Italy - Pompeii, Arpino

8-9^th June 2015, Pompeii and Arpino , Italy.

At 20:15 we left Sicily on a 10:15hr trip across the Tyrrhenian Sea to Naples.

It was a good crossing, especially compared to the previous crossing we had had from Barcelona to Cittavecchia (port close to Rome).
We took off on time and arrived only 15mins delayed at 6:45am. This time we had two four berth cabins this was the only option I could book online to accommodate a group of five. But it meant for a comfortable sleep.
Lachlan shared with Chris and I while Ollie and Jarvis had their own room.
The boys were happy to discover arcade games at only 50 euro cents per go. They were still young enough to get quite a kick out of sleeping on big boats.
Lachlan looked so adorable on the top bunk, with his bandaged foot daggling out of his sheet. Chris managed a bit of work too.

Naples didn’t really look the best as we drove along the waterfront from the ferry terminal. Despite its dodgy reputation it is said to be full of unique charms, distinct from the many other European cities which can all start to look a bit similar.

We were relieved that the road from Naples to Pompeii ran around the outskirts. It was noticeably quite an unusual road, a major long road all made of cobbles.

After a ‘filling in time’ breakfast in Pompeii town we headed for the site trying to get there for the 8:30 am opening time.

The waiter thought it was pretty strange that the kids ordered Spaghetti Carbonara for breakfast, but they were completely over sweet breakfasts from our time just spent in Sicily.
The waiter looked at me oddly as I accidentally ordered a large rum baba for breakfast.

Armed with a rather useless audio guide we spent the next few hours exploring the fabulous ruins of Pompeii.  They were so much more impressive than when Chris and I visited 15ish years ago, a lot more had been excavated and a lot of ongoing works were happening.

You could get a really good overall impression of the town that was once here, an active Roman centre which can to a standstill in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Vesuvius.  
Now we could walk inside buildings, re-emerged from the 4-6 m layer of ash and lava which had covered them. Some had even been re-roofed.
Lost for about 1500 years, it was initially rediscovered in 1599 and then again 150 years later. It has been a tourist destination for 250 years, approximately 2.5 million people visit a year.

The first hour 8:30-9:30 was nice and quiet, not too hot either. But by 9:30 the crowds were pouring in, making it difficult to walk up and down some of the roads.
By 10:30 it was 30C and quite uncomfortable with the lack of shade.
The paved roads were fascinating, they had opened up a large area since Chris and I were last there so we really got to see how extensive Pompeii was.
The raised pedestrian crossings allowed people to cross the street without having to step onto the road which doubled as a drainage and sewerage system.
The spaces between the pedestrian blocks allowed vehicles pass along the road.

 

  

The Forum, Pompeii.



House of Meander, Pompeii.

Teatro Grande, Pompeii.





Ampitheatre.

 

From Pompeii we drove to Arpino, a small hilltop town in the region of Lazio in central Italy. Here we were to spend the night before our midday flight to Greece the following day.

It was a bit of a windy road to get there but beautiful once we arrived.
We were staying the night in two rooms of Hotel Cavalier, a beautiful 18th century historic building with views to its lovely garden and out over the endless hills.

Arpino, Lazio, Italy.



 

 

 

Hotel Cavalier, Arpino.

 

Chris went off for a run and came back enthusiastically telling us “to get into it” while it was still light enough outside to see how lovely it was.

A very enthusiastic young male staff, who had visited NZ, joked to us “I could tell you where all the people are, but there aren’t any. In winter it is so quiet that I pack my bags and leave.”
But this was perfect for us. It felt like an undiscovered jewel.
The town was beautifully located high on the hillside, with a lovely small historic centre. The ancient archaeological site of ‘Civitavecchia’ (not to be confused with the port near Rome) was just around the corner. It predated Rome.
Chris had spotted a beautiful house for sale, we navigated it from the outside. Old, ornate and derelict with a town fountain out front.
I tried to imagine the inside and life that had been here. I had a big 'want' feeling, of purchasing something in need of love in an ‘undiscovered’ remote part of Italy.
Probably if I had done some research I would have found it had been discovered, but there was something in the air, an unexpectedness and ease of life hard to describe.

Arpino.

 We took the advice of the lady at reception and ate out at a casual trattoria. It was quite a neat environment inside, so relaxed. A simple menu with non-fussy food.
We ordered a 1L carafe of wine which was very drinkable (maybe too drinkable we felt the next morning), later we discovered this to be only 3 euros.
It came from a large stainless drum sitting by the entrance door where you could bring in your own containers and fill them up.
We got our first taste of ‘fried bread’, it was complimentary (not something I would normally opt for, thinking it to be too unhealthy), but unfortunately it was very yummy.
The next morning we left for Rome FCO airport, a 1:40hr drive, to catch a flight to Athens.
We selectively packed two bags to check-in for our flight and slightly nervously left the car packed up in a secured airport carpark for our return three and a half weeks later.