Dave's Travel Blog

Happy Thanksgiving!  Yesterday (Wednesday) was probably the most hectic travel day I have ever experienced but I have persevered and, actually, feel exceptionally good today.   The day consisted of waking up at 4:30am, packing and lugging three backpacks that weighed about 60 pounds on a mile long walk to the Florence train station.  We managed to catch the train to Naples with exactly 1 minute to spare–call it good luck or bad time management.   Checked our bags into the Naples storage area and took the 40 minute train ride to Pompeii–again with 1 minute to spare.  Pompeii was certainly worth the travel headache and expense–it covered much more area than I imagined.  We stayed for 4 hours or so then traveled back to Naples and walked the city streets for a couple hours.  We were specifically looking for Via San Gregorio Armeno– the street where traditional terracotta and wooden nativity (presepe) figures are hand crafted.  We were able to find it without much trouble, and again, weren’t disappointed.  San Gregorio Armenio is a very narrow 1/8 mile or so street with Christmas/Nativity shops lining both sides of the street…all the stores are lit up like Christmas trees; it was especially striking while walking the length of the street at night.  Of course, I didn’t take any photos but Derek did, so I will post some when I get them from him.  I did, however, take many photos of  Pompeii and here are some of the better ones: