I arrived in Naples this afternoon. I had no idea what was in the city, nor about its history, geography or location. I just wanted to get out of Rome. When I arrived I was totally surprised to learn that there were slums in Italy! I had no idea, and was caught totally offguard, which I like… Not that there is poverty, I mean about being caught off guard.
Anyway before heading to Naples this morning I went and checked out the (inside of the) Colosseum at 8am before the hordes of tourists got there and that also got me admission to the other nearby ruins, forum etc. It was ok early in the morning, but by the time I was going back to my hostel to collect my bags it was frustratingly busy and I was glad I was leaving.
The ruins and everything are great, but it was really hard to appreciate it to its full extent with so many people around. The group tours are the real problem. Getting past a group of 50 people wearing headphones and not paying attention to their surroundings in a winding ruin or tiny street is impossible. I couldn’t help think how amazing it would all be if rome fell to ruins and the actual city no longer existed. If all of these ruins were somewhere nature had reclaimed the land it would probably be the most spectacular thing in the world… but unfortunately its not.
