Arrivederci, Napoli!

On Wednesday night, Jess and Josh had the neighbors over for one last dinner party.

Amazing views from Jess and Josh's upper deck

View of the deck and yard with the tiny island of San Martino in the background

Interior of the house

Getting the party started with wine and a fabulous dinner

Then on Thursday Jess and Josh joined Kevin and me for one last meal at a local steak place with great views of the bay -- a fantastic send off to a wonderful week in Napoli!

Mi bella sorella Jess

View of the bay of Naples at dusk.  Mount Vesuvius is in the background on the right

Last dinner together in Monte di Procida

A Flintstone-sized steak for four

The city lights at night

Isola d'Ischia

After "mastering" the bus system we decided to push our public transport abilities to the limit and use the bus, train, and ferry to get to the island of Ischia, about 16 miles away by ferry.  Unfortunately, Jess and Josh's car is having some transmission issues (as Jess said to the mechanic "la macchina non funziona").  But luckily the mechanic showed up right on time and we were able to drop the car off and make it by bus and train to the nearby town of Pozzuoli (birthplace of Sophia Loren) to catch the 9:35 ferry to the town of Ischia Porto.

At the dock there were numerous taxis waiting and we opted to take one as a taxi tour so that we could see more of the island.  Luigi spoke only Italian, but with Jess's great Italian skills and a little guesswork we were all able to get lots of information out of the tour.  We drove along the north coast of the island, stopping at just four of the towns on the island.  Ischia is known for its hot springs and nice beaches and is definitely a resort island with some beautiful boutique hotels and restaurants.

Funicular to one of the many hot springs and beaches near Ischia Porto

Jess, Amanda, and Kevin in Lacco Ameno

Close up of the aptly named "Fungo" (Mushroom) rock in Lacco Ameno

One of the many churches found on the island

Bouganvillea grows everywhere

Overlook of the island

A beach with hot springs -- this one has waterfalls as part of the thermal treatment

Overlooking Forio

Clear waters off of Forio

Beach chairs and umbrellas can be rented for the day

After the tour we had lunch at a cafe near the marina in Ischia Porto, then walked through some of the pedestrian-only shop streets.  Most of the shops were closed for "reposo", which is like the Spanish "siesta" where everyone goes home and relaxes during the hottest part of the day.  It is a fantastic concept that I wish we could adopt in the US, especially Arizona.

More beautiful bouganvillea

Balconies at one of the boutique hotels

The ubiquitous motorcycle -- a very popular way to see the island

We only spent a few short hours on the island but already I am wishing I could return.  We will have to save it for the next time we visit Naples!

Jess and Kevin preparing to board our ferry home

Last views of Ischia from the ferry -- this is the Castello Aragonese, parts of which date back to 400 BC

Exploring the Ruins in Baia

Today Jess and I had a bit of an adventure, figuring out the local bus system to get ourselves to Baia, a little town not far from Monte di Procida.  Jess, who has an impressive command of the Italian language, managed to have to bus driver tell us when we had arrived at the stop we wanted.

We first set about exploring the Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, which is housed in the magnificent Castello di Baia, a 16th century fortress built on Roman ruins.  When we first walked through the entrance, we were greeted by a sign indicating the museum was completely closed.  But a few moments later, a guy came out of the directors' area and indicated we should continue on into the museum.  We were literally the only people there the entire time, so we had it all to ourselves.

A misleading sign since the museum was actually open.

Jess at the drawbridge entrance to the castle/museum

Amanda at the sentry post with views of the Bay of Naples

View of the lighthouse and small beach below the museum

These eerie sculpted heads greet you at the museum

The museums 40+ rooms included a detailed explanation of ancient burial practices

A partially reconstructed frieze

A relief showing the naval fleet that was stationed at Misenum in the 1st century BC

We had this enormous museum all to ourselves

View of Monte di Procida from the castle battlements

Artfully positioned statues in one of the museum halls

Large scale exterior mosaic

Reconstruction of a nymphaeum that was discovered underwater in the bay. 

After fully exploring the museum, we walked down the hill to Baia's waterfront and had a refreshing drink at one of the cafes before walking across the street to the ruins of the Terme di Baia, a huge baths complex that is part of the park system. It is hard to miss since it seems to be right in the center of town and is flanked on both sides by the so-called "Temples" of Venus and Diana.  They are "so-called" because they were not actually temples, but structures used for the thermal baths.  Regardless, they are very large and impressive.

Detail of the circular Tempio de Venus

Half-domed Tempio di Diana

View of the ruins from above with the Baia marina and the Castle/Museum in the background.

Arches line one of the many paths

Partial column with the Castello di Baia/Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei in the distance

Jess among the ruins

In the bay near Baia are ongoing excavations, but parts of the ancient town are underwater due to seismic activity over the centuries.  We had hoped to take a glass-bottom boat to see some of the sites but unfortunately they only do the tours on weekends at this time of year.

Museo Archaologico Nazionale di Napoli

We did not have the time during our brief trip to see the ruins in Pompeii or Herculaneum.  But we did the next best thing which was to visit the Archaeology Museum in downtown Naples.  All of the artifacts that were found during the excavations are housed here in the museum rather than at the actual site of Pompeii.

Pompeiian mosaic of a Panther, a symbol of Dionysus the god of wine

Colored mosaic detail on a column excavated from Pompeii

For me, this comedy scene was the most intricate mosaic of them all - the tiles were smaller than the head of an eraser

Close-up detail of the comedy scene mosaic

The museum is also home to the Farnese sculpture collection.  The statues are incredible, some of them done on a very large scale.  Many are copies of original Greek statues, but they are so old that the copies themselves are of historical significance.

Statue of Apollo with a lyre, done in two different types of stone

These two-headed statues were kind of creepy.  In the foreground is a duo of Herodotus and Thucydides.

The Farnese Bull is the largest single sculpture found in antiquity.  It tells the myth of Dirce being tied to a wild bull, but it took archaeologists many years to figure out which bull myth the sculpture represented.

After a couple of exhausting hours touring the museum, it was nice to find a bench and sit in the amazing Sala de La Meridiana to view the frescoed ceiling.

The museum building itself was quite beautiful, this is the staircase leading to the 2nd floor

Seeing an open doorway, we stepped out onto a balcony but were chased back into the museum by a guard -- the door wasn't supposed to be open as the balcony was being restored.  I still managed to snap a photo of the pretty domed building across the street.

After a full day in Naples, we ate our first Napolitan pizza dinner.  Mangiamo!  Delizioso!

Best.

Pizza.

Ever.