A Panda to Tuscany++

[Jacques Vert]

Back on the main island we bumped into this character who was spruiking for a live play covering the history of Venice.



The deal was that you mentioned his name (David) at the ticket office and you get a discount (most likely everyone gets a discount, but...). The show was 30Eur and for 10 Eur extra you got dinner at a nearby restaurant. The show consisted of a half hour documentary (the one on Venice that has been shown on SBS) plus the live performance (in English) that went for about one and a half hours. We gave it a go and thoroughly enjoyed it. Dinner was quite good and the show good fun.

If you're interested go to Teatro San Gallo (www.teatrosangallo.net).

No visit to Venice would be complete without a walk around the Piazza San Marko:

 

[Jacques Vert]

There are lots of beautiful churches in Italy and Europe in general. It is pointless trying to do a comparison. That said, San Marko is one of my favourites; it is so different to most of the others and so exquisite, a true gem:









Entry to the main part of the church is free; Eur 5.00 to go up to the facade (where the horse statues are).

There is an additional Eur 2.00 per person to look at the Treasure; according to ItalyGuides:

the collection's most precious piece can be seen behind the high altar: the famous Golden Pala, an altar pala made from hundreds of pieces of enamel stuck onto a golden leaf. It was started around the year 1000 and enriched during the following three centuries with all kinds of precious stones: sapphires, garnets, pearls, emeralds, amethysts, rubies, agate and topaz, a total of 1927 stones.

You are not allowed to take photos of the treasure and it doesn't show up well in photos anyway (or so I am told).

 

[Jacques Vert]

A selection of scenes around Venice before we move on:

 

[Ric]

Great TR and photos. Picked up a bunch of tips from this TR for my next trip. Many thanks.

 

[ellen10]

There is something so special and different about Venice.
You have captured lots of great pics that have brought back lost of memories for me. Thank you
We didn't get to Lido but did enjoy a trip out to Burano. A very pretty little island

 

[Jacques Vert]

Great TR and photos. Picked up a bunch of tips from this TR for my next trip. Many thanks.

Happy to hear that; the ability to share information (and absorb same from others) is what I love about AFF. I hope you are able to put a couple of things we learned to good use.

JV

 

[Jacques Vert]

There is something so special and different about Venice.
You have captured lots of great pics that have brought back lost of memories for me. Thank you
We didn't get to Lido but did enjoy a trip out to Burano. A very pretty little island

I will add Burano to the bucket list for our next visit.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Venice to Naples:

Check out, tow the roller bags to the lift at Quarto D'Altino station for the train to Mestre (for Eur3-30) to connect with the train to Rome. Up in the lift no worries and then...no train! A number of announcements in Italian that are of little use to us but we work out that it is either running very late or has been cancelled. Luckily we had decided to catch an early train in case of just this situation and when a train eventually turns up we still make Mestre with time to spare. And of course you need time to spare when you have to carry all those bags down the stairs, along the subway and back up the other bloody stairs because the required platform is one that won't have a lift for another 12 months!

Now again I thank the man in seat 61 for his advice as our tickets from Venice Mestre to Rome cost us the princely sum of Eur9-00 each. Not a FrecciaWhatever this time but the Regionale 585; same 2nd class carriages as the FrecciaBianca we took from Milan to Venice but towed by a more conventional style of locomotive. The 585 stills gets along at a fair pace but has a few extra stops so it takes 5hr 50min whereas the FrecciaArgento takes around 2 hours less. This is of no great concern as our only goal today is to get to Rome Termini and pick up another car then drive to Naples. The 585 leaves Venice Mestre at the gentlemanly hour of 0929 and arrives at Termini at 1520, and saves us about Eur100 as opposed to the fast train. Nice.

Only problem is that it takes us around twenty minutes to offload our bags and find the car rental office, 30 minutes to do the paperwork, then we have to tow the bags half a kilometre down the street to the car park and the hire car man is missing. Once we find him, the one who speaks less English than I speak Italian, load the bags, check the vehicle for dents, etc., etc. we leave the carpark just in time to get stuck in peak hour traffic; in Rome! Fortunately this only added an extra hour to our day and we didn't hit anything, and nothing hit us, so I count that as a success.

For the record, we hired both our cars on this trip through Argus Car Hire, a company based in Ireland that just rounds up quotes from other companies and presents them all on the one page. We had used them on a previous trip and had no problems and the rates are very competitive. For example, the Panda we picked up in Milan (MXP) cost us Eur 220 for 20 days (that is without the excess reduction insurance that they will push at you, because we were covered for that under our travel insurance policy).

This time Argus found us a "Mini car similar to Hyundai i10" but what we got was ....



