Naples

Naples is a crazy, packed city that feels like it grew together without regulation for hundreds of years.

I was never worried about crime in Naples; I was only worried about getting hit by a car.

Naples is famous for its pizza; we ate at Starita, which was good enough for John Paul II.

"Carpe Diem"

Every block in Naples has a local shrine.

The Naples Archeology Museum is one of the best in the world. Here is our friend Balbus, the patron of Herculaneum.

The Farnese Bull, a reconstructed statue, and one of the Roman masterpieces. It was discovered in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.

The Farnese collection of Roman jewelry was also impressive.

No those aren't breasts on Artemis, those are bull testicles.

Yikes

The museum is home to the Secret Room full of Roman erotica. I won't post it here, but there are plenty of suggestive Satyr statues in the kosher part of the museum.

Eagle and Phrygian: Best of Buds

Everyone likes a good rooster mosaic

Memento Mori

Foods of Pompeii

Derpy Hippo

The Horror

Quite the tiger?

The original Alexander mosaic

An Indian statue that made its way to Pompeii

When you compare Roman art with Medieval art, its hard not to view the later period as a Dark Age

Romans love pygmies... a little too much...

Watch out!

A fresco of a riot in Pompeii's Coliseum

Vivid Roman ships

Roman shrines in nature almost feel East Asian

The museum also featured mummy souvenirs Europeans took home with them from Egypt in the 1800s.

Roman graffiti: A blonde woman taught me to hate black-haired women. I will hate them if I can; if not, I will love them, even against my will."

Roman political graffiti

Naples at night

The churches in Naples have melded into the city.

An interesting effect outside one of the churches.

The ancient churches of Naples stand surrounded by unimpeded development.