It was already time to leave Venice - but we still had a morning to potter around the city. Our train to Pompei(i) (Pompei is the Italian spelling, Pompeii is the English spelling, it seems) wasn't leaving until 2pm, so we had time to find lunch and go for one last walk around the place.
We packed and left our luggage at the accommodation - which was totally full but they put our bags somewhere... Out on the street, we just started walking. We had a few little bits and pieces we still needed to get - namely a magnet for me and I wanted to see if there was any way I could buy a venetian mask and carry it without it getting damaged. Basically, no. There was no point buying a mask here, despite desperately wanting.
Oh! I should explain why I wanted the mask. As you may know, 24 June - 1 July Dan and I will be sailing on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton UK to New York. One night aboard the ship is fancy dress, and for us it is masquerade. I almost cried with joy when I read this - it's always been my dream to go to a masquerade party and I'll get to do it in a ball gown! Hence why I was looking at the masks.
We meandered our way into an area we hadn't seen before, and found a little cheapish place for lunch. I ordered the tagliatelle ragu and it was everything I was hoping it to be. The presentation was about an F but the flavour was amazing.
On the way back to our accommodation, we stopped into the supermarket to pick up some supplies. Our train journey from Venice to Naples would take about 5 hours, and then we needed to catch another train from Naples - Pompeii, which would take about half an hour (plus messing around time).
We left Venice at about 2pm, and arrived in Naples a bit after 7pm. The journey was quite good - we got 1st class tickets because they weren't much more and that way we could choose the direction of travel so I didn't run the risk of sitting backwards for 5 hours. Every short while on the journey, we were offered drinks and snacks, which in the end I was just taking so I could pack them away and have as snacks on the following days...I spent the time doing a lot of writing on my laptop, and periodically Dan and I switched chairs as the train changed direction. At one point, Dan's phone rang, and it was our next accommodation asking if we were still coming...yes...we would be there...? This would unfold a little later...
Dan had it all sorted what we needed to do next once we got off the train - we needed to catch the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii, not the main station but the one before it. The train signage at this portion of the station was utter shit, and we stood there with all of our luggage trying to figure out what was going on. Thankfully Dan had looked up a timetable so we knew roughly what time the train should be approaching as the signage was not helping us in the slightest.
On the train, I managed to push our way onto a four seat where one other man was sitting. He looked a little bewildered by all of our luggage, and then he pulled out a book and started reading in English. Our stop arrived, and we jumped off. It was about a 15 minute walk from the stop to our accommodation, which we struggled to find at first but eventually made it. It looked really fancy with a garden in front, and Dan and I were both so preoccupied looking at the frontage that we both slid and stepped in a large pile of dog poo which was sitting in the entrance.
Fantastic. Thankfully my shoes have no grip and therefore no tread for it to get stuck in, so I could wipe it off easily, but Dan's got itself nicely wedged right up in there. I was just thinking to myself, well, stepping in dog poo is good luck, right?
We went inside and started the check in process. The man behind the counter said "I will organise a car to pick you up." Excuse me? We aren't staying here? "Another hotel for you. Car will pick you up in a few minutes." He couldn't tell me what had happened, where we were going, whether we were going far away, and I started to get annoyed. I kept telling myself that usually when this happens, it's for the better, but all he needed to say was that they were overbooked and had found us a better place. Easy.
About 5-10 minutes later, a car rocked up and a very vivacious lady approached us, trying to take our luggage. It was all too heavy of course, but we managed to pile in the car. I was very confused as we seemed to be driving a long way, and through a lot of back streets. We had chosen our hotel based on the location and that it was walking distance to the ruins, and now I was completely lost. On the way, she asked us (Dan mostly, because I wasn't concentrating) what we wanted for breakfast, and we apparently settled on a chocolate croissant each, coffee and juice, ananas and orange.I didn't realise this was juice and thought it was actual fruit, and I thought it was banana, not pineapple.
After some windy driving we approach some apartments, and the lady shows us inside. We walk up to the first floor (quite acutely aware of the smell coming from our shoes) and we are let into a rather beautiful apartment. We definitely got a room upgrade. There was a giant bed in the middle and also some bunkbeds on the side, huge amount of space, fridge and a lovely bathroom - and a big balcony stretching the length of the apartment. There was even a small stove top and some implements. The lady took great delight in showing us everything about the room, including the automatic shutters on the windows and the hair dryer. The one thing she did forget to mention to us was how to check out...
Finally, we were able to collapse, and we figured the dog poo had brought some good luck after all. The location was even closer to the ruins entrance, and we were closer to the town, so in the end it had turned out for the best.
All day I had been carrying some food that we were supposed to eat on the long train, but with all the snacks we kept being given we hadn't been hungry. So now was time to have a bit of a nibble - we had a delicious brie with crackers and some strawberries, and soon it was time for bed.
