Follow up from the Ravenna post: I wanted to make a note to all readers as to the proper pronunciation of "Janing". Jan, the name, is a soft 'j', as most will know from the Anchorman reference when he goes for a jog, also with the soft 'j' use. This however is legitimate in that Jan is Belgian and is actually a soft 'j'. Thus it it janing with a soft 'j'. It adds to the ambiance of the term. Moving on.
Last weekend I went to Naples on another class trip. This time was much better then last time when I was there for a grand total of maybe 4 hours, most of which was spent in the train station. For those that have not been there, it is kinda gross there, especially when you walk out of the train station. It's all clearly illegal immigrants that are selling the knock off stuff left and right and are rather creepy individuals. Anyway. I started out with low expectations even knowing this was going to be better then last time. I was with 4 other students, Kelsey, Jack, Natasha and Alex from my class (there are only 6 of us and our professor but Lily couldn't go). Our professor's name is Alex and he is german and a red head. The man is a gem if there ever was one. He often dresses as if he walked out of a crayola crayon box; He once wore bright yellow pants, a candy apple red sweater with a blue and white striped button-down shirt. If his lectures make us drowsy, his outfits are there to wake us up. When not worn together, there is often one of these fine articles of clothing represented at every class. Anyway, his wardrobe was not the purpose of our trip.
We started with a museum, the Naples National Archaeological Museum, which houses part of the Farnese collection (we visited the other half here in Rome) and tons and tons of things they found in Pompeii. They were some pretty cool things, though I think alot of it was closed off because we went through all of it rather fast. They had some cool mosaics though from the floors and walls of Pompeii houses. (They had alot of Roman statues. We all know that I don't get tired of that stuff so I have more pictures of those.. Im getting really good at identifying people without looking at the name plates. Win).
Since there wasn't too much of interest other then typical museum (read: old) things I'll move on to what really matters: pizza. We successfully convinced Alex (our professor. yes it is confusing with Girl Alex in the class and professor Alex, who we just call Alex, as well as another BOY Alex in our program. Fortunately he has a plethora of nick names: Dusty, Jerry, Boy Alex etc) to take us to get pizza for lunch at a famous pizza place that Kelsey and Natasha went when they came earlier in the semester. (I'm sorry that was rather long winded and confusing sentence. I like to use parentheses). It was called Gino Sorbillo's and I think it was the best pizza I've EVER had. I was frazzled when I had to order so I just got a margherita pizza (which is straight tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil). Which is the greatest rush decision ever. I'm pretty sure that there was ricotta cheese on there too and probably some crack as well because it was amazing. And the dough. Its just SO GOOD THERE IS NOTHING BAD ABOUT NAPLES PIZZA. except the location. I have also been informed that the water in Naples is what makes the crust great. (which means there is a high chance that there is crack in it. But i'll save the mafia for an upcoming post :) ) We were all very satisfied with our pizza and very full. So yummy.
We then took the tram thing they have in Naples to the top of one of the mountains that surrounds Naples, to this monastery that has been turned into a museum. It was pretty cool. The church attached was the most busy I've ever seen, in terms of the decorations. All of the marble was colored marble and thus made it a very chaotic sight. It wasn't bad but it clearly showed how much money they had because the colored marble is rather pricy. You know, as marble goes.... But we walked through the courtyard and took some absurd pictures with skulls that were decorations (....weird) and were only able to see one level of the museum. Side note: This was the beginning of culture week, which I think may be a nationwide thing because this was free as well as most things in Rome this week. So the first floor of the museum was closed because they could because it was also free. I don't get it but I stopped questioning Southern Europe ways of life... They make things much more complicated then need be.
So given that we were on top of the mountain it had fantastic views of Naples and the ocean (its on the western coast, south of Rome, but right on the water). It was lovely. We walked down and it was the same view but obviously slightly different as we went farther down.. Nonetheless, lots of pictures were taken.
