Trip Report - Perugia, Capri, Pompei, Naples, and Rome with a Recalcitrant Husband
May 19th, 2005, 07:07 AM
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Trip Report - Perugia, Capri, Pompei, Naples, and Rome with a Recalcitrant Husband
Trip Report – Italy, July 2004
In July of 2004, I returned to Italy for the first time since 2000. I traveled with my husband, who had never been to Italy. I lived in Italy for a period of three years, and thus had a very different perspective on “the Italian way” of doing things.
I have decided to write a trip report now because A) I am currently unemployed and therefore suffering ever so slightly from ennui; B) in case any information I have might be able to help someone else on their trip; and C) I like to reminisce about Italy.
Day One – Departure
So, we departed from Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport, and, as anyone who has ever been through that airport will know, chaos reigned. We had decided to go the carryon-baggage route, and I had (I thought) smartly decided to go with duffel bags instead of wheeled suitcases, because the duffel bags weighed a mere 10 ounces, thus optimizing our ability to stuff our own crap into the bags. We traveled on British Airways – they have a 13 pound limit for carryon baggage.
The duffel bags started to seem like a bad idea about 10 minutes into the trip when we were standing in the security line. The line weaved back and forth across the terminal about 15 times and I think we stood in the line for an hour and a half. My shoulder was already red by the time we went through the metal detectors.
If I recall correctly, our flight to London and our subsequent plane change was mostly uneventful.
Day Two – Arrival in Italy
We touched down in Rome to a gloriously sunshiny day, bypassed the baggage claim area, and headed outside to pick up a bus to Perugia. We headed directly to the bus area to wait. And wait. And wait. I spoke to several of the other bus drivers, asking them if there actually was a bus to Perugia and, if so, what time it generally decided to show up.
After waiting 30 minutes beyond the bus’ supposed arrival time, I decided to give up and take the train. So, on we went to Termini, where we caught a train to Foligno where we were supposed to change for a train to Perugia. We jumped on a train that everyone SAID was headed to Perugia. The train, after about 30 minutes of travel, stopped in the middle of nowhere and everyone exited the train. I asked a lovely older gentleman why everyone was exiting if we weren’t in Perugia. He said it was the end of the line for that train, but another would come along. Another train did come along, but when it finally arrived, it took us to Perugia Sant’Anna, not the main Perugia train station. No cabs or buses wait outside of Sant’Anna.
Fortunately, an entrance to the escalators that went up to the centro storico was right outside the train station. We took the escalators, and then walked up, up and up to Corso Vannucci. It was about this time that I really started to want wheels on my bag. My husband was starting to wonder why in the name of all that is holy he had come on this adventure.
We were staying at the Hotel dei Priori on Via dei Priori, just off the main drag. I had stayed in the same hotel seven years prior on my very first trip to Italy. The hotel was essentially the same as it was then. Nice interior, well kept and clean, and extremely affordable. I had booked a Junior Suite (lured by the promise of air conditioning) for 100 euros a night. We checked in, walked up the four flights of stairs to our room (the hotel has no elevator), and were greeted by a waft of tepid air. The air conditioning had not actually been turned on in anticipation of our arrival. My husband was most amused by the tiny wall unit air conditioner that was supposed to cool off our three-room suite.
We dropped off our things, washed up quickly, and decided to go to dinner. For our first night, we went to Pizzeria Etruschetto, on Corso Garibaldi, over by the Universita’ per Stranieri. These were my old stomping grounds. I first stayed in Perugia in 1997 for a two-month language immersion course, and this pizzeria was my hangout.
It turned out to be as cheap and fabulous as ever. The pizzaiolo and owner is from Naples, and the walls of the small pizzeria are decorated with images of Naples, Capri, and the rest of the Bay of Naples. We had two pizze, both margherita, and a bottle of wine. Their wine selection is not particularly skewed toward local wines, but they have a fairly decent selection of very consistent Italian wines (think Santa Margherita). I believe the entire dinner cost us 21 Euro.
We lolled our way back up the Via U. Rocchi (I swear the steepest street in all of Christendom) and back to our (now cool) Junior Suite. But the day’s adventure had not ended. No, next came the shower.
My husband, we’ll start calling him C, entered the bathroom and stared at the handheld shower head in a tub with no curtain. All things considered, he took this pretty well in stride and blithely soaped himself up and rinsed himself off. His first encounter with an Italian shower complete, we watched a few minutes of Italian television and then drifted off into sleep.
In July of 2004, I returned to Italy for the first time since 2000. I traveled with my husband, who had never been to Italy. I lived in Italy for a period of three years, and thus had a very different perspective on “the Italian way” of doing things.
I have decided to write a trip report now because A) I am currently unemployed and therefore suffering ever so slightly from ennui; B) in case any information I have might be able to help someone else on their trip; and C) I like to reminisce about Italy.
Day One – Departure
So, we departed from Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport, and, as anyone who has ever been through that airport will know, chaos reigned. We had decided to go the carryon-baggage route, and I had (I thought) smartly decided to go with duffel bags instead of wheeled suitcases, because the duffel bags weighed a mere 10 ounces, thus optimizing our ability to stuff our own crap into the bags. We traveled on British Airways – they have a 13 pound limit for carryon baggage.
The duffel bags started to seem like a bad idea about 10 minutes into the trip when we were standing in the security line. The line weaved back and forth across the terminal about 15 times and I think we stood in the line for an hour and a half. My shoulder was already red by the time we went through the metal detectors.
If I recall correctly, our flight to London and our subsequent plane change was mostly uneventful.
Day Two – Arrival in Italy
We touched down in Rome to a gloriously sunshiny day, bypassed the baggage claim area, and headed outside to pick up a bus to Perugia. We headed directly to the bus area to wait. And wait. And wait. I spoke to several of the other bus drivers, asking them if there actually was a bus to Perugia and, if so, what time it generally decided to show up.
After waiting 30 minutes beyond the bus’ supposed arrival time, I decided to give up and take the train. So, on we went to Termini, where we caught a train to Foligno where we were supposed to change for a train to Perugia. We jumped on a train that everyone SAID was headed to Perugia. The train, after about 30 minutes of travel, stopped in the middle of nowhere and everyone exited the train. I asked a lovely older gentleman why everyone was exiting if we weren’t in Perugia. He said it was the end of the line for that train, but another would come along. Another train did come along, but when it finally arrived, it took us to Perugia Sant’Anna, not the main Perugia train station. No cabs or buses wait outside of Sant’Anna.
Fortunately, an entrance to the escalators that went up to the centro storico was right outside the train station. We took the escalators, and then walked up, up and up to Corso Vannucci. It was about this time that I really started to want wheels on my bag. My husband was starting to wonder why in the name of all that is holy he had come on this adventure.
We were staying at the Hotel dei Priori on Via dei Priori, just off the main drag. I had stayed in the same hotel seven years prior on my very first trip to Italy. The hotel was essentially the same as it was then. Nice interior, well kept and clean, and extremely affordable. I had booked a Junior Suite (lured by the promise of air conditioning) for 100 euros a night. We checked in, walked up the four flights of stairs to our room (the hotel has no elevator), and were greeted by a waft of tepid air. The air conditioning had not actually been turned on in anticipation of our arrival. My husband was most amused by the tiny wall unit air conditioner that was supposed to cool off our three-room suite.
