The day began with breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel, with some amazing views. Here are some shots out of a window on the walk up the stairs to the restaurant.
After breakfast, we met in the lobby and found out that because of the iffy weather forecast, we would not be going to Pompeii but would instead go to the Archaeological Museum in Naples which contains many of the mosaics and artifacts recovered in the Pompeii excavations. That was a bit of a bummer, but you can't really control the weather so we had to deal with going to a pretty impressive museum instead.
A windmill in the city, on the way to the museum.
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A shop right across from our hotel... out of my price range but cool nonetheless.
One of the deliriously intricate mosaics at the museum.
A statue on the grand staircase.
One of the things this museum is famous for is its exhibit devoted to Pompeii's erotic art, which was prominently displayed in their homes and was an accepted part of their everyday lives. Some of it was pretty ridiculous... here is an example.
One floor above the lobby is this beautiful room, with a sundial built into the floor and awesome paintings on the ceiling.
The painting in the center of the ceiling, which I had to lie down in the center of the room like a moron to get... oh well.
We met at a huge room-sized model of Pompeii to sketch the city plan and to analyze a piece of the city that we found interesting. I chose the city's central Forum (or "FORwum", if you will). That's not really important, I just wanted an excuse to say "FORwum" like Professor Higgins.
I took this picture while standing in a pile of Napolese dog doo... I figured I might as well post it for the hassle I went through to get it.
After the museum we went and got lunch, then found out that the church we wanted to get into didn't open until later in the afternoon, so we had some time to roam around.
Me and the Matts started maneuvering through some residential back streets and eventually started climbing up a hill overlooking the city. Here are some patriotic Italian stairs going up the hill.
What religious statue is complete without some blue neon?
A rain-soaked backstreet in Naples.
The payoff for our climbing: a great view of Naples and Mount Vesuvius beyond.
The view from the overlook.
The obligatory "I was here" shot... soaking wet but happy.
The weather cleared up before we had to be back at the Gesu Nuovo church. Here is a structure in the piazza in front of the church.
The forbidding facade of Gesu Nuovo... it puts me on the mind of either the walls of a recording studio or a medieval torture device.
Fortunately, the inside of the church was less spikey and more inviting than the facade would suggest. We were assigned to draw a perspective of a detail in the church, and I got a chance to try out the night portrait setting on my camera... I've found that it is essential for interior shots and darker exterior ones, as long as you have a steady surface to shoot from, like a church pew, statue, trash can, etc. We didn't have a great deal of time in the church as the sun was going down and it was quickly growing dark, but it made for great atmosphere.
A shot of the ceiling, lit by the setting sun... sorry about the scaffolding!
Another shot of the dome, again with scaffolding, check out the optical illusion of depth in the center of the dome.
After leaving the church, we had to head back to hotel and pick up our bags so that we could board our night boat to Palermo. Basically, it was an hour-long race to find wine, food, and a corkscrew to take on the boat. We failed to find a corkscrew, but I bought some 1.20 euro wine (only the best) and ate a tramezzino before we got our bags, which ended up saving me about 20 euro on the boat. Anyway, we met at the hotel, said goodbye to the nice hotel, and rolled/carried/hauled our bags down to the port so that we could board... the SNAV LAZIO!On the deck of the Snav, checking out the port of Naples at night.
Our boat was a gigantic combination of a ferry boat and a cruise ship, with the passengers equally split between Italian truck drivers and the CUA architecture kids. There was a piano bar and lounge, a restaurant, and lots of cozy (aka tiny) rooms. I'm not going to lie, exploring the boat for the first time was probably some of the most fun I had on this trip... especially when we found the playground equipment on the top deck. Taking over a corner of the lounge was also fun... lots of wine and interesting coversation... including trying to decide who the killer, survivors, and first-to-die would be if our group was in a scary movie. Overall, it was a very long, very fun night.
Amy and I on the deck of the mighty Snav.
There are no words...
RIP: The 'Stache.
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