Naples and Pompei

We left Rome and headed south to Pompei, the city reduced to ruins by the ash cloud from Mt. Vesuvius erupting back in the day. We had alot of warnings from people telling us to be wary of southern Italians because they were very dishonest. And wary we were.

You could instantly see a change in attitude of the people down there. They just seemed...greasy. We found a parking spot and walked towards the ruins. Not wanting to pay the entrance fee, we just got a good look from the outside, lol. The ruins actually weren't that bad. Alot of it was still intact. We didn't see any petrified people though (but that's prolly cause we just stayed in the parking lot).

We returned to our car, half-expecting it to be on cinder blocks by now. We saw a t-shirt that read "I went to Pompei and all I have left is this stupid shirt" (totally made that up). We drove around for awhile and finally reached Napoli.

Naples was supposedly the birthplace of pizza. So naturally, we went straight for a pizzeria. The city itself was disgusting. Crowded and dirty streets, gross-looking buildings. But we found a cool hole-in-wall pizza joint down some random alleyway. The lady didn't speak english, but man could she cook a pizza.

It was more like one of those gourmet pizzas you would order. Nothing like an American pizza, huge slices covered in toppings. I think authentic Italian food focuses more on natural ingredients and cooking with love, not satisfying the hungers of their customers.

But seriously, it was great pizza. We got pictures to prove it. I had a lasagna pizza, covered in ricotta and herbs and sauce. Rachelle got a Nutella pizza for dessert (way too sweet). We left Naples with a good taste in our mouths.

We slept in the car that night at a gas station. Well actually, I was sick of sleeping in the car, so I slept on the asphalt with my sleeping bag (like a bum). It was actually quite comfortable.

The girls dropped me off back in Rome, and with many tears, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The adventurer was alone once again.