Casertavecchia was once...Caserta. The name translates to "Old Caserta;" it was the site of the original village. It's now about 10 km away, above modern Caserta. Definitely not walkable for us; as it's up the mountain, it would be quite the hike. However, all the information I found online assured me that we would easily be able to catch a bus from the train station up to the old town; there are (allegedly) two bus lines to choose from.
Except there weren't; while there are published bus schedules, the buses don't seem to actually adhere to them. We attempted several times to find out what time we might be able to catch a bus. The woman working the front desk at our hotel didn't seem to know; nor could we find out in the train station. We asked one of the bus drivers we encountered in the parking area in front of the station, who led us across the parking lot to another bus driver, who said we should meet them at 12:30 (I think). Note that 12:30 wasn't listed anywhere on the bus schedules posted online.
We gave up and ordered a cab. It was about a 15 minute ride across Caserta proper and up the mountain via twisting, narrow roads. Our driver dropped us off at what appeared to be the base of the town, or at least the main intersection, across from the tourist parking lot and also from two bars ("bars" in the Italian sense of serving coffee, pastries, and booze). We decided to sit and have caffè and cornetti before heading up the hill to explore.
We didn't have to walk very far until we came to the crumbling Tower:
Not as well preserved as the tower here in our little comune. We decided not to make the climb to the top, but kept heading up the hill towards the heart of the village.
The building (I think it was a restaurant) that is the home of this awesome little architectural detail was a filming location for My Brilliant Friend, a popular Italian (and now US) TV show that I have never seen
We soon stumbled upon Chiesa dell'Annunziata:
Not sure what the deal was with the mannequin up near the sanctuary
Just as I was taking this picture of the door, a van pulled up and got in my way. Jerk.
One of the major attractions in Casertavecchia is the 12th century Duomo, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, which is located on what appeared to me to be the (small) main square of the town:
The cathedral, having been enlarged and modified at various periods of its history, is an interesting mix of architectural and artistic styles. Some of the original medieval frescos are still visible here and there. Definitely worth the uphill walk:
It's all Greek to me...
After our visit, we wandered up and (thankfully) down the hills of the town, passing quite a few restaurants and bed & breakfast places...
...one of which was in a former church
Mid-afternoon, we decided to stop at one of the restaurants with a nice view. As the day was quite warm - in the 60s F I believe - we were able to eat outside comfortably. We were joined by a friend:
Yes, that is my husband touching a cat! He normally avoids them like the plague as he is highly allergic, but this time he didn't even sneeze.
Although it was warm - I mean, who can complain about 60-degree weather in February? - it was also hazy, so I wasn't able to capture many high-quality photos of what I'm sure would be amazing vistas on another type of day.
After a leisurely lunch, we meandered back down to where the taxi driver had dropped us that morning and I contacted the cab company via WhatsApp to come and pick us up (side note: Italians use the free app WhatsApp for calls and texts more often than not; no one seems to leave messages on regular voicemail, or use their cell service for texting, either). We went back to our hotel for a little rest before heading out into town, as we wanted to see the other Duomo in the area that is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel:
Bonus: a train!
Himself
Obligatory commemoration of something Garibaldi did...in this case, it references his walloping of the Neapolitans at a town near the Volturno River
Architect of the Reggia, among other things: Luigi Vanvitelli
Hard to tell from this photo, but many of the children we observed on our walk through town were wearing costumes, as if it were Halloween in the US. We noticed this all weekend, and we think that it may have to do with Carnival
I thought we were back in Amsterdam for a minute. Apparently "light marijuana" is a thing here, and you can buy it - if you have a codice fiscale or tessera sanitaria, as per this vending machine. No, I did not avail myself of the product, but I'll admit I was slightly tempted, if only for the experience of buying it from an automated dispenser!
Overall, Casertavecchia was definitely worth seeing; one day was all we needed. We decided to spend the next day in Naples, as it was less than an hour away by train.
Next up: Sunday in Naples