On Naples

Before I came to Naples, I didn't really have any expectations. I mean, I had an idea of what to find in Rome, Milan, Florence, but Naples, what’s in Naples? Well, lots of things!

Firstly I was suprised to find how big it is! In fact between 3 and 3.7 million people live in the urban area.! You can walk around in the centre, but be prepared to walk quite a bit! On that note, I will say outright that visiting Naples and its region definitely is great exercise. After the first day my legs were in real pain. Appropriate shoes are essential! (I'll remember that next time!)

Pompei is only a 40 minute train journey away. Be prepared for a crowded train, because it stops in many places, going up to Sorrento. Pompei huge! Make sure you get a map from the audioguides (just take the map if you don't want to take a guide). Under 25s will pay a discounted price! (young people's discount is more common than student discount). Pompei is great - you can spend 2 hours as much as you can spend 6 hours! There's plenty to see. I thought you'd 'only' see ruins. But you see old mozaics, leftovers of fountains, paintings and even the plaster cast of the people of Pompeii who were surprised by the volcano eruption. It made the terrible disaster a lot more real!

After Pompeii, I spend the rest of the afternoon in Sorrento, the terminal of the suburban train called Circumvesuviana.It's about 35 minutes from Pompeii (so, around 80 minutes from Naples). It's a beautiful little town, with impressive cliffs and lots of stairs (although there is a lift to come up from the port). You will also find a beach a little further. 

For evening entertainment, you definitely should try the pizza, which is considerably better and considerably cheaper than anywhere else ( in the UK and many other places in the world! - I have no formal evidence to back this up - but I'm just going to go with it!). Da Michele  is where we went. It's very good. I'd just like to prepare you for a few things: there will be a queue. We were given a number (just like at the post office) and were waiting to be called - it helps to know your number in Italian! Also, there were only three choices of pizza: margherita (simple or double mozzarella) and marinara. This made the service very quick! There are other places you can try such as Di Matteo and Sorbillo!

On my second day, we wanted to go to the top of the Vesuvius. However, we changed our plan due to the weather. The way we were planning to go up was train to Pompei, then bus to the top - around 700m I was told. Then you pay entrance to the national park and you can walk up to the crater. On the day we wanted to go it was raining cats and dogs and apparently the national park was closed because it was too windy. On the note of rain, yes it rains! And when it does, it lasts a long time. Make sure to take an umbrella if it's said to rain on the day. You will need it! 

Instead we spent the day in Naples. One of the interesting things we visited was the Church of S. Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco). It was very impressive. The church was built on 2 levels, with the lower level representing the purgatory. At the bottom, you found many skulls and bones, decorated with pictures, crosses, prayers, flowers and jewellery! Very eerie! Read more about the cult here!

Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco

Just next to the Church is the entrance to Napoli Sotterranea . You get to discover what started as a Greek mine for tuffo stone, to then become a Roman aqueduct, then after a cholera epidemic was not in use anymore then became a dump for about 100 years. Then in the Second World War it was turned into a refuge from bombings. It was too costly and complicated to get rid of the rubbish so it was simply covered with sand and soil. We therefore stood on 5 meters of rubbish!  Some of the caves were big, but others were smaller than us, as we had to duck and walk sideways. The Two meter tall Dutch man in our group had a blast! We even got to see a reservoir, which was used with amphoras being put down through wells (either private for rich households or public on squares). The wells were closed up when the aqueduct was changed into a refuge, apart from one, which was in a church. They expected nobody would bomb a church (How wrong they were!). At the end of the visit we entered what formerly was a typical Neapolitan house. However under the bed was a trap door that led to what used to be the family’s wine cellar, but now was the passage behind the stage of a huge amphitheatre that could hold around 6000 people! It cannot be fully uncovered as the city has been built on top of it. Uncovering the amphitheatre could in fact risk modern houses to collapse.

We also had the chance to visit the beautiful island of Capri, also known as the very expensive island of Capri! After an hour ferry ride, we got to the ‘marina grande’, the main harbor, from where we took a cable car (funiculario) up the hill. From there we walked along the little streets, leaving Dolce and Gabana behind us and getting slightly lost! We made it to the Faraglioni, in English ‘stacks’ that sit in the water of the coast of Capri. The coast walk took us down and then up what felt like 10.000 steps, and then down and then up again! We walked in silence, both exhausted and at the same time mesmerized by the beauty we were witnessing! As it got dark, we embarked on the our ferry journey back. Our last surprise of the day was a huge moon emerging behind the mountains.

