Naples Hotels
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another (well-deserved?) break
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I flew to Naples (the second to last flight of my whole trip- wow) and was met at the airport by Elf, a friend of mine from my former work. I flew a total of 3 hours, on two legs, and the airline (Alitalia) managed to lose my bag... so after a delayed process of getting out of the airport I headed to Elf's house and quickly to sleep. The next day I started a rough 5 days of not doing much at all, catching up with the guys I know working here,and doing some sightseeing around the area. I had a good time hanging out with Elf's family- his wife, two little girls, two cats, a dog, and his wife's stepsister and mom who were also visiting- quite a crowd but a lot of fun. The first day was spent relaxing and hoping that my bag would arrive- luckily it did the next night.
One day we headed to Vietre, a town well known for its ceramic work situated along the very pretty Amalfi coast. Elf's wife Heather and the GPS (without much help from the professionally trained navigator in the back) did a good job navigating the confusing Italian streets and the crazy Italian drivers to get us safely there and back. There were some great views of the coast and Mt. Vesuvius on the drive down when I wasn't being distracted by Lily, Elf's youngest daughter- I made the mistake of eating some pretend jelly beans from the 'J for Jellybean' page of her toy book and then had to eat fake jelly beans that she kept offering to me (despite every effort on my part to change the subject, turn the page, be too full, or have her look outside) for the next hour and a half. It was a fun trip and we navigated around with no problems other than the amusing jellybean fixation.
Elf and I went downtown to the Naples Archealogical Museum- quite full of Roman era art, sculpture, and amazing mosaic tiling from nearby Pompeii. It was very interesting to see but as this was Elf's second visit in two weeks, we spent a few hours there and some time walking around trash-strewn downtown Naples, failing miserable to find a sim card for my cell phone. There is a trash strike going on here as well but I have to say it didn't seem nearly as bad as Athens. After debating the relative merits of going to see Pompeii or Erkulano (a smaller but I have heard better version of Pompeii) we decided on Erkulano. Since this town was actually buried in mud and debris, and then had a follow on city built over it, it was a bit easier to see all at once and also had better preserved structures, mosaics, and atmosphere
(so I hear, since I haven't been to Pompeii yet). The entire city exists below today's ground level and has only been opened in a small part of its actual area due to the development above. It was amazing to walk on ornate 2,000 year old tiled floors and see the remnants of paintings on the walls, down hallways and into living rooms, go through a doorway onto cobblestone streets and sidewalks, and walk past old shops, columned parks, and houses, some two stories tall with still-preserved burnt wooden beams inside.
Really impressive was the evident sophistication of life back then, with well-built earthquake resistant structures, realistic, impressive art, painting, well developed streets- a lifestyle probably better than a lot of the world enjoys today but in this small town drastically and suddenly ended by environmental catastrophe.
I spent some time catching up with some other friends of mine working in the area. Mostly pilot types so other than enduring the constant 'who's a better stick than the other' there was plenty of beer, good fun, and complaining about what was wrong with their job, which I am thankful I don't have to deal with. For the most part people liked what they were doing but I am glad I did not stay in that job to end up working behind a desk dealing with idiot higher-ups who like to create work for themselves (and more for those below them) or being a glorified secretary to some overly spoiled two-star. Although it would have been neat to experience being stationed overseas for a few years.
Books: 'The City of Falling Angels' by John Berendt, the author of 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'- a true story of the fire and rebuilding of the Fenice opera house in Venice, with a lot of interesting people who live in Venice currently and comments on the city's attitude and the way things work there. A good primer and a neat look at the attitudes and characters in the city today.
Where I stayed:
with a friend
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| 49. | another (well-deserved?) break - Naples, Italy Mar 21, 2008 (  8 ) |
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