maintenance of facilities - has long since burst. The boats disgorge hordes on a half hourly basis and chauffeur driven stretched convertible limos line up to carry people all over the steep rocky island. The blue, white and lemon coloured ceramics that I have always admired must have sprung from this place. Tiles with house place names and street corners decorate the streets and souvenir shops are full of it.

The bustle around Marina Grande where the Golfo di Napoli spews its tourist harvest.

We were keen to visit the Grotto Azzure(blue) and noticed on the map that there was a bit of a beach there so thought we could swim away the rest of the day. We were really hoping that we'd be able to swim in the grotto but as soon as we saw all the boats lining up we knew that it wouldn't be  possible that day. As we got off the ferry I saw a sign for boat trips to the Blue Grotto but the next one was leaving in five minutes.  Poss and I dived into the queue just ahead of a big tourist group and made the next boat. Yay! There is a bus that goes over the top of the island to the grotto which would have spectacular views but being on a launch out in the gulf on a brilliantly sunny day was far too tempting. Once close to the coast, where the tiny little entry point, is we had to cross to another launch like pirates, it took us in closer. Then strong, opera singing boatmen rowed up in little boats that took four people at a time into the cave.

When it was our turn I asked the very fit looking gentleman if he could take five instead - pointing to the girls and indicating how they were quite small. He laughed and made a big fuss of the four of us squeezing - almost on top of one another in the big end and Poss got put in the bow. The next stop was the payment booth floating in front of the entrance - oh did you think entry would be included in the ferry price too? The Blue grotto is officially a museum so Petal and Willow didn't have to pay to go in but we adults paid 4€ each and another 9€ from everyone for the boatsman's services. It was joked that these two guys, one for handing out the tickets, one for taking the money - cash only - were 'The Bank of Italy'. I invite you to make your own assumptions about who they might have been, here in the south of Italy. We had to lie flat as we were pulled through the cave entrance by a rope that was shackled to the cliff wall.

Once inside, the deep blue of the water reflecting up onto the very dark ceiling and walls was magical. There was also a silvery sort of opalescent glow that shimmered way below. The boatman showed us a wall with a step up to a concreted floor cavity from Roman times. He explained that Emperor Tiberius had built a villa for himself on the plain above the grotto and that a smaller villa was on a ledge further down. It is thought that once there may have been an internal passage from the small villa giving access to the grotto. The boatsmen sung a variety of Italian opera arias but because there were a few boats at a time in the sunken cave there was not a lot of echo. Kindly we got a second trip around the grotto before we waited for our turn to be whisked out. Seven boats came in before we got our turn and five were lining up to exit - very busy.

We asked the jovial captain of our launch where the best beach was on the island because contrary to our map there was no coast along the island that would ever be imagined as beach.  He told us that the Marina Grande had the largest area. By paying a little extra at the public toilets we were allowed to get changed for the beach in there. The beach was rocks and I think the most painful surface I have ever attempted to walk on in bare feet. Once past the weedy rocks along the tide line the water was clear and wonderful. We had passed a huge private yacht - a small town on a hull, and so now, from the floating position, I kept and eye on the comings and goings from the stern boarding platform (the boat seemed to be pushed out on a conveyor then lowered into the water). I remembered reading in the BBC news that Oprah and Princess Beatrice were holidaying in mega yachts in the Mediterranean, we have accepted that we're not going to 'spot' Rowan Atkinson in our time left in England but an Oprah spotting would be nearly as good!

Arriving back at Marina Grande - Best beach to the right.

Top sun bathing wave break - too calm today for any of those.  Bottom: too hard to walk on the painfully jagged stones on the beach - floating out, risking the odd slimy weed patch on a rock touching your tum, was a much better idea.
Right: down the beach towards the harbour.

End of the beach closest to the harbour.

The girls decided to stay on the big rocks forming a wave break, to get a bit of sunbathing done while M, Poss and I took the fenuncular(cable train) up to Capri(the island is named after the main town). There is one road that connects the two sides of the island separated by Mounts Barbarossa, Cappello and Solaro, it goes through a pass to Anacapri which is of equal size. The square at the top of the fenuncula with its hanging baskets and wide spaced, plinthed, white columns framed the sea view perfectly.  We stopped at a restaurant just opening for the evening trade and asked if we could sit and enjoy the view with only a drink. They were welcoming and attentive. The warm breeze, shade and glorious view over the island was incredibly relaxing.

The blue white and lemon of Capri

There were shoemakers everywhere selling very expensive but lovely Capri sandals. If you stayed on the Island for a few days you could put in a bespoke order for design, colour size and shape etc if the hundreds on display didn't quite meet your approval - what a treat.   The porcelain suggests that quite a few Brits holiday here! 

The row of oleander here have had all its lower branches trimmed off so they act as trees rather than bushes - removing the lower branches also reveals the view.

The street food was too tempting for M after our very sophisticated iced coffee at Don Aleonso Café

Top of a steep rail journey

Left: Through the front window of the going up driver's cabin - the split rails allow the little trains to pass one another and only needing a single line either end.

Too soon it was time to go find the girls and organise a meal before our return ferry to Napels at 8:30. Just as we left the fenuncular those Naopoli Gulf afternoon thunderclouds let their burden fall. We ran for cover and saw the girls covering under the small veranda of the public toilets after having just gotten changed, I was relieved they hadn't been caught out on the rocks.  Willow later informed me that I should give them more credit for weather alertness after living in the UK for so long; they knew rain clouds when they saw them. This afternoon pelting is apparently quite common in summer and as soon as it stopped all the out door restaurant tables and chairs were set up again ready for the evening rush.

Rain clouds settling in as we head back down from the town of Capri to the harbour.  Rain pelting on the once sparkling sea.
The yachts don't seem too worried about it.

The next day we decided to cruise through Naples to the Nationale Archaeology Museum. Our Pompeii guide had told us that this is where we would be able to see the majority of the body casts and artefacts dug up from the site. Well they must have been hiding because there were only two casts - not the hundreds that have been made. There weren't many items from the Pompeii site on display either, in fact whole rooms were locked up and others unlocked but empty. Two areas that were amazing though were the art works peeled off the walls from Pompeii and the collection of mosaics at the other end of the museum.  The painting room was closing an hour after we arrived so we headed there first. There was no air con in the museum, the air was hot and humid - how can this be good for the treasures they guard?

The huge dimensions of the National Archaeological Museum

Bits and Pieces found in Pompeii - except bottom right:it was a popular pass time for the rich and famous to visit digs in the late 18th C to early 20th C, with a smoking Vesuvius and very slow transportation it must have been a daring adventure in the early days. 

The famous mosaic of Alexander the Great's(left on horseback) victory over Darius the Persian(right in the chariot) is here. I would have expected to find this at a museum in Athens.

Two of the many statues dug up from the soil of this ancient land. I was startled to see how much the one on the right looked like my cousin K then felt a bit weird turning to see his companion  on the opposite side of the doorway  looking just like his brother G(his mustache isn't quite as long though!).  

One evening Poss and I had gone off exploring the streets around our hotel, I had no milk and had run out of tea bags, so we were trying to find a local supermarket. (If you want a cup of tea when you wake up in the morning take a travel jug when travelling through Europe.) Two young girls had a fruit market open up one of the very step roads from the harbourside up to a big hill that the Museo Nazionale S.Martino and Castel S.Elmo(not the red monster from Sesame Street). After finding that they didn't have any milk and very little English I tried to ask them if there was a grocer nearby. They were so polite and helpful, they pointed up the step stairs and counted on their finger two and gestured to the right saying left - I understand that word salad burden only too well.

We followed their direction and came to a tiny shop whose 1m square floor area was mostly taken up by a large, seated grandma catching up on the local gossip with the shop owner, his brother, one of their wives and son. Squeezing in we found everything we needed and the owner tried to sell us everything on his shelves at 'very good price!  For his efforts and my tastebud delights I did buy a jar of their black cherry syrup. On the way back we bought a big bunch of local grapes grown on the sides of Mt Vesuvius from the girl's fruit store.  We walked around a lot of the shops that were open late every night, just as well the shoe shop was about to close hey Poss!(Everything but the biggest chains and restaurants were closed all day Sunday.)

Nearly empty plates. Pasta originated with the Romans - each Roman citizen was given a set amount of wheat for the year after harvest so to preserve it they made it into flour, mixed it with egg and water and dried it out into large flat sheets for storage - eventually lasangé was born in the Neopolitan region.   Petal's lasange was much richer than normal with cinnamon and nutmeg coming through a slow reduced onion, garlic and tomato sauce. 

We also walked past an Osteria(family run restaurant) that had glorious smells coming out of it.  We went there for dinner the on our last night in Naples. Yum - if you ever get the chance to eat at Don Maccarone on Gradoni Chiaia take it.  The eggplant and zucchini pudding(a savory side dish) was incredible but I was so full of the 'Good woman Spaghetti' with olives, capers and roasted cherry tomatoes squashed into the best spiced tomato sauce I have ever had, that I couldn't manage more than a couple of mouthfuls. Poss ordered chips which came out as deliciously seasoned small roasted potatoes - I would have liked to rummage around in Don's kitchen! M and Willow had a large tube Genoese pasta which has an onion sauce - also yum(yes I stole a bit of everything). M had really enjoyed his Spaghetti Aglio olio (chilli, garlic, olive oil, parsley) in Sorrento and was hard pushed to say which dish he enjoyed more.

