Naples and Herculaneum (23rd July 1997)
23 Jul 1997
Left around 8:30am this morning on a train from Rome to Naples, a journey of ~2.5 hours. The route passed through scraggly mountains and little stations. The stations here are very low – about a foot high – making use of all the steps on the train doors. Somewhat like village stations in India, except here even the big stations are the same. I quite like them. Going by train never fails to excite me. Even in spite of the massively stinky sugar factory we passed on this trip.
I liked Naples on first sight, but by the end of the visit, my opinion became more mixed. Overall I had an absolutely fabulous time in the city.
Upon arriving, I went to the Youth Hostel (which I didn’t like by the way) to drop off my rucksack. Back to the train station to catch the exotic-sounding Circumvesuviana train line to Ercolano. This is the new name for ancient Herculaneum.
It was mid-afternoon when I arrived there and I just felt like finding a cool rock and crawling under it. The archaeologists, however, have left no rocks unturned. It is all hot and dusty there. But the old first-century houses are remarkably well preserved.
I wandered in and out of a few, found one I liked, and parked inside. High ceilings, cool walls and floor. Lovely houses. All those rich citizens of Herculaneum would have been appalled to see the likes of us tourists wandering around their homes. I’ve got a few pictures of the mosaic floors, wall decorations and the ruins generally. The houses are so well preserved that they are numbered and the streets have names. You’d almost expect a postman on his bicycle to come by and deliver letters. There were buried pots – large ones – probably for wine or spirits, or maybe to keep buttermilk cool. Some of the woodwork, stairs and first floors were intact in some houses. The wood is turning to carbon now.
Compared to the British sense of preserving and showing off history, the Italians have a long way to go. In a way it is nice that everything is not highlighted and sold – no signs of neon lights flashing, no guided routes to follow. I was quite happy to walk among the ancient houses and streets and chance upon things. Sat under a tree (not so ancient, I reckon!) and read for a bit. It was not crowded here for a change. I could relax and be lazy.
Spoke to an American woman from Illinois who was staying in Pompei for a month. Decided that one set of ruins was enough, so ditched the idea of going to Pompei.
Stirring myself from my pleasant doze under the tree, I did a more thorough job of exploring the area. In the garden of a not-wealthy Herculanean merchant: marble statues of a drunken Hercules and deers being hunted by dogs, flawlessly intact, about one and a half feet high. A marble table also. Then the public baths – one for women, one for men. I wonder how the archaeologists figured out which was whose. I didn’t notice any differences.
A couple of hours later, I went back to the station intending to go to Mount Vesuvius, only to find that the buses to Vesuvius had stopped at 5:30pm. Taxis were obscenely expensive. I went back to the YH in Naples, and in the dorm met Nel – an Aussie girl. The first friend I’d made on this trip.
After dinner, we went for a walk along Naples Bay. We got along easily, chatting for a long time as we sat on the wall between the road and the sea, until a drunk Italian moron came and hassled us. There was a severe drop to rocks on the sea-side of the wall; we chickened out and scrambled away quickly. It’s irritating – you’re just sitting on a simple wall enjoying the night, and a drunk moron can so easily hassle you.
When I said “after dinner”, I meant after I decided against a pathetic omelette at the YH that turned my stomach, and after Nel revealed she also hadn’t eaten much at dinner, we stopped at a restaurant at 10:30pm for a veggie pizza. She’s a veggie too, conveniently. Then we walked back to the YH without further incident.
The moon was lovely. About three quarters full.
