Napoli, home of pizza and buskers and artists!

We spent a few days in Naples, home to Mt. Vesuvius and the birthplace of the world's first pizza. 


Napoli, as it's called in Italy, was nice, but it was very different from Florence and Rome. Napoli is where we did the most walking, I think. We walked to the sea almost every day. It was the Mediterranean Sea. This sea connects to the beach on the north coast of Egypt.

In Napoli, we went out a lot. Every day and every night. Then, we had one day left. At that point I had consumed about 12 pizzas. And even more gelatos. Sorry Hash (that's my uncle), but I evened it out with about 15-20 km walking a day.

There were buskers everywhere. Many of them were playing the violin, which I want to learn. There were artists painting on the cobblestone roads. That inspired me to get back into art, so my mum bought me a new sketch book.

Napoli looks and feels a lot like Cairo, with the chaotic vibe and the rubbish on the streets, but Egypt is obviously a lot more meaningful to me than Napoli.

It is a great city and I definitely recommend you go and visit Napoli!!! Home of Mt. Vesuvius and the world's first pizza!

Pompeii. Stepping into the past.

Pompeii. The ancient city. We walked through the gates of the city and it was like stepping into the past. I saw ruins and perfectly preserved dead people. 

We walked for a little bit longer, admiring the scene around us. It was amazing how preserved the city was. Archeologists and scientists have learnt a lot about Ancient Italian life from the Pompeiians.

We walked past lots of ruins of houses, kitchens, tombs, beds and battlegrounds; they were all made from cobblestone. Even the beds were cobblestone; all preserved. 

The next thing we wanted to see was the bodies of the dead people. In the year 79 a volcano called Mt Vesuvius erupted and covered the city of Pompeii in a 6 foot layer of ash. Years later, archeologists dug up the remaining things like cups, chairs, animals and humans!

The humans that were covered by the ash from the volcano were preserved for 100s of years; they were frozen in time from the ash like statues!!! Some people were kissing, some were sleeping, some were dancing, some were even fighting to the death! It was amazing how cool it was!!!

Climbing up an active volcano!

I was so excited. We were in Pompeii and we were going to Mt Vesuvius! The most dangerous volcano on earth. 

Every 20 years, Vesuvius erupts. It usually has an eruption cycle of 20 years, but has not erupted in 71 years, but scientists say that Vesuvius is still active and that it could erupt at any moment; that's what makes it so dangerous. 

A man drove us up the mountain with his taxi (his own car). Plus it was a better deal than the bus. When we got to the base of the climbing path he said we had 1 hour. We hiked up the mountain; about halfway up it started to get colder. We started to walk a bit slower. I was tired because Nazar and I ran the first part, until it got cold. Also, the high altitude makes the climbing a bit more difficult. That's why professional athletes often train in high altitude areas - when they return to a lower altitude, it seems much easier for them.

When we finally got to the top the view was extraordinary. You could see the whole city of Naples and the Bay of Naples. There was a small shop up there; my brother got his friend some rocks bcause he collects them. On the way down we were strolling down, pretty relaxed; but nahhh, I hurt my ankle, obviously. We finally got to the bottom; I was battling a war in my ankle. We got to the taxi just in time and the guy drove us back to Pompeii. 

The best pizza in Florence!

Today we hung out with our cousins at their home in Florence, Italy. When we got to their house, we played with them for a long time and had lunch. By the way, they are only six and three. After lunch we went to the park and designed obstacle courses for each other. We played in the leaves and it was really very fun.

After that my uncle (who is actually my dad's cousin, but like my uncle) took me on a ride on his mororcycle, which is called a scooter. He drove me around the area and then asked me if I wanted to drive. I obviously said yes straight away. I drove it around and he taught me how to slow down! I'm pretty much a professional now. 

We said goodbye, we went home on a bus. After a while, we got ready to go my uncle's restaurant. He is the best pizza maker in all of Florence!!! I mean he actually is, I'm not just exaggerating. He is well known in the local industry. When the taxi dropped us to his restaurant we said hello and then sat and ordered. Our waitress spoke to us in pretty good Arabic, even though she is Italian! Her Arabic was much better than our Italian. I ordered steak, chips and salad, and my family all ordered pizza and risotto. That steak was... the best steak I have ever had in my life!!!

My dad and I helped my brother and my mum finish off their pizza!!! That was actually the best pizza ever!!! Better than dominos pizza!!! After the meal we said goodbye because we were going to Naples, home of Mt Vesuvius, the next morning. My uncle is one of the kindest guys ever!!! 

Leaning Tower of Pisa

We were in a rush! We ran to the train station, jumped aboard and we were off to Pisa. 

The train ride was a little boring because I was thinking about the fact that I haven't touched a basketball in 8 days. When we finally got to Pisa we walked around the area for a while. The streets were beautiful, as are most of the streets I've been on in Italy. I love the cobblestones. We walked for a little bit longer and then decided to go to the leaning tower. 

I could see the top of the tower from the end of the street. It's actually an abandoned bell tower from the 1100s. Back then,  the soil around the tower was clay. They built the first three floors and then started noticing a lean in the tower. They left the soil for 100 years so it would harden. Exactly 100 years later, they started building again, up to the seventh floor. But the lean would always be there.

Embarrassingly, I bought a selfie stick. Okay, okay I know what you're going to say. “Why the hell did I buy a selfie stick?" It was only to capture the landscape; and to take some awesome selfies. Plus, I was curious because in Rome literally every second person had one. 24 selfies later, we walked around the market area. Everything was leaning. Even the cups that the people were selling. I wouldn recommend a selfie stick, they're really annoying after about half an hour. 

It was a great day!!! After walking so much our feet were sore, we took the train back to Florence, where my mm begged me for a foot massage. Of course I said yes (after bargaining for extra time on the iPad.)

Beautiful Rome

Rome, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. From the shutters on the windows, to the pizza shops on every corner, to the delicious gelato. 

When we got to Rome we went into our apartment. It was really nice but really small. We walked about 15km on the first day of being there, and it was only half a day! We walk everywhere. The first thing we walked to was the colosseum. It was hard to get in because the line was long, but we managed to do it. It was really giant. Gargantuan! There was a maze inside of it!

After that we walked around the city. It was amazing. My mum had to stop at every leather boot shop, and that was like every second shop so it was getting irritating. Then again, they had to stop for me at every sports store in Rome, so it evens out. 

There were people setting up Christmas lights and 
decorations on the streets. Every corner that we turned was like a museum. After walking around all day, we went back to our apartment. I cooked pasta that night and it was actually really delicious! 

The next morning, we walked to the colosseum again because the first day my brother and I saw this four person bike/car thing that looked really fun. We got there and hired it. It was 20€ for 1 hour, but my dad, being Egyptian, bargained it down to 15€!

It had a steering wheel and was more like a car than a bike... but you have to pedal. My dad was driving it on the road like a real car. I felt like such a tourist! We were peddling up a big hill. I asked my dad if I could have a go and he said, “Yes, but don't kill us." I'm actually a really great driver, which is surprising because I'm Egyptian!!! After the hour was up we took it back to the guy. 

After that we were walking and walking... and walking! We started to get peckish so decided to get a pizza. But then we were really starving so we got a pizza each... mmm!

The next morning was our last one in Rome. We walked around the city for an hour and then came back to the house to get our luggage. We were off to Florence! In Rome, the people are so relaxed! We caught a taxi to the train station and here I am right now writing this on the the train.