Farmers grow special tomatoes in the soil around Vesuvius - they are so high in sugars that the farmers can hang them in bunches in their lofts for months.  Of course canning them is the way they share them with the world - you can buy them on Amazon! In a time of a typhoid breakout those who could evacuated Naples but the King and Queen (Margherita) chose to stay in their city and fend for themselves - she ordered a pizza from a local restaurant and the legend was born. Petal is so grateful! Poster bottom right comes from  http://www.naples15.com/history/the-real-neapolitan-pizza/.
Other pictures from http://juliadellacroce.com/forktales1/2014/01/23/italian-chefs-fight-forgery-of-italian-food-with-official-recipe-for-spaghetti-al-pomodoro-con-basilico/

My hairdresser - Paolo at Finn Jordan - is from Naples and told me that they sell pizza by the meter there. We didn't see that anywhere but we didn't look around the city very far either. My grandmother's two choices in ice cream were French Vanilla or Neapolitan.  The latter came in three big stripes of Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. We found out that there are many opinions about its origin - one was that had been created in Naples for a world trade fair to represent the national flag, Pistachio, Vanilla and Cherry to represent the Green, white and red. Another says the Italians bought their desert knowledge to America and they chose today's flavours of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla because they were the most popular.  Another theory is that a Neopolitan chef, Tortoni, served the desert in his Parisian restaurant and made it famous. I wouldn't mind the Trade Fair version, none of it is served in Naples!

This is what makes food - no matter how simple - taste superb in Italy!
image from http://www.italianharvest.com/product/italian-vesuvius-tomaotes/artisans

I am torn in my opinion of Naples.
The historic sites of the Bourbons and the Spanish are in disrepair. It was in Naples that a sailor returned from the America's and infected a prostitute with a new disease - Syphilis.  In the 1490s Naples housed a strange juxtaposition of more convents and brothels than any other city on the peninsula, this new disease became a plague. The French conquered the Kingdom of Naples and took home a souvenir that ruined so many lives.  Graffiti makes every street look like the set of a gangster movie, the bling bling boys are more aggressive, there are more cops than pedestrians in some quarters, it is dirty, the homeless litter the streets stealing food from stray dogs and the taxi driver who took us to the airport  very early on the morning we left, accelerated to over 100kms between every turn.
Yet the people we meet in the hotel neighbourhood were open and friendly, the ice cream and local chefs were great, the Metro is clean and efficient, it has easy access to some wonderful places and it is certainly cheaper to stay in than those other wonderful places. But I think the best thing about Naples is that it has ambition - it is pulling up its own socks and should look as fabulous as it tastes in a few years and sparkle just as brightly the other jewels around its gulf.

Caput Mundi - Roma

That is - The Capital of the World. The Roman Empire didn't quite achieve total world domination, nor have the Roman Catholic Church.  The Vandals from what is now Germany took advantage of corruption cracks in the first and a German priest put the Papacy's monopoly on Christianity into question. Yet Rome is still the 'Eternal City'. The ruins uncovered in the middle of town will keep the echoes of its past alive forever. Her layers of Empire and Church reveal courage, vision, integrity, corruption, greed and cruelty. Today Rome is the capital of Italy and it is being cared for with the respect she is due.

A blistering hot day in St Peter's Square. The Firemen are hosing down anyone who comes close to the fountains.

No hiding from that sun - St Peter's oblex
opposite the Vittoriano. Great photo of M's.

As we rolled the suitcases from the train station down the hill on another hot day all I could think was - hope it's cooler when we have to push them back up here! We passed through Piazza dell'Esquilino that had narrow streams for traffic and a pedestrian area that just looked like Sydney. The baked earth, pebbel-creted traffic bollards and concrete balls, the thin shade from the acacias and the ringing tones of cicadas made us feel right at home.

Turning onto Via Urbana we passed two churches facing each other, reminding us that we were in a city with over 900 churches and found our hotel.  The Raffaello greeted us with a blast of cool air and a giant gold and black etching of Raphael's 'School of Athens' covering the entire wall behind the concierge; the news that there was free wifi in every room lifted the spirits even further.

Top left: Buildings from all ages. Foro di Traiano in the foreground forms a triangle with the domed S.N di Maria(Top right) and the Vittoriano (right below). Left below: Peter with his keys looking over the city from his Colona Traiana(opposite .Maria Top right)  Right below: Girls are standing in front of  Piazza Piazza which is a wild place for cars - no line markings and pedestrians - scooters think they can just make it in front of you! Behind that traffic mayhem is the Vittoriano which was built in honour of the first King of a unified Italy. The tomb of the unknown soldier out front is guarded by armed guards 24/7. 

