Let's see where did I leave off? I think I did the vat and introed our friends serge and christina. I cant remember what I told you of the sistene chapel but here goes. You walk for about a mile with hundreds of people. And a reminder we really have come at a low tourist time so this is mild. Each time we enterend a new room we were expecting the micelango ceiling and were disapointed around so many corners that when you get to the actual church a bit of disapointment come across you. That coupled with being jostelled down miles of other halls with painted ceilings statues and people your ready to get the heck out. I was so glad I brought a power bar in my bag or I would have been a gonner. We walked the rest of the museum and then a brief stop to mail a card from vatacan city and we were off to the next destination.... The parthanon.
From the vat we did the 2 mile treck to the parth. We spoted more fountains and some fun shops along the road. Here is where I finally got a gelatto. My first love of italy- coffee second love caffe gelatto! As we walked we spotted a fun irish pub and a cute shop with fine scarves and jackets. But no time to shop and eat we needed to get the the parthanon. Upon arriving we found this was an election heavy area. News vans and election supporters along with the tourists made this the busiest place in the area. It was a sea of people going in and coming out. This is another massive building covered in more marble "recycled" from the coloseum. after walking for a bit inside we decided befoire the grey clouds above became worse we should begin the 4 mile hike back to the hostel.
Passing the irish pub for a second time we knew we could not pass it up. So in we went. In italy I was sittinng in a pub drinking a beer and having some excellent roasted veggies. It was so good. And after eating just bread and caffe along with a power bar and almonds almost anuthing would be delicious. Now while dining we spotted a man or should I say peter pan all growed up across the street. The 55 year old man was wearing a peter pan hat. Givin the old arched storfront made of brink gave me a feeling of being in disneyland. Yes you read that right a grown man in a green felt hat picking of clothes from this shop. I have a photo for you when I return. We finished or beer and set off on the way back. The weather was a bit gloomy and since its been sputtering rain ever since we arrived being a bit damp at all tmes has just become standard. So off again on the streets of rome. Well we made it almost the whole we when we came to a spot where nothing was familiar......... We walked a few blocks left........ Nope ....... A few blocks right...... Nope.... And so we walked all the way back to a point we knew was familiar. Adding about another mile of lost trecking to our day. Well when we found the err of our directions we were cold and tired. It was time to shower and get to bed since the next day we had a mile hike to the metro to get to naples for a day in pompeii and then onto amalfi.
The hostel here in rome is like a ymca. There are really travelers of all ages here. The best are the tweens. Tonight the french kids are causing trouble. Instead of keeping to their seperate boy and girl areas they are co mingling. How do I know? Well a lot of yelling and screaming followed by the head guy coming up stairs to telll them in broken french that no boys upstairs!!!! Just as the 2 shake their head and start waling down the stairs the girls door flings open and out trots another offender with a huge smile. That and a ringlett crowned girl waving and shouting goodbye while her girlfriend erupt in laughter behind her. Ahhhh those are the days.
Anyway.... Jess and I were beat. A day of so much trecking and as jess says my speedwalking pace is maddening and ehausting, she had to just sleep. 9pm eyes closed. 645am eyes barely open. She is not adjusting to the time change very well. I on the other hand am a goodmorning sunshine bluebird here in europe. Its a sign that I should live here at least part of the year. Ill see what my future prince will set me up with.
Ok so sleep. we did for a while - got up at 5 to read about what we would be seeing the next day and packed my bags. I did not bring a lot but everytime I put it on my shoulders I wish I had even less. Of course its a great way to continue training with out the hard core tears inducing beating I'm use to. Regarding fashion here I'm at home. the italians wear jeans and black 2 of my favorite things all the time. The bad thing is I've been wearing my jeans for 4 days of travel...... They are getting washed soon..... Very very soon......
The kids here...... Well purple and pink are very popular with the boys. It really is like an episode of the gottis. Except the swearing is in italian. The women dress in very expensive clothes as well. Appearance and high priced close are the thing here. Its style unlike any I have seen anywhere else. They regulary go out for walks before dinner to just stroll and I think show off their latest fancy "church" clothes as my grams would say. And we have seen many expensive suits and even 2 full cordory suits on men in the last day. Interesting for sure.
