One easy day-trip form Naples and undoubtedly the most common is to Pompeii, the 2000 year old Roman city so perfectly preserved by the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The city was buried under some 50 feet of ash and pumice until the 18th century when it was rediscovered and excavating (still not completed today) began.

A plaza in Pompeii:

Some of the more interesting artwork at the Pompeii site are the frescoes and the mosaics of the villas. These are also the most difficult to preserve.

Here is a typical side street in Pompeii:

The largest Ampitheater of Pompeii:

Another plaza, behind the ampitheater:

One of the main streets through Pompeii, Vesuvius looming in the background:

The experience was very eerie, a city so preserved and so dead, almost brought back to life again by the millions of visitors it receives every year. Modern Pompei (Minus the second i) and its inhabitants sit just near the historical city, in the same dangerous path of the slumbering Vesuvius.

Two weeks of final exams gracefully concluded my semester abroad in Germany. Armed with a railpass and a few Euros I made a trip through Paris, the south of France returning to Montpellier, along the coast to central Italy, and back to Munich. Halfway through this trip I fell in love with the city of Naples.

Chaotic, dirty, loud, vibrant, alive — all of these words are used by any tourist tutorial on Naples. I will use one word to describe Naples: refreshing. After spending five months in Germany, I’ve become pretty acquainted with the mentality and all the subtle and beautiful cultural differences. The mentality of Naples is as close as I could imagine any city could be to the opposite of the German mentality. During my week there I was constantly finding myself in touch with how organic the experience of living can be.

The city is situated on the western side of Italy, a bit south of Rome, in a beautiful region known as the Amalfi Coast, under the shadow of the Mount Vesuvius.  It is the home of the worlds best pizza and the home base for many of tourists visiting Pompeii every year.  I was stunned by the amount of culture and history that survive in such a wild city.  Palaces, castles, museums and theaters.   There was no shortage of must-see sights and entertainment that I couldn’t fit into even a week.

I have been told several times that most problems found anywhere in Italy can be found in Naples.  The city’s center itself contains very affluent sections as well as very run down don’t-walk-around-with-a-bag-at-night areas, although any crime is non-violent.  Corruption, the mob, graffiti and bad traffic are all ubiquitous  Once every so many months the Camorra run waste management in the region stops collecting trash all together, occasionally for weeks at a time.  The situation deteriorates until you cannot walk down the street in between the garbage and the traffic.  Then, one morning the city wakes up and the trash has been burnt right in the street.

And even with the grime the city is gorgeous.  Here is a typical view down a street into the city, taken from the top of some steps leading up a hill.

Here is Dante’s Plaza.  It is usually and appropriately full of students.

One of the more interesting museums is the Naples National Archaeological Museum.  The museum contains many Roman copies of classical Greek art in the Farnese collection and a large Egyptian collection.  One of the most important collections includes many of the relics from Pompeii, including some amazing mosaics.  Here is a model of Pompeii from the 1800’s constructed using cork and wood:

And here is a marble copy of Athena:

Here is the first of three castles located within walking distance of the city center, Castel Nuovo:

Here is a shot over the main plaza of Naples, toward a vague replica of the Pantheon in Rome.

And Castel Sant’Elmo located on Sant’Elmo hill in the center of the city:

A view of the city and the coastline of the Bay of Naples from Castel dell’Ovo.

Castel dell’Ovo from that coast:

Finally the view of Mount Vesuvius at sunrise my last morning there:

This is the sunrise just before leaving Naples for Rome!