Pizza and Pompeii
Our vacation from our vacation was a success! Italy was an interesting contrast from Paris from its climate to its architecture to its people. Seth and I want to visit places all over Italy, but since our trip was just a little less than a week, we basically randomly decided to cover Naples and Rome on this trip. We're going to have to circle back to the other cities some other time (namely Venice and Florence). We essentially chose Naples for the pizza and Pompeii. Seth had been working with a Napoli-style pizza place for the past year, so the first thing we did after stepping off the train in Naples was go to dinner at what claims to be one of the oldest pizzerias in the world. It did not disappoint. It was everything you could have wanted from fresh ingredients, melty cheese, and perfectly cooked crust. We did have to endure the shame of the waiter's shock that we ordered three pizzas, but Seth was insistent. And- truth be told- Seth experienced no shame. He is shameless when it comes to his pizza consumption. Also, I think he got a little carried away with how cheap the pizzas were after enduring Paris prices. He would likely deny it if you asked him now- but the pleasure was indeed accompanied by pain- as dough bombs to the stomach are known to do.
I was actually shocked that the waiter was shocked a couple of Americans ordered three pizzas. Seems like a totally predictable American thing to do.
We stayed in Torre Annunziata because of its proximity to Pompeii. With all this sightseeing, Seth and I are definitely learning what kind of experience we prefer in terms crowds, interest, and sustained attention. Pompeii was our ideal sightseeing destination. Visiting during Italy's off-season and arriving at the sight toward the end of the day decreased crowds, but really the sheer size of the city lent itself to getting lost. It was a beautiful day to be outside and our sluggishness in the morning paid off because watching the sun set over Pompeii was magical. I thought the highlight of the visit was going to be the bodies, but that ended up being much less impressive than wandering the streets and poking our heads into numerous ancient bathhouses, merchant shops, houses, and temples.
Walking down the far side of Capris from the main harbor.
Torre Annunizata wasn't the most convenient location to other stuff we might have wanted to do, but we got a more down and dirty Italian experience staying in a non-touristy town, for sure. For our second day, we had to take a 35-minute train to Sorrento, which is generally the central town for tourists exploring this part of Italy. From Sorrento, we took a ferry to spend an afternoon in Capris. It was everything you could have wanted from an Italian coastal town. We trekked the mile and a half width of the island to the less visited side and rented a little boat to enjoy the sea and island at our leisure. Again, no crowds and little agenda made for a totally relaxing visit.
The harbor from which we retrieved our little boat for the afternoon.
Captain Seth was absolutely tickled at how freely these people just let us take their boat without pre-paying after just copying his GA license information. They trained him for 30 seconds to work the motor and we were off!
I did not look this serious the whole time.
We were a little torn about how to spend our third day in Naples. I really wanted to check out the Amalfi coast and Seth was willing, but in the end we decided it would be too much travel time to justify the visit. We would have had to take a train and a ferry to get there, so this is where our Torre Annunziata location put us at a disadvantage. Instead, we had a lovely lunch in Sorrento. My mother (a seasoned world-traveler herself) recommends searching the Michelin restaurant lists and going for lunch to have a cheaper gourmet experience. We made lovely conversation with an older Scottish couple next to us who were traveling in their mobile home throughout Europe. They gave us the scoop on visiting Scotland and Rome. In the end, the slow-paced day of a long lunch and wandering around Sorrento was just what we needed after a couple days of sightseeing and the day before traveling to our next Italian locale.
After the bustle and chaos of Napoli, Rome was a breeze to navigate. It's definitely more geared to tourists and we had Rick Steves to help us. For anyone not familiar with Rick Steves, my mother has been a long-time proponent of his travel tips. I was delighted to discover that he has adjusted to the digital age very nicely and offers a free app for Europe travel, which comes with a number of free audio tours. We followed his suggestions for a two-day visit to Rome. Rick Steves is a taskmaster of a tour guide- keeping up with his sightseeing pace was grueling! We walked 12 miles on day one following his touring suggestions and straight-up didn't get out early enough on day two to follow all his suggestions, probably because we were so exhausted from day one.
Day One: Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Heart of Rome Tour
The Colosseum. We walked passed this on our first night in town and visited the following morning. i was actually struck by how large it was. Like i exclaimed, "It's huge!" That's Rick Steves free Colosseum audiotour in our ears.
Roman Forum. Rick Steves still in our ears.
Why doesn't Seth love me enough to get it together for a romantic photo in front of the Trevi Fountain? Romantic photo with Rick Steves.
Pantheon.
There were about eight other sights we saw along this "heart of Rome" tour, but I'll spare everyone the rest of the mediocre pictures. On to day two!
You can still see his penis. Oh well.
Day Two according to Rick Steves was supposed to include the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. For whatever reason, we have failed to take the advice of buying tickets in advance over and over again. It would be way better if we bought tickets in advance. This is where we learn about our not-so-ideal tourist situation. Lines were very long outside the Vatican museum, but once I stop kicking myself for once again not buying tickets online and accept it, I guess it's ok. However, once inside we were walking with huge tourist groups like a herd of cows. Rick Steves walked us through some highlights of the museum, but I got very distracted with my own little game of weaving through the crowd to get ahead of everyone with the least amount of physical touch possible. And this is, like, to get ahead to nowhere. I recognized about halfway through the museum that I needed to just chill and go with the flow, but couldn't let go of opportunities to "advance" in the game when the crowd allowed it.
The tour of the Vatican Museum ends in the Sistine Chapel. Many of the sights in Italy are things that I've studied, read about, and seen in movies, so actually seeing these things I've known so much about was exciting. I have had the experience of being kind of disappointed when finally seeing world-famous sights (e.g. Mona Lisa). This was not the case in Italy! The things I had heard so much about were as good as or more impressive than I expected! The Sistine Chapel was one of these incredible sights. Rick Steves has an almost hour-long tour of the ceiling where he walks you through all the panels and Michelangelo's process. Having the historical, political, and artistic explantion of the work enabled me to fully appreciate everything that went into creating the work and even maintaining it all these years later.
By the time we exited the Sistine Chapel, it was nearly closing time for St. Peter's Basilica and the line was snaking it's way around the piazza. We determined that we had done a fairly good job on Rick Steves two-day tour and left it at that. I know we all agreed in my last post that ideals about honeymoons are whatever. However, after staying with our friends and hanging with a lot of new friends in Paris, Italy really did serve as a time for Seth and I to enjoy one another.
On the flight back to Paris, I said to Seth, "I probably shouldn't say this out loud since we have month left, but if we were flying back to the States right now, I would be ok with that." We have returned to Paris absolutely committed to experiencing as much of the city as we can in the time we have left and craving a return to home signals an internal change in me. Prior to starting this whole adventure, I contemplated how I might establish a totally mobile lifestyle and resisted or felt conflicted about anything that might anchor me somewhere. Now, I look forward to having a space I can establish as a home. I even have a list going of things I want in whatever new space we have. The current list includes: potted herbs, electric kettle, and the emulsifier my mom has. Now, we're still not totally clear on where this new place will be (Atlanta and Austin are the strongest contenders), but I trust it will all become clear once we get back. I had come to Paris with a vague idea of trying to establish ourselves here, but as Seth and I have felt a desire to be more settled, the States naturally feel more like home. Perhaps, Seth and I will revisit whether we want to #vanlife, but for now our own bed with our own kitchen and our own dog sounds like heaven.