Take an in-depth tour of Italy and get to know southern Italy for the first time

The longing for Italy actually comes from the accumulation bit by bit over the past few years. Although I have been to Milan once before, the famous names such as Rome, Florence, and Venice that shine with the brilliance of art and culture have already been calling me to visit one day. In recent years, I have added several niche destinations from Italy to my "small notebook". Finally, this country attracted me so much that I decided that I should take an exclusive in-depth tour of Italy so that I would never have to go there again.

Before setting off, I read a Renaissance book at home, which was enough to do my homework. However, what worries me the most is actually the thieves in your country, especially since I heard that the security situation in Southern Italy is particularly poor. Although I planned a 24-day trip, I joked with my friends that maybe everything would be stolen from me the next day and I would have to return home.

In the early morning of the Dragon Boat Festival in 2019, a red-eye flight took off from Pudong Airport and headed to the transit station Moscow. I am already familiar with Aeroflot SU207, having taken this flight many times before to transfer to various European countries via Moscow. 🔽

After a flight of more than 9 hours, we arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in the morning local time. Even the aerial panorama of Moscow is so familiar that I don’t bother to take another look. 🔽

Fly for another 4 hours. Direct flights from Moscow to Naples allowed me to start my trip in southern Italy. Although Naples is close to the sea, there are actually many and high hills around it. The plane circled over the city several times before preparing to land. 🔽

Arrive in Naples around noon. I successfully exited customs, took the bus to the city, and dropped off my luggage at the hotel. In order to deal with the legendary situation where thieves are everywhere in South Italy, I have made special preparations for this trip before departure:

• I bought a personal anti-theft waist bag to store all my valuables and hide them in my clothes (it’s just a little awkward when I take them 😂)

• Keep a luggage lock for large backpacks. Whether you carry it on your back or leave it in a hotel, keep it locked at all times.

• Carry a small backpack in front of you at all times

• Determined to refuse any stranger to come near me, even if they may mean well

Although I am still a little worried, nothing unexpected has happened so far.

The first attraction of this trip was actually just a stop by. In Italy, every "cathedral" occupies an important place in the local area. Although this one also has fine carvings and exquisite paintings, it still pales in comparison to other famous churches. 🔽

🔼The large dome with complex patterns and bright colors is worth stopping to admire.

🔼The Assumption sculpture in the middle of the altar looks particularly sacred in the light coming through the window.

The main pedestrian street in the center of Naples has a familiar European city feel! 🔽

At one end of the pedestrian street is Piazza Dante, named after the famous Italian poet. The most distinctive feature here is the curved palace-style building, surrounded by markets and some small shops. There is also a sculpture of Dante in the corner of the square. 🔽

Can’t wait to get to my long awaited destination! This is one of the most famous local tours. It takes nearly two hours to explore the underground city of Naples. My adventurous spirit and curiosity are very satisfied!

🔼Under the guidance of the tour guide, go down to a depth of 40 meters underground. The history here dates back 2,400 years. It was originally a quarry where slaves worked day and night in the dark underground.

🔼The deeper you go, the narrower the passage becomes, and sometimes you even have to turn slightly sideways to pass. I thought to myself that if this fat man really got stuck in the crack of the wall...

🔼After walking for a few minutes, my eyes suddenly opened up. I didn't expect there was such a big space inside. This was used as a cistern in ancient Roman times, so you can see the "well mouth" on the ceiling that leads to the outside world. In the Middle Ages, this place was used as a garbage dump for a long time...

🔼During World War II, this place was converted into a Nazi air raid shelter. The bathrooms built at that time have been preserved, and the water pipes are still clearly visible.

🔼Here comes my favorite part! Now every tourist receives an electronic candle and is about to walk into the crevices of the rocks where they can’t see their fingers!

🔼After walking in the dark stone crevices for more than ten minutes, I finally saw the light! The passage is so narrow that no one is allowed to stumble, and everyone has no way out. They can only rely on the electronic candles in their hands and the footsteps of those in front of them to move forward slowly. It is really exciting! The remaining pool water is amber-green under the light.

🔼The underground city part is over, and the tour guide takes us through the ground to the nearby ancient Roman ruins. In fact, the few remaining ruins have long been covered by modern buildings and are completely invisible from the outside. However, the tour guide actually had the key to the door of an ordinary house. After opening the door, he took us underground... This was the location of the theater two thousand years ago, and the stone bricks on the walls on both sides are still the original ones from that time.

