Herculaneum - and the Bay of Naples

On previous cruises in the Mediterranean, we have visited the next three ports in Italy, so we have decided to go ‘off the beaten track’, avoiding the main tourist spotsto explore independently. Arnold loves ancient history, and had seen a program on the History channel about Herculaneum, just south of Naples, and so this was the perfect opportunity to cross it off his ‘bucket list’.

We had done some research on the net, and decided to take the public train to the nearest station, in the township of Ercalano. It was very easy to find the station for the Circumvesuvio line in Naples, and the train was express, so we only had one stop and were there in about 11 minutes (2.10 euros each). After leaving the station, we walked to the right and it is an easy 1 kilometre walk downhill towards the sea to the site.

You can see how close the new town is to th etop fo th eexcavations

Although Herculaneum is considered to be the little brother of Pompeii, because it is a smaller, less well known site, it is closer to Naples and historically very interesting. When Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, the initial spurt of hot coals, ash and flames destroyed Pompeii without warning. The citizens of Herculaneum were able to escape, but the city was engulfed in the lava and mud flow. The new city of Ercolano has been built directly over the original city, because the original city was covered by up to 20 metres of rocks, and mud. Although the old city was discovered when a local was digging a well in 1700’s,  and real excavations didn’t start until the early 20th century. In the photos, you will be able to see just how close the new city is to the excavations. 

While Herculaneum was once on the shoreline, the lava flow pushed more than 500 metres into the sea. Because of the slow lava flow, the city has been much better preserved than Pompeii, and many of the two storey buildings are still standing with mosaic floors, beautiful frescos and stunning plaster columns and decorations. 

After joining the queue for admission (11 euros) we spent a peaceful couple for hours exploring this ancient city. One of the most interesting places was the corner shop where large pottery storage jars are still in place. The whole area which is open to the public is two main streets and three cross streets, with beautiful parks and courtyards. Since Herculaneum wasn’t affected by fires, the wooden beams which held up the roofs were still in place, and it was easy to imagine life in this city, more than 2000 years ago.

The local shop

Public bath 

When we had finished we strolled back up the main street of Ercalano, coming across the local fresh food market in a side street - we walked along, smiled at all  the vendors who were really friendly and checked out the wonderful fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, seafood, olives and cheeses which were on sale - we spoke to one store holder - a fisherman - who told us that the local women buy their produce daily - so everything is fresh - and they only eat what is seasonally available on the day - no wonder the traditional mediterranean diet is so healthy!! We bought two delicious juicy peaches - bright yellow - you know the type - when you bite in the succulent flesh, the juice runs down your arms. We also stopped at an olive grower - he had huge barrels of about ten different types of olives - we bought a container of large olives marinated with garlic and chili to take back and share with our friends at sailaway drinks tonight - about 500 gms for 2 euros.

On the way back to the station we decided to stop at The Napoli Pizzeria and Spaghetteria - a little hole in the wall (literally) for a coffee and pizza - after all, this is the birthplace of the pizza, so we thought it would be good. We sat at tables on the outside of the restaurant, the only customers, inside, the whole restaurant would have been lucky to be three metres deep by two metres wide - all we could see were a couple of fridges and a coffee machine, but couldn’t see a kitchen. The coffees were duly delivered and we enjoyed them - although Italian coffee is always very strong for my taste. We sat and waited and there didn’t seem to be much movement in the indoor part, no one seemed too concerned about our order - the two waiters were just chatting among themselves leaning on a bar. Suddenly, a motor scooter screamed up onto the footpath, braked and a smooth young Italian guy jumped off, opened the back trailer... and what did he take out.... a pizza box!!!! 

We actually had home delivery in a pizza restaurant in Italy!!!

After we had stopped laughing, we looked at the waiters - they couldn’t see what was so funny - the special delivery was transferred to a large plate and delivered to the table. It was spectacular, large, thin crust with delicious mozzarella and fresh tomatoes oozing from every corner  - of course, it had corners - it was a rustic square shape - hand made obviously - but absolutely delicious!!

An enormous Pizza - delicious!!

We walked back to the station, and arrived at the platform just as the train to Naples was arriving - perfect timing. Every section of every train and station was covered in graffiti - I almost felt like I was back in western Sydney for a while. Naples is always advertised as the ‘gateway’ to somewhere else - Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast etc - our impression was that it is an unkempt city - looks unloved - lots of rubbish piled up everywhere in the laneways around the city centre.

We had decided to get the Hop-on Hop-off bus for the afternoon - there are four routes - we took the route which headed north from the city along the coastline to a lookout above the bay of Naples. We were really happy that we chose this tour and got out of the business district - the outer suburbs were much more attractive, with beautiful houses along the coast and lovely garden areas. 

Vesuvius stands guard over the Bay of Naples

Expensive houses

On the way back, we drove through a very expensive suburb  - where the streets are closed on Sundays, so that the locals can ‘promenade’ along the waterfront. There was no beaches as we know them - just a large rock wall, with everyone lying on the rocks, suntanning, and swimming among a number of small boats - and a beautiful marina of yachts - we only saw one very small patch of black sand - and everyone was crowded into the small space. Even the rocks at the beach ere covered in graffiti - such a shame.

Going to the beach - Naples style!!

To top off a great day, we received a text from Robert to tell us that the Queenslanders had won the State of Origin football, so we were very happy about that - and took delight in giving Garry, who is a true blue New South Wales supporter an early birthday gift -  a maroons t-shirt - which he duly put on and wore to our sail away drinks - he is a good sport!!

Cheers