when visiting pompeii, it's...
by jellicoe
when visiting pompeii, it's advisable to get a guide who will talk you through the streets, alleys, every dent and hole in pompeii. we had a great guide (in picture), a local guy named vitto and it was really wonderful listening to him speak of pompeii because you could sense the love of the city in him. plus, his italian accented english was delightful. vitto, our guide going 'senor, senorita, bambino bambini' to get our attention, while trudging along the ruins of pompeii
or...
vitto going 'this is a basilica. BA-SI-LI-CA!' i thought that was pretty cool. every now and then i'd tell my husband, 'this is a basilica. BA-SI-LI-CA!!!'
National Sport
by rsleisk
In a country that is topographically shaped like a leg kicking a soccer ball (mainland Italy with Sicily) it's no wonder that soccer reigns supreme here.
I would see pickup games everywhere when I was here. Between buildings on cobblestone streets or on clay courts like this one in Giardini Pubblici.
Games are on every TV station, in restaurants and bars. Taxi drivers are blarring the game as they zip you around the tiny backalley streets. I would have loved to have caught a match live. I've never been to Brazil, but I would say if you like soccer then Italy is the place to be.
Road Contruction is definately an issue
by sargentjeff
Whether or not any of the roads get better or not isn't the issue. What is a fact is that there always seems to be construction going on in the worst of places. This area is right in central Napoli, and causes big delays and detours. So, don't think that because you've mastered your map that things will go as planned. There will always be something to surprise you.
Castel dell'Ovo
by Santini738
Castel dell'Ovo (Italian: "Egg Castle") is a castle in the Italian city of Naples. The edifice is located on a small island, the Megarides, where colonists from Cumae founded the original nucleus of the city in the 6th century BCE. In the 1st century CE the Roman patrician Lucius Licinius Lucullus built a magnificent villa on the site. Fortified by Valentinian III in the early 5th century, it was the place where the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was exiled in by Odoacer in 476. Eugippius founded a monastery on the site after 492.
The castle is connected by a small causeway that is a popular place for newlyweds to have their wedding photos taken. The causeway is over 100 metres long. The castle is rectangular in shape (approximately 200 by 45 metres at its widest) and has a high angular bastion that overlooks the causeway. Inside the walls are several buildings that are often used for exhibitions and other special events. Behind the castle is a long promontory which was probably used as a docking area. A large round tower sits outside the castle walls to the southeast.
Castle Nuovo
by rsleisk
Castel Nuovo (Italian: "New Castle"), often called Maschio Angioino, was began in 1279 and finished in 1282 and remained uninhabited until 1285, when Charles died and was succeeded by his son, Charles II. Castel Nuovo became soon the nucleus of the historical center of the city, and was often the site of famous events.