Hello and happy 2025! Welcome to this overdue post about our family vacation to Naples in September 2024. Mom has always loved ancient history and dreamed of visiting Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, so we took the opportunity to celebrate her birthday in Italy!
I’ll tell the story of our trip in photos and a few favorite memories. (Turns out writing about an incredible trip four months later is not easy, haha!)
Ischia
For the first part of our trip, we spent a few days at a nice hotel on the island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples. Ischia was first inhabited by the Greeks in 700 BC and has been conquered and reconquered throughout history for its strategic location. Today, tourists visit the island to explore the 5th century Aragonese Castle, which has served as a castle, fort, church, and everything in between! We did some sightseeing on the island, and attended a local church for Sunday Mass.
The best meal we ate on our trip was at Trattoria Il Focolare. Ischia’s traditional cuisine features rabbit, and we learned about Il Focolare’s incredible dining experience from the TV series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. We ordered the rabbit as the entrée, and several small plate appetizers. After dinner, we could’ve rolled back to the hotel! Our waiters also gave a tour of their family restaurant and century-old wine cellar.
Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and Herculaneum
Mom’s favorite part of the trip was visiting Pompeii! It was a bit rainy during our Pompeii tour, and we welcomed the cooler temperature as we explored the shadeless ruins. The Pompeii ruins are larger and better excavated than at Herculaeum, and there are enough ruins to walk around all day!
Herculaneum is a smaller excavation site than Pompeii because modern-day Ercolano covers much of the old city. Because Herculaneum is closer to the volcano than Pompeii, the city was buried deeper under the ash, which better preserved the mosaic artwork. Both sites are worth visiting and are easy to get to by train from Naples!
Naples
My favorite moment of the trip was experiencing the San Gennaro (St. Januarius) feast day and miracle. Every year on San Gennaro’s feast day, September 19th, the dried blood of the 4th century saint miraculously liquifies! Neapolitans consider it a bad omen when the blood does not liquify, such as in 1939 and 2020.
I woke up early on the 19th and walked to the Cathedral. I was allowed entry by the local police just before they closed the doors. The church was packed with local Neapolitans, camera crews, and reporters! You could feel everyone’s joyful anticipation, and the crowd’s excitement when the bishop held up the liquified blood was palpable. I stayed through the celebration of the Mass and procession of the relic. Such a cool experience!
Another favorite memory of mine was when Dad and I watched a soccer match in the Spanish Quarter. The Spanish Quarter is a lively neighborhood with a complex network of alleys between tall apartments. After dinner one night, I noticed a local business had installed TVs outside the storefront and served drinks to those watching the game. I don’t remember what teams were playing, but I do remember enjoying the casual atmosphere of locals enjoying a soccer game in their neighborhood.
Naples is known as the birthplace of pizza, and we were eager to try Pizzeria La Notizia – the only Michelin-starred pizzeria in Naples. This restaurant was another of Stanley Tucci’s highlighted places in Searching for Italy, and the pizza did not disappoint! Other touristy things we did in Naples include trying sfogliatella (Neapolitan pastry), exploring some of the city’s underground ruins, viewing the Veiled Christ sculpture in Sansevero Chapel, walking around the Castel Nuovo, and seeing Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy.
Thanks for reading this quick recap of a great family trip, cheers to another year filled with travel and adventure!
kira vesta 