It simply doesn't get any better than that.
We set our cabin TV to the front of the ship channel (the same view as the ship's webcam online) as soon as we awoke and spotted an incredible sunrise over Mt. Vesuvius right off the bow of the Pacific Princess as it docked in Naples. G grabbed my camera and ran up to Deck 10 for photos while I dressed and inserted contacts. We met up in the Panorama Buffet and went out on the Panorama Terrace (that's how warm it already was this morning) and viewed the yellow glow of Napoli in the morning light. Gorgeous! While we were there, we met up with Marlene and Paul and once again planned a day together.
Sunrise over Mt.Vesuvius
Perfect sunlight for a view of Naples from the Panorama Terrace on the Pacific Princess
Certosa di San Martino, with the Castel Sant'Elmo just behind it
Castle Nuovo
Our intention all along was to visit the Naples Archeological Museum today, just two days after visiting Pompeii. Most of the relics unearthed at Pompeii and Herculaneum (similar but smaller in size and buried in lava flow, unlike Pompeii which was buried in 30 feet of dust) have been moved to the archeological museum and it is one of the best ones in the world. Even better, the first Sunday of each month features free admission to many of Italy's cultural and archeological sites. Pompeii and Herculaneum would also have been free today but we wanted to get an early start at the closest site (the meuseum) and conclude our visit before the inevitable 'free day' crowds built.
In the interest of time, we shared a taxi (15€ total) to the archeological museum and were there just after the opening time of 9am. After getting our free ticket, we took an elevator to the top floor with the intention of working our way backwards through the museum. In fact, the top floor (the 4th floor in US terms) houses the administrative offices but before we went down a floor to the museum's top floor, we discovered the holy grail of Italian bathrooms near the administrative area: spotlessly clean with toilet seats and TP and soap to wash hands (oh my!). We didn't need them right then but took note of them. We knew we'd be back!
The museum is housed in a former university from the 17th and 18th centuries that became a royal museum in 1777 to house the best artifacts being unearthed at Pompeii. The great hall on the top floor houses a mechanical timepiece and a diagonal layout of zodiac on the tile floor. A pin hole of light strikes the sundial each day at noon and show the time of the year on the zodiac layout. Very cool! The remainder of the top floor is home to frescoes, statues and a 1:100 scale model of a Pompeii as it was excavated in 1879 that nearly fills another big hall. This fascinated us, having just been at Pompeii, and we debated exactly which streets we had walked down and where the various major sites were on the model. On the wall is a second model shoring the excavations in 2004.
In case we needed it, further proof that Pompeii can't be seen in a day
There were eight rooms of frescoes from the walls of Pompeii villas. Though not every item was labelled in English, each section contained a descriptive sign board in Italian and English and it was not difficult to discern what we were looking at. Many of the frescoes and statues depicted scenes from mythology. I was particularly taken with a statue of Charles Atlas holding up the earth (I remember seeing a photo of this as a child and was fascinated by it then, too), and loved seeing the hairstyles and sandals intricately carved on the statues.
Athena
Pirro
The second floor housed artifacts from the holiday home of Julius Caesar's father in law, excavated from Herculaneum. He was a fan of Epicurian philosophy and had a 2000 scroll library supporting his views. These half burned scrolls were painstakingly unrolled in the beginning of the 20th century on a traction device invented by Father Antonio Piaggio. Amazing!
The 'Secret Room' on the second floor contained frescoes of the sort found in the brothel at Pompeii and statues that were even more descriptive (and anotomically correct) leading me to believe that there is nothing new under the sun...except perhaps for that half-goat man and goat statue. I suspect that was meant to be amusing but it was probably pretty bizarre even back then. There are also documents in a case there that are are basically permission slips. When the sexy frescoes were first moved to the museum in 1839, they could only be viewed with the permission of the king and the permission was given in the letters that still exist there today.
One of the more discreet frescoes ;-)
By the time we reached the ground floor, we had found the crowds. We moved quickly through this floor, hitting the highlights as pointed out in Rick Steves' walking tour of the museum. The ground floor has nothing to do with Pompeii or Herculaneum but instead features the Farnese Collection, restored statues excavated from Rome’s Baths of Caracalla. This floor reminded me a great deal of the Vatican Museum. In fact, the ceilings in some of the rooms rivaled the ceilings at the Vatican Museum. We were in the museum for three to four hours and I took hundreds of photos. I'll pick a few favorites and post them here once we return home.
Aphrodite
We decided to walk back to the ship (just between 1 and 2 miles) but by then it was mid-afternoon and the sidewalks were packed and the traffic horrendous. Not for the first time I realized that there is no way I could live in a city the size of Naples (Italy's third largest city). Our walk was made easier because it was all downhill to the waterfront. We stopped into a well stocked grocery store and bought a few things and a bottle of sangria wine to take back to the ship. Once back on the Pacific Princess, we washed our hands before and after using the bathroom, at least 10 times. I am definitely a germaphobe!
We met up with Marlene and Paul again on the Panorama Terrace and got orange sections and lemons from the Panorama Buffet and enjoyed the sangria and the sunshine on the best and warmest day we've had since we first arrived in Italy on October 4. This is the weather we'd thought we'd have then, but better late than never. After a light snack, G went to a hot tub while I showered and dressed for dinner. We met up in the PES Lounge and watched a beautiful sunset, then went to dinner in the Club Restaurant (garden salad and seafood skewer). We were in the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:45pm performance by piano showman Chris Hamilton (we saw him a cruise or two ago, but he is highly entertaining). Afterward, G listened to Jere Ring in the Casino Lounge but I returned to the cabin to start this post.
Speaking of cabins, we've had a couple of things straightened out here (outside clanging noise and slow sink drain) but the most important thing is that the mattress is so perfect for my back. I hadn't really realized how much back pain I've been dealing with until I woke up today with none, after just one night's sleep. Holy hallelujah! It's going to be a great month...perfect cabin location and comfortable beds and, relatively speaking, a lot of down time. I told Greg that, in the event of rising or falling water, if I need to evacuate, forget the jewelry, forget the iPad, I will not leave this cabin without this mattress!
Life is very good tonight! :-)