The train ride from Florence took 9 hours with a 2 hour wait in Rome (which was killed by eating ice cream and having a beer). The train from Rome to Napoli didn't have aircon and it was really crowded. Luckily all the windows were open, so we got a nice cross breeze.
When we got off the train the air was a mix of the clean ocean breeze seized with the aroma of pizza.
We stayed at Hotel Zara located very close to the railway station, with all that that entails of Italian and African street vendors and streets full of garbage. We were not hazzled in any way, and it felt safe at daytime. We made sure to back at the hotel before it got dark though. Downtown Napoli, near the boats that take you to Capri and Ishcia, was however clean and well kept, with a nice promenade and some interesting historical buildings and museums.
Naples is the third largest city in Italy after Rome and Milan, and has 960,000 inhabitants. Naples is one of the oldest continuously-inhabitatied cities in the world as it has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. It is, however, not a very exciting city, and most people only come here on their way to visit Pompei and Vesuvio.
Naples is, however, the birthplace of the pizza. The term "pizza" first appeared in a Latin text in 997 AD, which claims that a tenant of certain property is to give the bishop 'duodecim pizze' ['twelve pizzas'] every Christmas Day, and another twelve every Easter Sunday. Of course, we had to have pizza for dinner, and La Brace was recommended by the hotel, and a good choice.
The following day we walked around town, and hoped to find an Internet cafe as WiFi was not stable at our hotel, so we could look for a place to stay in Amalfi, but August 15th is the national holiday of Italy, so everything was closed. We decided to just to go Amalfi and hopefully find a place knowing full well that this is the peak holiday season for Italians.
It was 39 degrees, and we were dying for a swim in the ocean, so we walked one hour to 'the beach' - a concrete platform, but the water was heavenly. Andy saved a couple of sunglasses for a British girl, who had dropped them among the boulders. Hero of the day!
Dinner consisted of take-away pizza from Rossopomodore and a bottle of red wine at the Piazza Tieste e Treno.
Ciao Naples!