Faraglioni

The moon

My last few hours in Naples could only we described as exhilarating! My Napolitan friend Miguel (or Michelangelo) took me for a ride on his motorbike across the city. With pedestrians, scooters and other bikes coming from all sorts of directions, amidst lots of cars in the, at times, narrow streets! It was definitely a lasting last experience!

There’s so much more I want to see of Naples! I can’t wait to go back!

I have miles to go before I sleep.

Red Bike Ride - Our 100km fundraising challenge !

Every year hundreds of people across the UK support the work of the Red Cross over one week, Red Cross Week. This week celebrates this incredible organisation by raising money in a thousand different ways from dying your hair red to wear your onesie to work day!

What did we decide to do? Cycle 100 km across Norfolk and into Suffolk in support of the British Red Cross but - here comes the twist- on our old rusty bikes! (see our teaser)

As we set off yesterday morning the problems started: Chris' bike chain was jammed between the gears. An hour later with our hands covered in black oil we managed to pull it out and we were off with a bit of delay!

We set off through Norwich city centre towards Whitlingham Country Park while the sun was intermittently accompanying us. We even ran into Amber, a friend from Uni, at the Water's Edge pub. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to stop but it seemed to be an amazing spot and only a short bike ride from Norwich (about 6miles)! Then we cycled along small roads towards Claxton, where we stopped for a quick picnic. Off we were again towards Loddon, where we turned towards Haddiscoe and Alderby. It was a beautiful ride. We suddenly had to come to a halt, when a when a herd of cattle was slowly crossing the road. Unfortunately the cows were so curious they decided to stop and look at us – which did not accelerate the process! Cow-whisperer Chris helped the farmer get the cattle towards the stables and we were off to Beccles. It was all going well until the heavy rain started!

We waited under a tree for it to stop and looked for a short cut. As we followed a small country lane that my phone assured me actually was a road to Beccles- we reached a closed gate to a path that lead to a grand, old estate. We had no choice but go around. As we wandered into the field we were full of hope that it would be easy to do. However, the third field was covered in clay. Soon our bike wheels were completely stuck and the clay was also sticking to our boots… We headed towards a road we could hear and descended a small hill in the mud before arriving on a busy street. Our trousers and shoes were covered in mud and clay, so were our bikes! We were just outside Gillingham and from there it was only a short ride to Beccles, where we stayed overnight! The miles tracker app said 50.8 km as we checked into the lovely B&B. 

On day 2, we were off early and under a timid sun as we complained about sore muscles! Through the Suffolk then Norfolk countryside, it was a lovely ride across yellow rapeseed fields with very few cars! 

We lunched next to old church ruins in Kirby Bedon before setting off again. As my tracker showed just above 90km as we reached King Street in Norwich  we decided to cycle home via Eaton and Cringleford. Unfortunately my tracker app decided to crash at the most inopportune moment – so we don’t know how many km we exactly cycled but we sure did more than 100km!!!! We were exhausted and definitely in pain - but we were on such a high as we realised that we had done it - even more importantly, that our bikes had made it as well!

We want to thank everybody who has sponsored us! It has been an amazing experience -full of laughter, lovely people on the way and most importantly lots of exercise! On top of that we are thrilled to contribute to the great work of the British Red Cross! And I mean... WE DID IT!

If you haven’t sponsored us yet – and want to –  you have two months to do it! The link is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/redbikeride !

Northern Ireland

My second visit to Ireland took me to the North. Over Easter Chris took the time to show me around Fermanagh and beyond. After a walk around the farm, we decided to visit Enniskillen, which surprised us with quite an impressive museum inside the castle. A very insightful collection of military equipment and interesting stories from the Napoleonic era! Overall, Enniskillen was quite a nice city, where you always run into people you know, although we missed Colin Farrell who was shooting a film in a nearby estate!

On the second day we went to county Donegal. As the street signs changed from miles to kilometres, we reached the Republic of Ireland. In Donegal, the town, we found the most impressive tourist office I have ever seen, with the vastest collection of ‘Visit Ireland’ flyers: we were literally overwhelmed with a multitude of green clovers and ‘failte’s. After the friendliest women told us about all the beauties of Donegal – and believe me there are loads! – we were quite confused as to what to do. With a map in hand, we went off to the town centre to stop at a small market, where they sold local products and an old guy was singing Irish music. As we got into a conversation with a local, we decided to stick to our original destination: Sliabh Liag (pronounce something like Sleave League). We took a few detours on the way and it was difficult not to stop every 10 minutes to look at the amazing panoramas (see picture below)! After a break at a beach, we finally got to Sliabh Liag.