Lots of layers of Rome - excavated ruins, a neighbourhood church, a hotel and a restaurant all squeezed together.

Willow squawked and jumped when a
blast of air by her ankles was in sync
with a rat running up the narrator's leg
on the film.

That first afternoon Poss and I took the girls to 'The Time Elevator' - a 5D film synopsis of the city in a dirty ally off one of the main shopping streets. It began the tale with a beautiful priestess of the hearth(keeper of the flame) who had given birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus. When the King of this small state discovered this he punished the woman(who was expected to remain a virgin to perform her duties) by ordering one of his warriors to take the babies out to the forest and cut their throats. The man responsible for this grisly task came across a pack of hungry wolves and left the babes there so he didn't have to kill them himself.  Sounds like the seeds of Disney's Snow White!

Instead of tearing the babes apart for food, one of the she wolves adopted the boys and they survived with her as their wet-nurse. When they grew up they had rallied many bachelor men around them and decided to build a city.  When choosing a site the twins argued and fought.  Some versions of the story say Romulus killed Remus to become the supreme leader. The Sienna story was that Remus escaped and established Sienna, which is why there are statues of the she wolf and the twin boys there. After building a city the gang of boys realised that they needed some women so threw a party for all the surrounding villages.  When everyone was suitably drunk the Roman boys abducted the young girls of the villages and held them - fighting off their families until Romulus' Roma was established as the power of the region.

Left: Temple to the Goddess of the Hearth, fire was difficult to source in pre-Empire Roma.
Right: Ruins of the temple complex that Julius Caesar was assassinated in.

Not being a scholar of Ancient Rome I discovered that I was guilty of a lot of misunderstandings during our visit. One of them was that the Colosseum (the Flavian Amphitheater) was around when Julius Caesar took the laurel wreath and made himself Emperor.  In truth the build wasn't even begun until 120 years after his death. We saw the site where he was assassinated by his friends who despaired of him ever relinquishing his dictatorship for a return the utopian dream of a Republic. We discovered it had been a temple complex of fairly small dimensions not the large senate space I'd seen in 'educational films'.

The bus stop closest to our hotel was opposite the S.Maria.Maggiora Bascillica, seen from the back here.

We bought 24hrs on the hop on hop off bus with the intention to do just that and orient ourselves on the first day. Unfortunately the company was really struggling to cope with the amount of tourists and the tourists (ie us!) were really struggling with the  huge waits in the searing heat to be able to even board the bus at any of the many stops. We sat on one bus for about 45mins - apparently waiting to get back in sync with the bus carousel at the train station.

Italy has been flooded with folk escaping horrors in Africa and the middle east - many of the young men take their chances by illegally hawking fake designer handbags, selfie sticks, jewelry, sunglasses, scarves, fans, paper parasols and cold water bottles. Their cry of "selfie, selfie, bling, bling", regardless of what goods they carry reverberated around every tourist spot and bus stop in Florence, Rome and Naples. Usually we politely refused but perched up in the open top bus, the cold water and parasols were a blessing. They would throw up the item then catch the cash raining down. I saw one poor guy throw up some water to a passenger on another bus who had been watching the loading process and timed his request just before the bus drove off.  He must have short changed the water seller who shook his fist at the departing bus and almost got hit by the next one pulling into the stop.

Top Left:first glimpse of the Colosseum. Top right:Town Hall, enthusiasts of the lampoon vacation films(which I am not) may recognise the stairs from the scene where dad is chasing a red convertible to rescue his kidnapped wife just after discovering that they have been driving around with a tied up banker in their boot.
Left below: The Opera                                      Right Below: Castle Sant'Angelo

Statues on the Pont Vittoria Emanuelle II crossing the Tiber (Tevere in Italian) leading onto the avenue that runs between Vatican city and Castel d'Angelo

We contented ourselves with the fine views and photo opportunities the bus provided and rarely committed to queues. This meant we didn't get to see inside the Colosseum, I had tried to buy jump the queue tickets on line and at several other outlets we had visited but everyone had sold out for the week we were there - so many people! I couldn't face the 2hrs needed to stand and shuffle for the privilege of peering through the crowds inside so we walked around the outside of it and saw what we could.

Gate into the arena for guests - all entries for competitors and prisoners were subterranean.

As close as a non ticketed soul could get.  I still do not understand how anyone finds death and torture entertaining.

A big earthquake in the 1800s, pilfering marble for new building projects and monuments over the centuries, bullet holes from war and general weathering have really knocked this mammoth building around. Currently is it undergoing a restoration where modern bricks are being used to rebuild the whole building whilst still showing where the ancient remains.
Top right: There was so much Oleander in bloom around the town. A cheap sight seeing spot.
Bottom right: Ancient pavers lifting.

