Napoli - Ercolana (Herculaneum)

Back one the tourist trail today with the knee in a brace and antiinflammatories onboard!
We've done it again - fallen in love! This time with Napoli! We came here a little anxious of being pick pocketed, etc, however, within 24 hours, we just love the place and the people.
How would we describe Napoli? Many ghetto type high rise buildings - needing repair, washing hanging from most windows, chaotic traffic, many single room small flats where people live, ladies sitting behind small windows facing alleyways, huge numbers of small businesses crammed packed, rubbish and cigarette butts everywhere, people happy & friendly and they seem to be enjoying a subsistence form of life. Roger says there is one rule in Napoli - 'there are no rules!'
We got a train to Ercolano and on board the packed train there was live music with bongos and a violin with backing. It was fabulous!
However, the train didn't stop at Ercolano as scheduled and we ended up getting off about 15 mins down the track! We were booked for an archeological guided tour at 1030 too. What to do? Just jump on another train heading back the way we wanted to go and hope for the best!
We got to the Herculaneum with a few minutes to spare. The guided tour was good, however, the strong accent of the guide made it quite difficult (again). Still, the town of Herculaneum, buried in 79AD by mud from Mount Vesuvius has been excavated intact. We loved it all even though it rained and we got cold and wet.
Back to Napoli by train ... To be continued!!Read more