But it is also from Naples that we visited 2 wonderful places. First, we went to Pompeii for a day trip. Pompeii is located about 30 minutes away from Naples by train. The train ride was hassle free and straight forward. Pompeii is a buried roman city after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. You could see the volcano from almost wherever you stand in Pompeii. Again, like many archaeolgical sites, you have to walk alot. The weather that day was so so hot and dry that we almost thought we would suffer a heat stroke. Like the Roman Forum in Rome, Pompeii is very well planned and well laid out. It has got all the essential features of any typical modern day cities - the shops, the houses, the laundry, the bakery, the necropolis and of course, the brothels. Life didn't seem very different then as compared to today, if you think about it except of course for the technology we enjoy today. I was most amazed by the lupanars (the brothels). They had such explicit drawings there that it says in the audio guide that it is meant for as a source of inspiration for the clients. In fact, many erotic drawings filled the walls in Pompeii, not just in the brothels. Historians have claimed that for the people at that time, such drawings are not seen as lurid and in fact is humourous and entertainment for the people. 
Anyway, Pompeii is such a huge city that archaeologists are still digging and have not finished excavating the entire place yet. The technology used in the excavation is amazing. As a buried city, the buildings, the vessels and even the remains of the pompeiians were very well preserved. We see many plasters of human beings all around pompeii all thanks to an archaeologist who thought of pouring liquid plaster into a little hole they have dug and let it solidify for a couple of days. After which, they would slowly extract the plaster out from below the ground and that is how we get to see the actual expression and physical features of the pompeiians. Many of them have hands covering their faces and have contorted physique. From all these, we can infer that the pompeiians have not expected the volcano to erupt and that they were shielding themselves from the intense heat. To really explore pompeii, I think you would need more than a day. That is if you can take the heat and is genuinely interested in the lives of the people at that time. I enjoy the trip but one day at pompeii is enough for me.
After so many archeaological stuff, my brain needs some respite and it is good we were headed for Capri the following day. To get to Capri from Naples, you need to take a ferry which takes about an hour and cost 32 euros for a 2 way ticket. Capri is a well known resort island where the rich and famous while away their time. Capri is a beautiful island and very touristy too, which makes it a little too crowded for my liking at times. It is not as exclusive as I would like and expect it to be. You would have to be prepared to spend if you want to go to Capri. Nothing is cheap there. And it is in Capri that we had the best meal in our trip. Just a pasta and a plate of fried calamari would cost us about 60 euros. It's as good as eating at some high end restaurant in Singapore. It is quite cool and quaint to walk through the narrow lanes and go into shops once you take the furnicular up to the town. Once we were sick and tired of being up there, we went back down and did a cruise around Capri for an hour. In this hour, they brought us to see many of the beautiful grottos of the islands. We wanted to visit the Blue Grotto but we didn't know that it is only open in the morning. Apparently, it is high tide in the afternoon and with the entrance of the grotto being only 1 metre high, we couldn't get in there. The water in Capri is so clear and once we get back to the town, we went to dip our feet in the cool water. Capri doen not have a sandy beach. Instead, the whole area was rather rocky and it is so painful to trudge and get my way past the rocks and into the water. A pity I didn't bring my swimwear. Otherwise, it would have been a perfect lazy afternoon.
The last day in Naples was quite a relaxing one for us. We spent the first half of the day trying to explore Naples. We walked our way to the historic old town and I wanted so much to visit the all year round Christmas alley where they sell handcrafted Nativity scene which Naples is so famous for. The workmanship is very precise and it was all very beautiful. But after walking through the shops in the alley, we thought there was nothing very much for us to see. The churches in Naples were not as beautiful as those in Rome. And the streets were so dangerous that we would think twice about getting our camera out to shoot. The last thing I want is to lose all the pictures taken in this trip. That would be more painful than losing the physical camera. So we walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day watching BBC news and movies. We had our last dinner in Naples at the hotel's restaurant. This is in fact the first restaurant that didn't charge us for the bread and service. And the food is pretty decent too.
The one silver lining in our stay in Naples is the hotel. At least UNA Hotel is safe and extremely comfortable. The room is spacious and the bathroom has got nice fittings. And Naples being such an unsafe city to be in, it is a plus point for the hotel to be located near the train station. If you are planning on shopping in Naples, forget it; unless you are into buying fake Pradas and LVs. All in all, the trip is quite an eye opener. I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it. On hindsight, as I am doing up my blog, I am quite amazed at the number of places we visited and of course, the trip definitely made me more appreciative of Singapore. That is a good thing, isn't it?
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