We dropped off our things, washed up quickly, and decided to go to dinner. For our first night, we went to Pizzeria Etruschetto, on Corso Garibaldi, over by the Universita’ per Stranieri. These were my old stomping grounds. I first stayed in Perugia in 1997 for a two-month language immersion course, and this pizzeria was my hangout.
It turned out to be as cheap and fabulous as ever. The pizzaiolo and owner is from Naples, and the walls of the small pizzeria are decorated with images of Naples, Capri, and the rest of the Bay of Naples. We had two pizze, both margherita, and a bottle of wine. Their wine selection is not particularly skewed toward local wines, but they have a fairly decent selection of very consistent Italian wines (think Santa Margherita). I believe the entire dinner cost us 21 Euro.
We lolled our way back up the Via U. Rocchi (I swear the steepest street in all of Christendom) and back to our (now cool) Junior Suite. But the day’s adventure had not ended. No, next came the shower.
My husband, we’ll start calling him C, entered the bathroom and stared at the handheld shower head in a tub with no curtain. All things considered, he took this pretty well in stride and blithely soaped himself up and rinsed himself off. His first encounter with an Italian shower complete, we watched a few minutes of Italian television and then drifted off into sleep.
May 19th, 2005, 02:34 PM
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Day Three – In and Around Perugia
We woke up early to the sound of church bells ringing, and ventured downstairs to the hotel breakfast. All things considered, it was quite good. C’s favorite part of the breakfast was the bacon – it was quite possibly the saltiest bacon we’d ever tasted, but very good and hearty enough to get us through until lunch.
We spent the third day in Perugia itself, exploring some of its more interesting sites. In the morning, we went to the market off of Piazza Matteoti. I was hoping to entice C. to have a porchetta sandwich, but the sight of a posse of lazy flies in the vicinity of the pork was enough to turn him off the idea. We also found the stands selling carne equina, or, horse meat. This evidently did not stimulate the appetite either.
We then wandered down to the Museo Archeologico and viewed the Etruscan artifacts that are so abundant in the Umbrian region. C has a background in anthropology and archeology and therefore found this fascinating.
We also viewed the church of San Ercole – very beautiful, but that particular site remains more memorable due to the vagabond guitar player outside the church. He had a sweet little mutt of a dog that slept peacefully in his guitar case as he played.
We were planning to go to the paninoteca on Corso Garibaldi for lunch (another old favorite of mine – I was dying for a salame, gorgonzola and hard-boiled egg sandwich), but it proved to be too hot for C, so we wandered back down the hill to a nondescript, but air-conditioned, bar where we had some prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches and a couple of cookies.
In the afternoon, we explored the duomo, looking particularly for the multiple boxes that purportedly hold the wedding ring of the Virgin Mary, and the Palazzo dei Priori. In the heat of the afternoon sun, we sought out Gelateria 2000, off of Corso Vannucci, and had our first gelato of the trip. After wandering back down the Corso, we sat on the steps of the Palazzo along with hundreds of others, and were endlessly amused by an Italian teenager eating a sandwich. It wasn’t the fact that he was eating the sandwich that was funny, it was more the pigeons that decided to actively stalk him that really amused us. Every time a pigeon would get too close for his comfort, he would kick his foot at the pigeon, never hitting it, and the pigeon would coo indignantly before returning doggedly to its pursuit of sandwich crumbs. It was quite hilarious. A battle of the wills, really, between pigeon and man.
In the afternoon, we also checked out the enoteca on Via U. Rocchi, and purchased six lovely bottles of Umbrian wine to be shipped back to us in Virginia. The proprietor was both knowledgeable and friendly and I felt like we got a very good deal on our wines. We purchased four bottles of local red and two bottles of white. The total cost for six bottles was 58 euro. Of course, the shipping ended up being about equal to that, but it was worth it to be able to enjoy some Italian wine when we returned home.
We had dinner reservations at Dal Mi’ Cocco on Corso Garibaldi, a restaurant that I had always wanted to try when I lived in Perugia, but could never afford. The restaurant is a fixed-price, fixed-menu deal. For one price, they serve you two appetizers, two pastas, two meat dishes, and two desserts. When I lived there the price was about 18,000 lire, or 9 dollars. Due to inflation, in 2004 the price was 13 euro per person. Really, an unbelievable deal. The restaurant seats by reservation only, but you only have to call a day or two in advance.
Our meal consisted of various crostini, two types of fresh, homemade pasta – both with a tomato-based sauce, a couple types of meat for second course (I think sausage and a veal cutlet), and a mixed selection of desserts. We also ordered a carafe of the house wine and a bottle of water. I believe our entire bill was 31 euro.
We took a passegiata down Corso Vannucci with all the beautiful locals, and then retired back to our hotel. We watched a bit more television before falling asleep – I only mention it because it was watching television that several of the funnier memories from our trip occurred. It was this particular evening that we first saw the commercial for the air conditioning unit that was on the wall of our hotel room. The commercial featured several severely acting-impaired people who flailed around in apparent extreme discomfort due to heat sickness. Of course, everything was fixed with the arrival of the air conditioning unit. Inexplicably, in the middle of the commercial, they focused on a waterfall with a Chow Chow dog wandering around it. For some reason, we found this hilarious.
We woke up early to the sound of church bells ringing, and ventured downstairs to the hotel breakfast. All things considered, it was quite good. C’s favorite part of the breakfast was the bacon – it was quite possibly the saltiest bacon we’d ever tasted, but very good and hearty enough to get us through until lunch.
We spent the third day in Perugia itself, exploring some of its more interesting sites. In the morning, we went to the market off of Piazza Matteoti. I was hoping to entice C. to have a porchetta sandwich, but the sight of a posse of lazy flies in the vicinity of the pork was enough to turn him off the idea. We also found the stands selling carne equina, or, horse meat. This evidently did not stimulate the appetite either.
We then wandered down to the Museo Archeologico and viewed the Etruscan artifacts that are so abundant in the Umbrian region. C has a background in anthropology and archeology and therefore found this fascinating.
We also viewed the church of San Ercole – very beautiful, but that particular site remains more memorable due to the vagabond guitar player outside the church. He had a sweet little mutt of a dog that slept peacefully in his guitar case as he played.
We were planning to go to the paninoteca on Corso Garibaldi for lunch (another old favorite of mine – I was dying for a salame, gorgonzola and hard-boiled egg sandwich), but it proved to be too hot for C, so we wandered back down the hill to a nondescript, but air-conditioned, bar where we had some prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches and a couple of cookies.
In the afternoon, we explored the duomo, looking particularly for the multiple boxes that purportedly hold the wedding ring of the Virgin Mary, and the Palazzo dei Priori. In the heat of the afternoon sun, we sought out Gelateria 2000, off of Corso Vannucci, and had our first gelato of the trip. After wandering back down the Corso, we sat on the steps of the Palazzo along with hundreds of others, and were endlessly amused by an Italian teenager eating a sandwich. It wasn’t the fact that he was eating the sandwich that was funny, it was more the pigeons that decided to actively stalk him that really amused us. Every time a pigeon would get too close for his comfort, he would kick his foot at the pigeon, never hitting it, and the pigeon would coo indignantly before returning doggedly to its pursuit of sandwich crumbs. It was quite hilarious. A battle of the wills, really, between pigeon and man.
In the afternoon, we also checked out the enoteca on Via U. Rocchi, and purchased six lovely bottles of Umbrian wine to be shipped back to us in Virginia. The proprietor was both knowledgeable and friendly and I felt like we got a very good deal on our wines. We purchased four bottles of local red and two bottles of white. The total cost for six bottles was 58 euro. Of course, the shipping ended up being about equal to that, but it was worth it to be able to enjoy some Italian wine when we returned home.
