Terzo Giorno a Capri

Our third day on Capri was actually spent off Capri. We got going early and caught a boat into Naples to visit the Museo Archeologico where many of the Pompeii mosaics, frescoes and artifacts are located.


On our way from the ferry dock to the museum we saw a demonstration taking place. It was fairly quiet and, as is usual in Italy, there were lots of police on the street.


This statue of Dante Alighieri (author of The Divine Comedy) is the largest I have ever seen. They are not uncommon throughout Italy as Dante is considered the father of the Italian language. However, this one was even bigger than Michelangelo's David. It was located in an equally large piazza in front of Naples' Galleria.




This is looking into Naples' Galleria, an early shopping mall. Unfortunately, it looked like many of the shops are closed and it had a rather abandoned air.




The part of Naples we saw looked a lot like this. There were wide boulevards and many grand buildings that looked vaguely French.



At the museum we saw an incredible array of artifacts from throughout Italy. I did not take many pictures but I really liked this pottery.



This is one of the most famous mosaics from Pompeii. The individual pieces are very small--perhaps a square centimeter each. It has to have been incredibly skilled work to have created this sort of mosaic work.

It was well worth the effort to visit the museum. I have been to Pompeii twice and it is an incredibly place as well. It can be frustrating when touring the excavated city because there are plaques everywhere saying the original mosaic or fresco is located at the archeological museum. Sometimes pictures of the originals are there but often one is just left with the feeling of having missed something.



After the museum we found a pizzeria and had lunch. Then we walked over to the Duomo--the church of San Gennaro. Unfortunately it was closed until 5 pm.



On the way home it started to rain. Fortunately, it quit by the time we got to Capri so our journey back to the hotel was dry.

The following day we reversed our original journey. We went from Anacapri by bus to Marina Grande, from to Marina Grande to Naples by foot ferry, from there to the train station by taxi, from Naples Centrale to Florence by Eurostar train, from Florence to Diecimo by two more trains. Our friend Anna picked us up at Diecimo and brought us to Partigliano.

It was a fun and interesting trip.