Gatwick to Naples Flight
Leaving at a civilised time in mid afternoon, it was an uneventful flight with EasyJet. An on time arrival at just before 7pm. A time change here, so we lost an hour. I wasn’t sure how long immigration would take with the new European entry system. As there was a queue of people and only one desk open, it wasn’t being put into effect and the officer was quickly just stamping all passports. Expecting to be met by a driver with a sign with our names, we could not find him. A quick phone call to Easyjet and he came and found us.
Coming in to land in Naples with Vesuvius in the background
Dinner on our first evening
The hotel, Grand Hotel Capodimonte is a disappointment. It is supposed to be four star. A converted convent, it might have been four star when it was first converted, but now it is very run down. Also literally right on a dual carriageway. I have to say, we could not hear the traffic, but the room smelled awful, of sewerage, the television wasn’t working and a large chunk of coving around the ceiling was missing. Not a good start. We dropped our bags and went out to look for a restaurant. Finding a cheap and cheerful pizza place, we had two enormous pizzas with wine and mineral water for 22 Euros..
Dinner with my attentive companion !
Wednesday, sightseeing.
After a late breakfast and arranging to change rooms, we set off to explore Naples. It is a large spread out city and we are not in the most central part. It is also rather an, I will call it an edgy area, not dangerous but rather scruffy. Litter everywhere and graffiti too. Narrow streets with washing hanging on balconies. It reminds me of 1960’s films with Sophia Loren. I came here briefly when I was 18, but remember little about it, but I think I expected it to be rather rough.
Our walk from the hotel was all downhill, going in the direction of the port. Once we reached Piazza Dante we decided to catch the hop on hop off bus. It is a good way to get your bearings in a city and to give you an idea of what is worth seeing, There are two routes. ‘A’ which takes you mainly around the historic centre and route ‘B’ which climbs the hill and follows the coast to the south of the city.
Our Hop on hop off bus experience.
We took route ‘A’ first. As the bus cannot negotiate the very narrow streets, the guide points out where you can access various points of interest. The second route ‘B’ was far more scenic and also via the more affluent areas. The view along the coast was spectacular looking back towards the city centre with Vesuvius towering over it.
Some shots from route ‘A’.
Castelnuovo
Some shits from route ‘B’
View over the city with Vesuvius in the background.
Our new room is an improvement. No smell, less tatty and the tv works. We will make the best of it. On one of our days here we will try and visit Vesuvius and also the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum which the AD79 eruption buried. It was one of the deadliest eruptions in history ejecting more than 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The total populations of Pompeii and Herculaneum was 20,000 and the remains of 1,500 people have been found there. The total death toll, though, remains unknown.
Dinner
Tonight we hadn’t planned to, but went back to the same restaurant as last night. The place we wanted to eat at was closed, despite the information on the door saying it would be open. Instead of two pizzas, we had one between us and consequently feel much better for it. Tomorrow the plan is to get a hydrofoil across to the island of Ischia.
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