Naples

I loved Naples. It isn't the most beautiful Italian city and there isn't a lot of sightseeing, but its a lot of fun. And the food there is delicious. Naples has to be the most "Italian" city I've been to. The people are loud - everywhere we went they were yelling at each other. We ate dinner one night at this place called Trattoria da Nennella. The waiters were yelling at the chef in the kitchen and the chef was yelling back at the waiters. Everytime someone left the restaurant, all of the waiters yelled "Buona Sera!" really loud at the people who were leaving. At the table next to us, one of the waiters served the woman her food, unwrapped her silverware from her napkin, put the napkin on her lap, took her spoon and started eating her pasta! It was crazy! And the food was good - and cheap! Oliver was so enthralled with the action he didn't make a noise during dinner. We also ate at another great restaurant for lunch. Brandi is the place to go for pizza. This is the place where Margherita pizza was invented. It was delicious - the best pizza I have had so far in Italy. There were pasticerias everywhere with the most delicious pastries. The shopping was really good too, especially the shops on Via Toledo. Naples has a great energy and even though, again, it rained and the temperatures were cold, we had a good time.

The port of Naples (yes, that is Mt. Vesuvius, and yes, it has snow on it. I'm telling you - it was cold!):



View of Capri from Naples:

Pompeii

They say it's your birthday! It's my birthday too, yeah! It poured rain most of the day and it was freezing cold. Not ideal conditions to explore the ancient city of Pompeii. With a baby. Trust.

On our way to Pompeii, we stopped in the town of Vietri, on the Amalfi Coast, to visit one of the factories that produces the famous ceramics of the area. Here is Ceramica Solimene designed by the architect Paolo Soleri in 1951, the artisans, and the product:










I thought I would hit you with some pretty pictures of bright pottery first, seeing as my pics of Pompeii are pretty bleak. I was really excited to be going to Pompeii but the weather put a damper on things. Pompeii is a city of ruins that have been buried under volcanic ash for around 1800 years. There really wasn't anywhere to take shelter from the spitting rain and cold. Also, Oliver doesn't like to keep his mittens on for very long. I was very worried about his warmth and it also took some time backtracking a few times trying to find his mittens that he dropped in puddles. I had loads of fun. Really. On my birthday.
The forum with Vesuvius looming in the background:




The Villa of Mysteries and its frescoed walls:




The House of the Tragic Poet with the mosaic in the entryway warning people "Cave Canem". Translation: Beware of the Dog.


House of the Dancing Fawn:




The Stabian Baths:




The Great Theater:

The Amalfi Coast

It rained the entire ride from Matera to Amalfi so we couldn't really see any scenery once we hit the curvy road that hugged the side of the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast and it was dark by the time we arrived in Amalfi. The next morning wasn't very promising either. It was raining and really cold when we woke up. Luckily the rain stopped after breakfast and gave us a break for the day.



In town, we went to the Duomo and the Cloister of Paradise:




From Amalfi, we headed up to the little town of Ravello, high up on the cliffs, overlooking the coast. To do this, we had to take the local bus. I think the driver knew the roads too well - he was flying around the hair pin turns all the way. Either that or it was his first day and he knew nothing of the roads whatsoever. The view from Ravello was amazing.




Up in Ravello, we went to the Villa Cimbrone where their panoramic garden terrace offered the most stunning views of the coast. Oliver fell asleep in his stroller for a nap and it was nice to sit in peace and quiet and look out on this scenerey.










Back in Amalfi for the afternoon, we hung out by the water and let Oliver play, and caught the sun setting on the coast.