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kgbinwanderland · 6 years

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Naples, the capital city of the Campania Region, is also Italy’s third-largest city and a popular destination in the South. Our original plan was to take the train from Rome to Naples and Pompeii for a day trip but at the last minute, we decided to just book a tour from Viator instead. This tour offers a panoramic view of Naples and an afternoon guided-walking tour of Pompeii. Basically, it means sitting on a bus/coach while we drive around the city centre and the tour guide pointing out the notable landmarks of Naples. This isn’t the most ideal way to explore this beautiful Italian city. But if you only have a few hours to spend, this is a good option because it’s convenient.

Participants of the tour are expected to be at the meeting point on or before 7:30AM. We arrived around 7:15 AM at the Green Line Tours office near the Roma Termini station. After showing the booking confirmation from my phone, we were given a slip of paper to be given to the tour leader before boarding the bus.

Shortly after, we left the city of Rome and we’re on our way to Naples! Our tour guide Christina gave the tour instructions and information in English, French and Spanish. She talked about the different points of interest we saw along the way and little tidbits about Rome and Naples. We stopped for breakfast at a rest stop halfway through our journey.

Here are some photos from our Naples city tour:

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We had lunch at local restaurant near the Pompeii excavation site entrance. Honestly, I was a little disappointed and thought it was not the best representation of Napoli food. It was just okay. This is one of the things I regret, not being able to try classic Neapolitan dishes like Margherita pizza or Spaghetti alle vongole. And like any bus tour, there’s always a prerequisite visit to some jewelry factory (it was a Cameo and Coral factory/store) which for me is a complete waste of time.

I still recommend booking a guide when you get to Pompeii though. It’s huge so if you have a guide, you are guaranteed to see the highlights. Like what our Pompeii local guide said, if you want to see the whole of Pompeii, it will take you at least a week! After your guided tour, you can still explore the ruins at your own pace. Our Pompeii tour is only for a couple of hours and I wish we had more time to take photos and see the other parts of the ruins. [irp posts=”130″ name=”A Glimpse of Pompeii, Italy”]

In hindsight, I wish we had followed our original plan of going on the day trip by ourselves. That way we’d have more control over our time and itinerary. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good tour. Some may actually prefer to do this instead of travelling by train or going on their own. It really was a panoramic view of the city, something that you might not be able to do if you choose take the train. Also, the convenience of riding a bus instead of the train is a big plus. I’ve read lots of horror stories about pickpockets at the Napoli Centrale Station. On the way back to Rome, we were able to take a nap and they even dropped us off at the Metro Barberini station (nearest station to our Airbnb apartment). So yes, it was a great day!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

How to get to Naples from Rome:

Take the Frecciarossa (high-speed) train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale.

Travel time is approximately 70 minutes.

One way ticket base price is €44, much cheaper if you book in advance and reserve a specific time.

You may buy your reserved tickets from Italia. Advance tickets are around €25 to €30 one way.

Or buy tickets from Trenitalia. Advance tickets are around €25.90 to €29.90 one way.

There are cheaper tickets available (€12 to €14), but those are for Regional trains which would take 3 hours travel time.

How to get to Pompeii from Naples:

Take the Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Centrale to Pompeii Scavi-Villa dei Misteri

Travel time is approximately 35 minutes.

Train fare is around 3.20 Euros one way

No need to purchase train tickets in advance

Booking Pompeii Entrance tickets:

Website: Parco Archeologico di Pompeii

Ticket price is €15. First Sunday of the month = free entrance!

Audio guide is available at the Porta Marina gate for rent: €8

If you want a guided tour, you may inquire at the information desk at the Porta Marina entrance. Or you can book a tour in advance through Viator.

I still have a few more posts from our Italy trip so please check back soon or even better, join my mailing list so you’ll always be updated with new content.

Thanks for reading!

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A Panoramic Tour of Naples Naples, the capital city of the Campania Region, is also Italy's third-largest city and a popular destination in the South.