 We did manage to secure 'jump the queue' tickets for the Vatican Museums so we thought our quest for viewing the Sistine chapel would be fairly straight forward. How ignorant we were. First we had to find the Hop on Hop off store to get the tickets we had purchased at the hotel validated. The map wasn't very exact but we managed to find it after asking at many tourist bling stores before we got there. It was opposite the columns of St Peter's square which made its free, clean toilets probably our most frequently visited spot in Rome! The cashier pointed out the back door and gave a series of instructions which proved to be optimistic as far as both distance and direction were concerned. Luckily there was a lovely man waiting at a fairly crucial corner giving guidance and advice. M and Petal filled their water bottles at a nearby fountain and we set off around the Vatican walls to a back entrance for their museums.

St Peter's square from the top deck of the Hop on/off bus.

Marching past the long queue was pretty good - actually getting into the museum was a series of more queues; through the ticket check point where tickets of all sorts were converted into Vatican official ones with a barcode, through metal detectors, through turnstiles requiring the barcode to turn, then slowly, slowly up a never ending circular ramp with anthropological exhibits from all the countries around the world with Roman Catholic missions thoughtfully displayed at the sides. Then the crowds in the labyrinth of treasures.

Left: Going up.      Right Two: going down. Notice the bottle neck of crowds queueing but then hardly anyone on the ramps below - there was a one person at a time barrier there to remind people that stairs were beginning on the ramp.

Somehow M and the girls got caught on the tail of a guided tour and were lead through a quicker - secret route to the Sistine chapel but then had to wait an age for Poss and I to finish.  We saw way more through the twists and turns that everyone else is guided through to get to Michelangelo's masterpiece. You could easily spend several days looking at the vast, beautifully displayed collection.

The Raphael rooms were definitely a highlight.  To get there we were herded through steadily narrowing corridors and staircases. A couple of people around me were struggling with the very enclosed single file we were forced into because of renovations.  One lovely girl in her twenties started hyperventilating as we passed through what seemed to be a secret doorway - one person wide, heavy wood doors and walls with no way to be able to push forward or back because of the slow moving procession. A few of us managed to make room for her to pass through and get to an open air walkway hung off the side of the building that was the next level of the quest; just as well she wasn't scared of heights too!

Interpretive dance was alive and well in Ancient Rome and the Renaissance Vatican  it would seem.

These stunning ceiling frescos were so much better in real life than my camera has managed to capture.
Top: The Latin says something like - The skills of the Romans have happily been revived with the support of the Papacy.
Bottom: By God's grace and excellence the debate will be won.  Not sure what circumstances this statement was prompted by - perhaps it was the beginnings of Nessun Dorma.

The map corridor. Every known town and village is recorded on these maps.

Left: This is a detail from a ceiling fresco in The Room of Constantine - 'Triumph of the Christian Religion'. Although it is part of the Raphael rooms in the Vatican, all the work in this room was completed by the master's students from his sketches because he succumbed to a fever before they were finished. I think that the ceilings were left bare wood and this fresco was done much later by  Tommaso Laureti in 1585, the job entrusted to him by Gregory XIII.
Right: I heard a guide telling her tour that this was Michelangleo's favourite sculpture, rescued from the ruins of the ancient world. She said that he would come and stare at it for hours.  On his death bed he asked to be taken in to see it one last time - I don't know where it was then.

For me the confusion and stress were well worth it.  There are four rooms that Pope Julius II trialed and hired the 25yr old Raphael to decorate in 1508. His Library was one of the rooms; the Stanza della Segnatura was designed and painted solely by Raphael. He designed and sketched the others but didn't do all the painting himself - by that stage he had several talented students whom he trusted it to whilst he went off and completed other commissions. One time he went off, caught a fever and died - he was 37yrs old. By this time Leo X, a Medici from Florence, was Pope. It is said that he cried at the news of the artist's demise.

There are lots of reproductions of this on line to get close up views of the portraits. I haven't numbered all the known portraits - just the ones I knew about!   Many books have been written analysing the hidden meanings conveyed by Raphael's design of where people are placed and their postures connected to their theories etc. 

I think the Stanza della Segnatura is most amazing because it was the first time that muses, gods and famous personalities from antiquity had been painted since the fall of the Roman Empire. Remarkably they were in the room that the Pope signed Church laws and Theological statements into officialdom. The theme Raphael designed was Truth, Goodness and Beauty and the four medallions he painted on the ceiling were Philosophy, Poetry, Justice and Theology - giving them all equal space.  Before the Renaissance this would have been considered heresy and Raphael may not have lasted long enough to catch a fever. The room was full of people all trying to see past each other because every aspect was awesome.

