Firenze and Napoli/Pompeii

Hey Guys,

Just finished quick visits to Florence and Naples. Now just about to leave for Rome to finish my tour of Italy.

Got into Florence and couple days ago, and threw my bag in the hostel before heading out to explore. First came upon the Duomo, which was mobbed with tourists, but an absolutely amazing display of architechture.



I then headed into the Galleria dell'Academia, home of David. I'm not really a fan of art, but when I came upon the statue I was stunned. It's much bigger than I'd imagined, and almost looks like it's going to come alive at any second. Also in the Galleria were some amazing unfinished statues from Michaelangelo. (Wish they allowed pictures to be taken here)

I wandered around some more, walked through a few street markets (they were all over the place), got the best gelato I've ever had (pistaccio, at a place called Grom), and caught some main sights of the city (including the Ponte Vecchio).



I found it funny that there was a thriving Ben & Jerry's just a couple blocks from the gelato place I mentioned. Apparently they're having no problem with competition from some of the best gelato places in the world around them.

The next day, I woke up, and planned to devote the majority of the day to waiting in line for, then going through the Uffizi Gallery. The wait took an hour and a half, which wasn't as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard. Then I finally got inside and climbed the stairs to the gallery. The gallery was nice - there were some pretty amazing pantings, notably by Bottecelli. But I'll admit, I have no idea what makes those paintings so great and famous, so the terms and styles mainly went over my head. But it was neat to see such acclaimed paintings in one of the most famous galleries in the world.



The next day, I caught an early train to Naples. I stepped out of the station, and it was completely hectic right away. Naples has the reputation of being incredibly fast paced, and it was way moreso than I expected. Mopeds were racing around and weaving through traffic. Drivers were beeping every couple seconds, yelling to other drivers, and running red lights. On the subway, the conductor came back to announce a delay, and everyone just started yelling and drowned him out. It was wilder than any city I've ever been in, much moreso than even New York. It was quite an experience, but I'm happy to have only spent a day there.

Anyways, the main reason for going here was to see Pompeii, about a 40 minute train ride away from Naples. It was incredible to see this town that was covered by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. They had the molds of some of the bodies, as cavities were created when the ash covered the city. The audio tour had a ton of detail about many of the buildings, and what the specific rooms were used for. It was surprisingly big - you could walk through this giant, deserted city in no less than 20 minutes.







Well that's it for now. I'll report back on my time in Rome. The plan after that is short visits to Barcelona and Paris, before heading back to Amsterdam for my flight home.

Ciao!
Colin