We had dinner reservations at Dal Mi’ Cocco on Corso Garibaldi, a restaurant that I had always wanted to try when I lived in Perugia, but could never afford. The restaurant is a fixed-price, fixed-menu deal. For one price, they serve you two appetizers, two pastas, two meat dishes, and two desserts. When I lived there the price was about 18,000 lire, or 9 dollars. Due to inflation, in 2004 the price was 13 euro per person. Really, an unbelievable deal. The restaurant seats by reservation only, but you only have to call a day or two in advance.
Our meal consisted of various crostini, two types of fresh, homemade pasta – both with a tomato-based sauce, a couple types of meat for second course (I think sausage and a veal cutlet), and a mixed selection of desserts. We also ordered a carafe of the house wine and a bottle of water. I believe our entire bill was 31 euro.
We took a passegiata down Corso Vannucci with all the beautiful locals, and then retired back to our hotel. We watched a bit more television before falling asleep – I only mention it because it was watching television that several of the funnier memories from our trip occurred. It was this particular evening that we first saw the commercial for the air conditioning unit that was on the wall of our hotel room. The commercial featured several severely acting-impaired people who flailed around in apparent extreme discomfort due to heat sickness. Of course, everything was fixed with the arrival of the air conditioning unit. Inexplicably, in the middle of the commercial, they focused on a waterfall with a Chow Chow dog wandering around it. For some reason, we found this hilarious.
May 19th, 2005, 05:39 PM
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Hi Nnolen:
This is a great report! How wonderful to both have had the original extended stay in Italy, and to return to see it with new eyes.
I understand the TV watching too - when we were in Hungary we could not get enough of the fireplace channel. Just a channel of crackling flickering fires......
This is a great report! How wonderful to both have had the original extended stay in Italy, and to return to see it with new eyes.
I understand the TV watching too - when we were in Hungary we could not get enough of the fireplace channel. Just a channel of crackling flickering fires......
May 19th, 2005, 06:04 PM
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Thanks, Cheesehead! By any chance are you a wisconsinite? I grew up in WI.
Day Four – Going to the Ipercoop and an Accidental Trip to Assisi
After consuming our daily ration of bacon, we took the escalators down to Piazza Partigiani – I had decided I wanted to take C to the mall, to show him the up-and-coming industrialized side of Italy. We were told to board the bus to Assisi, and the bus would stop at the Ipercoop along the way. The bus left precisely on time, and drove right past the Ipercoop. I approached the driver, and asked him where the stop was for the mall. He said we had already passed it – we had might as well go on to Assisi and we could catch a return bus from there.
We debarked in Assisi, where we had the good fortune to find a small market going on in the bus parking lot. C was looking for a hat to wear, as his head was getting rather sunburned. He had not wanted to bring a baseball cap for fear of looking too obviously American, so we looked for an Italian hat. The only hats sold at the market were those little golf caps with the brim in front and the poofy top that you can snap to the brim if desired. For 4 euro, we purchased one, merely to avoid any further sunburn. Now, instead of looking American or Italian, C looked like a golf caddy.
We wandered into Assisi, through its back streets and towards the Basilica of San Francesco. We stopped for a couple slices of pizza and a Coke at a small pizzeria on one of the back streets. We were the only tourists in the place, so we must have still been some distance from the Basilica.
We approached the Basilica from the upper part of the town, and we could see it starting to appear in front of us, growing larger and larger the closer we got to it. We went in to the upper basilica first, and C was impressed with the frescos, and I told him of how the church essentially collapsed during the earthquake in 1997 and that much of the artwork was pieced back together after that.
We then went to the lower basilica, and descended below to view the artifacts and the tomb of St. Frances. Even though St. Frances is a good 800 years removed from us today, seeing the reverence in which he is held, and knowing the kind of life he lived is really quite moving.
Upon completing our tour of the basilica, we went down to catch our bus back to Perugia via the Ipercoop. In order to avoid a similar incident on our return trip, upon boarding I informed the driver of our desire to stop at the Ipercoop. The bus started out on its return trip, and approximately a mile from the Ipercoop, the bus driver stopped in the middle of the road, next to a field, and told us that we needed to get off there. I should have realized at that point that we should have stayed on the bus, but we gamely got off and stood there for a good couple of minutes laughing hysterically at the fact that we had been dropped pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
To make what could be a long story short, we ended up calling a cab to get us back to Perugia.
Cost of cab from Ipercoop: 24 euro
Laughing hysterically in a field with your husband: Priceless
After an already adventurous day, we played it safe for dinner and ate again at Pizzeria Etruschetto. Two pizzas, a bottle of beer, and some potato crocche’, and all was right with the world again.
Day Four – Going to the Ipercoop and an Accidental Trip to Assisi
After consuming our daily ration of bacon, we took the escalators down to Piazza Partigiani – I had decided I wanted to take C to the mall, to show him the up-and-coming industrialized side of Italy. We were told to board the bus to Assisi, and the bus would stop at the Ipercoop along the way. The bus left precisely on time, and drove right past the Ipercoop. I approached the driver, and asked him where the stop was for the mall. He said we had already passed it – we had might as well go on to Assisi and we could catch a return bus from there.
We debarked in Assisi, where we had the good fortune to find a small market going on in the bus parking lot. C was looking for a hat to wear, as his head was getting rather sunburned. He had not wanted to bring a baseball cap for fear of looking too obviously American, so we looked for an Italian hat. The only hats sold at the market were those little golf caps with the brim in front and the poofy top that you can snap to the brim if desired. For 4 euro, we purchased one, merely to avoid any further sunburn. Now, instead of looking American or Italian, C looked like a golf caddy.
We wandered into Assisi, through its back streets and towards the Basilica of San Francesco. We stopped for a couple slices of pizza and a Coke at a small pizzeria on one of the back streets. We were the only tourists in the place, so we must have still been some distance from the Basilica.
We approached the Basilica from the upper part of the town, and we could see it starting to appear in front of us, growing larger and larger the closer we got to it. We went in to the upper basilica first, and C was impressed with the frescos, and I told him of how the church essentially collapsed during the earthquake in 1997 and that much of the artwork was pieced back together after that.
We then went to the lower basilica, and descended below to view the artifacts and the tomb of St. Frances. Even though St. Frances is a good 800 years removed from us today, seeing the reverence in which he is held, and knowing the kind of life he lived is really quite moving.
Upon completing our tour of the basilica, we went down to catch our bus back to Perugia via the Ipercoop. In order to avoid a similar incident on our return trip, upon boarding I informed the driver of our desire to stop at the Ipercoop. The bus started out on its return trip, and approximately a mile from the Ipercoop, the bus driver stopped in the middle of the road, next to a field, and told us that we needed to get off there. I should have realized at that point that we should have stayed on the bus, but we gamely got off and stood there for a good couple of minutes laughing hysterically at the fact that we had been dropped pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
To make what could be a long story short, we ended up calling a cab to get us back to Perugia.
Cost of cab from Ipercoop: 24 euro
Laughing hysterically in a field with your husband: Priceless
After an already adventurous day, we played it safe for dinner and ate again at Pizzeria Etruschetto. Two pizzas, a bottle of beer, and some potato crocche’, and all was right with the world again.
