nateniale's travels

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } Walking around the huge and well-preserved archeological site that was once Pompeii, it was easy to imagine the city that it once was... Pompeii was an important port, and must have been a well-to-do city. The temples and the forum must have been a lively place where the Pompeiians met, traded and socialised with their family and friends. There were shops selling everyday items, such as wine and bread, with graffiti on the walls. There were brothels with erotic frescoes and public baths. The large amphitheatre must have provided entertainments to the residents. The houses and villas were large, with many rooms and even gardens with water features. Some of the houses were right in the middle of the city, while others were further away, probably some holiday villas of rich Pompeiians. The rich pompeiian red that coloured the walls and the beautiful paintings showed that the houses must have been colourful. The bright gardens and water features, wou...

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } A Roman city destroyed and buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Pompeii was buried for more than 1,600 years before the town was rediscovered. Thousands of Pompeiians must have died, and many more fled the town. However, the volcanic ash that buried the city allowed us to walk along the cobbled stone streets, among the walls that once made up the homes of the Pompeiians. Ever since I went to an exhibition on Pompeii , I told myself that I would go to Pompeii when I am lucky enough to be in Italy. And so, I did. We saw the treasures from Pompeii in the museum in Naples , before visiting the site. We took a train from Naples, and stopped in a station right next to the entrance. I was filled with excitement. Sure,  Rome , with the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum and all the amazing structures from ancient Rome, was spectacular. But Rome was like the political and administration centre - the capital of the Roman Empire, if ...

What do you write about a Roman town frozen in time after a volcanic eruption buried and killed almost all of its residents? The small exhibition I saw end of last year and the archeological artifacts in the museum could not prepare me for the real thing. Walking down the streets that was pretty much the same 2,000 years ago, imagining the houses and rooms that once was, looking towards Mount Vesuvius from the town that was destroyed by it. There are so many photos to share and stories to tell. So, while I get my thoughts together, do read on my trip to Italy and  other travelogues . { Click here for more postcard from...  posts }

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } I love how the Italian words sound, and being able to understand them is even better! During the trip in Italy, I kept trying to eavesdrop in conversations, especially when those older Italian men were talking loudly with such passion and many hand movements. But I digress. My point is, I can read and understand the title of this post - Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli is the Naples National Archeological Museum. It has many collections from nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum, and served as a great introduction to Pompeii that we planned to go the day after. Then again, the exhibition on Pompeii in the National Museum of Singapore the year before was one of the reasons I planned the trip to Pompeii. There were many sculptures exhibited, that remarkable as they were, became fuzzy and similar after awhile. However, there were two that stood out - Farnese Artemis and Aphrodite Kallipygos. Artemis was a Greek goddess, and I have been to the si...

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } Walking down the chaotic historic centre of Naples, you would never guess that there is a whole world deep underground. There are various sites and tours that bring visitors under the city, but on our visit we decided to explore the Naples' underground with  Napoli Sotterranea , which literally means Naples Underground. We were led to an apartment building, down a flight of stairs into the remains of a Roman theatre. Imagine, to be living in a building not knowing that it was built on a couple of thousands year old theatre! According to our guide, Emperor Nero, the Roman emperor, sang in this theatre through an earthquake. Many families are still living in the apartment above it.  We were then brought to another passageway, down hundreds of steps underground, into what used to be a Greco-Roman aqueduct during the Roman times. The aqueduct was eventually not used, and the water redirected. Standing inside the aqueduct, I could not ...

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } In my previous two posts on " People of Venice " and " People of Vatican City ", you can see how touristy the places are. Venice was full of day-trippers and we could only escape them early in the morning, or when we started wondering the tiny alleys. In Vatican City, with only 800 residents, there are literally only tourists that you see! Which brings me to Naples. Just from these photos, you can see the difference between those tourist cities and this charming historic centre. There are no shortage of locals, and really, not that many tourists. So, if you, like me, love to people watch, the best place to watch the locals would be Naples.          This charming old lady, deserves a special mention. Saw her from the window of our Bed and Breakfast, while we were taking some photos of the street downstairs, Spaccanapoli. Quickly snapped a photo of her, which she noticed, and started scolding vivaciously before go...

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } Growing up in Malaysia, and then studying in Singapore and Australia, the pizza that I knew and grew up with were those American pizza with thick crust and lots of toppings. I was never really a fan. Soon, I discovered thin crust Italian pizza that I came to love. So, when in Naples, the birth place of pizza, what do you think is the must eat dish? Pizza is probably the most popular and the best known creation of all Neapolitan cuisine. And the most popular pizzeria in Naples is arguably Da Michele. A small unassuming pizzeria, with no decorations except for the white and green tiles, that offers only two types of pizza - marinara (with tomato, garlic, and oregano) and margherita (with tomato, mozzarella, and basil). There must be a good reason why Da Michele still manages to attract long lines of customers after 140 years. And being featured in the book and the movie Eat, Pray, Love is not the reason. The reasons are these... When you are ab...

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } Walking down the streets in the historic centre of Naples , we soon saw a recurring figure that seemed to the unofficial mascot of the city. A character dressed in white with a black mask, there were many figurines of him playing various musical instruments and even with pizza and spaghetti in hand. We later found out that the character is Pulcinella, which means "chick" in Italian, and it originated from 17th century theatre. { Click here for other travel tales from Italy and  a list of my travelogues }