But day 3 was upon us and here we were saving 1 euro and walking the endless mile to the metro and hoppin the subway to the train. Most of my money here has been spent on transport and lodging. Food is coming in a low 3 place and souveniers.....tbd. But we take the train to naples and its a great ride. We are on a 1st class ticket as recommended by everyone we spoke with since 2class really means no air conditioning. And on these stuffy traing you need the air.
We arrive in naples, check our bags and head to a day in pompeii- a town destroyed when now inactive volcano vesuvius erupted. The town was wiped out but after 300 years of excavation large amounts of the town still remain along with the bodies of many that were covered in ash. Ill be honest with you but I was bored out of my skull here. It all looks the same and the directions were so maddening I was not having fun. Oh well after 2 hours we were done. Time to eat in the pompeii cafeteria and head to more ruins. In the caff, jess had a eyes bigger than her stomach moment. 18 euros later she was regretting getting and eating all of it. Pasta a bowl os sugared fruit and a nutella and pastery dessert later and she bagan a sugar high and sugar low rollercoaster ride. Ah the joy and misery of youth. The thing I'm having a hard time finding is veggies. I miss my broccoli. But I'm sure ill be missing the croissants and butter once I return home.
From pompeii we hopped the subway to heruclean or erculano as they say here. This being a smaller more contained ruins site was far more interesting. Its brings back how civilized these thriving cities were just as forward thinking as we are even down to the fast that they offered a medieval equilivant of fast food. Literally there were flower pot size bins filled with food that as the people drove their cart through town they could pull up to the stand and order take out. Crazy right? Their tile work is stunning thousands and even millions of itty bitty tiles together form and paintings are slightly crude especially in the whore house where they are very straight forward descriptions of what each lady will and can do. We walked the ruins and then finished our afternoon heading back to collect our bags at the trainstation ...... For a fee..... And onto solarno and then the almalfi coast.
This was another long long evening. Having no time to even grab a meager dinner we ate a power bar and jerky to make it to our train for sorento. Made it just in time and rode the rush hour subway for an hour to the very last stop. It was hot and because of the massive croweds we were sitting with our packs on our laps. Once in sorento it was a 20 minute wait for the bus that woulld take us along the coast to amalfi where we thought we were staying. It was a beautiful drive. Imagine pch but with orage and lemon groves shackelled together with old wood beams and houses painted in every pastel you see at easter. The sun has faded the colors we evvy in clothes and makeup but the sun raveges these buildings from the outside. The cliffs below us are so steeps that as the large bus careens around the edge its only water and no raod to veiw below you. The hairpin turns are so many they have a system where every car honks a they approach a turn. There would be no way for both bus and motor car to make the turn together. Some times passing busses are so close its only by a centimeter that they miss taking off a mirror. With the sun setting on the water and our long day of walking it was hard to keep my eyes open for the whole 2 hour ride. By the time we reached amalfi it was 10pm. We searched up and down the bustling street filled with partiers drinking anmd eating in the little cafes. No dinner for us though until our packs were dropped and we find our hotel. We stopped in a shop where the man directed us to our hotel......located in the next town over the hill to our left.
Uhmmmmmm next town over??? Sigh. So with packed strapped even tiighter as the ocean air was rushing around in a feirce manner we trudged up the hill. Along the was a kind old man out for a stroll stopped and inquired if we needed help. Did we look lost? Yes. Did we still look american? Yes apparently because he asked us in english. We hiked a mile+ up the hill and then down about 1/2 a mile and 2 huge flights of stairs to the next town, atrani. Phillipo the owner of the hostel was out locking things up and met us in the town square. This sguare is a big as the dinign area in front of our starbucks so very small. its the smallest village in italy and I believe the friendliest. Phillippe checks us un and......takes us up more stairs to our room. You willl see from the pictures that the hallway is meager and our pack barely make it through. We get to the top of this tall skinny building and enter our quaint room. Or run downa and ramshakle artic chilled room. I kid you not that the ceiling was so low I had to hunch over to walk around. I kept hitting my head whe I was complled to stand up in the morning. But it was only 20 euro a night so........ We went with it. We were so exhausted at this point we swapped jeans for sweats, showered of the dys worth od grime from walking the ruins and went to sleep.