May 19th, 2005, 06:22 PM
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Hello nnolen, what a delightful trip report! I love Perugia and Assisi but I have to say that your adventures were more fun them mine. Obviously you are a great traveller. And please do continue - thank you!
May 19th, 2005, 06:31 PM
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Day Five – Traveling to Capri
We woke early and left the hotel without eating breakfast. In order to avoid a repeat of our arrival, the hotel very kindly called us a cab to take us to the Perugia train station. Once there, we purchased our tickets to Naples, and stopped into the station’s bar to have some breakfast.
The station bar was filled with cab drivers and station workers, no other tourists at that ungodly hour of the morning, and we had two cornetti and two cappuccini. Train station coffee is for some reason always really delicious.
We had a direct Eurostar train to Rome, where we switched to take a connecting train to Naples. The trains and the switching were relatively unremarkable. Upon arriving in Naples, we transferred to the Circumvesuviana tracks, where hundreds of people were waiting to board the next train to Sorrento. We crammed on like sardines with everyone else, and ended up standing in the vestibule for a good portion of the trip. C looked most displeased with the heat and the general surroundings, particularly with the lovely gypsy children that fondled his pockets. Luckily, I had warned him ahead of time and he carried nothing in his pockets.
We arrived in Sorrento, took a bus from the Circumvesuviana depot to the port, and boarded the next hydrofoil for Capri. We went to Sorrento in order to shorten the boat portion of the trip – I don’t get along well with anything that moves, but I do particularly poorly on boats. The hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri is only about 20 minutes – which I can handle if heavily medicated.
We arrived on Capri without further incident, and waited at the bus stop to go up to Anacapri. We amused ourselves during the long wait for the bus by investigating the people on the beach, particularly a woman that looked like nothing so much as a Slim Jim jerky stick due to what was clearly an excessive tanning habit.
I think it was on the bus that C first began to have a breakdown. As anyone who has been to Capri and ridden the bus from Marina Grande to Anacapri knows, the bus travels up a narrow road that is perched rather precipitously on the edge of a cliff. At times, it feels as though the bus is actually leaning out over the edge of the cliff. I, having lived on Capri for year, was used to the buses and their crowds. C, whose face was unfortunately close to a fellow passenger’s armpit, was not.
We arrived in Anacapri, where we would be staying in a bed & breakfast called Il Tramonto. We followed the signora’s instructions on how to arrive at her home, winding through a back street of the piazzetta in Anacapri for about 15 minutes before we finally reached Il Tramonto. She had billed it as a short walk, which it is when you don’t have a duffel bag on your shoulder. With luggage, it seems a bit longer.
We arrived at Il Tramonto and buzzed at the gate. The signora came down to meet us and bring us down to our room. We had a huge section of the patio all to ourselves, and the house and its surroundings were landscaped very lushly and had a magnificent view of all of Capri and the Bay of Naples. The room itself was cute, with satellite tv and a very modern bathroom, and tall windows that opened out onto the patio (90 euro per night). Unfortunately, there was no cross breeze in the room and it got very hot. I had assumed that since we were on a hillside there would be a nice breeze, and there was – outside.
That afternoon we began our quest for a fan. Fans are not common in Italy, just as air conditioning is not common – particularly in Southern Italy, people consider them to be health hazards. We did manage to finally find a small fan in an electronics store on Anacapri. The fan, which was produced under the brand name Hercules, was quickly and affectionately dubbed “Herc” by C, and made the room much more pleasant.
I, being all too well acquainted with the Italian psyche, realized that the signora could not know that we had purchased the fan as it would be an affront to her hospitality and would indicate that she had not provided everything we could possibly need. We solved this problem by re-boxing and hiding the fan each time we left the room.
Our ventilation problems resolved, we headed out to find dinner. I had planned to eat at Trattoria Al Nido D’Oro on Via Tommaso d. Tommaso, where I used to work, but upon arriving found that the previous owners had divorced and left the restaurant business, and the trattoria had been turned into a touristy spot with the menu in four different languages. A disappointment, but we headed down Via G. Orlandi to Trattoria Il Solitario, another place that I had gone to in the past. Their menu had also become slightly more touristy, and the food was not quite as good as I remembered, but by this point we were very hungry and in that case it more than fit the bill. We had the menu’ turistico, with gnocchi for the first course, a chicken dish, and torta caprese for dessert. With a bottle of water, dinner was about 35 euro.
Physically spent from a long day of travel, we headed back to our b&b, turned on Herc, and watched a little television. We were pleased to discover that the air conditioning commercial was not regional, but nationwide, and we watched the Chow Chow prance by the fountain with barely contained hilarity.
We woke early and left the hotel without eating breakfast. In order to avoid a repeat of our arrival, the hotel very kindly called us a cab to take us to the Perugia train station. Once there, we purchased our tickets to Naples, and stopped into the station’s bar to have some breakfast.
The station bar was filled with cab drivers and station workers, no other tourists at that ungodly hour of the morning, and we had two cornetti and two cappuccini. Train station coffee is for some reason always really delicious.
We had a direct Eurostar train to Rome, where we switched to take a connecting train to Naples. The trains and the switching were relatively unremarkable. Upon arriving in Naples, we transferred to the Circumvesuviana tracks, where hundreds of people were waiting to board the next train to Sorrento. We crammed on like sardines with everyone else, and ended up standing in the vestibule for a good portion of the trip. C looked most displeased with the heat and the general surroundings, particularly with the lovely gypsy children that fondled his pockets. Luckily, I had warned him ahead of time and he carried nothing in his pockets.
We arrived in Sorrento, took a bus from the Circumvesuviana depot to the port, and boarded the next hydrofoil for Capri. We went to Sorrento in order to shorten the boat portion of the trip – I don’t get along well with anything that moves, but I do particularly poorly on boats. The hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri is only about 20 minutes – which I can handle if heavily medicated.
We arrived on Capri without further incident, and waited at the bus stop to go up to Anacapri. We amused ourselves during the long wait for the bus by investigating the people on the beach, particularly a woman that looked like nothing so much as a Slim Jim jerky stick due to what was clearly an excessive tanning habit.
I think it was on the bus that C first began to have a breakdown. As anyone who has been to Capri and ridden the bus from Marina Grande to Anacapri knows, the bus travels up a narrow road that is perched rather precipitously on the edge of a cliff. At times, it feels as though the bus is actually leaning out over the edge of the cliff. I, having lived on Capri for year, was used to the buses and their crowds. C, whose face was unfortunately close to a fellow passenger’s armpit, was not.
We arrived in Anacapri, where we would be staying in a bed & breakfast called Il Tramonto. We followed the signora’s instructions on how to arrive at her home, winding through a back street of the piazzetta in Anacapri for about 15 minutes before we finally reached Il Tramonto. She had billed it as a short walk, which it is when you don’t have a duffel bag on your shoulder. With luggage, it seems a bit longer.
We arrived at Il Tramonto and buzzed at the gate. The signora came down to meet us and bring us down to our room. We had a huge section of the patio all to ourselves, and the house and its surroundings were landscaped very lushly and had a magnificent view of all of Capri and the Bay of Naples. The room itself was cute, with satellite tv and a very modern bathroom, and tall windows that opened out onto the patio (90 euro per night). Unfortunately, there was no cross breeze in the room and it got very hot. I had assumed that since we were on a hillside there would be a nice breeze, and there was – outside.