 Sliabh Liag are claimed to be the highest marine cliffs in Europe - although Google seems to deny this fact. In any case, they are pretty high! We decided to park at the bottom to make the most of the walk – a very very windy walk! The views were amazing and we even discovered a lake on the cliffs, which just looked amazing! It’s definitely worth a detour – preferably on a sunny day!

Sliabh Liag

the lake on the cliffs with the ocean in the background

We had the chance to visit Florence Court, a National Trust estate right next to Enniskillen. The entry price was quite expensive, as it was £4.50 to get into the gardens and another £4.50 to visit the house – a National Trust membership would have been quite handy! Thus we only walked around the gardens, which was actually much more fun than I expected, as we fought our way through the woods climbing over trees that served as bridges over little streams – although my suggestion to act out the Dirty Dancing scene was unfortunately rejected!

Fermanagh was full of little places for lovely walks, the most impressive place was probably Lough Navar where we had the most impressive view onto Lough Erne at sunset (see picture below!) All in all I was really impressed by Fermanagh! After having concentrated on the South and the West of the island last time I came here, I am glad I rectified this lack! It is definitely worth a visit and I myself can’t wait to come back here!

From Norwich to the Lake District

Our first trip of 2013 took us to the Lake District. A crazy idea you might think, as January is the rainiest month, with a temperature generally below 5°C. However, our short roadtrip happened under a lucky star. 

We didn't want to drive all the way straight to the lakes, so we first visited Hunstanton, on the North Norfolk coast. Its cliffs were as impressive as they had been described to me although the walk along the beach was very cold and windy. As it got dark, we made our way up to Horsforth, just outside Leeds, where we stayed with Chris’ lovely friends.

 The next stop was Harrogate, a hidden gem from the North (hidden to me at least!). Its posh little streets were filled with small boutiques and finely dressed ladies. While we didn’t have time for the Turkish baths, we stayed for an afternoon tea at the famous tearoom called Betty’s. The decor was very quaint, even the waitresses were dressed like in the early 1900s!  Two more hours on the road until we reached Kendal hostel, where we were welcomed by a lovely hostel owner and her two black Labradors. Kendal is just outside the Lake District, although it’s just as cute as the towns and villages in the national park.

On day three, we were on our way to Grasmere. However, as we were driving along Lake Windermere, something astonishing happened: the sun came out! Thus, we stopped as soon as we could and enjoyed our brunch with a breathtaking view (see below!).

As we got to Grasmere, we visited William Wordsworth’s grave and one of his most famous poems was quoted at the entrance to the garden dedicated to him.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils"

After a bit of wandering around, we found what we came for: the coffin route. It leads from Grasmere to Rydal and is not very steep but relatively hilly. It bears that rather morbid name because Rydal didn’t have a church, so the Dead were brought to Grasmere to be buried. Walking along the path was easy, but we imagined that it would not be the same on a stormy night carrying a heavy coffin up and down the path. As we walked back from Rydal, night suddenly fell and as we reached Grasmere it was pitch-black. The downside of January holidays in this part of the world are the short days, especially when you’re walking in the countryside. We passed by Ambleside, where we saw the famous house on the bridge and the beautiful unpretentious Christmas decorations.

On our last day, we headed towards Bowness-upon-Windermere, where after a rather exciting stop at the Peter Rabbit Shop, we caught a ferry to cross the lake. Unlike the cruises on Lake Windermere, the ferry is very cheap (£1 return per person) as it is run by the council. Once on the other side, we walked through lots of mud, up and down the hilly landscape enjoying beautiful panoramas. Our objective was to reach Hill Top, a house where Beatrix Potter had lived at some point. The house was closed as it was winter, but the villages on our way were absolutely picturesque. As we took a break on a bench overlooking the valley towards Hawkshead, an old man walked by. He asked us whether we knew Beatrix Potter’s stories. However, for both of us they are a vague childhood memory. He continued to tell us, that Miss Potter sat at that exact same spot and drew the signpost that was at our side. Both the bench and the signpost had been replaced since, but it was a great feeling.

In the dusky light, we walked back to Bowness, prepared for our last ride. Seven hours from Lake Windermere to Norwich!

Although, we were extremely lucky with the weather, with really mild temperatures, I would really recommend to venture a visit to the Lake District in winter. It was really quiet, mostly locals were around, so that we had the national park to ourselves! If you wanted to visit the National Trust houses and the Beatrix Potter attraction, winter isn’t the best time to go, as most were closing over January/ winter. However, if you want some quiet time in nature and a great deal of fresh air, the Lake District in January is the place to be!