We went back to our hostel since we were out of time to go to the last place we were supposed. This was the biggest difference between this trip and the one with Jan. Jan would not let us talk him into going to get pizza for lunch and taking 2 and half extra hours out of our schedule to go to a famous pizza place. Or walk at our own pace. And god forbid we miss seeing something. Alex walked at our speed, stopped to see things not on our list and obvi stopped for pizza. Anyway, we got back to our hostel and had a chance to rest before going to eat again. Our hostel though was the greatest place ever. It was all neon colors and it was super fun. There was a little bar and a massive flat screen tv with about 200 movies (some in english, some not), a wii, and washer and dryer. It was super!! Our room for the 5 of us (teacher Alex got his own room, which was neon blue and had his own bathroom) was neon green and had a cute little balcony with a pretty sweet view of the city. I'm not a fan of Naples but if you go, go here. It is actually the best thing beside the pizza to have happened that weekend.
http://www.hostelnapoli.com/languages/english/
So. Then it was time to eat again and we went to another famous pizzeria that I can't remember the name of. It started with a T, but I couldn't even begin to guess to google it. It was a little bit of a walk from the hostel, but we were all still pretty full from lunch that walking more was going to make room for more pizza, which is all that matters on a pizza tour of Naples. I got a white margherita, which means that instead of tomato sauce, its fresh cherry tomatoes cut up on top of the cheese, still with basil. Still pretty solid. I couldn't finish mine because I was so full and we had beer but it was wonderful. There was so much bonding at the dinner table. So cute. We came back after and hung out for a little before we went to bed.
The next day we were up somewhat early to get breakfast and go to Pompeii (They had peanut butter and nutella for on toast. good start to the morning)! We took a bus to Pompeii, where we got a tour guide and Natasha's family joined us (they were visiting so they came down with us for part of it). It was pretty cool. We saw the theaters that they used as well as the places that the gladiators were kept in their little cells. We walked through the streets which was fun and we saw a place that was a bakery and a pizza place. nom nom nom. We couldn't go in the bath complex because it was closed for renovations but there are worse things. It was a beautifullll day; so sunny and not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze. We saw the forum and they also had a display of all the things that they found. They had the plaster casts of the people that were made as well. The way that they made them was when the drilled down and found an empty cavity, they filled it with plaster then took out the mold. The body had long decayed and turned into dust and so they were able to make the casts. wild.
We got gelato at this point. not bad.
We walked to a villa that was just outside the forum and then more outside the city itself to another villa. I don't really know much about it but in the first villa I may or may not have taken another rock. :) Sorry I'm not sorry. We saw the famous frescoes in the villa outside the city which were awesome because they were so vibrant and well preserved.
At this point we had concluded our tour of Pompeii so we all went back to the city to get MORE PIZZA! Teacher Alex claimed he didnt want anymore pizza but he would sit with us. So we went to da Michele! (That's the place that I went the last time I was in Naples, the place where Eat, Pray, Love was filmed). We waited for awhile and were finally seated. Alex got a pizza. Like you could pass up pizza in Naples. That's the only reason I would go back. Ever.
Last weekend I went to Naples on another class trip. This time was much better then last time when I was there for a grand total of maybe 4 hours, most of which was spent in the train station. For those that have not been there, it is kinda gross there, especially when you walk out of the train station. It's all clearly illegal immigrants that are selling the knock off stuff left and right and are rather creepy individuals. Anyway. I started out with low expectations even knowing this was going to be better then last time. I was with 4 other students, Kelsey, Jack, Natasha and Alex from my class (there are only 6 of us and our professor but Lily couldn't go). Our professor's name is Alex and he is german and a red head. The man is a gem if there ever was one. He often dresses as if he walked out of a crayola crayon box; He once wore bright yellow pants, a candy apple red sweater with a blue and white striped button-down shirt. If his lectures make us drowsy, his outfits are there to wake us up. When not worn together, there is often one of these fine articles of clothing represented at every class. Anyway, his wardrobe was not the purpose of our trip.
Alex in the flesh.
We started with a museum, the Naples National Archaeological Museum, which houses part of the Farnese collection (we visited the other half here in Rome) and tons and tons of things they found in Pompeii. They were some pretty cool things, though I think alot of it was closed off because we went through all of it rather fast. They had some cool mosaics though from the floors and walls of Pompeii houses. (They had alot of Roman statues. We all know that I don't get tired of that stuff so I have more pictures of those.. Im getting really good at identifying people without looking at the name plates. Win).