That afternoon we began our quest for a fan. Fans are not common in Italy, just as air conditioning is not common – particularly in Southern Italy, people consider them to be health hazards. We did manage to finally find a small fan in an electronics store on Anacapri. The fan, which was produced under the brand name Hercules, was quickly and affectionately dubbed “Herc” by C, and made the room much more pleasant.
I, being all too well acquainted with the Italian psyche, realized that the signora could not know that we had purchased the fan as it would be an affront to her hospitality and would indicate that she had not provided everything we could possibly need. We solved this problem by re-boxing and hiding the fan each time we left the room.
Our ventilation problems resolved, we headed out to find dinner. I had planned to eat at Trattoria Al Nido D’Oro on Via Tommaso d. Tommaso, where I used to work, but upon arriving found that the previous owners had divorced and left the restaurant business, and the trattoria had been turned into a touristy spot with the menu in four different languages. A disappointment, but we headed down Via G. Orlandi to Trattoria Il Solitario, another place that I had gone to in the past. Their menu had also become slightly more touristy, and the food was not quite as good as I remembered, but by this point we were very hungry and in that case it more than fit the bill. We had the menu’ turistico, with gnocchi for the first course, a chicken dish, and torta caprese for dessert. With a bottle of water, dinner was about 35 euro.
Physically spent from a long day of travel, we headed back to our b&b, turned on Herc, and watched a little television. We were pleased to discover that the air conditioning commercial was not regional, but nationwide, and we watched the Chow Chow prance by the fountain with barely contained hilarity.
May 19th, 2005, 07:26 PM
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Oh nnolen, you have me in stiches. The trip from Naples to Capri was very rough. I would have felt alright except for passengers, uhm, being very sick. And some were Italians! I did manage to make it to Capri without embarrasing myself but I know my face must of been green when we landed, lol.
And we stayed in AnaCapri. That night we took the bus down that wonderful, fantastic road to Capri to have drinks in the piazza. Did I mention I am so scared of high cliffs that drop down to the water? Oh good grief, I thought I would die of fright!! I sure can relate to how your dear husband was feeling. It was so beautiful though. Some wine (probably to much) and then dinner in Capri was fantastic. The bus trip back to AnaCapri, nooooo problemo! After that I was fine. In fact we were suppose to stay 3 nights and ended up staying 10 nights. Paradise! Except for my dear daughter and a lovely young man, native of AnaCapri who really did fall in love. She cried all the way back to Naples. And the whole time it took us to pick up our car in Naples and drive to Bari. And the entire time in Bari. I think by Pescara her dear broken heart was a bit settled down.
Now, about hiding the fan in the box each time you left your room. I completely understand! Honest I do. Sooo - please continue with your fantastic trip report.
And we stayed in AnaCapri. That night we took the bus down that wonderful, fantastic road to Capri to have drinks in the piazza. Did I mention I am so scared of high cliffs that drop down to the water? Oh good grief, I thought I would die of fright!! I sure can relate to how your dear husband was feeling. It was so beautiful though. Some wine (probably to much) and then dinner in Capri was fantastic. The bus trip back to AnaCapri, nooooo problemo! After that I was fine. In fact we were suppose to stay 3 nights and ended up staying 10 nights. Paradise! Except for my dear daughter and a lovely young man, native of AnaCapri who really did fall in love. She cried all the way back to Naples. And the whole time it took us to pick up our car in Naples and drive to Bari. And the entire time in Bari. I think by Pescara her dear broken heart was a bit settled down.
Now, about hiding the fan in the box each time you left your room. I completely understand! Honest I do. Sooo - please continue with your fantastic trip report.
May 19th, 2005, 07:37 PM
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This is so much fun. It sounds like one of our trips. Sometime the most outlandish thing that happens seems like the most fun. I think we sometimes word it as we would to our friends back home who obviously think we are crazy to take so much delight in these ridiculous occurrences. Wonderful trip report. Tell us the rest. I can hardly wait. Sometimes we laugh so hard when we tell of our misfortunes that people think we are nuts. This is great fun. Keep on. We love it.
May 19th, 2005, 07:55 PM
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Hi Sprig, I think the differnce is between sharing these "horror stories" with family and friends versus people here on Fodors is that those here on Fodors love to travel. And we have all had our horror stories that turn out to be the part of the trip that we really remember after we return home.
Only people that love to travel, and do travel can appreciate all the things that can go wrong on a trip and yet realize that the trip really was fantastic.
Oh, btw, my dear daughter did survive her "love" on AnaCapri. But of course she always remembers him with great fondness. He is now in a professional man, married with children. And how many of us do have our first love on the Isle of Capri?
OK, nnolen, continue on with your trip report. We are all sitting in front of our computers waiting for the next installment. I think this would make a great movie actually.
Only people that love to travel, and do travel can appreciate all the things that can go wrong on a trip and yet realize that the trip really was fantastic.
Oh, btw, my dear daughter did survive her "love" on AnaCapri. But of course she always remembers him with great fondness. He is now in a professional man, married with children. And how many of us do have our first love on the Isle of Capri?
OK, nnolen, continue on with your trip report. We are all sitting in front of our computers waiting for the next installment. I think this would make a great movie actually.
May 20th, 2005, 06:15 AM
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Thanks, everybody. glad you are enjoying it!
LoveItaly,
I fell in love myself in Anacapri when I was just studying in Italy - the three years I lived in Italy were for love....but it just didn't work out. However, that's an entirely DIFFERENT story.
On to...
Day Six – Capri
In the morning, the signora brought us breakfast at 8:00, which was a selection of toasts, brioche, yogurt, jams, fresh squeezed juices, and the most wonderful caffe latte I have ever had in my life. It was unbelievable. It is worth mentioning that she included two yogurts with the breakfast. We consumed only one; C does not like yogurt.
We headed down to the piazzetta in Anacapri to catch the bus down to Capri. Our plan for the day was to do the Arco Naturale/Grotta Matermania/ Faraglioni walk. We started out at the Arco Naturale, which is really just stunning, and then worked our way around to the Grotta Matermania, which is an old grotto that was used by the Romans, supposedly as a ritual/prayer site. C, interested as he is in archeology, found a piece of ancient pottery in the grotto and had a good time considering the rituals that may have taken place there.
We continued our walk past Villa Malaparte, and it was between the Villa and the Faraglioni that C decided that his golf hat had become too unbearably hot. Sitting on a stone wall next to a tree, he ripped open the lining of the hat only to discover that it was lined with burlap. The burlap made a quick exit over the cliff.
Once we arrived back in Capri, we decided to make a quick lunch of some goodies from a little bakery shop called Sfizi di Pane. We shared four different items: pizza rustica, an arancino rice ball, a piece of margherita pizza, and a bunlike concoction that was stuffed with French fries and hot dog and then fried, and one other thing I can’t remember. Along with two Cokes, the lunch cost us 15 euro. We ate it on the steps of a church off the piazzetta.
After such an unhealthy lunch, we decided we really should consume some healthy gelato J We purchased our gelato from what I believe is the best gelateria on Capri. I don’t know the name, but it is on the street that heads from the piazzetta down to the Hotel Quisisana. It is on the left-hand side as you go downhill; there is also a tavola calda in the back.
We headed back up to our B&B for a rest in the late afternoon, after which we decided to head back out to have some dinner and generally poke around. In the back streets of Anacapri, we mistakenly wandered into a festival of some kind. The streets were lined with vendors of candy, nuts, toys and trinkets, and it seemed as though everyone in town had come out. The children were all dressed in some sort of costume, and they paraded through the streets with banners in a chaotic ceremony.