Til next time,
xx
We packed and left our luggage at the accommodation - which was totally full but they put our bags somewhere... Out on the street, we just started walking. We had a few little bits and pieces we still needed to get - namely a magnet for me and I wanted to see if there was any way I could buy a venetian mask and carry it without it getting damaged. Basically, no. There was no point buying a mask here, despite desperately wanting.
Oh! I should explain why I wanted the mask. As you may know, 24 June - 1 July Dan and I will be sailing on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton UK to New York. One night aboard the ship is fancy dress, and for us it is masquerade. I almost cried with joy when I read this - it's always been my dream to go to a masquerade party and I'll get to do it in a ball gown! Hence why I was looking at the masks.
We meandered our way into an area we hadn't seen before, and found a little cheapish place for lunch. I ordered the tagliatelle ragu and it was everything I was hoping it to be. The presentation was about an F but the flavour was amazing.
On the way back to our accommodation, we stopped into the supermarket to pick up some supplies. Our train journey from Venice to Naples would take about 5 hours, and then we needed to catch another train from Naples - Pompeii, which would take about half an hour (plus messing around time).
We left Venice at about 2pm, and arrived in Naples a bit after 7pm. The journey was quite good - we got 1st class tickets because they weren't much more and that way we could choose the direction of travel so I didn't run the risk of sitting backwards for 5 hours. Every short while on the journey, we were offered drinks and snacks, which in the end I was just taking so I could pack them away and have as snacks on the following days...I spent the time doing a lot of writing on my laptop, and periodically Dan and I switched chairs as the train changed direction. At one point, Dan's phone rang, and it was our next accommodation asking if we were still coming...yes...we would be there...? This would unfold a little later...
Dan had it all sorted what we needed to do next once we got off the train - we needed to catch the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii, not the main station but the one before it. The train signage at this portion of the station was utter shit, and we stood there with all of our luggage trying to figure out what was going on. Thankfully Dan had looked up a timetable so we knew roughly what time the train should be approaching as the signage was not helping us in the slightest.
On the train, I managed to push our way onto a four seat where one other man was sitting. He looked a little bewildered by all of our luggage, and then he pulled out a book and started reading in English. Our stop arrived, and we jumped off. It was about a 15 minute walk from the stop to our accommodation, which we struggled to find at first but eventually made it. It looked really fancy with a garden in front, and Dan and I were both so preoccupied looking at the frontage that we both slid and stepped in a large pile of dog poo which was sitting in the entrance.
Fantastic. Thankfully my shoes have no grip and therefore no tread for it to get stuck in, so I could wipe it off easily, but Dan's got itself nicely wedged right up in there. I was just thinking to myself, well, stepping in dog poo is good luck, right?
We went inside and started the check in process. The man behind the counter said "I will organise a car to pick you up." Excuse me? We aren't staying here? "Another hotel for you. Car will pick you up in a few minutes." He couldn't tell me what had happened, where we were going, whether we were going far away, and I started to get annoyed. I kept telling myself that usually when this happens, it's for the better, but all he needed to say was that they were overbooked and had found us a better place. Easy.
About 5-10 minutes later, a car rocked up and a very vivacious lady approached us, trying to take our luggage. It was all too heavy of course, but we managed to pile in the car. I was very confused as we seemed to be driving a long way, and through a lot of back streets. We had chosen our hotel based on the location and that it was walking distance to the ruins, and now I was completely lost. On the way, she asked us (Dan mostly, because I wasn't concentrating) what we wanted for breakfast, and we apparently settled on a chocolate croissant each, coffee and juice, ananas and orange.I didn't realise this was juice and thought it was actual fruit, and I thought it was banana, not pineapple.
After some windy driving we approach some apartments, and the lady shows us inside. We walk up to the first floor (quite acutely aware of the smell coming from our shoes) and we are let into a rather beautiful apartment. We definitely got a room upgrade. There was a giant bed in the middle and also some bunkbeds on the side, huge amount of space, fridge and a lovely bathroom - and a big balcony stretching the length of the apartment. There was even a small stove top and some implements. The lady took great delight in showing us everything about the room, including the automatic shutters on the windows and the hair dryer. The one thing she did forget to mention to us was how to check out...
Finally, we were able to collapse, and we figured the dog poo had brought some good luck after all. The location was even closer to the ruins entrance, and we were closer to the town, so in the end it had turned out for the best.
All day I had been carrying some food that we were supposed to eat on the long train, but with all the snacks we kept being given we hadn't been hungry. So now was time to have a bit of a nibble - we had a delicious brie with crackers and some strawberries, and soon it was time for bed.
Til next time,
xx
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