#bus tour in Naples #Italy #Naples #Panoramic tour of Naples #Pompeii excavation tour #Snapshots of Italy #Viator tours

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crisiscollector-blog · 7 years

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Things I do to try and save money

The weekly food shop is an ordeal for me before it's even started. The bus fares to the nearest supermarket are a dent in my budget before I've even started. It may only cost £3.20 in bus fares but that money is three days worth of milk. I was never the greatest at maths but since having kids that has changed. I can add up the cost of my trolley full of groceries to the nearest penny. I can work out how much I could save buy multi buying special offers all of which I have had to learn. I have no set budget for the weekly shop and some weeks I can't afford the bus fares to the nearest supermarket which leaves me dependent on shopping close to home on a daily basis. I never go shopping with a list and I never plan ahead when it comes to meal times. I cannot afford to buy what I would like, instead I only buy what ever is cheap or on offer. Own store brand produce is a staple in my freezer and cupboards. The fridge is never full as I can only afford to put cheese, ham, eggs and milk in there. I find Asda/Tesco own brand tins the cheapest and the best quality for that price range. Tins of baked beans are only 25 pence. Once a week I make the kids beans on toast with grated cheese on top. With my four kids that meal only costs roughly £1 for all of them: two tins of beans, 50 pence and almost a full loaf of bread (own store saver brand 45 pence). As a treat I often stock up on own store brand tins of rice pudding, usually 25 pence but sometimes Asda have them on for 15 pence a tin and they are actually very good quality. The tins of custard, store own brand, are also usually 25 pence, granted its not the best but it still tastes fab. Buying cakes proves to costly so I also stock up on Asda/Tesco own brand cake mix. This usually costs 20 pence a pack and I usually get about 12 cake buns out of that and I make the kids cake and custard using what I have mentioned above, which works out to be roughly 75 pence (two tins of custard plus one pack of cake mix). Asda/Tesco own brand tinned soups are OK as well. They're usually 25-30 pence a tin. I sometimes give the kids tomato soup with grated cheese on top and use own store brand bread for them to dip in to the soup. Sunday dinners also prove costly. I sometimes do a Sunday lunch using own store brand sausages, usually about 90 pence for 20. I add tinned own brand carrots (20 pence), frozen broccoli, frozen own brand Yorkshire puddings and gravy. It works out to be roughly £1.50 to feed the four kids that meal. I've mentioned using own store brand brand, roughly 40-50 pence a loaf. It's by no means the nicest softest bread but we make do. I also stock up on reduced prices loaves of bread which are sometimes reduced to as little as 10 pence. I freeze them on the day of purchase and I use them only for making toast. We go through a lot of bread/toast so the reduced loaves can save a lot of money. Tesco own brand 'saver' tea bags are only 25 pence I think for 25 tea bags and the quality of them is actually very good. Two of my kids love tea and biscuits and, lucky for me, the kids love rich tea biscuits. Asda do a huge pack, own saver brand, for 20 pence sometimes 25-30p. I also find Tesco own saver brand range of breakfast cereals to be very cheap and they are mostly of very good quality. A pack of their own brand cornflakes is only 40 pence and the box is very big I think about 500 grams. Asda/Tesco own brand tinned new potatoes are also of good quality and are only 25 pence for a huge tin. I sometimes cut them up, add store own brand mayonnaise and chopped chives to make homemade potato salad. The Mayo is only 40 pence and the chives 60 pence. It goes down a treat with the kids. I, personally, try not to eat during the day. I have coffee in the morning. I only have one cup all day as boiling the kettle uses a lot of electric. I mainly live off eating cereal and boiled eggs on toast. Many times I have gone without food when the cupboards have become bare, saving what food was left for the kids. I know what I've shared is hardly life changing stuff but if you find yourself fallen on hard times then there are small changes you can make to your weekly shop that can mean you have enough money to buy milk and bread in the days before you are due to get any more money.

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girishprb · 7 years

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Montana 1: Adventure begins

A memorable trip in Colorado back in 2016 Labor day weekend ensured that we do something similar or even better in 2017. A separate blog post will be dedicated to that trip! Patience please :) There was a lot of back and forth while deciding the location, which started with Alaska and eventually settled down to Montana and its crown of the continent - the majestic Glacier National Park. To get a head start over the regular long weekend crowd, we planned to reach a couple of days early with no specific plan in mind. Wildfires and frequent updates ensured that we plan nothing whatsoever and do everything in the moment, which I think was a blessing in disguise. Saved on a bunch of planning, we did not really have any timelines or expectations and the randomness made it much more beautiful and satisfying.