Another Panda!

This time a silver one. Well at least I had just about figured out how to drive one of these things so off we went.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Our hotel for the next two days is the Holiday Inn at Nola, about 30km from downtown Naples but adjacent to the A30 which continues to Salerno so it is convenient for our plans.

This HI is only about 5 years old and situated in a shopping mall/industrial park area. I had the feeling that the industrial area was being developed when the GFC hit and not much had happened since, but at least the shopping mall was fully operational. It's design is supposed to represent a volcano and we had a nice room with a balcony overlooking the crater:









We found this to be a very nice hotel which unfortunately had the worst restaurant in Italy. We sat down around 8-40PM and ordered our meals and a bottle of Prosecco shortly after we sat down. We had to ask again for our wine and when +1's meal arrived around 9PM the wine was still nowhere to be seen. As +1's meal was not as ordered we had to query the staff. At 9-05 the wine arrived but no meal for me and no resolution to +1's. I had to open the wine myself and it had come straight off the shelf, not from the fridge. My meal arrived at 9-20 but still no resolution to +1's, which was finally sorted out at 10-00PM, 80 minutes after we sat down:shock:

What a shame. This could be a great hotel, nice rooms and atmosphere but they need to sort out the restaurant. While the staff tried hard they had not been properly trained and had very little idea what they were supposed to be doing.

Fortunately there is a food court in the shopping mall and while it is mostly of the fast food type, at least you would get to eat in a reasonable timeframe.

All we wanted was an easy meal and off to bed at a reasonable hour as tomorrow we were heading for the big V.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Versuvius:

Now you wouldn't think that a mountain of this size and notoriety would be difficult to find; but Miss Garmin (the GPS we bought in Monaco) had no idea. After trying unsuccessfully for about 15 mins, I just zoomed in on the large green patch with no roads not far to the east of Naples and there it was. Apparently Miss Garmin had decided she was a local and was refusing to accept any instructions unless she received them in Italian! She knew exactly how to get to Parco naz_onale del Versuvio and more than willing to take us there, but NOT Versuvius!

So down the A3/E45 heading south (why does one Autostrada have two names?) and we take the Ercolano exit, turn left through the underpass to cross under the A3, through some back streets and start the climb. There are signs but not always easy to spot when you are driving in the chaos of Italian roads, but they look something like this...



That brown sign on the top says Versuvio.



Is Miss Garmin sure this is the way?

We feel more comfortable as we start to climb:







We eventually reach the car park (which is for buses only) and turn around and park in one of the bays marked in blue. This usually means you have to pay but there is nowhere to do so. I checked with the guy guarding the entrance to the bus parking area who says "no ticket, no ticket". So onwards and upwards.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I read somewhere in my research that you can drive to within about 800 metres of the summit and then walk up the track to the crater:



I presumed they meant an 800 metre walk but it seemed more like an 800 metre rise. You have to pay a fee before heading off uphill from the carpark (Eur 10.00 per adult). But the views of the crater and surrounds are worth it (assuming it is a sunny day):





All that climbing is thirsty work and this guy at the crater assured me the grapes for his wine were grown right there on the mountain:



At Eur 3 a glass the red went down very well.

Have I mentioned my dislike of tour groups? It was suggested that we should take the bus tour for about Eur30 per person, guide included. We meet up with some people from a group at the crater. They got a bus ride, dropped off at the parking area, walked up the hill by themselves and when they reached the top, the guide who was waiting there gave a five minute spiel on the mountain and its eruptions, told the groupies to have a look around and not to be late for the bus back. Not sure I would have been happy if I had parted with 60-00 Euros for that for the two of us.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Herculaneum (Ercolano):

Herculaneum is/was a roman resort/fishing town that was buried in the same eruption that wiped out Pompeii in AD79. Of course, Miss Garmin has never heard of it but we have come to understand her more after Versuvius. A few minutes go by and she agrees to take us to Scavi Archeologico di Ercolano. The word "Scavi" is very handy in these parts and translates as either "ruins" or "archeological excavation dig" (depending on which dictionary you consult). Either way, say the word scavi to any local and they will quickly point you in the direction you need to go.

Down the A3/E45 heading south, and we take the same Ercolano exit as the previous day but this time veer right, downhill along the main street rather than left towards Versuvius. Towards the centre of town in Via 4 Novembre there is the Museo Archeologico Virtuale where you can apparently experience a multimedia re-enactment of the eruption. Time was against us so we had to leave this for next time. At the bottom of the street is the pedestrian entry to the scavi; if you are driving turn left/south along Corso Resina, right at the next decent street Via Alveo (not to be confused with a couple of narrow lanes you will pass), and then next right which will take you to the underground car park, where you can leave your car for as long as you like (for a fee of course).

