AndrewDavid

We’ve just returned from a wonderful 3.5 week vacation in Naples and Sicily

Flew to Chicago from ABQ with a 3 hour layover for our AA flight to Rome. This allowed us to hop the metro and go downtown to see the spectacular newish park adjacent to the Art Instiitute and Michigan Avenue. When you come back to O’Hare go to the Security point all the way to the right which seems to be known to only airport personnel and us. No lines!

AA flight to Rome, comfortable. With bulkhead seats in coach and an Ambien we slept for 7 hours. Arrival through Fiumicino was easy and we enjoyed our first capaducci’s (cappuncini w/ 2 shots of espresso). Train to Termini ( Central Station ) is very easy and
fast. We were in Naples within 3 hours of landing.

Information told us the R2 bus goes to the Port where our hotel, the Mediterraneo was located. We splurged (E 170 B&B) for our first 4 nights as we felt we needed some insulation to get over jet lag. We were sent out for a walk and after lunch our room, with a small view of the sea was ready. The hotel had a panoramic breakfast terrace and free access to an adjacent gym.

One afternoon while we were resting after too much wine at lunch, the fire alarm went off. After getting no response from the desk we tumbled out to the hall. Only one other rather hysterical guest went down the fire stair with us. When we finally figured out how to get back to the lobby, the front desk hadn’t heard about the emergency. My first feature film will be titled “ False Alarm, Italian Style”).

We really liked Naples. Great street walking w/ lots of entertaining street theater and window shopping. Beautiful old buildings and churches, a castle , a few royal palazzi, excellent archeological and painting museums and great food. We liked “Ettore” about 3 blocks from the waterside royal palace on the way to the “egg” fort ( a great place to catch sunsets).

People were very friendly and helpful out on the street. No one hassled us. And they patiently listened to my egregious italian. We took the boat out to Capri; nice boat ride and way too many knick nacks. A walk out to Tiberius’ villa would be a good peaceful choice.

Circumvesuviana RR to Pompeii is a piece of cake. I had been here 30 years before and the excavated portion of the site has become quite vast. If something is closed, don’t worry, I think it would take a week to do the whole site. Its very evocative and possibly in the top 10 of italian experiences. If you wear your bed sheet as a toga you’ll be both comfortable and atmospheric. Going to the Archeological museum in Naples to see the “stuff” from the site amplifies the experience.

Our last day in town was some sort of faux holiday. a combination of ecology morning and museum afternoon so bus tix were half price and museums were free. We took a long neighborhood touring bus ride up to Capodimonte to see the painting , eat gelato and watch pick up soccer.

About 8 PM we got on the ferry to go to Stromboli. Rather festive with lots os os students staking out deck space and negotiating w/ the crew for the use of pool chaises. Our cabin and passage at E 115 seemed good value. Clearing the harbour was spectacular as Naples is quite light. Up a 5 am to disembark and watch out for red lava at the crater. We were not unrewarded. Our hotel, the Miramare, sent out a little “Ape” 3 wheeler to fetch us and by 7:30 we had had a nice swim and were tucking into prima colazione.

We spent the rest of the day gearing up for our ascent of the volcano. This is a 900 m climb with spectacular views in all directions. You go up with a guide and a small group since the last eruptrion wiped out a few tourists. . They set you on a ledge above the crater and can watch the fireworks for about 45 minutes as it gets darrk. This is a great experience and at
E 20 per head, perhaps better value than our last major ascent, the Sydney Harbour Bridge! As night falls all the men slipped into the shadows to pee; I still can’t figure out what the women did. While the climb up is certainly strenuous, I was really not looking forward to picking our way down the path of slippery rock, scree and sand. Our guides had prepared a great surprise; we descended by a different path and sand skiied/slid to almost the bottom.

Next part: cruisin’ the Aeolians and our arrival in Milazzo, complete with discovery of our car rental agency before the long lunch break!

ciao, ciao a tutti

AndrewDavid

yipper

Thank you for the report. I would love to explore more of this part of Italy. Maybe after our daughter's wedding is done and paid for. Keep in info coming.

Yipper

Holly_uncasdewar

This is great! More, please.

AndrewDavid

Dear Holly and Yipper

Thanks for your kind words. We were away 3.5 weeks so I've got a bit of clean up to do at home, but will hopefully get more report up soon.

Il Mezzogiorno is a fascinating and relatively inexpensive part of Italy to explore

cheers

AndrewDavid

grosenb

More, more, more--please! We are going to Sicily for 2 weeks in April 2006 and your trip report will be invaluable.

Gail

grosenb

Please finish your trip report!!!!

Gail

woodsie

agree with gail, looking forward to sicily part as will be there for 2 weeks in April 2006 for conference