And now, for the rest of it!

OK, I have to admit, I was a bit worried about the night train to Naples...I've read horror stories on the internet about people getting robbed or worse.... But everything went well, I actually slept well, despite the constant rocking and the noise. Got to Naples early...the tourist info booth wasn't even open yet, so we tried to just get to the hostel by Metro. Unfortunately, we ran into a bit of trouble...at one point, we had to switch train lines but we couldn't figure out where to do it, so we ended up backtracking and asking the people at the station we came from! Eventually, though we figured it out, and we got to the hostel ok. Dropped off our stuff, then off to see Naples! First stop was the Archaeological Museum, where most of the stuff from Pompeii is kept. €9 for admission, and most of the exhibits weren't even open!! We were also pretty tired, since we didn't get much sleep on the train (slept well, but not long enough!). But, we decided to keep going, and our next stop was to hike up all the steps to get to Certosa di San Martino. The museum was closed, but the view was great! We tried to find an easier way down, but it took us to the other side of town (one we didn't have on the map), we decided to backtrack instead and go back down the way we came.

After a brief rest at the hostel, we set back out again and checked out Castel Nuovo and Palazzo Reale...from the outside, since by this time they were all closed. Then somehow we found more stores to shop from, so we did that for a bit, and also stumbled across Piazza Plebiscito (which was reminiscent of both the Pantheon and St. Peter's Square in Rome). Had dinner at a restaurant on a little side street, where they didn't have half of what was in the menu (but at least we know that what they do have was fresh!), then walked back to get some more sleep!

The next day was a trip to Pompeii...we took the SITA bus there, which was quick and easy. Took us 5 hours to get through all the main sites outlined in a guide I bought...that's without randomly walking around and just exploring! Although, it does include the time it took us to have lunch...at the cafeteria, since unfortunately we forgot to pack a picnic lunch and therefore had to pay a lot of money! On the way back, we took the Circumvesuviana train, which was a bit more crowded and slower than the bus, although more convenient.

For our final full day in Italy, we decided on a day trip to Amalfi. We decided to take the bus instead of the ferry...big mistake! Although theoretically, they take the same length of time, the bus was much less pleasant due to heavy traffic right by the sea, and also because of the stomach turning hairpin (or the more generous V, U, L and S) turns that the road took! Didn't get to Amalfi until lunch time, so the first thing we did was have lunch...our last real meal in Italy! Then, some souvenir (and food!) shopping, and walking by the sea. We caught the bus back to Napoli, this time going through Positano and Sorrento (the morning bus went through Ravello and Scala)...even worse than the morning! The ride back took over 3 hours...took 2 hours just to get past Sorrento! So, we didn't get back to Naples until around 9pm...and we still have to pack! Took us until about midnight before we finally went to bed, and then got up 5 hours later to catch our 6:40am train to Rome in time for our 12:30pm flight home!

The plane rides were fine...no delays or anything...so we landed in Calgary about 8pm. Just enough time for me to unpack, clean up, check e-mail and update this! Now...time for bed...I'm sure I'll talk to some of you soon! I'll post up pics as soon as possible!