The only planning we did do was a couple of days before to make sure we carried all the important stuff and that we did not duplicate key items. For future camping trips, and for all who do read my blogs, hope this helps :)

[x] Brush [x] Toothpaste [x] Hand sanitizer [x] Toilet paper [x] Facial wipes [x] mug(steel preferred) [x] Vessel/saucepan to cook (3 ppl) [x] Milk powder [x] Tea, coffee, chocolate powders [x] First aid kit [x] Water purifier tablets [x] Spoons n forks [x] Knife [x] Fire starter kit [x] Lighter, matches [x] Propane cylinders, stove [x] National park permit [x] Offline maps [x] Ponchos [x] Hydration bladder [x] Sleeping mat [x] Dry fruits [x] Pasta, Maggi, Spanish rice packs [x] Thermals? [x] towel [x] Energy bars [x] Power bank [x] torches, lanterns [x] chappal [x] mouthwash [x] bear spray [x] Garbage covers [x] Batteries [x] Tent

On the day of the departure, I had an adventure of my own. To start off with, I had 3 flights in total - RDU -> Newark -> Denver -> Missoula. God knows why I booked a flight with that route (probably has something to do with money). Also, gate closing time at RDU was 3.45 pm! That meant I had to leave office post lunch and be at the airport by 3. To add on to this, I was just back from a trip to Seattle for a week and my feature had a major release in the coming week. Somehow working late nights, I and my colleagues made sure we were in good shape just before I went off on this vacation. I left the office at 2.10 pm, had to still buy a tent from REI (12 mins drive from the office in the opposite direction). And possibly go to Indian stores to buy instant tea powder because I knew there were no Indian stores in Missoula or en route to GNP. At 2.45 pm, I was at the crossroads, I had to decide whether I go to Indian stores which will delay me by at-least 15 minutes or go home, pack, call UBER and hope to make it to airport by 3.15 pm. The logical and sane option was to do the latter, but, what’s the point of camping and backpacking when there’s no Girnar’s masala chai early in the morning :P I chose Indian stores, but to save on precious 10 minutes wait for UBER, I called my roommate to come home and drop me to airport. Thankfully he did this great favor and took me through a new and arguably faster route to the Airport( He is amazing!). I reached the airport at 3.20 pm with tea and bunch of snacks other than Maggi since I was assuming that Manasi was getting it. In our previous group chats, she gave us the impression that she was the one and only wholesale distributor of Maggi to the North Americas. In all this hurry I missed out on a text message from Manasi asking me to get Maggi and she used this a response to everything I said later! (You did not get Maggi!!!)

At the airport, I directly wanted to go to the United counter and check-in my backpack (Osprey Aether 60 L) as I was already late, but one smart-ass agent asked me to first go to the kiosk and enter my details. Reluctantly, with an exasperated expression, I did that as arguing would delay me further. To nobody’s surprise, it displayed a warning message stating that I cannot check-in my baggage since it was less than 45 minutes to departure. I called the same guy again and triumphantly asked him what should I do now. It was his turn to give me the exasperated look as he requested me to talk to an agent at the counter. She was partly annoyed as well and I don’t blame her. The fault was entirely mine. After glancing at the system and her watch multiple times, she finally decided to let me check in and try my luck catching the flight. She literally said, “Good luck, hope you can make it”!

Usually at RDU, one can breeze through the security lines within 5-10 minutes. My personal best was probably a minute or less than that when I caught a flight to SFO, the last flight for the day. They had to start the scanner machine just for me! This day wasn’t a usual day! there were quite a few people, already in the holiday mood. The time now was 3.32 pm. with 13 minutes to board my flight, I actually started thinking if the tea packet was really worth it :P (it was) I cleared the security at 3.41 pm. Ideally, in this situation, it would have helped if my boarding gate was as close as possible to the security checkpoint. But when the universe conspires to make your life miserable, it always does a pretty darn good job. My boarding gate was the furthest possible from the security checkpoint. My half marathon training finally paid off as I sprinted across the terminal amidst the amused glances from random strangers. Thankfully, RDU is one of the smaller airports where I can do all this bullshit and still get away with it. I made it to the gate at 3.43 pm, but without a proper breakfast, without lunch and with 10% charge on my totally unreliable Nexus 5. Why do I still own it? excellent question. I shall write a blog about that as well :P

As luck would have it, in the flight, the 2017 August edition of United airlines magazine was about Montana. The editor wrote about his 3-day experience in Montana. This is where I first got to know that huckleberries are found there in abundance. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry fin were some of my earliest novels that I had read in my school days. I mentally made a note to make sure I try the famous huckleberry pie no matter what! And I did try most of the huckleberry delicacies, more on that later. In this process, I probably did annoy Shruti and Manasi because they could not understand my obsession with huckleberries. I am not really sure either, but, with the hunger pangs and given the fact that these berries are not found everywhere and their delicacies are part of ‘the’ Montana experience, I wanted every bit of it :)

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