Italy
Portici

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 23

      Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius Part I

      May 6, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      We had spent more time than expected in Pompeii. Upon the promise of a smaller but even better preserved ancient city on the other side of Mount Vesuvius, we leave Pompeii and jumped in the car.

      Unlike Pompeii, the deep volcanic material which covered it preserved wooden and other organic-based objects such as roofs, beds, doors, food and even some 300 skeletons. Herculaneum was a rich city with a high concentration of fine houses until the Vesuvius eruption buried it under 20m of volcanic ash. Until today, 75% of it still remains buried.

      In 1981, many skeletal remains were discovered on the beach and in the first six boat chambers. It was previously thought that most, if not all, inhabitants had time to escape unlike Pompeiians. It now appears that a large number of inhabitants had perished whilst waiting to be rescued from the sea. Studies done on the skeletons indicated that the victims died during the first volcanic surge in which saw temperatures of about 500 degrees celcius.

      Photos of these skeletons are confronting. One can imagine the bodies huddling together as they tried hopelessly to escape the heat. Some can be seen to throw a protective arm around another poor soul, to no avail. It brought home the real terror they would have felt as they awaited certain death.

      As the sun started to set, we drove up Mount Vesuvius for a view of ancient and modern cities below it. We have to keep reminding ourselves that this volcano is merely asleep. Let’s pray these ancient cities will not be buried for the second time in history, taking with them the modern cities that have taken root.
      Read more

    • Day 16

      Look up perfect in the dictionary: today

      October 1, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Change of plans today after a discussion with Katia over breakfast. Prosciutto , cheese , bread , olives , garden tomatoes , sweet croissants and lemon bread with a cappuccino never gets old. Perfect start to the day! She suggested Positano and we agreed . Getting to Amalfi and not going to Positano didn't make sense 😊. As we are eating breakfast on the terrasse we see a helicopter fly by. Katia says it's Kevin Spacey in his private helicopter as filming wrapped up yesterday. 😀. So Alfonso , Katia's papa drove us down to Amalfi to get the bus to Positano. We wandered around Positano for a little over an hour and decided enough with the shops, let's find the secluded beach just outside of Amalfi in Atrani we came across the other day. We jumped on the bus and drove back through all the crazy hair -raising hair pin turns back to Amalfi. You honestly cannot describe the utter craziness of these bus rides until you experience them yourselves 😜. This beach has azure blue water right on a cliff. It's so beautiful! We swam and sat on the beach until it was time to get back to B&B Oliva to get changed for dinner and start packing. We walked back down all those steps to go back to Il Pingouin the resto we went to last night. Tonight we got the wood fired oven pizza again. Life changing!!! The family that owns and runs it is so freaking awesome. We got pics with the parents and the friend who cooks all the pizzas ! They gave us a shot of limoncello , which Amalfi is famous for. Lemons as big as your out stretched hands!! We also noticed Alfonso come into the resto , he ordered a beer and let us know that when we were finished he was there to drive us back up to our place! These hosts are so unbelievably amazing! Where else would you find such kindness. If you saw the stairs involved in getting back to our B&b you would know why Scala translates into the word steps! When we returned we settled our bill with Katia and said ciao with pictures and hugs ! She even gave us a bottle of limoncello to bring g home. She let us know Alfonso would knock on our door at 7 and drive us into Amalfi to catch our bus ! This family is so wonderful, Barry and I are overwhelmed with their kindness 💕 We agree that Amalfi was perfectly placed in our 3 week long adventure, we slowed down our pace (slightly) and saw more country with less monuments and big city. A perfect contrast to the rest of our trip so far. Tomorrow we say goodbye to this beautiful place that will always be special in our hearts and move into our second city Italy, Roma!Read more

    • Day 11

      Herculaneum

      May 18, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      The train trip to Herculaneum was uneventful, and we found there were far less tourists who made the trip after Pompeii. We decided against going up Vesuvius, as it was completely cloud bound.

      We found Herculaneum more compact, but more complete than Pompeii. It too was covered in the fallout of the eruption of 79AD, up to 20 metres. It is evident how far, when you see the buildings which now surround the site are so much higher than what was excavated.

      It is quite different to Pompeii, and we both preferred it. The mosaics were still vibrant, and the evidence that it was a richly decorated city abound. The frescoes while somewhat faded show how brilliant they must have been. There was evidence still of the effect the earthquake of 65AD had, with one mosaiced floor completely misaligned and almost a crater inside.

      It was only in 1980 that several boat store rooms were discovered, full of almost-fossilised skeletons, which remain intact.

      I particularly liked the cheeky statue of Bacchus!

      We meet some young Aussie girls, and we each savoured the opportunity to chat to friendly accents! They’d just been to a family reunion in Ireland, and were finishing off with a European tour, heading to Barcelona next. They hadn’t heard of the Sagrada Familia, so we were able to impart “must see” to them!!! They told us the election result, and then we parted ways!