Refreshed from the sleep I was up at 6 and ready to go. At about 730 jess was ready as well. We left our hovel or hobit habitat as I call it to go down for complimentary breakfast with phillepes brother giovanni. G gets us cappucinos and a roll and a biscuit with nutella, orange juice and a croissant filled with jelly. I know what your thinking and yes its all sugar free and low carb. No dinner the night before left us famished by morning. In turn we devoured evey morsel givn us even after we knew it was enough. I enjoyed evey drop oif my cappucino the best one I've has so far. 1/2 way through breakfast we are joined at the table by our hostel mate who is in the room 1 door down from ours. Rebecca explains she has rented a nook while we rented a cranny. Its those small details that had we know when booking we would have asked for slightly higher ceilings in our cranny.
with our bellies quieted for a moment and a day to explore we discussed the options available.
We head back to or respective nook and cranny and run into clem. He chatted with us for a bit before I took a long look at him and said "texas"? How'd you know that. I told him it was something about the accent and smile that so reminds me of a friend from austin I knew I was spot on. And if you kow my friend mike trozzo you know what I mean. There's an ease and gentlemanly quality to the way he spoke and clem is more traveled than most people I will ever meet. But his texas smile and charm are clearly an asset to his travels. We all decided to part ways maybe meeting after our afternoon teavels for some vino at the town square spot de jour "lugi's".
While a jaunt to capri would have been fun its also very costly. Instead of the 200 euro day and seeing the blue grotto in capri we took the local bus about 4km to the emerald grotto. "Only 5 euro for the elevator and boat ride and 5 for the bus". Ok we were sold. More hairoin turns and a we were there. Our scottish bus mates a mom and daughter chatted withus while we rode down to -1 level. We got off an walked out to the seas edge where a small cave opening waited for us. Inside were marco and andrea. Every greets you with where are you from because they can tell your a tourist. California we say and are greeted with +h I love you I love california we love you from marco. Well that's the way toi start a morning off right. Someone iin love with you before 10am is not bad. The our boiat man andre helped us int the boat and proclaimed his love for us as well. Oh bellas you sit in the front and I doi special english tour for you.
The grotto is beautiful and the emerald part is true. The water filtered through caves below breaks through the water creating and emerald color. Stalagmites above and rock formations that look like mussolini if you italian and like ahunold if your from cal-i-for-nee-a. Andrea spins the boat around and does his show. A nativity given to the grotto by national geographic is burried below and only revealed when the water is rippled just right. And sure enough below the edge of the boat for all to see is mary joseph and baby jesus below. The final piece is making the emeralds dance on the water. By splashing with the paddles there appear to be millions of jems on the top if the water. And then the end back to disembark. We got off the boat and back outside the cave aking pictures of the water and of ourselves as andrea approached. He was insistant I meet him for a drink later of very very strong vino the bet in the world. Jess being who she is committed fr us and andrea promised to bring along the beautiful marco who he told us has spent 3 yrs in a mental hospital but was all better now. Mmmmm we know how to bring in the big fish!!
With a vague commitment to meet that night at the church steps in amalfi we head back to the bus stop and shops up top. The ceramic shop had many beautiful thing jess got a gift for her mmom and we went to wait for the bus back to atrani. While waiting the grotto closed anmd our new friend andrea marco and their boss mario offered us a ride in their little car back to amalfi. It was a risk but we took it. I've never had anyone say so many time how beautiful my name was it is almost like romero and gillian your name said mario. Marco kept asking if we would come for wine and mario told us how he nolonger has lovers but inly platonic love. After 4 wives he was done with love it was he told me dramatic like romeo and juilette or romeo and gillian for me. We made it back to town with smiles and a promise to meet at 9 for vino. Ciao bella I'm sure is the italian equivelant of a construction worker whistler but it just sounds much nicer than "hay baby". Say it just once and you'll see. Its at this point I come to realise the reason madonna and gwyneth adopt the words and inonation of where they live. If you don't think I'm going to try to incorporate ciao and prego with the approate accent you don't know me well.
We jogged back to our hostel to drop our purchases and walked back to amalfi to find the paper museum. The hike between the towns was much easier each time. And it made me ok with the fact that my lunch was gelatto......again......caffe gelatto of course. The museum was closed for the afternoon seista time as we've learned is the general way things work here. So back we went to find some real food to eat and lounge around until the museum opened again. We stopped at luigis in the square and I tell you luigi is a treat. The food is all good and simple and the americano supreme- I don't even need to add anything to it. Luigi love us because he to loved california. He brought us food snacks and a lemonchello shot for the finish. Side note this was my second lemonchello and I do not like them. To me its the equilivant of drinking stomach acid and lemon cleaner......ugh... But when in rome. This email is full more to come soon.
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