I have room here only to show what is probably Raphael's most famous work - 'The School of Athens.' In it he not only remembers the creative and rational genius' of the past but also celebrates his friendship with Leonardo(as Plato) and Michelangelo(as Heraclitus) by painting in their likenesses. He had to wait until Michelangelo had finished the Sistine chapel before he could get him to model for the picture so Heraclitus was painted in after the rest was finished. He sneaks in himself as well, in a dark cap, 2 right from the right hand arch pillar he is listening to Zoroaster and Ptolemy discuss the sphere of the universe. Imagine the bustle as these genius artists roved around the Vatican organising their materials and students and calling for what they needed. Very different from the 'finished' and 'hallowed' - tourist and worshiper filled spaces of today.

The 'medallion' at the top of my photo is poetry - a good match for the most irreligious of the four wall frescoes.

Another chain of winding passageways, stairwells and a series of modern art galleries lead me to one last steep stair to enter the Sistine Chapel.  Two young ladies with spaghetti strap tops were being sent back the way I had just come - being barred from entrance. As I walked in, a crackly microphone kept announcing - Be quiet - no talking - no photos. At the entry my phone buzzed with a txt - usually I have trouble hearing it so the girls make sure it is always on full volume - a lot of people heard it! I backed away to read and answer it, one of the guards tried to push me through until I explained that I didn't want the send sound to upset others.... They had already reached the end and were waiting for me at the exit of the museum. Just as well really because the ceiling is huge, the paintings so far away and small compared to what I was expecting that I could easily imagine standing there mesmerised for an hour or so.

You know what this is!  Petal's first sneaky pic.

The Chapel was built by Giovannino de'Dolci to the specifications listed in Genesis for Noah's Ark. To enter I had to walk across a stage and looking out on the closely packed crowds all looking up as if expecting the second coming - it was easy to imagine a menagerie instead with gaping hungry mouths and glassed over eyes.

The frescoes along the walls of one side were of Moses and the other of Jesus.  They were painted by many different people, Botticelli did one of them. Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II. He is said to have painted the whole of the vaulted ceiling by himself over 4 years.  Whether he lay on his back or was standing with his neck back is unknown but both sound very uncomfortable.

The exact proportions and perfect perspective of the many scenes making up the story from creation to redemption is astounding. Just as I cannot even imagine how his brain and hands saw the shapes in blocks of rock to carve out, I cannot imagine how he managed this perfection.  A true master of the eye, philosophical thought and hand. Staring up at Adam lethargically half holding out his hand as God, stretched out, strains to give him life, I wondered if the artist had come to a point of disgust at humanity's apathy towards their relationship with their creator. As far as I am able to understand it the Renaissance minds did not throw God out with the new science of their age and the resurrection of ancient logic but strove to see God in the bigger picture that was available to them. A response that may save the faith of those today ping ponging between 1800's Christianity and Agnostic confusion.

Petal's close up - her second sneaky photo in the chapel.

Michelangelo also painted the Altar wall for Pope Julius II c1540 - he managed to match the blue of his sky perfectly with the other frescoes around the walls. No passive Jesus relying on his mum to make decisions here! She looks as nervous as everyone else in this last judgement scene but at least still has her clothes on.

Michelangelo's altar piece - soooooo huge.

A young woman not far from me decided to sneakily take a photo(which Petal was able to do) but forgot to turn the flash off.  Five security guards swarmed towards her and then escorted her out. Although she kept staring up at the roof as if nothing had happened, everyone (like me sorry) close to her turned to stare so it was easy for the guards to identify the flash point. I decided I'd better not keep the finished family waiting any longer so started to make my way out. I was horrified to find that  this huge mass of people had to channel onto a ramp that quickly narrowed to a 1m wide exit door??!! (I could just imagine what Poss had been thinking - 'Hate to be here in an Earthquake! The Christchurch disaster has left deep scars.)

While I was slowly ebbing towards this elusive gateway, a family in front lost a toddler in the swell. Crying, behind me, alerted the flustered parents to where the child was but the tide of forward motion could not be resisted. A couple of blokes lifted the child and she got surfed back to her parents, through the hands of the tall. A little miracle of human cooperation.

Not my photo, it was much more crowded than this. No one bothered sitting down, they wouldn't have been able to see a thing. I got the image from Google images but can't give credit because my computer wouldn't let me access the site because of 'dangerous content?!             The metallic 'curtains' on the walls are paintings.

Love a restaurant with aircon -even if there is a blackout and they forget to turn it back on again when the power comes back on.  Delicious Caprese salad - the others all had a break from Italian food much to the disgust of our waiter.

