I was planning on us only having to do laundry once while we were away but the air is way too humid for us to hang dry our clothing (unfortunately). I asked Giovanni if there was a place to do laundry nearby and there is! It's just a few short blocks away. All we have to do is drop it off and pick it up later. This should make us be good until Rome when we'll have to do laundry again but that's fine.
Last night after lounging around the hostel for a bit (and discovering that there is a massage chair here that makes music-like noise - it creates a sort of tempo and it almost sounds musical) we decided to venture out to get some gelato! It was absolutely fantastically delicious. Cory ordered Coconut. He said that it was possibly the best coconut tasting thing he'd ever had. There was shaved coconut in there and actual chunks of coconut. I tried a little spoon and it was soooo good. I ordered strawberry which was also equally amazing. It had a nice rich and intense flavor without being overly sweet. It was perfect. Gelato is delicious. We will grab some in each city to compare. I'm sure it's all good.
Now, on the way to get some gelato we took a different route. While glancing at the streets and architecture in awe we were able to spot some of the ancient roman theatre! It was part of the one that we saw on our tour. It's still so fascinating how everything is built onto and against each other. If one building were to go it seems like everything would come tumbling down afterwards. The city itself is like it's own living organism, with every part depending on the other to keep itself in good shape.
The mystery of that super loud sound the night in Rome has been solved. I heard it again and this time Cory heard it too. It was a firecracker. It still sounded like an explosion but it was just a firecracker.
Cory and I started the day by going to a little cafe to grab some breakfast. It cost us about 2.20 euros each which was really nice and inexpensive and it was delicious. It was a variety of croissant/pastry thing with a coffee for Cory (which is really an expresso) and a juice type drink for me. After we ate we went to drop off our laundry and then follow the route that Giovanni had highlighted for us when we arrived. It was a suggested route, filled with some of the city's best sights in a well used street.
Our first stop on the trip was the Duomo. This is a cathedral that was completed in the 14th century. It was absolutely breath taking. There was one room that glowed when the full sun hit the window near the top. You could see the bright rays flow out of the room. Inside, on the ceiling, it's painted to look like heaven is opening up for you. The sheer size and appearance of this cathedral is difficult to properly explain. We were able to go to part of the crypt as well. Cory left an offering in there before we went back upstairs to see the other parts of the cathedral. There was an absolutely gorgeous mosaic. The workmanship on it must have taken forever.
We following the path after the Duomo and eventually made our way to the marina and Castle Nuovo. This castle was started to be built in 1279. Parts of it was blocked off but we were still able to get a wonderful view of the Bay of Naples and explored some of it. The chapel was still there but it was converted to a museum, like most of the castle.
After Castle Nuovo we decided to do the hop on, hop off bus tour. This tour took us around the entire city, giving us a good look at the architecture styles, some of the culture (when it comes to driving and how people respond to it). Plus there was some spectacular views. One was Vesuvius looming over the Bay of Naples. We ended our tour near the Duomo so we could easily walk to the laudromat to pick up our clothing and drop it off at the hostel.
We had intended to drop off our clothing and then go out for dinner but we ran into Rocky. We met him the day we arrived and went to Pompeii with him. The three of us are becoming friends. Rocky asked what we were up to and then asked if we wanted to go to the marina with him. I wanted to go upstairs to drop off clothing and find food. I could tell Cory wanted to go so I told them both to go have fun. They went out late-ish last night for food as well. I'm glad they're getting along. After they started on their way to the marina I did the trek upstairs with the laundry. When I came into the hostel Giovanni asked if I was hungry. He had started to cook some dinner and asked if I wanted to join them. I agreed since I was quite hungry. Dinner wasn't until almost 8pm, kind of unfortunate since I was so hungry and it was still so early.
Dinner was similar to the other day. There was a total of 2 courses. First there was a spicy pasta with pumpkin and next was potatoes with sausage. It was delicious. There was also a good 13 of us at the table for dinner. Everyone sat together at the table and chatted like we were one big happy family. It was awesome. Josh and I were the only ones who couldn't really handle spicy foods so we had a lovely symphony of sniffles going on while we ate. I felt bad for the people between us as we struggled to eat. The food was good.
After dinner, Melissah taught us how to play SCORPA!!! It's a traditional Neopolitan card game that uses a special deck of cards. I unfortunately could not locate the cards on the way to the train this morning but it can be played with a tarot deck or an ordinary deck of cards. It's just not as fun. Josh, Melissah, Arne, Jocelyn, and myself played while the others chilled and watched videos. (from Rocky's laptop). It was good times. It was also kind of sad since most of us were moving on to new locations on Friday.
Cory and I woke up relatively early to catch the train to Roma and then from there to Venezia. Rocky joined us on the train to Roma. We got to the station a few minutes before the train could leave so I was not able to pick up the cards because of that. The ride to Roma was awkward. The guy in front of me kept rubbing my legs with his. He reminded me of the "me scusa" guy from Eurotrip. Our train from Roma to Venezia wasn't bad either.
It's unfortunately getting late so I will continue this post tomorrow with the events of the day.
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