I'm in Naples. Given that it's the third most important city in the eighth most powerful country, it all feels a little bit, erm, less developed than I had expected. Noise, rubbish and mopeds everywhere. It doesn't feel Civilised Europe at all.
Still, it has a buzz. I like a city with a buzz. I also like a city with a pet volcano. I new Vesuvius was close to Naples but I didn't really appreciate how close. Given the mountain's fearsome reputation, I think I would have been tempted to sit slightly further away.
Had a peek at the potential fallout today. Went to Pompeii. That's bigger than I expected. The map I had seen of it made it look big but manageable: evidently the map was for a ninth of it. E. Nor. Mous. It just about lived up to the hype, although given the amount of heras fencing, it had a certain je ne sais quoi of building site about it which didn't exactly add to the Latin milieu.
Headed to Herculaneum afterwards. In the run up to this trip two people told me that Herculaneum was better than Pompeii. They are both wrong. That is all.
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