After the long winding exit past more amazing treasures (really a whole day in needed in the Vatican Museum, don't try and fit the Sistine chapel into an itinerary with other highlights) and spiraling down the ramp/stairs we decided it was lunchtime and found a lovely restaurant opposite the walls.

At a different restaurant I had both the best and the worst plates
of food chosen in Rome.  Left -Green olives stuffed with a
black olive tapinade, breaded and deep fried.
Right: watery polenta - no seasoning and bits of raw sausage.
Guess which plate I tasted once!

We headed back to St Peter's square to fill our water bottles up with holy water - Italy has fabulous public fountains and drinking water taps in every piazza. We saw groups of youths wearing uniform T-shirts and neckerchiefs. There were two teams of firemen using a fire hoses beside the two big fountains to spray water at them which caused much shrieking and delight.

This huge square that most of us have seen on TV is actually elliptical in shape and was added to the Vatican design fairly late. Bernini had been working on the insides of the Basilica for a long while and agreed to make a suitable site so as many people as possible could stand and receive blessings at Pope Alexander VIII's request in 1656. A Oblex of red granite taken from Egypt in the Empire days and eventually made it to this spot. Nero had moved it to where the Basillica now stands for his Circus(to the death games with Christians as the favourite bait.) Bernini incorporated it into his design and made it the center of his 4 Doric pillars deep raised and covered walkway. There used to be a gold ball on top that Medieval texts claimed held the ashes of Julius Caesar - some today claim that now there is a splinter of the True Cross on top.

Waiting to see what was going to happen.  Right: Top of the Oblex.

M went and asked one of the Swiss guards what was going on. They told him that the Pope was going to pop out to bless all the ministrants (I thought the song leader was calling them miscreants and wondered what the Pope was going to do to turn them into little angles.) at 6pm. Poss decided that the heat of the glaring white pillars and pavement had to be escaped so left us waiting for a couple of hours for His Holiness to appear. I rather like Pope Francis' attitude towards the world and his dedication to giving everyone a voice.

Around 5:30 we took a spot close to the barriers yet still in the shade and waited for his appearance beside the large throne looking chair that had been placed on the steps. There was lots of worship music from each nation represented, the Germans, Swiss and Hungarians were particularly parochial. We were able to follow along with what was going on because they all spoke in English - the one language everyone could speak a little of? One song leader would come out to rev the kids up 'Do you want to see His Holiness whoop whoop?  A couple of minutes later a different guy would come forward trying to settle the crowd into an attitude of prayer and reverence then the whoop whoop guy would come back out again - all filling time because their programme had ended sooner than they anticipated.

Worthy wearers of daVinci.

We noticed that secret service and Swiss guards were parading all the walkways and checking the surface and people beside the barriers very carefully.  Willow laughed and said it was because the Pope was going to come out in his buggy through the crowds. It turned out she was right! The people around us were very pushy - bordering on angry in their efforts to get as close to the barriers as they could. Then he came tootling up the pathway with the merriest and happiest face I've ever seen on a public figure.  He seemed genuinely pleased to see everyone there. Hands and rosaries were touched - eyes watered and the cranky souls were mesmerised. Most of the people around us (not in the youth zone) had never expected this audience. There was a little Irish girl beside us, in preparation for taking her first communion her family had diverted their holiday to Rome for one day to buy her rosary at the Vatican. Luck of the Irish for them! It is quite scary what a heavy and tangible thing an intense emotion in a crowd becomes. I'm glad it was a positive one!

Willow's photo of this moment was much better!

After seeing the huge amount of people visiting Rome for this Youth event we decided that a very early start was required if we were going to see inside the Basilica the next day. We got there in good time using the Metro to Ottaviano, S.Pietro instead of our red bus tickets. We queued for ten minutes but the line behind us grew alarmingly quickly and soon reached the Via della Concilliazione -  an avenue begun by Mussolini from St Peter's to the Castle Angelo as part of his grandiose designs for a strong Rome.

Left: Checkpoint 2,     Right: Poss waiting i the vestibule to see where we had all run off to.

We went through three checks before entering the foyer of the Cathedral where Petal was stopped. Her arms were deemed improper and she wasn't allowed to enter. As she wandered off, M remembered seeing a souvenir shop in the grounds. We both got scarves but when I went to look for Petal she had exited through the gate of no return and there was no grace with the guards. I explained what had happened - there was no one else around but they would not let her take the two steps required to cross that imaginary line - a lesson in probation! Feeling incredibly cross I returned to the Basilica and tried to calm down in order to appreciate the incredible works of art in this space. The largest Christian church in the world has not stinted on decoration and memorials to their own. Petal told me afterwards that the guard called her back after a time and let her go through - of course my scarf and I were no where to be seen so she was back to square one!  I should have been graceful and given the scarf to the guards so they could save another from Petal's fate but I didn't think of that until now!

