Hercules at Rest

Here's a picture of Hercules at Rest, an ancient sculpture found at the Archeological Museum here in Naples. It is an impressive piece.

Location:Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli

Pompeii

I'm sure you know about Pompeii. The ruins are world famous, and the millions of tourists who see it each year are vocal in their admiration. It's my third time here, but it's the first time I went around with an archeologist, Lello Coppola, and this made a world of difference. It was fantastic.

Location:Pompeii

Napoli

Naples is gritty cool. I had some misgivings about traveling to this part of the world (especially with my parents) as traveller's reviews are often mixed. The talk of it being dirty, scary and somewhat creepy is true, but the gravitas of it's history and grandeur earns it a spot on must-see travel lists.






Chiesa del Gesu






Galleria Umberto Emmanuel






Dogs in front of the Opera House






Mt. Vesuvius in the distance






Castles everywhere






And, oh yeah, the food is enough for you to come to Naples. It is after all, the king of Italian seafood dishes and the birthplace of pizza.

Location:Naples

Scenes from the Amalfi Coast

It's reputedly one of the best drives in the world. The hairpin bends were dizzying, breathtaking, exhilarating. Here are some pictures from yesterday's drive. Thank you to our driver Pepe.

Portofino



Amalfi




Lunch




Peperoccino (apparently an aphrodisiac)




View from Ravello

Location:The Amalfi Coast

Buon giorno from Napoli

Hello world.

My apologies for my blog tardiness. Perhaps getting a mobile device might cure me. But only if there's a free wi-fi service around.

Been touring Naples and the environs. Today is Amalfi Coast day.

Talk to you all later.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Via Vincenzo Bellini,Naples,Italy

Kinderdijk

With cousin J and L at Kinderdijk, early in February 2011.

New (Year x Jersey x York)

And so in the blink of an eye L and I found ourselves on New Year's Day on a plane back to New Jersey.

There are always many things to do in that part of the world, and L and I tried to do what we could.

There was feasting, of course:

Filipino food in New Jersey (where else?)

Scarpetta with W in the Meatpacking District (good, but not as good as I expected. The RawYellowtail was the best dish I tasted. L's pomodoro, which was reputedly the best in NYC, was somewhat disappointing)

Los Hermanos in Brooklyn (fantastic hole in the wall Mexican food place populated, oddly enough, with hipsters from Williamsburg and Mexican workers packing tortillas into boxes factory style. Best tacos and enchiladas tasted on this trip!)

Extra Virgin in the West Village (sorry, no pictures, but the food was perfectly satisfactory)

Tanoreen in Brooklyn (my favorite restaurant in New York. It's delicious Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine and very affordable; its a pilgrimage to this place every time I'm in town)

L and I also spent an afternoon in the Met museum. We've been here a number of times before, but there always is something new to see:

We walked around the city enough to get us wistful:

And watched La Traviata at the (other) Met at Lincoln Center:

Bye, New York! See you again soon.