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| Mt Vesuvius from our hot tub on the roof of the hotel at sunrise |
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| Pizza and drink for $5. I had the best meal and best girl in town. |
Naples Italy is a metropolis of 3 million people living on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea in the shadow of one of the most famous volcanoes of all time. Mt Vesuvius has had explosive eruptions throughout time - the most famous one was in 79 AD when hot poison gas came out and killed everybody in the town of Pompeii. Then eruption of ash and mud encapsulated everything perfectly preserving a time capsule that is still being uncovered. Mother nature so perfectly kept this history - untouched by humans for almost 2000 years. It was uncovered by someone digging a well and falling into the underground city. Many looted the remains of homes and temples - over half the city still remains covered.
We left our home in Berlin at 5 AM Friday. We caught a train to the airport and by 7 AM we were winging our way to Italy. Lulu found us flights on EasyJet for $45 one way. They fly out of Schoenfeld Airport - a budget hub in Southern Berlin. EasyJet flies Airbus A320's - we boarded and left the plane on the old fashioned steps. So we entered Italy without ever showing our passports.
Our Renaissance Hotel is downtown - a short walk or subway to the Naples Archeological Museum. I taught Earth Science for 33 years - and much of the material I used to teach about volcanoes came from here. We explored the exhibits of artifacts uncovered from Pompeii. The art was perfectly preserved from the environment by layers of ash - mud - and cinders.
The museum has a hidden room of erotic art from Pompeii - not for family consumption. For 200 years it was kept from the public. If you want to see the displays - send an email directly to me - harry@everhart.com. The is historic art - displayed in a public museum.
After the museum we shopped in downtown Naples. Many folks do not know the strong connection between Naples and Tallahassee. Two of the most famous early residents of Tallahassee were Prince Achille and Catherine Murat. Achille was mayor and postmaster in Tallahassee for many years. He came to the frontier town in the 1820's at the urging of Marque Lafayette - who was granted a large tract of land east of town.
Prince Achille Murat was the son of Joaquin Murat - the King of Naples from 1807 to 1815. Joachim was the brother in law of Napoleon - having married the emperor's sister Catherine. He ruled over this area of Italy and Sicily until he was deposed and shot by a firing squad. He was supposed to have said to the firing squad - Aim squarely for the heart - preserve my face - now fire!
When Prince Murat came to Tallahassee - he picked out one of the richest and prettiest women - the great grand niece of George Washington - and married back into money.
When we built our home in Tallahassee - we chose Catherine Murat's plantation as a model for our own home. So we feel a bond to this Napoli.
Last night we had supper at the cutest little restaurant by our hotel. It had a sign out front - pizza and drink - $5. We went there and had the most beautiful pizza in the town famous as the birthplace of this world class treat. Honestly - I never had a better one.
Back in Tamaqua - there were two famous places to get pizza - the Palma Maria and the Napoli. They spell Naples over here - NAPOLI. When Prince Murat build his plantation near Tallahassee he called it - LIPONA - the anagram for Napoli.
Saturday we are touring Pompeii and hiking to the top of Mt Vesuvius.
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| How to get to Naples for $45 - start in Berlin on Easyjet |
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| Temperatures in Naples reached 60s when we arrived. |
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| Mosaics from Pompeii at the museum |
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| Mosaics preserved 2000 years by volcano ash and mud. |
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| The world famous Archeological Museum in Naples. |
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| Art cut from the walls in Pompeii |
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| Naples Archeological Museum |
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| Our Renaissance Hotel downtown for $99. Note the electric promo car there. |
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| The front of our pizza restaurant - De Rosa |
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