Day 14- Ciao Ercolano Ciao Caserta

In Italian, ciao means both hello and goodbye, and is normally used in multiples of 3, especially when saying bye bye. 

Spent my last morning in Ercolano (Herculaneum) by taking a walk to the university the two chemists had recommended I look at. I hadn't realized that it was in the former Palazzo Portici, which was the first stop for all the best bits of Pompeian and Herculanean treasures, before they were transferred to the  museum in Naples. I've read that it's in pretty miserable shape, and the exterior would attest to that, though it looks like they're doing something about it now. I would have loved to take a look at it, but it was all locked up, I guess because of the holiday. 

Portici Palace getting a needed facelift.

So I kept on walking down to the center of Portici, which is next to Ercolano, and made my way down to the seafront to see what I could see. Made my way past a little boat harbor to the public beach, which was very colorful and didn't look too awful, though who knows what is in the water this close to the port of Napoli. 

The public beach at Portici didn't look too bad, though you might glow in the dark afterwards

Decided I'd see if I could hike along the breakwater back to the hotel, and I hiked along the big boulders by the water, in front of a lot of dilapidated commercial buildings and a closed water park. Then I saw a Lido (a private beach club) up ahead and hoped I wouldn't have to hike back to the beach, since I'd already come a ways. A guy sunning himself on the rocks said I could go through on the rocks below, but when I got there, I saw I'd have to exit through the club or turn back. So I hopped a little fence and walked through the sea of orange umbrellas to the entrance, hoping nobody would ask me for my entry ticket. 

The snooty private beach didn't look much better, just more exclusive.

They didn't, and I exited the front, walked a bit more along the rocks, then turned and passed under the train tracks and up to a street I hoped would lead back to where I was staying. I paralleled the water for a bit then saw what I thought was the backside of the ruins park and turned up the hill. It was exactly that, and as a bonus I caught a glimpse of the excavated part of the Villa di Papiri, which really is directly below the place I've been staying. And I don't mean down the hill, I mean underneath it, as in, if you dug through the plumbing far enough you'd end up in the peristyle!

My one and only view of the Villa di Papiri, from a farm entry just outside it.

Anyways, got back to the place paid up and said "Ciao, Ciao Ciao!" to my hosts, and the British couple, who were heading up to see Vesuvius up close, and then hit the train(s) to Caserta, arriving in the heat of the afternoon. Found the place without too much difficulty, and got the keys from the cafe cashier, while one of the baristas showed me up to a new, clean, commuter style room (for 40 Euros!) with private bath and wi-fi. Cleaned up and then to a walk after the heat calmed down, over to see the entry to the Reggia, which is the largest palace ever constructed in Europe. Then back into town for the passagiata; did some window shopping, got a gelato, sat in the park, walked all over looking for an open grocery store, didn't find one, so I bought a couple of fried croquettes from a street vendor and called it a night.

Kids enjoying a bit of music making on the lawn in front of the Reggia Caserta.