Salve amici! Welcome back! Hope everyone had a lovely week. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
After the most spectacular McDonald’s visit ever, the trip down the Autostrada was relatively uneventful. Except for this bit of automotive excellence:
That’s right, it’s the DACIA SANDERO!!!
Three of you got that joke.
Anywho…..
Arrival in Ercolano didn’t take very long at all, and it was immediately up the hill to the crater of Vesuvius. Along the way we saw a rather depressed (but entirely un-creepy, right? right?) looking random stone head:
I think we’ve all had a day like he’s having, haven’t we?
The views along the road up the mountain were beyond words, with a spectacular view out over Ercolano, Naples and its bay, and the hills of Campania beyond.
Fun fact: If you’re driving up one of the most famous volcanoes on the planet, and the top is (in the words of the legendary Pink Floyd) obscured by clouds, guess what? Yep, you’re absolutely right!
I was really hoping for some spectacular photos over Pompeii and Naples. Oh well. It’s an excuse to go back another time, right?
Laughing at the circumstances, back down the hill (sorry to the others coming up the hill that I may or may not have inadvertently caused some pee to come out with my driving style….in my defense, it was a proper Italian switchback mountain road and I had a manual gearbox, and I kind of got into the zone a little bit) and into town to the most wonderful B&B at Villa Durante, along the famed “golden mile”…a stretch of Corsa Resina, famed for having a plethora of old villas dating back to the “golden age” of the mid-1700s through the Victorian era. Villa Durante is family-owned and operated, and they also own Viva Lo Re, a small restaurant just across the street which has been mentioned in the Michelin Guide (not starred, but mentioned is still a big deal!) for the past six or so years. Maurizio, Teresa, and Claudia are absolutely superb. For those of you giving the property the ol’ Google, your dear Professor booked the “family suite” despite not having one….and dear LORD it was spectacular! The photo below, the small open double-doors go into the main bathroom; the small double-doors to the right go to the second bedroom lofted above the second bathroom and enormous wardrobe/closet room.
And the view wasn’t half-bad either.
Dinner was, as last year, at Casa Marigliano, famed for nearly nobody on staff speaking any form of English (so you’d BETTER have at least some basic Italian if you go!). The Pizza Bologna (as in the region, not what we call “baloney” in the States) was beyond magical. And there was a bonus cat.
The next morning was ripe for exploration. Having already explored Pompeii (with the obvious caveat that one could spend an entire week and not see everything) something new was called for. When in Ercolano…see Ercolano! The other tragic victim of the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD, Ercolano is often “looked over” because it wasn’t as big or as prosperous as Pompeii. However, the “bodies” in Pompeii famously are plaster casts of the volcanic ash record left-behind. In Ercolano…..the skeletons are real.
A visit to Ercolano (if it’s the off-season like February, you’re likely fine buying tickets at the visitor center but if you’re there in the spring/summer/early autumn, book ahead!) starts at the visitor center/gift shop, where a group of tour guides eagerly awaits for you to hire them for the day. We didn’t, as the schedule was fairly “snug”, but it’s nice to see that option available for those interested. Inside the visitor center, the ticket counter has free maps and audioguides available in myriad languages available for rent. To obtain a map, one must pay the scritch tax to the Guardian. Upon receipt of satisfactory scritches, he will release his bounty unto thee.
Once inside….absolutely speechless. The preservation of the site, the fact so very little of it is excavated in relation to its presumed size, and the knowledge that you’re standing and walking on mosaic floors laid by someone two thousand years ago, looking at murals they painted….there’s nothing like it anywhere else.
I actually didn’t plan the gallery to work out that way, but there ya go. Hercules doin his thang.
For fans of photographs of my (Thursday matte black Captain) boots on ancient Roman mosaics, here’s a few as always, click/tap to enlarge):
The big draw of Herculaneum, of course, is the incredibly tragic sight of dozens and dozens of skeletons of the unfortunate men, women, and children claimed by Vesuvius. The porticoes you see below were originally on the seaside (which illustrates the sheer magnitude of rock rained down upon the landscape during that eruption). They were waiting for boats that, sadly, never arrived.
The afternoon consisted of a short train ride into Naples city center, followed by some exploring toward Spaccanapoli, a centuries-old market area with a charm all its own.
After a brief explore around Naples, it was time to head back to Villa Durante to pack for the drive back to Rome, where a plane would be ready to whisk us off to Palermo for the final city in this year’s adventure. A little bittersweet, as Naples seems to always get the least amount of time spent. but it gave a magnificent sunset for a send-off.
There’s definitely a lot more to see and do here, but that may require a trip in the summer. In the meantime, have a great weekend and I hope to see you back next week for the final installment!