We headed to the train station early this morning to travel down to Naples. Along the walk to the station which took about 25 minutes, we noticed Christmas decorations. Throughout our stay in Rome, more and more shops were decorating the exterior with lights and putting up Christmas trees. We rarely travel at this time of year and it was the first time we saw decorations.
We would be meeting our driver who would take us from the Naples train station to Pompeii, a historic site where Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city in 79 A.D. She met us promptly at the exit of the train station and walked us to our car. Along the drive, she pointed out the island of Capri and Mount Vesuvius, although it was covered in clouds.
We arrived at Pompeii a few minutes before it opened. Again, we had purchased the tickets online prior to arrival. We were first to enter the site and felt like we had the place to ourselves.
The area is huge, with monuments and structures everywhere. Some areas are roped off, and others you can enter. The walkways are difficult as they are made of large boulders and rocks. It would be very easy to twist an ankle.
The weather cooperated for us for the most part, only raining for a brief moment. We explored the sight for over three hours. We were able to see everything we wanted to.
Pompeii is famous for its “plaster people” also known as casts. These casts represent some of the thousands of victims killed by the eruption. You can read more about the Casts here.
After we finished, our driver asked us if we wanted to do a wine tasting and try some local cuisine. We liked the idea as we didn’t have any lunch plans and had plenty of time before we were heading back to Rome. She made a call and got things ready for us. About 20 minutes later we arrived at Bosco de’ Medici winery. At this time, it was pouring rain. The owner ran out to meet us with an umbrella and walked us in.
She began by welcoming us and handing us a glass of their Sparkling Wine. It tasted fantastic and I was hopeful this was going to be a good experience. She showed us the various oak barrels and clay tanks they make their wine in. The wine made here is unique due to the use of volcanic soil from the eruption to grow their grapes.
We were then seated at a table with 4 wine glasses (each) and a menu with various wines listed. Our dedicated somolier then introduced himself and explained the process of wine brewing, pairing, and tasting. He then presented us with a tasting menu and we chose our meals.
Wine after wine kept coming until at one point we had six wine glasses and a champagne flute. The meal courses also arrived one by one and they were spectacular. It was some of the best food we ever had. I think it was the best Ravioli I will ever eat. As the experience came to a close, our waiter provided us a price menu of the wines to include shipping cost to the US. Normally I wouldn’t even consider it, but it was really good. There is also the option that we were both so drunk we couldn’t taste good from bad either way. But I felt like they were good, so we ordered a case including the Sparkling wine.
We stumbled to the car….uh I mean walked, and headed back to the train station. Luckily I was clear minded enough to book the correct tickets back to Rome and off we went. We were so full from the meal, we skipped dinner this night. Although I did try to power down a small meal on the train ride back.
Tomorrow we would be up early again for our entry into the Colosseum.