That evening, we had dinner at the Ristorante Barbarossa, which overlooks the piazzetta in Anacapri, but which I was assured by several locals was authentic. A group of Italian fishermen were dining at the table next to us, so I took that to be a good sign. We each had a plate of mozzarella and prosciutto, and then primi for each of us, followed by two shots of limoncello. Can’t remember the cost, but was pretty reasonable.
Stumbling in the dark back to the B&B, we looked forward to an evening with Herc. Turning on the television this particular evening resulted in the development of the term “Pantycam.” C had decided that each Italian television show was equipped with a special camera that did nothing but focus on the nether regions of its female dancers; hence, “Pantycam.”
LoveItaly,
I fell in love myself in Anacapri when I was just studying in Italy - the three years I lived in Italy were for love....but it just didn't work out. However, that's an entirely DIFFERENT story.
On to...
Day Six – Capri
In the morning, the signora brought us breakfast at 8:00, which was a selection of toasts, brioche, yogurt, jams, fresh squeezed juices, and the most wonderful caffe latte I have ever had in my life. It was unbelievable. It is worth mentioning that she included two yogurts with the breakfast. We consumed only one; C does not like yogurt.
We headed down to the piazzetta in Anacapri to catch the bus down to Capri. Our plan for the day was to do the Arco Naturale/Grotta Matermania/ Faraglioni walk. We started out at the Arco Naturale, which is really just stunning, and then worked our way around to the Grotta Matermania, which is an old grotto that was used by the Romans, supposedly as a ritual/prayer site. C, interested as he is in archeology, found a piece of ancient pottery in the grotto and had a good time considering the rituals that may have taken place there.
We continued our walk past Villa Malaparte, and it was between the Villa and the Faraglioni that C decided that his golf hat had become too unbearably hot. Sitting on a stone wall next to a tree, he ripped open the lining of the hat only to discover that it was lined with burlap. The burlap made a quick exit over the cliff.
Once we arrived back in Capri, we decided to make a quick lunch of some goodies from a little bakery shop called Sfizi di Pane. We shared four different items: pizza rustica, an arancino rice ball, a piece of margherita pizza, and a bunlike concoction that was stuffed with French fries and hot dog and then fried, and one other thing I can’t remember. Along with two Cokes, the lunch cost us 15 euro. We ate it on the steps of a church off the piazzetta.
After such an unhealthy lunch, we decided we really should consume some healthy gelato J We purchased our gelato from what I believe is the best gelateria on Capri. I don’t know the name, but it is on the street that heads from the piazzetta down to the Hotel Quisisana. It is on the left-hand side as you go downhill; there is also a tavola calda in the back.
We headed back up to our B&B for a rest in the late afternoon, after which we decided to head back out to have some dinner and generally poke around. In the back streets of Anacapri, we mistakenly wandered into a festival of some kind. The streets were lined with vendors of candy, nuts, toys and trinkets, and it seemed as though everyone in town had come out. The children were all dressed in some sort of costume, and they paraded through the streets with banners in a chaotic ceremony.
That evening, we had dinner at the Ristorante Barbarossa, which overlooks the piazzetta in Anacapri, but which I was assured by several locals was authentic. A group of Italian fishermen were dining at the table next to us, so I took that to be a good sign. We each had a plate of mozzarella and prosciutto, and then primi for each of us, followed by two shots of limoncello. Can’t remember the cost, but was pretty reasonable.
Stumbling in the dark back to the B&B, we looked forward to an evening with Herc. Turning on the television this particular evening resulted in the development of the term “Pantycam.” C had decided that each Italian television show was equipped with a special camera that did nothing but focus on the nether regions of its female dancers; hence, “Pantycam.”
May 20th, 2005, 06:18 AM
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Day Seven – Capri
In the morning, the signora again brought us breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast included more or less the same selection as the previous day. There were two yogurts; we only consumed one.
It was another early start as we wanted to climb to Villa Jovis, and, having done the climb before myself, I knew how difficult it was and how hot you generally get. The bus dropped us off in Capri, and we started our way up the hill to the Villa. The walk is essentially two hours uphill. There aren’t too many flat areas, so it really is rather arduous. The sun also tends to beat down on you mercilessly. We stopped at a little bar near the top and had some cold water and fruit juice.
For C, Villa Jovis was the most interesting thing we’d done so far. He really enjoyed looking at the ruins and speculating as to the uses of the various rooms and why the villa might have been laid out the way it was. The ruins are not particularly well cared for and they seem to just keep crumbling further and further into dust every year. The view from the villa is worth the two-hour upward climb. From the top, you can see Capri, the Sorrentine peninsula and the entire Bay of Naples. Despite the hazy heat, it was still a beautiful sight.
The trek back down was much more enjoyable, wandering through Capri’s hidden stairwells and tiny streets. When we arrived back in Capri, we stopped to have lunch at a nondescript pizzeria, which we chose for its non-exorbitant prices (a rarity on Capri), and its open windows with a lovely cool breeze. The waiter was kind enough to seat us right by the open window – I think we looked as tired and sweaty as we felt. Two pizzas, one margherita and one Quattro formaggi, and two bottles of water later, we wandered back out onto the piazzetta.
Trying to escape from the sun, we went to the Gardens of Augustus and spent some time sitting under the shade trees enjoying the view and the cavorting vacationers. I foolishly offered to take a picture for two Italian friends. They spent approximately ten minutes scouting the correct location and posing in front of just the right flowering bush.
Still in a lackadaisical mood, we spent a good couple of hours sitting at an outside café table, C nursing a beer and me with a caffe’ freddo. Cold, sugary espresso is delicious.
This day happened to be our second wedding anniversary, and we went back to the B&B to change and get ready for dinner. We went to Le Arcate, a restaurant on Via Tommaso d. Tommaso. We had insalata caprese, two first courses (I’m relatively sure I had penne arrabbiata and I think C had gnocchi), and torta caprese for dessert, along with a bottle of local red wine – the owner recommended it to us. Total cost for dinner was less than 50 euro.
In the morning, the signora again brought us breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast included more or less the same selection as the previous day. There were two yogurts; we only consumed one.
It was another early start as we wanted to climb to Villa Jovis, and, having done the climb before myself, I knew how difficult it was and how hot you generally get. The bus dropped us off in Capri, and we started our way up the hill to the Villa. The walk is essentially two hours uphill. There aren’t too many flat areas, so it really is rather arduous. The sun also tends to beat down on you mercilessly. We stopped at a little bar near the top and had some cold water and fruit juice.
For C, Villa Jovis was the most interesting thing we’d done so far. He really enjoyed looking at the ruins and speculating as to the uses of the various rooms and why the villa might have been laid out the way it was. The ruins are not particularly well cared for and they seem to just keep crumbling further and further into dust every year. The view from the villa is worth the two-hour upward climb. From the top, you can see Capri, the Sorrentine peninsula and the entire Bay of Naples. Despite the hazy heat, it was still a beautiful sight.
The trek back down was much more enjoyable, wandering through Capri’s hidden stairwells and tiny streets. When we arrived back in Capri, we stopped to have lunch at a nondescript pizzeria, which we chose for its non-exorbitant prices (a rarity on Capri), and its open windows with a lovely cool breeze. The waiter was kind enough to seat us right by the open window – I think we looked as tired and sweaty as we felt. Two pizzas, one margherita and one Quattro formaggi, and two bottles of water later, we wandered back out onto the piazzetta.
