Day 3 - Naples -> Roma

Woke up at 9:30 for our 10am check-out time. Realizing we still had a bagful of mozzarella di bufalo in the fridge, we made our way through the entire ball for breakfast... with espresso of course! After writing a little note in the guest book, we said "arrivederchi" to our Airbnb and decided to see the Museo Archaeologico before (barely) catching a train to Rome. Draped with heavy backpacks, we made our way. But to Dave's dismay, as we approached the museum he felt the squish of despair underneath his right shoe. You guessed it. Dog shit, likely from one of Naple's many Dachsunds. However, we would not accept de-feet and proceeded fueled by our passion for archeology. The museum was awesome. What struck us most was the large collection from ancient Egypt, the oldest of their pieces dating back ~4500 years. WOW. Dave put things in perspective after we had walked through the Roman statues, stating that there had been fewer years between us and many of those statues than between those Roman years and ancient Egypt. We then went to the central train station for a train to Rome.

At the train station, we bought our tickets at the kiosk thinking we would be able to make our train in 5 minutes. Classic Naples, the card reader was taking forever and the machine takes about 3 minutes to print out the tickets. With tix in hand, we sprinted to the train and tried pulling open the doors as the train mockingly pulled out of the station. What a tease. There was another train in 6 minutes that was more expensive so we quickly needed to change tickets and nothing happens super quick here. We got some sass from the ticket lady, she was confusing, but she did her job and again we sprinted to the next train. Once again, doors were locked. We ran down the train trying every single one until we made eye contact with one of the ticket checkers on board. He shook his head and wagged his finger and that's when we pulled out the puppy dog eyes and literally begged. He rolled his eyes and let us on. A miracle. Some great Italian kindness. Exasperated, we collapsed in our seats, excited for the 2 hours of rest we'd get on the train ride.

A couple of blocks from the train station, we saw a beautiful basilica. Since it was free and the line was short, we decided to check it out. As we went through security, it became clear that the guards may be on strike. The didn't look at anyone and had 4 or 5 beer bottles in their vicinity. Upon entrance, I was reminded once again that the Italians do everything big. Beautiful, ornate, and large in scale, the church was quite the sight. From here, we called a taxi to our Airbnb. When we opened the door, we were greeted by our incredibly warm host, Emiliano. He had a map on the table, and after giving us a quick tour of the place, sat down with us for 30 - 45 minutes to guide us through the city and give us recommendations. Emiliano is clearly in love with his city and really knows the ins and outs as well as Dan Brown, whose books he casually slipped into conversation multiple times. After a shower, we went out on the town to grab some dinner. We decided on a street food place Emiliano had passionately raved about, Trapizzino. "Get the chicken!" He said, describing the juiciness and deliciousness of his favorite dish. I followed his lead, but Dave went for the meatball and we both got arancini. Mama Mia. With hanger subsided and bellies full and happy, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and St. Peter's Basilica. I was excited to add a new country to my list and brought a beer to celebrate (Dave just brought water boo). To conclude our long night walk, we treated ourselves to some Gelato. I got milk chocolate YUM and Dave got Stracciatella. Of course it was freaking awesome. Passing through hoards of sub-20s teens being hooligans on a Saturday night, we made our way home to the heart of bustling Trestevere. To top off an already remarkable day, the Red Sox were rockstars, bumming Dave out as much as the poo this morning. 2 grand slams in the first 2 innings, history was made. Romans got nothin on em. Now it was time for 12 hours of sleep.Read more