The Purple Penguin

Stayed at Gatwick again as the flight was very very early morning (06:40). We did the twilight bag drop, you can drop your bag between 20:00 and 22:00 if you have a flight before 8:30 which is very helpful. We still had to get up early, but could just go straight through security rather than faffing with bags. We still managed to be far too early. But the flight was fine, though it was one of those have to get a bus from the plane to the terminal. And then we had trouble at passport control – Joe’s threw up errors that everyone was taking photos of, including the supervisor! Which was a bit worrying, but they did let us in so not sure what happened. Possibly leaving the EU and only being in the UK for a few days before heading out again?

There is a bus that will take you directly from Naples Airport to Pompeii, but it runs on a reduced schedule in the off season, so Joe and I had several hours at the airport (landed around 10:00 and the bus didn’t go until 13:00). We ended up just staying around the airport where we had coffee and a toasted sandwich and watched people until time to get the bus. Smaller bus than we expected, but nice ride to Pompeii with a good view of Vesuvius. The bus drops off at the main entrance to the ruins which is about a 15 minute walk to our hotel (Hotel del Sole), but I first went up to get our My Pompeii tickets, then off to the hotel.

We were able to check in when we arrived which was nice. Our room was also nice, we got the Suite Amorini. So we admired the view (overlooking the ruins which is why I got the room!) and then then headed out to see the bookshop at the site and get a guide. Then we stopped at a small cafe (Victoria café & bistrot) and got coffees and pastries (well, Joe got a rum baba which was lovely). We then went back to the hotel to relax as we were really tired from the early start, travelling, and hanging around.

Ended up having dinner at the hotel – Varnelli – which is excellent. We went down early and had a drink before dinner and then had a cheese and meat platter, then shared a large steak. The puddings looked excellent as well but far too full to manage one!