left: a tiny shop selling all sorts of mouth-watering Neapolitan delights near our hostel :)
right: Donut breakfast!
left: The Neapolitan metros were the incredibly foul-smelling. They smelt like a brewing potion of pee and sweat. A very deadly one indeed. Oh, the metros used were Trenitalia (the nation train company) trains! Interesting aint it?
right: The densely populated town of Ercolano, where Vesuvio is located.
The original plan was to catch the public bus that would bring us up to the crater, however, the bus stop seemed to be situated in some parallel dimension and no one seemed to be able to tell us where the bus stop was, not even the staff at the metro station! So us three lost souls wandered around the neighbourhood, trying our luck with random strangers but to no avail. Finally, we met this Italian girl, about 16 years of age, who assuaged our frustration with her sincerity in offering us help. She had been waiting for a bus to go to work but that didn't deter her from helping us bargain with a rude cab driver for an appropriate fee to take us up. The deal didn't fall through as he quoted quite an exorbitant price. She then walked us back to the metro station to try to help us find out where we could board the bus, only to be told that the bus had left and the only solution was to take a private mini-bus from a company located just beside the metro station. The price for the return trip and the entrance fee to the crater was 16.50€.
The minivan had a capacity of 7 passengers, 3 of which were Australians and one of which was a nice French lady, with whom Guillaume immediately clicked with. Lynn and I couldn't join in the conversation due to our motion sickness - the ride was extremely bumpy and the roads wound drastically along the way. The driver drove as if he aspired to participate in the Formula 1, even at sharp bends! So I'd say that if you're able to drive in Napoli, you'll survive anywhere. Evading pedestrians that spring out from the road side without warning and cars in front that slam the brakes abruptly came effortlessly to the Napolitans.
The bus dropped us off at the entrance to the crater. At such high altitudes, it was freezing cold and the winds were brutal! We had to walk with our bodies bent over in order to decrease the surface area exposed to the chill. It took about 20 minutes for us to reach the crater on foot. The unrivalled view from the top was just breathtaking! The Amalfi coast, the Bay of Naples, Herculaneum and chains of surrounding mountains were scattered across the seemingly painted backdrop.
above: The dark brown path of volcanic rock and soil that was lightly veiled in old snow.
left: the smokin' hot Vesuvio
right: view of the Bay of Naples
right: feelin on top of the world!
After only about half an hour of exploring the volcano's peak, we had to head back down where the bus was waiting to send us back. Back in the town centre, we searched for a pizza place and settled on this one that looked the least like a tourist trap:
left: the traditional wood-burning oven used in la vera pizza
right: the chef made our pizzas from scratch, in front of us, and then slid them into the oven.
right: dessert of some gingerbread cookie that tasted absolutely delicious
After lunch, we rushed back to Giovanni's to prepare to leave for the airport. He called a taxi for us (16€) to take us to the airport which was just a 20 minute drive away. It was quite worth the cost since taking the public transport would cost approximately the same.
left: Lyrics to 'Vado a Singapore' (Go to Singapore!), an Italian song! Has quite a jingly tune to it!
left: another speciality of Napoli, the Babà, which is a cake like pastry soaked in rum. It literally melts in your mouth. I'd eat a whole tray of them if I could!
right: if looks could kill (on the Easyjet flight to Milan)
Couldn't believe that this was my third time stopping at Milan in a span of 9 days. But it's really one of the central interchanges be it for trains or flights in Italy. There, we met Yunzhi who led us to our very elusive budget hotel as he had already checked-in earlier that day.
I thought Hotel Catalani and Madrid was good value for money as the room was speckless and breakfast was included. As everyone was worn out from the long trip, we settled dinner at a restaurant just a street away. We stayed there for the countdown and when the clock struck midnight, the huge Italian family that had booked the whole restaurant started dancing, toasting each other, singing and just having a ball! The waiters in the restaurant went out to set off fireworks and crackers of all varieties. There were those that made an ear-piercing whizzing noise as the cracker soared through the air, those that burst into balls of sparks with a loud bang etc. Unfortunately, the high spirits were marred as one of the fireworks hit one of the waitresses in the eye. All of us were shell-shocked but luckily she proved to be fine even though she was wailing in pain.
left: Yunzhi with his SLR and his willing model =D
right: Decked in Black - Guillaume, Yunzhi, Lynn.
We headed back to the hotel and spent a long time talking and laughing into the night. What a good start to the new year! Buon anno everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment