We got off at Foggia to change trains for Napoli/Naples. We had a
lunch break at the station in misting rain. An American backpacker heard us
talking about Napoli and he wanted to know what in the world there was to see
in Naples. We had planned on seeing Mt Vesuvius, but wondered why he was going
to Napoli, if he didn't know what to do there. On the train to Napoli we had a
full compartment and every one of the others read [adult] comic books which they
passed around. It was on this train that I managed to sneak in a snoring snort
during a moment of silence. We reached Napoli early in the evening and set out
to find a pensione. We couldn't immediately find one, although part of the
reason was because we ignored the older fellows at the station who were
“recommending” pensiones. We somehow ended up on a dark back street. We headed
back to the station and passed a hotel whose clerk called us in. Because the
rate was very good, we took the room. We settled in, then went out to a
sidewalk café/pizzeria for the specialty of the house.
Wednesday, August 22, 1979
We woke up in time to eat the included breakfast. We checked
out, went to the post office, then checked our bags at the train station. On
information from the hotel clerk, we bought Metro tickets to Ercolano from
where we hoped to go to Mount Vesuvius. Went downstairs and boarded a train
going in the proper direction. The train sped off and we soon noticed that the
stations were flying by. This was apparently an express train and it wasn't
stopping as we saw Ercolano fly by also! At the very first stop the train
made, we got off and went to the ticket window to explain our problem and to
learn which train to take back. Another fellow with a backpack and a guitar had
made the same mistake. He came to talk to us in mixed English-Italian. He was
from Milano visiting friends near Napoli. We got on the next train which fortunately
stopped in Ercolano. On this Metro train were a group of boys obviously without
tickets, who kept moving ahead of the conductor. But the conductor caught them
just as we reached a station. From the Ercolano station we walked towards some
ruins following signs, hoping to find a Pugliano station per the directions
given by our “$10” book. We didn't find it and stopped to get information from
a policeman who directed us back to the station we had just come from! We were
also searching for bottled water; one old man wanted to sell us some with
“negligible” gas, and another wanted to sell us Coke. Found a supermarket to
get the water, and even chocolate pudding which we ate with a plastic knife and
a pen. At the Metro station we waited for the “blue bus” that was to take us to
Vesuvius. Because the “$10” book directions had so far been misleading, we
guessed the bus would be red instead, which it was! We joined the crowd getting
on and managed to be the first standees. The seats by the back door were pushed
forward, but at the last minute as they tried to fill the bus to the hilt, we
finally managed to push the seats down to sit on. So Kathy and I got seats, but
later we squeezed together to allow a third girl to sit. The bus wound up the
mountain road where alongside we began seeing volcanic rock. The bus actually
only went to the base of Mt Vesuvius. We joined a line at the counter to get
waiting list numbers. Then we joined a line with our numbers to get tickets.
Then we joined the line to get on the chairlift that takes you to the rim of
the crater. As we waited, a group of guys were causing a bit of ruckus, and
one ended up shoving Kathy forward a couple stairs. One lady apparently
chickened out and fought against the line to get back down. The chairlift seats
faced out sideways rather than straight forward, and seemed more like an
amusement park ride than a ski lift. In fact, watching the expressions on
people’s faces as they got on and started off were similar to those seen on
roller coasters! Just before our turn they decided to create a gap, and took
several chairs off the cable. But we soon had our turn to zip up the side of Mt
Vesuvius. Had a hazy view below of metropolitan Napoli and we saw many old lava
runs. |
| View from chairlift towards Napoli |
 |
| View from chairlift towards a lava run |
At the top, a man in a business suit helped us off the chairlift, and we
joined yet another line to wait for a guide. Finally we got one who led us straight to the edge of the rim. You could see steam coming out of nearby rocks which were very hot to the touch.
 |
| Volcano steam (see the tiny people?) |
 |
| View into the crater |
 |
| View across the crater |
As we sat waiting
for our train, two good-looking guys came up to us to sing the praises of Rome.
That was just after our exclaiming we hadn't been hassled while in Napoli! We
wanted to take a train to the Italian Riviera, and were waiting and waiting for
it to arrive. It never did because we discovered it ran on only certain days of
the week of which that day was not one of them! Fortunately on the next track
was a train to Rome, which was already crowded, so we joined others sitting in
the corridor. We were next to a couple compartments containing huge families.
There were a couple guys and a kid who tried talking to Kathy but she didn't
understand Italian. They pointed us out as English-speakers and sang snatches
of English songs. They kept asking Kathy if she understood Italian but she
ignored them. They were really persistent at trying to talk to her. Finally one
guy gestured to offer Kathy his seat, and she politely said, “No, grazie.” Aha,
they exclaimed, she must understand Italian. (We made an effort to learn how to say 'please' and 'thank you' in the language of each country we visited.) When we finally arrived in Rome,
people leaped out of the train and literally grabbed porters with their
pushcarts for luggage. It was an absolutely mad scramble with lots of loud
bickering. Whew! We changed to a train for San Remo on the Riviera. The
compartment started out full, but we zonked out…
Next: San Remo.
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