Took a trip out to see the ruins of Pompeii today. As a bonus, the 11 Euro admission price was waived today for Garibaldi's birthday. Score. (By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! Wish I was there to celebrate.)
The ruins were pretty fascinating for a while. Walking down these streets trying to imagine life here in the first century AD was fun as I pretended that the herds of tourists were Roman citizens picking up bread from the bakery or filling the amphitheater to see some blood. Here and there, plaster casts of people dying in the Mt. Vesuvius' eruption were on display. Gruesome. After a few hours, my neck and forehead were sun burnt and I was pretty exhausted. So I skipped touring Herculaneum in nearby Ercolano. It's unfortunate because I read that the site is a bit less pillaged than Pompeii.
I noticed a lot of husbands and wives bickering at each other while walking around the ruins. It was sad and amusing. Funny thing was, on the train ride there, I was thinking to myself that I wouldn't mind being a bit older right now. Knowing that I'd have more experience and wisdom under my belt. That (despite what these annoying anonymous posters want to believe) I'll have settled a bit and have things 'figured' out a little. But to see these annoyed husbands snapping at their wives, I was happy to be single and young for a moment. On the ride back to the hostel, I saw the cutest couple and their infant daughter. A complete contrast. The girl's father kissed her chins and seemed pretty darn happy. Her mother was beautiful but I could tell she was ready to go home for a nap, too.
It's wild how much the city shuts down in the sunnhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gify afternoons around 2pm. Spain and Italy take the whole afternoon off. As the sun starts to go down, everyone pops out onto the streets again.
In the evening I shot back out to downtown Naples for another pizza at Da Michele's. So good. I took a long walk around the area and strolled down some very atmospheric streets. Scooters zoomed every which way. Young and hip Neapolitans kicked it around the piazzas, drank beer, and flirted with each other.
As crappy as Italy's been so far (blame Lufthansa), I have enjoyed these moments where I've walked through 'film sets' of movies in my imagination. Oh, and the pizza's pretty fantastic, too.
STUFF: I was reading about this GPS device on ddoi. If I could pack one more piece of gear for the trip (like I need more) it would be a GPS device to track all of the km I've spent wandering lost through the streets of European cities. With Google Earth, it can help you plot out maps like this. Ah toys.
Labels: Italy
Happy 4th of July!! It's hot here!! 104