Moving southward

As Ewan has pointed out to me I was so busy carrying on about his love of technology I have neglected to describe the last day's sightseeing in Rome.

In a nutshell we:

- Visited Castel Sant Angelo, a papal fortress for the popes to escape to when the Vatican was under attack. Ewan was delighted to see this Castel or citadel as when we visited Turkey he insisted that we climb every one we could find! This one had a very interesting spiral ramp to get to the top with splendid views and a very pretty terrace restaurant. The decor in the Pope's apartments was a mixture as various work had been done over some centuries. Well worth a visit.

- Wandered across Hadrian's Bridge and along the green Tiber River doing our best to avoid the young African men selling everything from camera stands to Prada handbags on blankets spread on the ground. At the sight of police there is a mad flurry to gather the merchandise up in the blankets and leave as fast as possible.

- Consulted with the GPS/tablet and managed to negotiate the numerous bus stops to the catacombs of Saint Callisto next to the Via Appia Antica. There are more than 37 square kilometres of crypts and there were 500,000 bodies buried there. Fortunately we went underground (15 degrees celsius: lovely!) and discovered that the crypts are empty: not a bone to be seen anywhere. It was fascinating but I am glad we weren't there to see them in their heyday!

- Wandered along the ancient route into Rome, past the one mile post, trying to conjure up visions of thousands of soldiers marching home from triumphs on the battlefields. All I could think of was a few of those movies like Ben Hur with lots of Hollywood extras in togas. The Via Appia Antica runs along open grassland and yet is so close to Rome - there would probably be an outcry if development was suggested because of the thousands of crypts lying underground.

- Headed for home and a bit of respite from the heat and humidity. It's been about 30 degrees every day and quite humid with it. So the afternoon 'siesta' with a cold drink and some cheese, prosciutto and olives from the local deli has been much appreciated. A chance for me to put my feet up and Ewan's knees to revive is vital after walking for hours on end.

- Consulted with TripAdvisor and visited our local Trattoria - Candido - for mussels and pizza. The previous night we'd had a delicious Tuscan meal at a restaurant called Madelini Toscani: owned and run by a jazz musician, a journalist and a publisher, all of whom were born in Tuscany.

Today we packed up, farewelled Roma and headed for Termini Station to catch the intercity train to Naples. The choice of trains, costs and times is vast here. We managed to conquer the purchasing of tickets via an automatic machine and bought first class seats on a slower train: about 2 hours.  A great way to see the countryside and not have to worry about driving on the wrong side of the road. When we arrived we caught a taxi to the apartment i had booked on airbnb. Getting from the main train station to the old part of town took 10 minutes or so, but it was the most horrendous trip ever! Naples is famous for its traffic, narrow streets and the complete disregard shown for any sort of traffic rule. The shortcuts the taxi driver took were a complete mystery to us and seemed to be based on almost killing a large number of the locals - fortunately with no success.

The apartment is tiny but has an outside lift enclosed in a wire cage. It's in a typical Naples apartment block  in the centre of the old quarter so we spent some time wandering around taking numerous photos of washing on lines running across narrow lanes between buildings, and HUGE somewhat neglected churches that seem to be on every street.  We were on a mission to go to the Musee Archaeological Nationale because many of the Pompeii treasures are in there ( and plaster casts are what you actually see at Pompeii itself). It was a beautiful large palace belonging to the Farnesi family who sponsored much of the excavations at Pompeii in the 18th Century.

After overdosing on statues, frescoes and household items in the Musee we needed reviving and had a coffee granita which was very strong icy espresso coffee: (what a jolt it gave us!) and onwards we went with renewed vigor perusing the alleyways.

Eventually a rest was needed so back at the apartment we watched an exciting episode of Doctor Who dubbed into Italian. No idea what it was about. Some pasta and antipasto for dinner completed another busy day.

Addendum to previous blog: I do wish to point out that Ewan has set me up with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I can do this blog with much less swearing than last time. Some technology is useful I have to admit.

However today we were walking back to the apartment in the rain and Ewan disappeared. I waited, I looked , I sauntered back down the hill and eventually had to ring him.  Guess where he was??? The TIM shop!!!!!!! He was having a lovely chat to his new best friend - the TIM salesman. I will make no more comment, but I tell you he's addicted to technology and just couldn't go past it.

your transient Napoli resident,

Dianne