The dramatic dream coastline of Amalfi

31 August - 03 September

After spending all of our time in Italy so far in cities, Lindsay and I decided to head somewhere a bit more out of the way for her last three nights before having to head home to Canada. We took a bus south out of Napoli for the Amalfi Coast. The first 1.5 hours or so was pretty boring... Then we arrived onto the coast.

The Amalfi Coast is an incredible stretch of coastline with cliffs diving down into the sea across almost it's whole length. Roads have been constructed winding up, down and around the hills, all of them very narrow; there are gorgeous beaches hemmed in between clefts of the hills; and the views are stunningly dramatic.

It wasn't too surprising Lindsay felt a bit sick when we arrived into Amalfi - the very confident Italian bus drivers send their busses careering around the roads at pretty high speeds sometimes. Until they come across another bus, that is, when they inch past each other with barely a couple of inches to spare between the roadside barrier, each bus and the inside cliff. Honestly, it's that close!

Regardless, we made it to Amalfi and then on another bus to the small locality of Furore, where a lovely family-run B&B hosted us for three nights. The views were stunning...

The upstairs balcony where we got breakfast each day

Me enjoying a beer and the view at dusk

Sunset along the coast

It was a perfect place to relax for a few days and just enjoy the surroundings. From our B&B we went for a walk along the roads one day, just to have a look around. Amongst the fig trees growing left, right and centre, there were also some pretty cool views.

Some of the narrow twisting roads

Me looking down to the sea

While there we also made a day trip back down to Amalfi, along the coast to Positano, and also to Minori. The views along the bus ride were incredible at every corner - lots of people were constantly trying to snap off photos - but the towns were neat destinations in themselves, situated at spots with good beaches, and we definitely took some advantage of those at Positano for a couple of hours!

The narrow main shopping street in Amalfi township

The beach at Amalfi township 

Positano from where the bus dropped us off

Deckchairs at Positano beach (about €20 per day to hire or something!)

Minori township

The beach at Minori at dusk

Lindsay & I got another pizza at Minori for dinner (of course!) to finish off some three weeks of travelling together. We'd seen some pretty cool stuff, I have to admit, but it was time for Lindsay to head back home to Canada to start back at university. Meanwhile I was booked to fly to Barcelona for the start of several weeks in Spain.

So, the next morning we bussed together to Salerno and headed off separately from the train station. Thanks Lindsay for being an awesome travelling partner for a few weeks and I can't wait to see you again in NZ over New Years!!

Thanks Lindsay!

Napoli & Pompeii

29 - 31 August

We took a afternoon train to Napoli (Naples), several hours south of Rome.

I really have nothing of any particular interest to say about Napoli. It seemed like an industrial town, filled with hooting cars (it actually reminded me of Peru in that aspect) and nothing really to see. Despite being on the coast, it's just a port town, with no real beaches nearby.

The only good thing I can say about the city is the pizza. This world-famous dish is a Neapolitan invention, and the best pizzas in the world (in my opinion) are definitely to be found here. Almost every restaurant was a pizzeria, they serve it fast, it tastes amazing, they're huge pizzas, and they're cheap.

€3-5 for a large dinner-plate size, real thin crust, delicious pizza? Why is it no surprise we ate only pizzas while there? I don't think I'll ever be able to order Pizza Hut or Domino's ever again...

Thankfully we had only two nights there, serving as a base for a day trip in between to Pompeii. Almost everyone knows the story - the Roman town that was covered by ash and pumice from an eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. The town was almost perfectly preserved and has now been archaeologically revealed to give an amazing insight of what Roman culture was like.

First view of the edge of the city of Pompeii

It's hard to really describe what walking around the city is all about. Basically it's all stone paving, with the remnants of most of the houses, public baths, the forum, and even theatres and a stadium all left relatively intact. Amazing details of wall paintings and mosaics are quite well preserved. Archaeologists have now named all of the streets (modern Italian names of course!) so you get a little street map to follow around!

So I think the best way I can describe what it was like to be there is to simply present a photo montage... Enjoy!

