Florence

Oh, Firenze. So many people told me before I left the UK how beautiful they thought Florence was. I remembered their comments, while remaining a bit skeptical - purely because whenever a lot of people tell me how amazing a thing is, my patented Anti-Peer-Pressure mechanism (aka Being Contrary) sets in. Which is why it took me two years to listen to people and sit down and watch Game of Thrones, now my favourite TV show.

I digress. Like I said, I didn't get my hopes up about Florence. But it didn't matter, I fell in love as soon as I got near my hostel and realised how close I was staying to the Duomo. I can step outside my hostel and see the cathedral down a narrow street.

I spent the first afternoon of my stay just sitting outside the Duomo and admiring its beauty, whilst eating the best gelato ever (from Edoardo - if you're in Florence, it's highly recommended), and listening to a man play songs from Amélie on the accordion. 

I could seriously just walk the streets of Florence and nothing else, and be happy. And that, indeed, is more or less what I did.

I am currently staying at a riding school in Tuscany, not too far from Florence. So there will be less of the frenzied city updates, but hopefully not for too long.

Herculaneum

As I mentioned in my previous post, my main reason for coming to Naples in the first place was to visit Pompeii. Just because, you know, it had to be done. But a couple of months ago, my tattooist (who has a degree in anthropology, so I trust her judgement) said that Herculaneum is generally considered to be a better visit than Pompeii. I had sort of hoped I might manage to squeeze both in, which I might have done had I been more organised/less tired.

I set off from my hostel a little after 9, and got to Herculaneum around 10am. It *should* be extremely easy to get there; however, Naples aren't exactly very forthcoming with their railway route maps or departure boards so I took a guess and fortunately won.

Anyhoo. The site itself is really close to the train station, a 5 minute walk down the main road and you're there. I spent an enjoyable couple of hours wandering round the ruins and looking at all the different buildings and rooms which had been excavated.

Here would be a nice moment for me to share some interesting fact-aroons about Herculaneum. Sadly, my brain just doesn't work that way and so I can't remember anything useful. However, I will share some interesting photos instead.

The view when entering the site

Thermopolium - an establishment serving lunchtime hot food

Hanging round at another thermopolium. Didn't get any lunch though. #PoorService

I came out of Herculaneum around noon. If I'd had the energy, it would have been possible to fit Pompeii in as well, as the site was open until 7pm, but it would have been a long and tiring day. So instead, I headed back to Naples and went to the Archaeological Museum. I'm very glad I did, because this is where many of the artifacts retrieved from both Pompeii and Herculaneum are stored, so in my opinion if you go to the sites themselves, the museum is a must-visit too.

I spent a couple of hours in there, though I neglected to acquire a map and I have a feeling I missed out on some rooms - again, as with the rest of Naples, any helpful signage seems to be not only optional, but actually frowned upon. Maybe it's to ensure people earn the privilege of visiting them, I don't know. I did, however, manage to find the 'Secret Cabinet' - this is the room containing all the ruder pieces of art excavated from the volcano sites, including many, many, many phalluses (they were used as good luck talismans and were often placed over doorways to ward off evil). Don't be frightened, though, I took no pictures.

Naples

I really wasn't looking forward to Naples. The suburbs I saw from my train ride in looked grim and dismal. Also, Bill Bryson had nothing nice whatever to say about the place in Here and There, so it wasn't looking promising. I only had one full day, so I was fully expecting to just visit Pompeii or Herculaneum, and that would be it.

My arrival certainly didn't get off to a good start. The short walk from the train station to my hostel proved all the stereotypes about Italian men and their attitude to women, and I felt really uncomfortable. Especially when I realised how much of a dive the area my hostel was in - in the market area, covered with litter, and generally just looking rough. I had visions of... Well, I'm not going to say what those visions were, because my family are reading this and I don't want to worry them.

In any case, all's well. I met up with a fellow traveller literally as I checked in at the hostel, and we went for a walk along the coastline to try and find some interesting parts of Naples. It wasn't pleasant in some areas - I think I may have seen a homeless man squatting by the side of a busy main road but I looked away out of decorum.

We got to the Castel Dell' Ovo. A lovely old building, and you can climb almost to the top which gives you a great view over the bay. Plus, it was free of charge which is always good in my book. The free entry I think may have contributed to the number of people loitering around, but in a good way - there were locals just sat on the cannons, reading books.

Castel dell' Ovo. Sadly it was a grey and rainy day so the Mediterranean was an uncharacteristic shade of grey

We then managed to find the posh part of Naples - entirely by accident. It was bizarre, but that's because I've only ever seen shops of that calibre in drizzly cold Bond Street in London, rather than a sunny coastal town. Needless to say, I had no desire to linger and risk spending my money in Prada or Valentino. We did, however, manage to find a couple more old pretty buildings.

After a brief detour of getting lost - and by brief I mean two hours - it was dinnertime, so on the recommendation of the hostel staff headed to Gino Sorbillo's. Seriously. Possibly the best pizza of my life. And, and! To further endear myself to the area, there was an older gentleman sat at a table nearby, with a King Charles spaniel on his lap, which was just totally normal. Perfect.

Last night there was a walking tour arranged by one of the hostel staff, so I headed out with a few others. When I say 'walking tour', I really mean our host just walked us to the cheapest/best drinking spots in the area. Apparently Naples is the cheapest place for alcohol... I had a bottle (yes, you read that right) of gin and tonic for €1.50. Dangerous stuff. But the atmosphere was brilliant, I don't think I could even compare it to anywhere else.

And what really won me over to Naples? Yes, it's dirty and grimy. But it's so vibrant, and real, and just the atmosphere feels totally alive and fun.