      We left the site at 6 pm, and headed back to Napoli. Showered, changed and a quick bit of laundry done, we ventured out for dinner. Paul chose a scalloping, and I had spaghetti with fruit mare. Amazing clams, mussels, tiny pippis prawns and shellfish I know not the name. All very fresh and tasty!

      Another big walking day, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for the journey to Sorrento tomorrow. Only an hours trip!
      Read more

    • Day 5

      Day 4. Naples

      June 28, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

      Up early for drive up mt Vesuvio. Quick breakfast then walked around Naples for 6 hours enjoying its splendor. Amazing place featuring
      -Castelnuovo maschio angioino constructed by French kings in late 1200s
      -Vicolo st
      -Basilica st Francis of Paula
      Full family dinner at local Portici pizzaria
      Read more

    • Day 8

      Day 7. Capri

      July 1, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Lovely breakfast at villa. Ride up to Seggiovia monte solaro (chair lift to top of Capri). Ultramagnificent views of a beautiful island ( including Faraglioni = 3 rocks In the sea). Walk around Capri town along Via vittorio emanuelle.
      Down to port riding the furnicolare di Capri. Goodbye magnificent Capri. Ferry back to porticello for last night with relatives.
      Read more

    • Day 62

      Herculaneum

      January 13, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      What an adventure to Herculaneum.

      It was an experience which was mind boggling. We saw a lot of houses and villas which were destroyed in the earthquake.

      What was interesting was the mosaics on the floors of the villas and on the walls of bedrooms and dinning areas. They get the pieces so small and the size of the pieces are the same.

      The shop fronts had different coloured scrap marble to make benches. The pots are made to fit inside the marble bench top which means are never washed.

      Those days nothing was wasted, and I mean nothing. Something I learnt was they actually collect human urine which is used to wash clothes as a detergent or to remove stains from clothes.

      There were Skeletons, that where not even moved after the eruption . It was heartbreaking to see even young children lying down and the facial expressions are in describible.

      Herculaneum was closer to Mt Versuvius when she erupted. The damage happened at 0100 the night before it struck Pompeii. Herculaneum was buried in lava, so it was not as plundered as it is much harder to dig through then in Pompeii. The paintings, wooden structure like door frames, beds, rafters and even food like bread, seeds, fruits, all turned to carbon instantly by the pyroclastic combustion. But the damage to the structural buildings was greater in Herculaneum because of the weight of the lava.

      It was very sad when we were chased out at 5pm, because there was so much more to see. We where first in at Pompeii and the last out at Herculaeum. What a heartbreaking experience.
      Read more

    • Day 3

      Herculaneum

      April 3, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      Fascinating morning spent exploring Herculaneum. Really enjoyed the tour and it was very interesting to see how well preserved the town is compared to Pompeii. Back to the hotel now for some lunch and a relaxing afternoon.Read more

    • Day 12

      Portici

      September 29, 2020 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Heute nun gilt es Rom zu verlassen und weiter Richtung Neapel zu fahren. Meine Unterkunft liegt in Portici, einer Stadt mit ca. 50.000 Einwohnern im süditalienischen Kampanien, Metropolitanstadt Neapel. Sie liegt zwölf Kilometer entfernt von Neapel am Fuße des Vesuvs an der gleichnamigen Bucht. Portici ist die am dichtesten besiedelte Gemeinde von ganz Italien.

      Um Neapel herum hab ich einen Schmutz gesehen, den ich zuvor noch nie erlebt. Überall an den Straßenränder liegt so viel Müll, das ist wirklich ein gruseliger Anblick.
      Read more

    • Day 162

      Vesuv, Abschied und Geburtstag in Neapel

      February 19, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      Da am Dienstag leider schon wieder die Abreise von Kerstin und Stephan bevorstand und sie sich gegen 13 Uhr zum Flughafen in Neapel aufmachen mussten, entschieden wir uns an diesem Tag für ein kleineres Programm.

      Nach dem wir am Vortag Pompeji besichtigt hatten, wollen wir nun natürlich auch noch den Übeltäter sehen. Und so packten wir bereits alles zusammen und fuhren mit beiden Autos zum Vesuv. Da dieser 1944 letztmalig ausgebrochen war und seit dem ruhig ist, wurde eine Straße fast bis zum Krater erbaut, so dass es nur noch 20 Minuten Fußweg bis zur Spitze waren. Wir schlossen uns einer englisch sprachigen Tour an und erfuhren, dass vom Vulkan immer noch eine relativ hohe Gefahr ausgeht, da er sich lediglich in einer Ruhephase befindet und er deshalb rund um die Uhr überwacht wird. In der roten, also kritischen Zone leben derzeit 700.000 Menschen!
      Der Blick in den 300 m tiefen Schlund war wirklich beeindruckend, aber die ganzen Touris und Souvenirläden AUF dem Krater störten das Naturphänomen ein wenig.

