Up at 6:30 to check out and meet the Ellsworth’s in the lobby at 7:30 am. Twenty minute walk to the train station. Dropped our luggage off at the luggage storage in the station then over to McDonalds for breakfast. Train left on time for Naples at 9:05. Seats in first class very nice. Picturesque 70 minute trip south and off the train at 10:15 am in Naples.

  
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Walked off the train and into the station where a very nice little old Neapolitan gentleman offered to help us with directions. He told us to take the Metro to Pompeii from the station (35 minutes one way), then enter the ruins and self guide ourselves. After he helped us buy our Metro tickets, he walked us down to the platform where I offered him 5 euros for his services. “No sir” he said, “I need 10 euros!” “No problem” I said and he got his second five. It never fails, there is always someone looking to make a buck in any way possible even though he only provided us a 5 euro service.

  
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Onto the Metro and away we went. As it turned out, the entrance to the Pompeii ruins was very close to the Metro stop so it was a two minute walk to the entrance gate. Pompeii is extremely well excavated with clearly defined streets and avenues. The remains of the buildings are well preserved and give you an excellent sense as to the type of town Pompeii was before the eruption. Unfortunately we only had about an hour and a half to wander Pompeii as we had to make our way back to Naples to catch our 2:00 train back to Rome.

      
      
      
      
      
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We had to hustle to get to the Metro stop to catch the train at 1:10. We made it and arrived back in Naples at 1:45 with 15 minutes to spare to catch our train. Arrived at the platform 5 minutes before departure. Back onto first class and our 65 minutes trip back to Rome. Coffee, cookies, peach juice and coke zero. It had turned into a beautiful day for touring, a bit cloudy and 16 degrees or so.

  
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Arrived back in Rome 9 minutes late. But, no problem as we had 45 minutes between trains from Rome to Florence. Picked up our luggage from storage then up to the platform to see which track our train was going to depart from. Meanwhile Lee & Carole went on a quest for sandwiches and coffees for on the train. They were successful and we boarded our train with 5 minutes to spare.

On to Florence in 1st class comfort for the 1 hour 35 minute run. Off the train in Florence at 5:35. Fortunately, it was a short one block walk to our digs for the next two nights, the Hotel Lombardia. The hotel was a few meters down from the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella which is directly across the street from the train station.

  
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Checked in. The rooms were clean and looked comfortable enough. Two floors up for us, three floors for the Ellsworth’s. After settling in, Lee and I took a short walk to a nearby shop and picked up a couple of cokes and some water. It had started raining hard by the time we went for our walk so raincoats and umbrellas. Back to our room by 7:30 and lights out at 9:30.

  
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