Pompeii was buried by ash and lapilli whereas Herculaneum, being much closer to the volcano, was buried in a volcanic mudslide to depths of 10 to 30 metres. The mud hardened to a form of soft rock and, after a few generations, Herculaneum was forgotten and a new town developed on top of the old. Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1709 when a farmer digging a well came across the roman theatre. Today, 75% of old Herculaneum (including the fully excavated theatre which cannot be visited) remains underneath the new town of Ercolano:



with Versuvius not far away:



At the ticket office you can but a ticket for Eur11.00, or a three day pass for 20.00 which covers Ercolano, Pompeii and three other sites: Oplonti, Stabia and Boscoreale. From the ticket office you go down through the rock until you reach the original ground level and enter Herculaneum from the ancient beach:



On the day of the eruption, about 300+ residents took shelter at the seaside baths:



A few more of whom are discovered as the excavations continue:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Some more of Herculaneum:

 

[Jacques Vert]

OK, a couple more:

Warning: the last image in this post may concern some readers.









It's hard to imagine the horror of such an event but perhaps this scene gives a small indication:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Okay; so I have been slack and haven't finished this TR. We made it back to Aus and between catching up on all those mundane things at home and loosing our internet four times due to thunderstorms and then X'mas - New Year, etc.....OK. so I have been very slack.

To pick up from where I left off:
(Hopefully the information in this report will be helpful to some.)

Pompeii:

At Herculaneum we took the audioguide option, Eur 10.00 for 2. I find the Audioguides worthwhile if done well and prefer them to joining a guided tour or group. I know they are not to everyone's liking but I find they allow me to move at my own pace so I can skip past the stuff I find boring and spend more time at those I like, and are usually reasonably priced. The one at Herculaneum was excellent so we decided to do the same at Pompeii. A word of warning for Pompeii, the only entrance that has the audioguides (or even a map on the day we went) is the one at Porta Marina. By car take the Pompei ovest exit.

Lots has been written about Pompei on this forum and elsewhere so I won't go into a lot of detail. It is much larger than Ercolano/Herculaneum and while there are many similarities, they are quite different as well. +1 preferred Herculaneum while I found them both fascinating. Make sure you bring your hat, water and sunscreen and be prepared for a long day if you wish to see it all.







Of course everything is in varying states of repair/restoration; it was sometimes a little disappointing to walk a considerable distance to check out a specific place only to find it closed/off-limits.

There are also lots of fresco which also vary in their state of repair.



What makes someone decide to scratch their initials in a 2,000+ year old fresco? No wonder some are off-limits!

 

[Jacques Vert]

A couple of more shots of Pompei.



One of the old theatres has been restored and is now in use again:





But not the big one (Anfiteatro):

 

[Jacques Vert]

Naples and Sorrento

It was time to move on but not before having a quick look around Naples.

They must be doing it tough in this part of the world because all the traffic lights have been turned off, except for about 6 major intersections where they just flash orange. And no, it was not a power failure; it was like this for the three days we were in the area. I now know why Italy has a reputation for being chaotic. Every significant intersection was just choked with everyone trying to force their way through.

And then there is the rubbish. Seems people just dump their garbage bags along the roadside and no one collects it. One exit coming off an autostrada was reduced from two lanes to one, as one of the lanes was completely blocked by rubbish; not only the full width of the lane but about three metres high. Nice!

We did have an interesting meal though. After five weeks of pizza and pasta we stumbled across a chinese, thai, malaysian restaurant with a parking spot right outside; so we gave it a go. Good food and very amusing to watch a group of Asian faces at a nearby table talking Italian and eating spaghetti chow mein.

Heading for the Amalfi Coast we decided to detour via Sorrento. Not a good idea as it Friday afternoon so we got stuck in another major traffic jam for over an hour. When we finally got through that we stopped for dinner and then had to go back through the worst of the traffic. Not as bad on the way back as the traffic had thinned out a little but best to avoid this area on a Friday or weekend.

 

[amaroo]

(Hopefully the information in this report will be helpful to some.)

Excellent TR ... all the more special as later this year we'll be taking the kids to see many of the places you've covered.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Excellent TR ... all the more special as later this year we'll be taking the kids to see many of the places you've covered.

Thanks for your thoughts. Rome and the Vatican to come.

 

[ellen10]

Well done for coming back to finish your trip report.

Always hard when day to day life clicks in.
Still enjoying your trip report. Shame about the rubbish in Naples....I have heard they are suffering hard times.