      Und dann war der Abschied leider auch schon gekommen :( Wir haben den Besuch aus der Heimat wieder sehr genossen und hatten ein paar richtig tolle Tage mit Kerstin und Stephan um die Umgebung von Neapel zu erkunden. Vielen Dank euch beiden für euren Besuch! :-*

      Nach dem wir uns in verschiedene Richtungen aufgemacht hatten, fuhren wir zum nächsten Supermarkt um unsere Vorräte für das anstehende Wildcamping wieder aufzufüllen. Da wir Lenis Geburtstag gerne in Neapel feiern wollten, uns die Straßen dort aber zu wild waren, entschieden wir für die nächsten beiden Nächte einen Campingplatz ein bisschen außerhalb aufzusuchen. Gerade durch das Tor gefahren strahlte uns Karl bereits entgegen. Die beiden haben beschlossen Anfang März nach Spanien überzusetzen, weshalb wir nun gerne noch ein paar Tage gemeinsam in Italien verbringen wollen.
      Den restlichen Tag verbrachten wir mit chillen, quatschen, essen und Schlaf nachholen. Wie schnell man sich doch an 10 Stunden Schlaf täglich gewöhnt :D

      Tag 163: Geburtstagstag! Die Leni wird 27 und das wurde gebührend mit einem Tag voller Leckerein gefeiert.
      Nach einem sehr leckeren Frühstück mit einem Geburtstagskuchen und einer Flasche Prosecco, die ein Geschenk von Karl und Elina war, machten wir uns auf nach Neapel. Mit dem Zug und der Metro konnten wir die Stadt problemlos erreichen. Da wir uns vorher kaum Gedanken gemacht hatten was wir sehen wollten, entschieden wir uns nun erstmalig für eine HopOnHopOf-Tour. Und Glück wie wir haben umfasste sie sogar zwei Linien. Eine die die Innenstadt steigt und eine die die umliegenden Stadtteile und die tollen Ausblicke auf den Vesuv zeigt (wenn es nicht gerade zu diesig ist).

      Trotz Sonnenschein war es im oberen Stock des Busses doch etwas frisch. Deshalb suchten wir nach der ersten Tour erstmal das nächste Essensdomizil aus: Die Pizzeria Brandi. Dort wurde wohl die Pizza Margharita im Jahr 1889 zu Ehren der damaligen Queen erfunden. Aber es schien als ob sich diese Erfindung mehrere Pizzerien auf die Fahne schreiben :P Wir waren aber durchaus zufrieden mit unserer Wahl.

      Auf dem Weg zur nächsten Bustour machten wir noch in einer Konditorei Halt wo wir uns mit super leckeren kleinen Teilchen eindeckten. Dolce können sie hier wirklich! Extrem gesättigt traten wir die Tour an und genossen das Flair von Neapel. Ihren Ruf der extremen Verschmutzung wird sie zum Glück nicht gerecht. Aber vielleicht hatten wir auch nur Glück diese nicht gefunden zu haben.

      Eigentlich war für abends auch noch eine Sushiparty angedacht, aber da wir zurück am Bus nach einem Tag auf den Beinen und sehr viel Essen so erschöpft waren entspannten wir uns nur noch ein bisschen. Und die Geburtstagswoche hat ja erst angefangen, so dass Sushi auch in den nächsten Tagen noch akzeptiert wird ;)
      Read more

    • Day 91

      Herculaneum: In the Shadow of Pompeii

      October 28, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Learning from our previous errors, we were set to explore Herculaneum, a site often overlooked by many tourists in favour of the more renown Pompeii. This time there would be no delays with trains but instead we were unable to get out of our apartment. Our apartment was keyless, which meant we had to input a code into the security system to enter and push a button to exit. It was as if someone had hit the panic room button and we were unable to escape. Flashes of the Absolutely Fabulous episode where Eddie and Patsy get “locked” in their panic room ran through our minds. However, there was no Moët to comfort us as we waited to be rescued. When we finally were able to open the door, after a few kicks, we felt like we had been in their forever (when really it was only 10 minutes). In our minds, though, we were preparing for the long haul.

      Herculaneum, while not as large as Pompeii, still has many magnificent villas and well-preserved structures. Even less known are the villas in Boscoreale, Oplontis and Stabia, which were next on our itinerary. Villa Poppaea, supposedly owned by the Emperor Nero's second wife, was astounding to walk through, imagining the opulence that once must have filled the rooms. The villas Arianna and San Marco were equally as impressive buildings, overlooking the Bay of Naples.

      Once we discovered the Circumvesuviana train line, the missing link from Google Maps, navigating to many of these sites became slightly easier and generally involved a lot less walking – well, sometimes. But it did mean travelling in a machine manufactured in the dark ages. Instead of a train it resembled more of a washing machine on wheels. By the time you get to Pompeii you're on spin cycle and you rattle all the way back to Napoli.

      Next stop: back to Napoli
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Portici

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android