Trying to escape from the sun, we went to the Gardens of Augustus and spent some time sitting under the shade trees enjoying the view and the cavorting vacationers. I foolishly offered to take a picture for two Italian friends. They spent approximately ten minutes scouting the correct location and posing in front of just the right flowering bush.
Still in a lackadaisical mood, we spent a good couple of hours sitting at an outside café table, C nursing a beer and me with a caffe’ freddo. Cold, sugary espresso is delicious.
This day happened to be our second wedding anniversary, and we went back to the B&B to change and get ready for dinner. We went to Le Arcate, a restaurant on Via Tommaso d. Tommaso. We had insalata caprese, two first courses (I’m relatively sure I had penne arrabbiata and I think C had gnocchi), and torta caprese for dessert, along with a bottle of local red wine – the owner recommended it to us. Total cost for dinner was less than 50 euro.
May 20th, 2005, 06:35 AM
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Day Eight – On Our Way to Pompei
In the morning at breakfast, C now considered the yogurt to be a personal challenge. He found the signora’s insistence in placing two yogurts on our breakfast tray to be a slap in the face with a doeskin glove – it was a dueling of the minds. I think the heat was starting to get to him, so we headed off to Pompei to our (supposedly) air-conditioned hotel.
We walked to the piazzetta with our bags, Herc discreetly robed in several plastic bags so the signora would not see him, and took a taxi down to the port as C absolutely refused to deal with the bus on our last day in Capri. I have to say, it was a wise idea. The cab was open and cool and quiet and lovely, well worth the splurge.
With a bit of a wait before the hydrofoil left, we sat at one of the tourist-trap bars at Marina Grande and had a caffe’ and soaked up the last bits of the atmosphere of Capri. The hydrofoil was uncrowded on our return trip; the sea was calm and we arrived in Sorrento without any problems.
The bus trip back up to the Circumvesuviana station was a bit more eventful, with the bus having to perform the back-up and inch forward maneuver approximately a hundred times, having encountered another full-sized bus coming down the hill. C held his breath and waited for it to be over, which it soon was.
A couple more gypsy-fondlings later, we were in Pompei. We were going to be staying at the Hotel Forum (90 Euros per night), which was located directly across from the back entrance of the scavi. They stated that the hotel was within walking distance of the Pompei Scavi stop on the circumvesuviana line. Again, with luggage it was most definitely not within walking distance. We walked for about 20 minutes with our duffel bags, and arrived tired, sweaty, and with sore shoulders.
The hotel allowed us to check in early, and when we got into our room, I think C almost had an epiphany. The room was fantastic. It was large, with at least a queen size bed, if not slightly larger. There was a couch, a desk, a table, a dresser, and a gigantic marble bathroom with a hair dryer and a normal shower. When you turned on the television in the living area, the sound was transmitted in the bathroom. We turned the air conditioning on full blast, had an impromptu funeral ceremony for Herc, and then just lay on the bed laughing hysterically. I think it was the quick transition to air conditioning that messed with our minds
After getting settled, we really didn’t want to leave the room, but Pompei was beckoning right across the street. We were getting hungry, too, so we stopped first to have some lunch. Don’t know the name of the restaurant, but it was directly to the right as you exited the Hotel Forum. We each had a pizza margherita and a large bottle of water, and then some fresh fruit for dessert. I think the total cost was 18 euro.
Thus refreshed, we wandered into the back entrance of the ruins and began our Pompei trek. As might be expected, C had been waiting to visit Pompei the entire trip. In classic C&N style, we had entered the ruins with only five pictures left on our disposable camera. Not really good thinking. We toured the ruins until they closed late in the day, went back to the room to change, and then headed out into Pompei.
We first went across the street to the Lunapark (small amusement park) and watched all the little Italian kids on the ladybug rides and scooters, and we checked out the video game arcade. C was impressed with their selection. We also wandered through town – I had wanted to bring C to the Santuario, but a service of some sort was going on inside and we didn’t want to disturb, so we settled for looking at the outside while I told C tales of the miracles that had supposedly occurred there.
We poked up and down the main street, looking at the shops full of trinkets until it was time for dinner. We returned to the same restaurant where we had lunch, and decided we were really going to go for it. We had antipasti (bruschetta and mozzarella/prosciutto), two primi, and two secondi – one veal scallopine al limone (blech – too lemony and rubbery) and one scallopine Marsala (ok, but still a bit rubbery). We also had a bottle of the house wine. To explain this wine is to explain all things that are good about southern Italy.
The wine was in an unmarked, green glass bottle with a plastic stopper in the top. Clearly, it had been made by the owner or his family. When you opened it, it was a lovely rose color with miniscule bubbles (yes, bubbles!) floating near the edges of the glass. It was very clearly an extremely young wine, with no hint of bitterness and most definitely with no tannins. When you tasted it, it went down like water, and the little bubbles effervesced just in the back of your mouth. We got fabulously, rip-roaringly drunk on this lovely 3 euro bottle of homemade wine, and stumbled back next door for our nightly television session.
On this particular evening, one of the shows (I can’t remember which one) had two guest stars – Linda Grey and Patrick Duffy from Dallas. Linda and Patrick were meant to push gigantic buttons to stop a wheel from spinning. Ms. Grey played along rather gamely, but Patrick Duffy just sat there with a look on his face that so clearly said “What the hell am I doing here? I’m going to kill my agent.”
In the morning at breakfast, C now considered the yogurt to be a personal challenge. He found the signora’s insistence in placing two yogurts on our breakfast tray to be a slap in the face with a doeskin glove – it was a dueling of the minds. I think the heat was starting to get to him, so we headed off to Pompei to our (supposedly) air-conditioned hotel.
We walked to the piazzetta with our bags, Herc discreetly robed in several plastic bags so the signora would not see him, and took a taxi down to the port as C absolutely refused to deal with the bus on our last day in Capri. I have to say, it was a wise idea. The cab was open and cool and quiet and lovely, well worth the splurge.
With a bit of a wait before the hydrofoil left, we sat at one of the tourist-trap bars at Marina Grande and had a caffe’ and soaked up the last bits of the atmosphere of Capri. The hydrofoil was uncrowded on our return trip; the sea was calm and we arrived in Sorrento without any problems.
The bus trip back up to the Circumvesuviana station was a bit more eventful, with the bus having to perform the back-up and inch forward maneuver approximately a hundred times, having encountered another full-sized bus coming down the hill. C held his breath and waited for it to be over, which it soon was.
A couple more gypsy-fondlings later, we were in Pompei. We were going to be staying at the Hotel Forum (90 Euros per night), which was located directly across from the back entrance of the scavi. They stated that the hotel was within walking distance of the Pompei Scavi stop on the circumvesuviana line. Again, with luggage it was most definitely not within walking distance. We walked for about 20 minutes with our duffel bags, and arrived tired, sweaty, and with sore shoulders.
The hotel allowed us to check in early, and when we got into our room, I think C almost had an epiphany. The room was fantastic. It was large, with at least a queen size bed, if not slightly larger. There was a couch, a desk, a table, a dresser, and a gigantic marble bathroom with a hair dryer and a normal shower. When you turned on the television in the living area, the sound was transmitted in the bathroom. We turned the air conditioning on full blast, had an impromptu funeral ceremony for Herc, and then just lay on the bed laughing hysterically. I think it was the quick transition to air conditioning that messed with our minds
After getting settled, we really didn’t want to leave the room, but Pompei was beckoning right across the street. We were getting hungry, too, so we stopped first to have some lunch. Don’t know the name of the restaurant, but it was directly to the right as you exited the Hotel Forum. We each had a pizza margherita and a large bottle of water, and then some fresh fruit for dessert. I think the total cost was 18 euro.
