Our time in Naples was limited but we made sure to fill it with all the pizza. All of it. For six meals straight we ate pizza. The two times we ate breakfast, it was leftover pizza from the night before. Elizabeth has always said her favorite food is pizza. And while it wasn’t to the level of the gelato challenge, I think after six meals in a row, she could have used a break.
Of the pizza meals, one and four were the best. The first for it’s simplicity. The fourth for it’s craziness of doing a stuffed crust style with ricotta. Our favorite was the star shaped ricotta pizza. We also made sure to try the local sweets to balance out all the savory pizza.
During our only full day of Naples we ventured out to see one of the cities destroyed by the 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius eruption. I had talked Elizabeth into visiting Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. It was closer to Naples, less crowded, and we were able to see all of it in half a day.
Herculaneum differs from Pompeii in a couple of ways. One way it is different is that all organic material survived the blast (due to how the ash/hot gases fell on this city). In Pompeii the organic material did not survive once it was covered in ash and that is why you get the molds of people cowering in the wake of the eruption. The first surge of ash from Vesuvius fell to the south and only a wee bit landed on Herculaneum. After the first dusting of ash, many were able to flee. Once the second round of ash/hot gases landed on the city the wood, food, roofs etc. were preserved. And you also get this…
It was previously thought that all the inhabitants had escaped. Sadly these souls did not and were instantly killed by another ash cloud. These skeletons were not found until the 80’s. To be clear I’m not sure that these are real, they could be casts of the remains found in the 80’s.
Another difference between Pompeii and Herculaneum is that the latter was wealthier so the homes were more lavish. Some of the elaborately decorated houses are on display where you can view the brightly colored walls and mosaics.
*I highly suggest you click through the pictures to see the details better.
Although it was a quick trip, it was full of amazing sights and plenty of incredible stories about the city that was once so vibrant before being covered in ash. We eventually left Naples for Rome, our last overnight stay in Italy before moving over to the Adriatic side of the Mediterranean.
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