Italy 2014

Italy 2014



Fri am, 31 Oct, Rome



My laptop says 7:40 pm.  I think that is 5:40 am here this week, if Rick Steves is right—that Italy is now standard time, a week before the US.  Usually, Italy is 9 hours later than West Coast time.



Lucy is sleeping soundly.  I, on the other hand, on the left side of the bed, due to my inexorable assignment to sleep between her & the entry in to the room, am cat-napping, after getting some sleep, going to bed 2-3 hours earlier than usual—which of course is meaningless with the 9 hour change.  I don’t feel sleep deprived, after not even try to sleep on the red-eye to Berlin. I watched, on my personal TV in the seat back in front of me, almost 6 episodes of Season One of Breaking Bad, after first filling in the story of BC & the Sundance Kid, the leap from the bluff being the unforgettable scene from that classic when Paul was still young.



Nate dropped Lucy & me off at Sea-Tac at 5:30 am Wednesday morning.  Via JFK & Berlin, we arrived on time in Rome just before noon yesterday. 



Exiting the airport was so easy we didn‘t even pass through Customs & get our passports stamped.  Our nice ride was waiting, from FCO Airport in to the city, via a maze of freeways then city streets.  Good move, John, deciding no car rental this trip to Italy

http://john-at-large.blogspot.com/2009/11/finally-big-retirement-trip-northern.html



Instead of 45 minutes, I could easily have taken more than half a day, making my own way in a rented car, repeatedly asking directions in Spanish (which is closer to Italian than most languages.  Like Brazil, I think I can get across my message better than I can understand the reply in the other Romance language.) 



We have a view of St Peter’s dome from our balcony window.  Named “A View of Rome”, I found this B&B via TripAdvisor.  Host, Daniele, was charmingly welcoming, giving us some pointers on what to see & recommending a couple of restaurants nearby.  An old building, the B&B has been recently been renovated.  Bathroom clean, shower a bit small.  Good bed.



We went to Hosteria Pizzeria Da Vito e Dina for a nice dinner this evening, marred slightly by my knocking the olive oil in to my water glass, spilling it in to my plate of lasagna, which the friendly staff promptly replaced.  With both mushroom (I should have touristed up & taken a pic of the waiter & the tray of huge mushrooms we were invited to choose from) & brochette for appetizers, a half (0.375 liter) bottle of wine to go with main courses, a bill of 70 Euros wasn’t bad.  The dollar has gained some strength against the Euro in recent months—now about $1.30 = 1 Euro, 0.77 Euro equals a dollar.



Fri, 31 Oct, Rome



Livio, co-operator of the B&B with Daniele, is very affable.  After a breakfast chat with him, we walked a couple block to the Metro, caught a train to Spagna, emerged at the Spanish Steps, where a free walking tour was promoted by reviewers on TripAdvisor.  Kiosk guy & bank guard had no clue.  Just about 10:00 am, Manuela arrived, flag on stick.  After a couple of hours working our way past historic monuments, including the Parthenon, we arrived at St Peters, where the line waiting to visit the church circled around the huge plaza that can accommodate 70,000 to hear the Pope speak from a balcony on Sundays.  Manuela informed us we could skip the line by joining a tour of the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel, then get side door access to St Peters.  Which we did.  Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead part way through the museum.  Pics prohibited in the Sistine Chapel anyway.  ‘Busy walls & ceiling.



For pics of Rome walk & Galleria Borghese, go to

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalyRomeWalkGalBorghese#



Hit “Slideshow”. To return here, use back arrow rather than close the window on your computer screen.



Saturday we visited the Galleria Borghese, walking up through the extensive park from the Metro.  A mansion crammed full of art. We spent the afternoon on the double-decker bus, seeing sites of Rome.



Sunday morning I decided to not try to catch the early (7:35 am departure) fast train to Naples.  Next train was 10:10.  We got there with time to spare.  I had done a miscalculation of the lodging bill at View of Rome, so I was in need of Euros.  All 3 of my cards got declined at the one cash machine I could find at Termini, the big Rome transit hub, so I got 200 E from a cash exchange booth, paying their premium price.



The tickets were expensive for the fast train.  I might tell you how expensive by the receipt, IF I still had it.  After the fast train arrived in Naples, we found our way to the Circumvestuviana—the commuter train around the Bay of Naples.  In contrast to the expensive fast train, this one was very inexpensive – 4.20 E each to get to Torre del Greco, stop  for Villa Patrizia B&B.  Then again, it was by far the most expensive train ride of my life—as I was getting on, computer bag over one shoulder, another bag over the other, a guy was blocking the door—not moving in to the train. I pushed past him & a few minutes later reached for my wallet..  You guested it—GONE!   After getting the cargo pants for this trip, I was disappointed to find, with so many pockets, none had zippers.  The front pockets, where I’ve been keeping my wallet, are not that tight.  Without doubt, it was the guy making me push past him that found me easy pickings.  We called credit card carriers as soon as we got to the B&B.  One Mastercard already had multiple $1000 + new charges on it.  Chase will eat those, but no recourse for the 400 Euros.



