June 12 – 16, 2015 —
On Friday we left for Naples after spending a day cleaning and securing the boat in the marina at Gaeta. Our schedule took us to Naples for two days, including Pompeii, then on to Rome for another two days. The contrast between Naples and Rome would prove to be shocking and sad.
In reading the cruising guides it was very strongly suggested that cruisers not take their boats to Naples or any of the marinas around the bay of Naples. 
Taking the advice to heart we hopped a train for the fifty miles to Naples, left our backpacks at the hotel and headed directly off to Pompeii on a narrow gauge train line.
Naples was a disappointment from the time we arrived. The trash and filth all over the city was beyond anything we have seen. The complete lack of pride in the city was sad. Everywhere we went the pickpockets and scam artists were at work preying on the tourists or anyone who looked lost or vulnerable. We watched a man fifteen feet in front of us on the train to Pompeii be robbed by two teens. They moved at amazing speed as the doors to the train were shutting. One held the door while the other grabbed and ran. By the time the man being robbed could get out of his seat to run after them, the doors had already shut and the train was moving out. The traffic is another nightmare with drivers having complete disregard for stoplights, crosswalks and one way streets. 
The side streets were narrow with cars parked on the sidewalks in tight areas, leaving the sidewalks unavailable. We had been commenting on this to one another, when a scooter carrying three people came out of nowhere and hit the woman walking not ten feet in front of us.
We became street smart in a hurry. We used our GPS phone to keep moving and not look lost. We never let a person offer us help, directions or approach us in any way. We stayed away from crowds, even jaywalking, to not be caught in a squeeze. We tried to always keep an eye out for cars, scooters and suspicious people. We walked as far away from the street as we could and stayed in public areas. We avoided carrying bags or packs and when we did, we always had the zippers knotted. Lastly, we stayed together as much as possible and only carried a small amount of cash in our pockets; using a money belt for everything else.
Was this all worth it? Yes. It is part of the experience and education of visiting other places in the world. We also experienced wonderful sites like Pompeii and the National Museum. We enjoyed authentic Napolitan restaurants and pizzerias, and met some wonderful local restauranteurs. Would we go back to Naples? No.
Pompeii was incredible. As the story goes, at about 1:00 pm on August 24, in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius exploded. The explosion sent rocks, dust and ash 12 to 15 miles into the air. Most of Pompeii’s 20,000 residents escaped the town. About 2,000 hid in their homes believing they would be safe. 
The falling debris collapsed the roofs of buildings, leaving the walls intact but burying those who had stayed. The following morning Vesuvius blew again, this time taking the top off the volcano as hot molten lava ran down the mountain at 60-80 mph. In all, the volcano buried the city in 20 to 30 feet of ash and pumice killing everyone who had stayed behind. As the lava cooled and turned to rock the city and its victims were frozen in time.
It was not until the 1599 that Pompeii was found and another 150 years before excavating began. It has been in process for over 300 years. 
The city of Pompeii has been stripped of most artifacts, which are now located in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. That is a very worthwhile museum. Walking through the remains of Pompeii gives you a sense of how sophisticated life was nearly 2,000 years ago. They had restaurants and bars, markets, bakeries, laundries, churches, a courthouse, vegetable gardens, gyms and even heated swimming pools. In many ways they lived just as we do (minus the WIFI and indoor plumbing).
During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids under the ash layers that once held human bodies. After the plaster set and the outside lava was chipped away, one can see the exact position a person was in when they died. It also kept intact what was left of the skeleton. These castings are on display in a memorial erected within the arena. We were both quite moved by the sight.
One of the fascinating urban designs at Pompeii were the streets. They were made of stones, as you would suspect, but they had interesting crosswalks. Since there was no sewer system like today all waste was emptied into the street not unlike other colonial cities. In this case though, the streets were designed to act like a tributary system. The city opened the water gates once or twice a day and flushed the streets with water to keep them clean. At most intersections, there were stones lined up across the street about a foot higher than the street. They were spaced perfectly to allow pedestrians to walk across without getting their feet wet, while still allowing the wheels of the carts and animals to go through.
Back in Naples it was time to find some dinner. We walked all through our neighborhood, wading through the trash of the day’s open market. Finding nothing that looked ok, we headed back toward our hotel where we had seen a small ordinary restaurant right around the corner. 
Apprehensive about going in as it was almost empty it turned out to be quite a delight as was the owner, Salvatore. He was very proud of his place. We went with his recommendations on the menu and were not disappointed. By the end of dinner he was showing us photos of his daughters. One of them had just won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. He had a photo of himself, in tux, with his daughter. With the language barrier we are still unclear whether she was Director of Photography or an actress, but it didn’t matter… His pride was effusive.
The following evening we found a restaurant on Trip Advisor that had a lot of stars. Again we weaved our way through the trash and found the restaurant. We did not have a reservation and they were full. We asked about a recommendation in the area. The waiter gave us a look and said: “not it this area”. We headed back to Salvatore who was happy to see us again.
The next morning we jumped a train for Rome. Rome is another story. Filled with smiling tourists, the ancient city is filled with fabulous churches, statues, art, outdoor restaurants, and piazzas with flowing fountains, and gelato everywhere. It is also quite clean on a relative basis. The petty crime is still present although to a much lesser extent and we never witnessed it. The same precautions were still prudent.
We created our own walking tour the first day, visiting the Spanish Steps, and a number of piazzas. We went to the Trevi Fountain which is under renovation, but still amazing to look at. 
Also visited were several ornate churches, the Pantheon and an interesting museum for Da Vinci. All fabulous!
Day two we toured the Colosseum and did miles of walking, seeing more statues, more fountains, and more churches. It brought back all those lectures from ancient history class freshman year of high school. We walked where Julius Caesar had walked, and on the same stones. All through the central part of Rome there are archaeological digs in process.
Day three we walked for what seemed like miles in the Forum and Palatine Hill, and had some down time at a nice restaurant perfect for people watching. The only obvious omission was the Vatican but we had already done that on a previous trip. We wrapped up with a long walk to the Termini station where we caught the local train back to the boat at Gaeta.
Our only suggestion to others on Rome is to go in April or October. It is still warm and beautiful, but will be much less crowded. It is a great walking city.
It has been a great opportunity to see Rome and Naples and contrast the two. It is sad that the city of Naples has missed out on prosperity. Naples has the nicer setting, right on the water at the beginning of the gorgeous Amalfi Coast yet its natural resource has been squandered and probably lost forever. It reminds of other once great cities such as Atlantic City in New Jersey that fell from grace and never recovered. After a long, tiring and educational four days we were happy to get back home on Quintessa.