Sorry for being MIA! We headed down to Rome's southern, impoverished little brother Naples. The culture was two notches up in Italian and quite a few steps down from easy peasy tourism! Hardly anyone spoke very much English. I started majorly regretting going to Italy when I DON'T KNOW ANY ITALIAN!!! During our 3 night stay out in the a gritty suburb of Naples we became well versed in several key Italian phrases, including do you speak english, how much is it, which is the Metro and where is the bathroom? The people were still uber well dressed and every talks and acts like the Godfather. I LOVE hearing how people talk around here!
We camped at Campeggio Sulfutara--- which is a campground built ON TOP OF A VOLCANO!!!
Camp Sulfutara
March 19
Our first experience at a European campground was interesting. We were the only tenters-- the rest of the poeple there were in RVs. There was no place for campfires and the place was fully equipped with showers, laundry etc. About 500 feet away was a busy street right near the middle of a thriving suburb. In the morning you could hear birds chirping... and dump trucks roaring... The coolest part was the volcano it was built on.
Solfutara Volcano
March 20
This is the most active part of the volcano-- probably a 1000 feet from the campground. These vents are spewing a very odiferous sulfur smell- one that managed to permeate the entire campground- not our favorite thing about this spot!
Pompei Ruins
March 20
After touring the volcano, we hopped a Metro down to the Pompei ruins. So cool! 11 euros each and we got to see a whole city practically left intact from 2000 years ago.
Mt Vesuvius from Pompei
March 20
That's Mt Vesuvius behind Phil. What a terrifying day it must have been when that baby blew up and poured hot lava all over this hapless town!
Hapless Pompein
March 20
This is one of those bodies captured in time. So creepy and cool at the same time!
We toured Pompei with our new travel friend we met at the train station. His name is Rick and he's invited us out to dinner in Naples where we met a handful of his hostelmates for pizza. We went to a place called Gino's and had the best pizza of our lives. I have never tasted any pizza more delicious in my whole life, OMG soo life-changingly good!!! It was nice to socialize with other travelers too.
Pozzouli, Italy
March 21
On our last day in Naples/Pozzuoli, we took a stroll through the town. There were a lot of wandering dogs, graffitti and litter which was disheartening for such a beautiful part of the world. It was quite a switch from our cushy, touristy destinations.
Giant Phil
March 22
Today we mostly spent on the TrenItalia, making the commute to Florence. At this moment we are comfortably checked in to our Florence hostel and it feels good not to be sleeping on the ground anymore. Tomorrow we will tour the most beautiful Duomo I have ever seen.
We are in good spirits!
Yay! Looks like you guys are having so much fun. And I'm glad you found a friend.
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