Caserta

We had planned to take the train out to Caserta to see the great royal palace of the Bourbons. In the taxi, he proposed a price to driver us there, so we took it. I'm glad we did because we arrived at the reggia about an hour before the incredible crowds. When we walked up the grand staircase, there were a few people on it. When we walked down the grand staircase, it was packed solid with touring Italians.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First we toured the gardens. They go back more than a kilometer until they reach a grand waterfall. It's an impressive sight to see such a long line, but more impressive is that it continues through a long gallery that runs the length of the palazzo and then on to Naples. (Now the view to Napoli is broken by the train station and other construction, but back in the day, the road was planted with magnificent stone pines that went on for miles. You can still see stretches of the pines on the road back to Naples.

Ira didn't want to walk the long stretch to the back of the garden, so we hired a horse and carriage. It was hilarious. The driver wanted to complete the trip in as little time as possible, so we were rocketing around the gardens like an E ticket ride at Disneyland. At one stretch, it seemed like we were racing another carriage on a parallel path. Still, they wanted us to take pictures. When we got to the "baby castle" (i.e., the little castle) and I didn't take a picture they waited patiently. When I realized what they were waiting for I took a picture of a nearby tree that was much more interesting, and then they continued our gallop. It was a fun, breathless way to see a long stretch of garden on a hot day.

I'm glad we didn't walk much because the interiors were enormous. It makes Versailles look like the Petit Trianon. The Bourbons lived there until the early 19th century, so some of the later rooms had an old-fashioned rather than "old and grand" look. But the public rooms were sufficiently impressive, with gorgeous paintings, and furnishings, and bas-reliefs. Vanvitelli was in charge of the construction and he had free reign to continue in a particular style that carried well through all the grand rooms. There was not a lot of great art there, but all of the art was well done. I've sprinkled some details of ceiling paintings in this post, because they really were charming.

Again we went to the train station. I waited in line to buy tickets for the train that was to leave in an hour, Ira went out to see what there was to see. He came back in a rush and said, "follow me." He'd found a bus that was leaving right then. We hopped on, we paid 4 euros for the both of us, the bus roared off, and we were back in Naples before the train had even left Caserta. Thank you autobus, and thank you for being quick witted Ira!

Back in Naples we ate at the modern, chic hotel, the Romeo. Of course, the dining room with the view was ciuso so we made do in the lunch room. It was an odd meal. They had the motions of serving in a fine place down, but they were strangely hesitant. After lunch we took a long stroll down a chic shopping street and then came home to rest and to blog. Roma tomorrow!