Pompei & Naples

Oh, what a weekend I've had... On Saturday morning, my sister and I went to the main train station in Rome and went to Napoli, which was a two hour ride just south of Rome. We immediately went to the ticket station in order to catch the bus to Pompei, which is where we had planned to tour the ancient ruins. The weather was absolutely beautiful - almost 30 degrees with sun, sun, sun, making the emergency umbrella in my purse a menace. We met this nice American couple who were on vacation in Italy, and Pompei was their last stop before flying back to Iowa from the Fiumincino airport. We struck up a conversation with them, and luckily for us, they took us under their wing and we all stuck together. If it weren't for them, navigating around the trains and booths would have been much more stressful. It was also more comforting knowing that it looked like we were traveling with "mom and dad" instead of just as a pair.

Pompei was a resort town in the Roman Empire, located just a half hour south of Naples on the western coast of Italy. Many wealthy Romans at the time had "country homes" there, which they visited during their time off and especially during the summers, where Rome was to hot to bear with its crowds of people. In its prime, the city of Pompei had a population of nearly 20,000 people. Unfortunately, this part of Italy happens to be a highly active volcanic area, and August 24, 79 A.D proved it so. The entire city was buried by the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. While most people fled the eruption immediately, approximately 2,000 people opted to stay and were buried in the eruption along with the city. Most people died from a blast of poisonous gasses. The eruption lasted for nearly a day, the end result being Pompei buried under some 25 feet of volcanic material, and Herculaneum (Pompei's neighbor to the north) with as much as 65 feet. After the eruption, the only savings from these two cities came from the memories of those who once summered there. Both Pompei and Herculaneum remained undiscovered until the 1700's, although it wasn't until the mid 1800's that careful recording of discoveries began. The lapilli and ash had done an amazing job of preserving the city, allowing people to visit and explore the ruins today.

We spent approximately three hours inside, and when it was time to go, we met these two Canadian guys who were also waiting for the train back to Naples. 

When we arrived back to the train station, we agreed to walk around for a bit and experience real Neapolitan pizza, something that my taste buds were begging me to do.
This is the thing about pizza from Naples... It's the best you will ever have in your entire life. Period. There is no place in the world but this, and no pizzeria that comes from outside of this city that can make a more delicious pie. Then there's the famous pizzeria Da Michele, which is quite possibly the most famous pizzeria in the world. As heartbreaking as it is, the shop is closed on Saturday's, so we did not get to experience the pizza that had Elizabeth Gilbert in tears and that Oprah Winfrey bragged about forever. You must understand in order to truly grasp the importance of the pizza in Naples is that it was invented there, so even history tells us that they're doing it right.

The reasons vary as to why Neapolitan pizza is so delicious, and I have narrowed down the top five reasons as to why it can't be beat.
1. The history.
2. The secret recipes that have been passed down to each generation.
3. The tradition of Italian food itself, and taking time to make something the right way.
4. The coffin wood that fuels the burning ovens.
5. The fresh ingredients.
We walked just outside of the train station for a bit, where we gained a true sense of the city. Being there made me so thankful that I had chosen Rome as my humble abode for the past year. I remember having a conversation with one of my neighbours who once explained to me that her and her family originally came from Naples, but that they had moved to Rome because it was safer. There were cars roaring, beeping, honking and running each other over this way and that.