Aerial of just part of the site (thanks Google Maps)
The Forum and Basilica are the open rectangular areas around centre left
The "Large Theatre" and "Small Theatre" are the semi-circular shapes near the bottom right
Most of the other constructions are houses, the larger ones being mansions or possibly public baths
There is even a brothel there!

Inside the "Basilica"

Latin carving on remains of an arch in the Forum

A view down the end of the Forum with the daunting shape of Mt Vesuvius behind

One of the busy "main streets" within the compound, named by archaeologists as "Via dell'Abbondanza" (street of abundance) lined with ruins of houses on either side

Me peering down another street

Details of street cobbling
The ruts are made from 160 years of carts travelling down the road
The raised stones are believed to have acted as a sort of pedestrian crossing to avoid rainwater (or probably sewage!) running along the streets, which act themselves as a drainage system

View across part of the town from a small viewpoint, with Mt Vesuvius in the background at right

A number of the buildings were open to look around inside (although many are also not accessible for preservation reasons). The decorations inside are sometimes exquisite and often very well preserved. 

Interior stucco remains

Interior stucco remains

Interior designs in one of the public bathhouses, where condensation from steam was designed to run down behind the white ribbed stucco you can see, as a kind of drainage system

Detailled interior painting - still preserved after so many years!

Interior small sculpture designs

Mosaic floor tiling (depicting a dog in front)

Mosaic floor decorations of a battle

A huge number of various items have been recovered in the archaelogical digs, and a number of these were displayed in a covered shelter. All sorts of jugs, pottery, tables etc were found. There were also a number of petrified people on display, some in various positions of prayer.

A collection of items from the archaelogical dig

A petrified person

Inside the small theatre

Me in the large theatre

Lindsay in the large theatre (with a church spire from the modern-day town of Pompei behind)

All in all, it was a fascinating day of exploring the town, and Lindsay and I spent some 4 or 5 hours wandering around, just trying to take it all in, and imagine people actually living and working here. It really did feel like it could be an actual small town!

Back in Napoli again, the only highlight was the opportunity for more Neapolitan pizza. First thing the next morning we caught a bus south to the Amalfi Coast for a completely contrasting experience!

Roman remnants right round

26 - 29 August

We got one of the slow trains through to Roma (Rome) - Italy has some very nice but very expensive fast trains - waited for over half an hour for our urban bus to small apartment we'd booked, but found a very friendly owner waiting for us at the bus stop who took us there and gave us a great overview of the city.

From first impressions Roma seemed like a busy, urbanised city, but we had a few hours to spare on our first afternoon and straight away, got a taste of one of the most famous historical sights in the world...

One guess as to what there is to see at the Piazza del Colosseo...?

The Colosseum

As you probably all know, this was a construction from ancient Roman times (finished in 80 AD) which was used as a massive ampitheatre for the likes of gladiator sports and other public spectacles.

Interestingly, the massive angled walls that are so iconic of the Colosseum are, in fact, relatively modern additions! If you look closely in the photo above, the difference between the brickwork can be clearly seen. Previously, the whole Colosseum was as tall as the larger parts, but the southern side collapsed in earthquake damage in 1349. In the early 1800s the triangular block wedges were added for stability purposes.

The interior itself is in reasonably poor condition in places - much of the stonework, marble decoration and iron reinforcement clamps used have long since been removed, reused on other constructions. However, it's still a fascinating and surreal place to look around. We were there until dusk, and the sun setting behind the walls from inside was an impressive sight.

The gravity and significance of where we were was quite awesome. And there was graffiti in Latin!

View through an archway into the ampitheatre

Colosseum from inside, including the underground chambers where prisoners & animals etc were kept, and a reconstruction of the arena at the back left. The English word "arena" comes from the Latin for "sand", which covered the central exhibition space.

Dusk from within the Colosseum, when all the tourists had left too

The next day, we headed for the nearby Roman Forum, which (as the name suggests) was the forum where announcements, trials and the like - even including gladiatorial matches - were made to the Roman public. The site is littered with ruins covered in Latin scrawl and tributary arches to various army victories. A very detailed (overly so!) audio guide told us about the layers upon layers of history there, the many emperors who added their own buildings or arches to the area.