Tash and Kelsey with Hercules
Marcus Aurelius
This was the cover of one of books for my Ancient Rome class.. WILD
Famous floor that's on the covers of lots of text books
Since there wasn't too much of interest other then typical museum (read: old) things I'll move on to what really matters: pizza. We successfully convinced Alex (our professor. yes it is confusing with Girl Alex in the class and professor Alex, who we just call Alex, as well as another BOY Alex in our program. Fortunately he has a plethora of nick names: Dusty, Jerry, Boy Alex etc) to take us to get pizza for lunch at a famous pizza place that Kelsey and Natasha went when they came earlier in the semester. (I'm sorry that was rather long winded and confusing sentence. I like to use parentheses). It was called Gino Sorbillo's and I think it was the best pizza I've EVER had. I was frazzled when I had to order so I just got a margherita pizza (which is straight tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil). Which is the greatest rush decision ever. I'm pretty sure that there was ricotta cheese on there too and probably some crack as well because it was amazing. And the dough. Its just SO GOOD THERE IS NOTHING BAD ABOUT NAPLES PIZZA. except the location. I have also been informed that the water in Naples is what makes the crust great. (which means there is a high chance that there is crack in it. But i'll save the mafia for an upcoming post :) ) We were all very satisfied with our pizza and very full. So yummy.
We then took the tram thing they have in Naples to the top of one of the mountains that surrounds Naples, to this monastery that has been turned into a museum. It was pretty cool. The church attached was the most busy I've ever seen, in terms of the decorations. All of the marble was colored marble and thus made it a very chaotic sight. It wasn't bad but it clearly showed how much money they had because the colored marble is rather pricy. You know, as marble goes.... But we walked through the courtyard and took some absurd pictures with skulls that were decorations (....weird) and were only able to see one level of the museum. Side note: This was the beginning of culture week, which I think may be a nationwide thing because this was free as well as most things in Rome this week. So the first floor of the museum was closed because they could because it was also free. I don't get it but I stopped questioning Southern Europe ways of life... They make things much more complicated then need be.
So given that we were on top of the mountain it had fantastic views of Naples and the ocean (its on the western coast, south of Rome, but right on the water). It was lovely. We walked down and it was the same view but obviously slightly different as we went farther down.. Nonetheless, lots of pictures were taken.
the gang
Alex in the Monastery Garden.
http://www.hostelnapoli.com/languages/english/
So. Then it was time to eat again and we went to another famous pizzeria that I can't remember the name of. It started with a T, but I couldn't even begin to guess to google it. It was a little bit of a walk from the hostel, but we were all still pretty full from lunch that walking more was going to make room for more pizza, which is all that matters on a pizza tour of Naples. I got a white margherita, which means that instead of tomato sauce, its fresh cherry tomatoes cut up on top of the cheese, still with basil. Still pretty solid. I couldn't finish mine because I was so full and we had beer but it was wonderful. There was so much bonding at the dinner table. So cute. We came back after and hung out for a little before we went to bed.
The next day we were up somewhat early to get breakfast and go to Pompeii (They had peanut butter and nutella for on toast. good start to the morning)! We took a bus to Pompeii, where we got a tour guide and Natasha's family joined us (they were visiting so they came down with us for part of it). It was pretty cool. We saw the theaters that they used as well as the places that the gladiators were kept in their little cells. We walked through the streets which was fun and we saw a place that was a bakery and a pizza place. nom nom nom. We couldn't go in the bath complex because it was closed for renovations but there are worse things. It was a beautifullll day; so sunny and not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze. We saw the forum and they also had a display of all the things that they found. They had the plaster casts of the people that were made as well. The way that they made them was when the drilled down and found an empty cavity, they filled it with plaster then took out the mold. The body had long decayed and turned into dust and so they were able to make the casts. wild.
our tour guide
We got gelato at this point. not bad.
We walked to a villa that was just outside the forum and then more outside the city itself to another villa. I don't really know much about it but in the first villa I may or may not have taken another rock. :) Sorry I'm not sorry. We saw the famous frescoes in the villa outside the city which were awesome because they were so vibrant and well preserved.
At this point we had concluded our tour of Pompeii so we all went back to the city to get MORE PIZZA! Teacher Alex claimed he didnt want anymore pizza but he would sit with us. So we went to da Michele! (That's the place that I went the last time I was in Naples, the place where Eat, Pray, Love was filmed). We waited for awhile and were finally seated. Alex got a pizza. Like you could pass up pizza in Naples. That's the only reason I would go back. Ever.
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