Walk through the quiet alleys of the old city and experience the authentic southern Italian style. The lives of the citizens of Naples seem to be casual and straightforward, and these clothes really bring out the feeling of the citizens of Shanghai...🔽

The mottled walls washed over time and the somewhat interesting architectural structure. 🔽

One of the most important archaeological museums in Italy, most of the collections were unearthed from several major ancient Roman sites near Naples, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum. The collections are well worth a visit in terms of their ornamental value and ornamental value. What I'm most looking forward to is actually a small room: Secret Room...

🔼Let’s start with the “normal” exhibits: It’s hard to believe that such a sculpture came from the ancient Roman period two thousand years ago. The craftsmanship is so exquisite, especially the texture of silk is so accurately and in place, it's like you can touch real skin by opening the folds of clothes.

🔼I found a very exquisite jade plate, and looking at the age, it was more than 200 AD. This carving is so delicate. I can only marvel at the great talent of the ancient Romans.

🔼Another outstanding ancient Roman sculpture "The Bull of Farnese" (from Greek mythology). The proportions of the entire sculpture are perfectly matched, the story is very strong, and there are different dynamics in the front, rear, left and right.

🔼The museum displays a large number of murals unearthed in Pompeii, all of which have very distinctive style characteristics: on a forever reddish-brown background, simple geometric structures are used to form ideal decorative patterns with a strong three-dimensional feel. Nowadays, they are all unique works of art.

Next is the Secret Room that I am most looking forward to! This time it was curiosity again, because all the scenes displayed in this small room were indescribable scenes. The murals strive to be "realistic", while the sculptures mostly use exaggerated techniques to highlight "key points", which is really eye-opening... They were also unearthed from nearby ancient Roman ruins, which shows how open society was to sex at that time, as well as the importance of male genitalia. Extreme worship. 🔽

For dinner, we came to a century-old pizza restaurant that was founded in 1870. Naples is the birthplace of pizza, so pizza is a must-try when you come to Naples. The facade of this small shop is very inconspicuous, like a domestic fly restaurant, but there are so many people waiting in line that the door is almost blocked. There are only two types of pizza sold here: Margherita (tomato, cheese, basil leaves) and Marinara (tomato, oregano leaves, garlic). The cooking method is still the most traditional fireplace grilling, and the few guys are very busy. Maybe this is the fundamental reason for its popularity. 🔽

I ordered a Margherita to take away for only 5 euros and sat on the side of the road to eat it. The pizza doesn't look good, but it tastes pretty good. It has a thick and soft bread base that I like. The cheese tastes very strong. This is my first time trying the basil leaves in the middle. It tastes a bit like mint leaves. 🔽

In the evening, we arrived at the landmark building in Naples, Castello di Egg. Castel del Sol is the oldest castle in Naples, with a history of more than 2,000 years. This interesting name is said to come from an ancient legend: a wizard placed an egg here. If the egg breaks, the castle will disappear immediately and bring disaster to Naples. 🔽

🔼Passing through the layers of masts of the private sailboat, you can see the huge Mount Vesuvius in the distance.

🔼In the other direction is the sunset at Egg Castle. Although I didn’t find a satisfactory composition, the sky is still very beautiful.

Set off early in the morning to continue exploring the city, first making a special trip to "pass by" the Toledo subway station. Although Naples does not have as many beautiful subway stations as Stockholm and Moscow, the only one with a good reputation is one that I certainly don’t want to miss.

🔼I was amazed by it at first sight! This design is really stunning! It seems like a beautiful underwater world, and like a sky filled with twinkling stars. The fine mosaic tiles above the head create a dreamlike mood under the light!

🔼Take the escalator up and look up at the deep distance on the ceiling. It's like looking from the bottom of the sea to the sparkling water, or looking through the bright Milky Way to the endless universe. The light and shadow effects are constantly changing. In order to capture the satisfying moment, I took the escalator up and down several times.

After walking out of the subway station, the old city was still very quiet in the morning. I like the feel of this small street. 🔽

Although it is called a museum, it is actually a small church hidden in the alleys of the old city. Although the church is small, in the center of the church is a world-class work of art - the sculpture "The Covered Jesus" by the 18th-century artist Giuseppe Sanmartino. It is a miracle in the history of sculpture. Jesus was clothed in gauze, but his peaceful face, rugged bones, and blood vessels on his hands and feet could be clearly seen. Although it is carved from marble, the tulle has a lightness that seems to be easily blown away. The texture and shape of the tulle are just right and very natural. This requires the sculptor to have a profound understanding of the texture of silk and human anatomy. I was so shocked that I walked around it and admired it for nearly half an hour. 🔽

🔼Encountered the Naples fan shop in the city center. Both sides can be called team legends: Hamsik and Maradona.