View over just part of the Forum

One of the many tributary arches

Tributary arch of Septimus Severus (I think) covered in Latin accolades

Tributary arch & dome

Imagination tells me this is where Mark Antony shouted "Friends, Romans, Countrymen... Lend me your ears!".
History of course tells us otherwise!

As we headed to the nearby Palatine Hill, where many various emperors and affluent Romans had their residences. Legend dictates that this is where Romulus and Remus were sheltered by a she-wolf, with Romulus going on to found the city of Rome (hence it's names). The name, "Palatine", is also said to be the origin of the word "palace".

The hill provided several good views, ruins of some of the emperor's palaces, and a large stadium-type place. As we were up there, a massive rain storm suddenly came through - massive thunder claps and everything. We sheltered from the rain for well over an hour before moving on!

The storm rolling in over the city - the greenish dome of St Peter's Basilica in The Vatican is visible on the horizon in the middle of the photo

The Stadium of Domitian, part of his palace

Sheltering from the rain! (not actually)

Within half an hour, the sun was out shining bright again. A few more snaps of the forum, and we headed in towards some other parts of the city.

The Forum with the sun out

Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) which also houses a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I

The very famous Fontani di Trevi - one of those places you go, push through the crowds for a photo, go, "that's really awesome" and then leave...

So after just one and a half days, we'd seen quite a lot already... But Rome is a massive place absolutely steeped in history, and we'd barely got started. The next day we dedicated to Vatican City, a destination - and country! - in it's own right. We started in St Peter's Square, one of those places you've heard of so many times, and seen so often in movies or on TV, that it's incredibly familiar. Actually being there is another experience however!

Piazza San Pietro (St Peter's Square) in front of Basilica di San Pietro or Basilica Sancti Pietri (St Peter's Basilica)

Piazza San Pietro

Decorations above the Colonnades surrounding the piazza, which actually give the "square" an oval shape

While I've been to numerous churches this year, St Peter's Basilica is a completely different experience. It's utterly colossal - the largest Christian church in the world, and you can't help but stand in awe once inside, regardless of anyone's religious beliefs. Countless popes are interred there - not least the late Pope John Paul II, whose tomb was a very popular place for prayer. St Peter himself is believed to be buried below the altar.

This picture doesn't even begin to signify how incredibly large the basilica is

The lavishly decorated ceiling & dome towering above the altar

The tomb of the late Pope John Paul II ("Joannes Pavlvs" on the engraving)

Cleaning the floor!

Despite anyone's religious beliefs, I found the basilica to be a fascinating place I could only be in awe of. You can't help but just go "wow". It was an excellent moment for a bit of personal reflection. The grotto beneath, home to many of the interred popes, was a bit spooky but also fascinating.

After getting our fill - both Lindsay and I were happy to wander for quite some time, marvelling at the place - we headed around to Musei Vaticani, home to countless treasures and also the gateway to enter the Sacellum Sixtinum or Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel).

Some Swiss guards we spotted on the way out

Frescoes in the Apostolic Palace, home to the Sistine Chapel 

A hallway in the Apostolic Palace

The rooms throughout the Apostolic Palace itself are impressive enough, with countless amazing ceiling frescoes and an incredible collection of art. The most famous place itself, the Sistine Chapel, is right at the end of the museum route, one that is very strictly controlled for photos (i.e. none) and silence.

The Chapel itself is actually not the largest or most lavish room - a simple rectangular shape that was crowded with whispering people. However once you look up, your jaw kind of drops, and 10 minutes later you realise your neck is getting quite sore. The decorations of Michaelangelo are quite simply stunning, and looking up at it, you keep noticing more and more and more. And more.

We obeyed the photo police - actually it was quite nice to concentrate on where we were without trying to shoot off a photo - and headed back home quite in awe.

We had a bit of time on our last morning for a few more interesting spots.

Ruins of the Theatre of Pompey where Caesar is believed to have been assassinated (roughly near the tree at left)

What's this, another famous place??! The Pantheon...

Inside The Pantheon

As we crossed a bridge over the River Tiber, just before heading to the train station, we got one last view of Rome. It was an amazing few days - the history, the prestige, the centre of an empire and a religion - and it was almost hard to believe I'd been there. What a fascinating place!

View from a bridge over the River Tiber with St Peter's Basilica in the background