Through the front doors into the biggest Christian church in the world.

Left: - toward the front door.  Right: The Bernini covering of the entrance down to St Peter's tomb.

The tourists are scuttled to let the Priests pass after taking mass. The little chapel they are walking past had a picture of a lovely young man and baby Jesus - I need to ask who it was but am guessing Joseph - maybe John the Baptist?!

If you watched the DaVinci Code movie you will recognise this glory as the stairs down to the first Pope's tomb.

To give an idea of size, the angels at the top are more than 2 times the height of the average man.
Bernini decorated the dome - I think.

Michelangelo's masterpiece, the only work he ever signed.
He carved the 'Peita' from the same Carrara marble as his David. Some think he was projecting the vision of Gabrielle's prophesy in the young Mary's mind.  Imagine the burden knowing that humanity would reject her son and Savior before he was even born. The shape and tilt of Mary's left hand seems to suggest an acceptance of this sacrifice and is offering it to those who care to look.  It is not just the perfect dimensions but the subtle and deep emotion his hands have managed to convey that lift this from skilled to genius.

This tomb for Alexander VIII was also designed and carved with assistance by Bernini.  It was the last thing he completed before his death at 80yrs old. Although Alexander VIII commisioned it and approved of the drawings 7 yrs bewfore his death, it wasn't put put itno the Vatican until after the death of the Pope that followed him. Pius had said for it to be put into Santa Maria Maggiore but the next Pope changed teh location which meant changes to the design had to be made.
Top left: Pope AlexanderVIII - experts agree that the likeness was carved by Bernini.
Bottom left: Death measures the time of your life but is half hidden in a 'fold' of red Sicilian granite. This is the biggest piece of sculptured stone I have seen anywhere.  The four white women represent his four virtues - with the babe is charity and with her foot on a globe - specifically England - is Truth, representing his fight to get rid of Anglicanism. Prudence and Justice support the back two corners.

Top left: the front of S.Maria Miggiore Basilica. The special light show was part of the annual celebrations in remembrance of a miracle. It snowed on this day(mid summer) and the locals decided it was a blessing.  Since then lots of white petals(dahlia's we heard) are released to fall like snow on Aug 5.  an orchestra, kids and a string quartet played to the huge crowd. People talked loudly through the whole thing - even the many priests many prayers. It didn't help that they were performing at the bottom of the stairs and not at the top - no one could see them.

We used the hour before our late check out to look inside S. Maria Maggiore. This church, like the majority of those we have gone into on our trip, is dedicated to Mary. It was the place that Pope Frances came to give thanks and seek a blessing on his new role as Pope before he went to the little hotel he was staying at in the area to pick up his things and pay his bill - a modest man.  The poor security guards must have a hard time when he pops out for pizza by himself.  This church was also the recipient of the first big haul of gold that Spain received from her troops in the Americas. It was gifted to the Pope of the time by Queen Isabella and he gave the lot for the decoration of S.Maria Maggiore. There is gold everywhere.

Jesus does make an appearance in Rome.
He stand atop the Library.

We jumped on board the Red Bus for the last time to cross the city to the Colosseum then walked past one of the seven hills of Rome - Esquiline Hill. A bump on this hill, called Oppian Hill, overlooks the Colosseum and used to be the site of Nero's 'Domus Aurea' (Golden House). The Seventh-day Adventist Church requested that a memorial to Martin Luther be put somewhere in Rome.

They hoped that something could be done by 2010, the 500th anniversary of his visit to Rome when he said of this ancient city "If there is a hell, Rome is built over it." Understandably the anniversary of this insult was ignored. Pope Francis has encouraged an openness to different churches, supporting the need for a unified Christian voice in Europe so with his nod the city has announced that next month a square on top of Oppian Hill will be named 'Piazza Martin Lutero'.  For a guy who was excommunicated by Pope Leo X 500yrs ago, for preaching salvation through faith alone and that Jesus is humanity's intercessor making confession to a priest and penance redundant, he's secured some pretty good real estate in town.

The creative collection of showers we came across in our trip were topped by the one in Rome.
It had lots of nozzles and lots of apparatus - they were laughing about what was going to happen when I tried to use it - yep first try got a yelp.

A little kiosk outside the Santa Maria Maggiore was crewed by a dog.

Mary icons on many corners.

Rome is a hilly place and so there are many many stairs. These took us past S.Pietro Vincoli.

There is a lot to see and think about in this city. The modern history, that I haven't touched on, is no less intriguing. Come off season or the crowds are exhausting with the time wasted in queues and the tops of a million heads in every view. Perhaps for this Capital of the World there is no off season?