Robbie, here at the B&B, has been great.  He picked us up at the train station, brought us to their lovely villa overlooking the bay.  After we  made our calls about stolen cards, we decided the vacation needs to go on*.  Robbie drove us over to the Herculeum (AKA Ercolano) ruins—little sister to Pompeii, also buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in  AD 79.  We timed it just right--to join a tour by an enthusiastic guide who alternatively explained in English & Italian



*If vacationing is about making memories, bring on the misfortunes!!



For Herculeum pics, go to

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalyHerculeum#



Hotel Antiche Mura in Sorrento is thankfully only about 3 blocks from the train station (Even ‘though the weather is quite comfortable, I think my life-long propensity to sweat with even moderate exercise has worsened. We got a great rate (80 E/night, huge breakfast buffet included), big, comfortable room.  Instead of fitting Pompeii in on the day we traveled, again on the Circumvestuviana train, from Ercolano to Sorrento, we took a ferry to Capri for the afternoon.  Pleasant, mostly sunny weather.  Lucy window shopped while I hiked past one estate after another, to a vista at the SW corner of Capri town.




For Sorrento & Capri pics, see

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalySorrento#br />
&

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalyCapri#



Next day we hopped back on the Circumvestuviana to Pompeii & meandered around the ruins during the mid-day.  Back to Sorrento for a 2nd night. Pompeii pics at



https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/Pompeii#



Wed morning we boarded a crowded Sita bus for Amalfi.  Rather small bus—good thing, given the narrow, twisting road above the sea.  I deleted most of my pics taken on the move, but a few will give you an idea of this awesome coastline & road.  When I bought the tickets, I was told there was a landslide before Amalfi—that the bus wasn’t able to go thru, but there would be mini-bus service.  Repeated efforts to talk to the bus driver about what was to happen were useless—he dismissed me with “I don’t speak English”.  All passengers were left to figure things out on their own, when the bus stopped, short of the road closure.  No mini bus, to take us on to Amalfi.



I went in to a shop where the bus turned around & the nice keeper allowed me to call Pio, our B&B host.  I informed him of the road closure & being abandoned by the Sita bus driver, with no way to get past the landslide, other than walk.  Even tho’ we’d left the largest suitcase in Rome, we were not going to walk with the luggage we had for 5 days.  Pio arranged for a friend to come get us, taking side roads up the mountain—for less than half the price of a usual taxi rate (I assume Pio chipped in—to his benefit rather than have our room sit empty 2 nights).



Amalfi Coast pics at

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalyAmalfiCoast#



Our deck at Eva Rooms B&B in Atrani is straight up from the surf crashing in to the ancient walls of the historic town.   Tall ceiling, antique furnishings.  Pio is an affable host. The Russian sunning himself on the adjacent deck has a resemblance to Puten—physically & temperament—he didn't so much as look our direction.   Breakfast on the patio.  We roamed around Amalfi, caught a bus up to Revallo.  After 2 nights, we caught another Sita bus, with more white-knuckle cliff hugging road on our way to Salerno, where we caught the fast train back to Rome.



Eva Rooms & Atrani pics -

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ItalyEvaRoomsAtrani#



Back to A View of Rome B&B for 3 more nights.  Saturday we caught the Metro to Palentine Hill, the Forum & the Colosseum, then found the fabric shop Lucy had learned of.   We then walked to Trevi Fountain, only to find it under major renovation (which is the case with many historic places.  Alas, preservation often means looking at scaffolding). Pics -

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/ForumColosseum#



About dusk, we hiked past the Spanish Steps to the Spagna Metro station.  A crowed time of night on Rome streets, a closure of the Metro station resulted in an immediate crush of people in the entrance to the station.  We  managed to retreat & made our way back to the B&B near the Vatican via foot.



Sunday we went to the Museum of Rome, then meandered through an area of clothing shops, before walking back to the B&B.  Planning to return to a favorite restaurant, we found it closed.  We found Mamas, with a TripAdvisor  rec in the window.  ‘Turned out to be great.  I’ve had my fill of pasta for a while. Museum pics -

https://picasaweb.google.com/102259876019428056805/NatLMuseumOfRome#