Paris traveller finds a Mediterranean base with Europe at the doorstep

Colleen, Gary, Roy and Karon Sinning enjoy a stop at the historic Da Michele pizzeria in Naples, widely known as one of the city’s oldest pizza spots and a must-visit for its classic Margherita.

Karon Sinning

Paris Independent Travel Columnist

After boarding the Eurostar and wrapping up nearly three weeks of travel across England and the Netherlands, Paris traveller Karon Sinning has now arrived in Malta — where the next leg of her European journey begins.

Late February in Malta saw the arrival of friends from home. While Colleen and Gary have been to Malta before; that visit saw 3 out of 4 of us sick with Covid. This trip we were all healthy and able to fully enjoy our time.

We had all previously visited Pompeii in Italy, but Roy and I also had Herculaneum on our bucket list. They were interested as well, so we booked a trip. Having a home base in Malta really opens up most of Europe. 

We booked our Naples tours through Enrico Travel in Malta and were very pleased with our agent and the ease of our trip. Flights on Ryanair were on-time or even a bit early; and the hotel Palazzo Salgar, was very comfortable.  Not having been to Naples, our agent also booked airport transfers to and from the airport to our hotel. The hotel did not offer this service. 

The driver was friendly and offered recommendations on Naples and where to eat. Taking one of his suggestions for dinner, on our first day, we went to the “oldest” (or at least one of them) pizza restaurant (1870) in Naples. Da Michele had a lineup out the door so we assumed it would be good. It was great!  

The Margherita pizza was invented in Naples. Created and named after a visiting queen.  It is one of only 4 pizza offerings at da Michele. The decor is unassuming at best, but photos of celebrities, who have eaten here, paper the walls. Julia Roberts was the most recognizable to us. 

Since we were only in Naples from March 1-4, we booked tours on two of those days: Herculaneum and a walking tour of Naples. There is no time change from Malta, so no jet lag. 

Herculaneum is a smaller, better preserved version of Pompeii. Pompeii was a city with an approximate population of 20,000 at the time of Mt. Versuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. Herculaneum was a seaside resort area for wealthy Romans, population about 5,000. 

Herculaneum was a very affluent community so every method was used to present a clean, modern town. While Pompeii used the open roadways for sewage removal, Herculaneum had underground drainage for waste.  Water was piped throughout the town in lead piping, as lead was very pliable and easy to work with. 

Walking through this excavated village, it was easy to imagine the bustling little town it once was. 

The volcano buried Herculaneum in 50-60 feet (15-18 metres) of hot mud. So much so that it extended the coastline out from 500 meters up to 1 kilometer away from where the town was originally located. While Pompeii was destroyed the first day of Vesuvius’ eruption, Herculaneum only received minor ash coverage the first day. This allowed many residents to flee prior to the devastation that followed the next day. 

The super-heated air that rushed down from the volcano, carbonized wooden structures almost instantly.  The hot-mud flow buried everything and because of this many of the wooden features are still visible in Herculaneum.  One of the most surprising features for me were sliding doors. Grooves in the floor that allowed wooden doors to slide open and closed.  There were also outdoor water fountains and open sinks (manmade wells for dipping containers in).  What truly amazed me is that these features existed here about 2,000 years ago. 

The preservation in Herculaneum is amazing. The wall frescoes and tiling on the floors are beautiful. In one room, a wooden bed frame survived, carbonized and buried in the hot mud flow. 

There were food stalls on almost every block in Herculaneum. These were called a “thermopolium” which translates to a "place where something hot is sold". These are basically 2,000-year-old "fast food" restaurants. They featured L-shaped marble counters, the more marble the more upscale the booth, with very large embedded jars under the openings.  The jars held hot, ready-to-eat stews, soups, and wine.  Some stalls even had baking ovens in a separate room that also sold bread. These Thermopolims were places where the general population could grab a hot “takeout” meal. 

While we really enjoyed our previous tour of Pompeii, I would recommend seeing Herculaneum first. 

The weather in Naples was similar to Malta, warm spring-like days and cool jacket weather evenings. 

The next day we set out on a 3+ hour walking tour of Naples. After a bit of confusion connecting with our guide, we set off only a few minutes later than anticipated.  Most of the tour was in the area near our hotel, but we did have to take the subway to the city centre. Taking the subway was definitely an adventure in a non-English speaking country. Our guide ensured we stayed together and, as it was only the four of us on this tour, it was pretty easy. 

We walked through market areas; and did the underground (Roman) area. We had short rest stops and enjoyed lattes and pastries.  

The biggest surprise for our friends and us was the terrible filth in Naples. While there is absolute beauty in some areas, walking past huge garbage containers spilling out onto the sidewalks and city streets; graffiti covering almost any exposed surface and the many cardboard homeless settlements, left us glad we were returning to clean, well-kept Malta.  When we commented on the graffiti, our guide, who has obviously grown up with it, said it was lovely. We could only smile and shake our heads. I guess the old adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” even applies to graffiti. 

About the columnist: Karon Sinning is a proud Paris resident who has a passion for travel and storytelling. Along with her partner Roy and friends, she enjoys exploring countries around the world and experiencing new cultures, food and everyday life beyond the tourist trail. Through her travel column, Karon shares those journeys with Paris Independent readers, offering practical insights, personal reflections and a sense of connection to the people and places she visits.