🔼The appearance of this church is really unique. The outer wall is paved with pyramid-shaped cut stones. If you look closely, each protrusion is a standard regular tetrahedron.

🔼It was originally one of the oldest churches in Naples. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during World War II and later rebuilt, so the interior is relatively new, but it still looks exquisite and magnificent.

Leave the pedestrian area of ​​the city center and prepare to take the cable car to the top of Mount Womero. On the way, we passed the lively local commodity market and the freehand graffiti on the upper floors of residents. 🔽

Mount Vomero is a hill located in the city of Naples, with an excellent panoramic view of Naples.

St. Elmo's Castle is located on the top of Mount Warmero. There are some insignificant exhibitions inside the castle, but more importantly, climb to the top of the castle and enjoy the vast views of Naples! 🔽

Look at the city, the coast, and the volcano right in front of you! 🔽

In the other direction, the coast draws a perfect arc, gently embracing the Neapolitan harbor. 🔽

Take another cable car down the mountain. In the following time, I checked in multiple attractions gathered together.

The largest shopping mall in Naples reminds me of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, the similarity is 90%. 🔽

Although I have no interest in shopping, the architecture is still spectacular. The promenade was built at the end of the 18th century, and its roofs are made of glass, revealing the color of the sky. 🔽

🔼The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is located in the largest square in Naples, Piazza delle Vote. The square was named after the 1860 referendum that decided Naples to join the Kingdom of Italy. Countless columns extend endlessly from both sides of the church in an arc shape, as if surrounding the square, adding to the momentum.

🔼As we walked closer, the church looked even more majestic. There was actually a couple taking photos at the door, and a luxury car was parked at the door of the church. It must have just been a wedding. A white car, a white church, and a white wedding dress are too romantic.

🔼The interior of the church is a perfect circle, with statues regularly arranged around it. The wedding decorations were still left on both sides of the aisle, and the atmosphere just now must have been very touching.

🔼The Royal Palace of Naples is located directly opposite the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and at the other end of Piazza delle Vote. It looks plain and unpretentious on the outside, and I don't have much interest in going in - I have been to too many royal palaces in Europe.

🔼The appearance of Newcastle is beautiful. Also known as the Castle of Anjou, it was built on the order of the first king of the Kingdom of Naples. The interior is a museum, and there was nothing that attracted me. Due to time constraints, I didn’t go in.

After Castel Nuovo, I picked up my luggage and was about to leave Naples. Regarding the security situation here, although I have heard a lot before and I have prepared a lot, the situation I experienced personally is not as bad as I imagined. No matter at the train station or tourist attractions, I did not find any idle or strange crowds gathering, and no one came to chat with me. However, there are several big demons such as Rome, Florence, and Venice behind you, so you still cannot take it lightly. Anti-theft pockets, luggage locks, and awareness of prevention are all indispensable.

Taking the Circumvesuviana train from Naples Railway Station, I got off at the Ercolano Scavi station closest to Mount Vesuvius. I easily found a travel agency called "Vesuvius Express" outside the station. They specialize in traveling to and from Vesuvius. Volcano tour bus.

🔼As you can see, the trains on the Circumvesuvius Line are very old and covered with graffiti. The train was almost packed with tourists, as it is the preferred mode of transport connecting Naples, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and Sorrento.

The bus can drive all the way to the parking lot near the top of the volcano, and then you only need to hike along the volcanic rock slopes for less than half an hour to reach the crater at the top of the volcano.

🔼The scenery on the top of the mountain is amazing, with an unobstructed view of the magnificent coastline. I don't know why, but I find that it's always foggy near the coast of Naples, whether it's seen from an airplane, Mount Vomero or Mount Vesuvius. There seems to be a lot of moisture in the air. It's not that my camera lens is dirty, or that I deliberately made it look like this.

🔼Half sea water, half town, a little hazy. I would like to say that the coastline of Naples is simply beautiful with 360 degrees of beauty. No wonder it can become a resort.

🔼The hiking route goes mostly around the crater, with the coastal scenery on the right and the huge crater on the left. You must know that Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European continent. The last eruption occurred not long ago in 1944.

Continue on the Circle of Vesuvius line to your next destination, Pompeii. 🔽

Arrive at Pompeii New Town. In the evening, the square was crowded with people, laughing and laughing, and it was particularly lively. 🔽

For dinner, we followed TripAdvisor’s recommendation and found a small restaurant that specializes in pasta. I ordered the "Beef Stew Pasta" recommended by the boss. Although the portion is a bit small, it is really delicious. It is very similar to Chinese home-style beef stew. I will cry after eating it😭🔽