Naples, Italy

We docked in Naples this morning and started our day with a short taxi ride to the train station. The taxi ride was an event in itself…they drive crazy here! Mopeds and motorcycles weave in and out of the cars; the cars and trains share lanes; and the taxi drivers just go anyway they want…even against traffic. We made it to the train station with only a couple of close calls, caught the local train, and were off to Pompeii.


The ride to Pompeii is about half an hour, and it’s not what you’d call a scenic ride. The train is on the “back side” of town and runs through the industrial district and low income housing areas. However, it’s pretty efficient and inexpensive.

We arrived at Pompeii, purchased our tickets, and entered the grounds. I don’t think any of us had any idea how big the “grounds” are. There are rock roads to follow in various directions, many, many brick walls, and hundreds of ruins and sights to see. We wandered around for over two hours and did not come close to seeing the whole place. We took tons of photos, saw various ruins, and were generally amazed by the massive size of this place.

We ventured back onto the train and went to Sorrento. This is a beautiful town along the coast…as you can see in the photo with the buildings on the cliffs.

The weather turned to rain, so we decided that it was a great time to get lunch. We ate at Aurora Pizzeria right in the main square of town. We had a wonderful experience…caprese salad, pizza, and wine (of course). The food was very good, the wine enjoyable, and just an entertaining place.

To get back to the port in Naples, we took the hydrofoil boat. This is a “commuter” boat that gets the locals quickly between the local cities – Naples, Sorrento, Capri, etc. The boat ride was an adventure as the water had gotten pretty rough. We arrived back at the ship after dark that evening.