On returning to Naples from Herculaneum, we found ourselves to be not quite out of energy, so we decided to visit the Capodimonte Museum.

The building housing the Capodimonte Museum was built starting in 1738 as a royal palace for Charles of Bourbon. It was designed with the display of artworks in mind, as Charles had an extensive collection (he had inherited the famous Farnese collection of art and antiquities from his mother). Other works were acquired over the years, and the collection on display now includes works by artists such as Titian, Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini and El Greco.

The metro lines don't go anywhere near the Capodimonte, but the buses do. We'd noticed a bus stop near the National Archeological Museum the previous day, so we got off the metro at the Museo stop and walked over to the bus stop. As it turns out, several different buses stop there, so we looked at the posted lists of stops for the different numbered buses until we found one that was heading to the Capodimonte and boarded the proper bus when it eventually showed up. We didn't have to pay, as bus travel was included in our ArteCards. The bus travelled up the Via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi for a mile or so, and we got off at the Via Capodimonte. At this point we found ourselves at a "T" intersection, and the signs were less than clear as to which way the museum was. As it turned out, either direction would've worked, but we chose to go right, and were rewarded with an entrance to the grounds a couple of hundred yards around the bend (with a welcome gelato shop across the street from it).

Charles of Bourbon had also been fond of hunting, and there were extensive grounds around the palace that he used for this purpose, grounds which are now a park. Fortunately we entered at a point near the museum, so we walked over to it and paid our admission (half price, thanks to ArteCard) and entered.


We found the art collection to be as impressive as advertised, as were the royal apartments that were open to the public (there were also some modern art pieces in some of the royal apartments which didn't seem to fit with their surroundings, but were undoubtedly placed there by people more expert than us). Our guide book indicated that photography was against the rules in the museum, but we didn't see any signs to this effect. But we didn't see anyone else taking pictures, so we didn't either. Except for Nella, who was making extensive use of her Flip video camera. And eventually I joined in, making use of the HD camcorder.





After leaving the museum, we returned on the bus to the Archeological Museum stop, noting some probably-common sights which struck us as interesting.


From there we walked back to the hotel, and again everybody was pretty much on empty. After resting a couple of hours, everyone but Philip went out in search of dinner. We found a place around the corner called Carmela's which had interesting and enjoyable food.


Pleasantly full, we returned to the hotel to recharge for what would be our last full day in Naples. Our first stop would be a castle on a hill that promised a nice view of the city. This was the Castel Sant' Elmo.