Thus refreshed, we wandered into the back entrance of the ruins and began our Pompei trek. As might be expected, C had been waiting to visit Pompei the entire trip. In classic C&N style, we had entered the ruins with only five pictures left on our disposable camera. Not really good thinking. We toured the ruins until they closed late in the day, went back to the room to change, and then headed out into Pompei.
We first went across the street to the Lunapark (small amusement park) and watched all the little Italian kids on the ladybug rides and scooters, and we checked out the video game arcade. C was impressed with their selection. We also wandered through town – I had wanted to bring C to the Santuario, but a service of some sort was going on inside and we didn’t want to disturb, so we settled for looking at the outside while I told C tales of the miracles that had supposedly occurred there.
We poked up and down the main street, looking at the shops full of trinkets until it was time for dinner. We returned to the same restaurant where we had lunch, and decided we were really going to go for it. We had antipasti (bruschetta and mozzarella/prosciutto), two primi, and two secondi – one veal scallopine al limone (blech – too lemony and rubbery) and one scallopine Marsala (ok, but still a bit rubbery). We also had a bottle of the house wine. To explain this wine is to explain all things that are good about southern Italy.
The wine was in an unmarked, green glass bottle with a plastic stopper in the top. Clearly, it had been made by the owner or his family. When you opened it, it was a lovely rose color with miniscule bubbles (yes, bubbles!) floating near the edges of the glass. It was very clearly an extremely young wine, with no hint of bitterness and most definitely with no tannins. When you tasted it, it went down like water, and the little bubbles effervesced just in the back of your mouth. We got fabulously, rip-roaringly drunk on this lovely 3 euro bottle of homemade wine, and stumbled back next door for our nightly television session.
On this particular evening, one of the shows (I can’t remember which one) had two guest stars – Linda Grey and Patrick Duffy from Dallas. Linda and Patrick were meant to push gigantic buttons to stop a wheel from spinning. Ms. Grey played along rather gamely, but Patrick Duffy just sat there with a look on his face that so clearly said “What the hell am I doing here? I’m going to kill my agent.”
May 20th, 2005, 02:58 PM
#19
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Day Nine – Naples
Anyone that has spent any time in Naples knows it is a city of too much. Too much traffic, too many people, too much trash and graffiti. But for me, Naples has always seemed to have a deep, pure, almost untouchable soul. Neapolitans are loud and brash and they gesture wildly, but they are hospitable and kind and have a great sense of humor. You can’t, however, reach the soul in a one-day trip, as we unfortunately learned.
We awoke in our air-conditioned room, and tramped downstairs to the breakfast room in the hotel. This breakfast was fantastic. There was a display of meats, cheeses, fruits, and fruit juices, and then the waitress would bring you your choice of coffee as well as a plate of hot, fresh out of the oven cornetti. They would steam when you opened them. Delicious.
After breakfasting, we got ready to take our trip up to Naples for the day. We were planning to go to the Museo Archeologico. I had never been, and C very much wanted to see the artifacts they had pulled from Pompei. I had figured we would exit the train station, walk from there to Maschio Angioino, Piazza Plebiscito, walk through the Galleria, up to the Museum, and then walk back through Spaccanapoli to the train station at the end of the day.
We exited the station and found ourselves in the midst of chaos. To me, this seemed normal, so I took C by the arm and shepherded him across the street. The streets are jammed with immigrants selling their wares of fake Fendi bags and ripoff sunglasses, not to mention the general teeming population of Naples swarming up and down the sidewalks. In addition to this roiling mass of humanity, a couple hundred people had also decided to protest against the war, and marched loudly up and down Via Umberto with anti-american signs and shouting through a megaphone.
We made it as far as Maschio Angioino and the port, and C confessed that he did not feel comfortable at all walking through the streets. I couldn’t blame him one bit, so we decided to focus on the Museum, and we hopped a cab to take us there.
The museum was really quite lovely, with all the mosaics and other artifacts from Pompei. We toured the entire Pompei exhibit, including the Gabino Segreto, and then went to the main level to view the Farnese collection and the other exhibits the museum had to offer. Seeing an Italian museum for the first time, C was surprised by the lack of climate control and other preservation techniques.
We headed across the street for lunch to an extremely touristy pizzeria, had a few mediocre and expensive pizzas, and grabbed a cab back to the station. We took the Circumvesuviana back to Pompei, and decided to just vegetate for the rest of the evening, as the next day was our first day in Rome.
Anyone that has spent any time in Naples knows it is a city of too much. Too much traffic, too many people, too much trash and graffiti. But for me, Naples has always seemed to have a deep, pure, almost untouchable soul. Neapolitans are loud and brash and they gesture wildly, but they are hospitable and kind and have a great sense of humor. You can’t, however, reach the soul in a one-day trip, as we unfortunately learned.
We awoke in our air-conditioned room, and tramped downstairs to the breakfast room in the hotel. This breakfast was fantastic. There was a display of meats, cheeses, fruits, and fruit juices, and then the waitress would bring you your choice of coffee as well as a plate of hot, fresh out of the oven cornetti. They would steam when you opened them. Delicious.
After breakfasting, we got ready to take our trip up to Naples for the day. We were planning to go to the Museo Archeologico. I had never been, and C very much wanted to see the artifacts they had pulled from Pompei. I had figured we would exit the train station, walk from there to Maschio Angioino, Piazza Plebiscito, walk through the Galleria, up to the Museum, and then walk back through Spaccanapoli to the train station at the end of the day.
We exited the station and found ourselves in the midst of chaos. To me, this seemed normal, so I took C by the arm and shepherded him across the street. The streets are jammed with immigrants selling their wares of fake Fendi bags and ripoff sunglasses, not to mention the general teeming population of Naples swarming up and down the sidewalks. In addition to this roiling mass of humanity, a couple hundred people had also decided to protest against the war, and marched loudly up and down Via Umberto with anti-american signs and shouting through a megaphone.
We made it as far as Maschio Angioino and the port, and C confessed that he did not feel comfortable at all walking through the streets. I couldn’t blame him one bit, so we decided to focus on the Museum, and we hopped a cab to take us there.
The museum was really quite lovely, with all the mosaics and other artifacts from Pompei. We toured the entire Pompei exhibit, including the Gabino Segreto, and then went to the main level to view the Farnese collection and the other exhibits the museum had to offer. Seeing an Italian museum for the first time, C was surprised by the lack of climate control and other preservation techniques.
We headed across the street for lunch to an extremely touristy pizzeria, had a few mediocre and expensive pizzas, and grabbed a cab back to the station. We took the Circumvesuviana back to Pompei, and decided to just vegetate for the rest of the evening, as the next day was our first day in Rome.
Nov 10th, 2005, 11:33 AM
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I might be a bit late, but if not, how did Rome and the return trip go? A delectable travelogue without a conclusion... We share some interesting parallels. I toured Italy in 1997 with a college choir and again in late June/early July 2004 with an a cappella choir. Strangely enough, my wife and I also celebrated our second wedding anniversary during this time as well. I'd like to compare notes. If interested, contact me at [email protected]
