Funniculi, Funnicula November 26, 2006

After consulting with a very nice lady at the hotel front desk Holly and I headed to the Funicolare Central, the funicular railway that’s opening was heralded by the perky Italian song. We took the funicolare up the hill and then stumbled around until we found the bus that was recommended to us. The bus dropped us at Castel Sant’ Elmo which from the base you get a great view of old Naples and Mt. Vesuvius. Today was hazy so we didn’t linger long but hopped back on the bus that would take us to where the route intersected a different bus route. This bus would take us out to the sea wall and road along the Bay of Naples. The views of the bay and Vesuvius were worth the trip.

Once down at the bay we strolled along the walkway watching the sailboats and the people fishing along the rocks. We turned inland after a while as we had spotted a Mexican restaurant that we wanted to try today. As it turned out after walking forty five minutes we found the restaurant was closed on Sundays, which seems to be quite common here. After a fast food lunch, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale was next on the agenda.

The National Archeological Museum has one of the finest collections of Greek and Roman antiquities - a lot of which came from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Near perfect statues and artifacts from everyday life are on display, but my favorite was the collections of mosaics that were recovered as the excavation of the two doomed towns was underway. The museum is a good way to prepare for a visit to Pompeii which we plan to do tomorrow.