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Ok, things have been a little crazy. I had a really great time in Naples. The first night was pretty much a drunken brew-ha-ha. Lots of people all having a great time drinking, laughing, sharing travel stories, and making new friends.
I woke the next day and organized a trip to Pompeii. After sorting out the metros to get to central station, we embarked on a 45min. train ride to Pompeii. everyone warned us to bring lots of water, wear good shoes, and be prepared for the dust. we did, and they were right. Pompeii was one of the most interesting locations of my trip. its way bigger than you imagine in your head. its not just a couple of ruins, its the whole proper city. we walked around it for 5 hours and still didn't get through it all proper. i know it doesn't sound overly glamorous but it really was amazing to see this city, destroyed by a volcano 2000 years ago, still standing, frescoes and mosaics still visible. Then to look up at Vesuvius, still active, you can imagine what it was like that day when she blew.
After Pompeii, we rode the train home, then
got back on the metro. The Italian trains system isn't the most punctual in the world, and we waited a good long while for one of our metros. when it arrived, it was already quite full, and the were a good lot of people looking to board. we stuffed ourselves in, thinking we would be right by the door, but no. A dozen or so people crammed themselves in after us. just when you thought one more person couldn't fit, three more got on. the doors were closing on people, crushing them or their bags, and instead of backing off they just pushed their way in harder. the door was only closed behind them for a second before the train ripped off down the tube. we were on the metro for only 5 minutes, but it might have been the hottest experience of my life. the rest of the evening was spent in recovery.
In honor of the famed Schuffenhauer Hot dog Odyssey, i organized the Naples Pizza Odyssey. We wandered around town viewing the sites, searching out the most famous pizza spots in the city. De Matteo's, Pizza in the Piazza, Del Presidente, and finally culminating at the
mother of all Neapolitan pizza shops, Di Michele. It really was as good as one can imagine. This isn't the pizza from back home, its another animal entirely, and its good. Following the Pizza Odyssey came another night of wine, women, and song. 1 euro bottles of wine are better than you think, a crew of Australian girls(hi jessie), and a game involving drunken rhyming. Its fun for the whole family.
The next day was a pretty lazy day, the only thing accomplished was the sorting out of our train out of naples. We took it easy for the night and struck out at 8:30 the next morning.
This is where we began. The new crew is Hugh Gregory Nixon, Alexander (Sandy) Smith, Thomas Cotton, and Daniel Clifton-Hadley. We left naples at 8:30am, caught a train to caserta, then transfer to a train bound for Bari. We arrived in Bari at 2:30, jumped on a tram bound for the marina and sorted out our ferry tickets. With a little slide of hand deception, we manage to book the ferry for 17 euro a piece, they got a better price for having eurorail passes, so i pretended to be
British. it worked some how, and we were on our way at 8pm. 16 hours later we arrived at patras, hung over and sore from sleeping on the floor. After disembarking, it was a short walk to the train station, made longer by hugh's inability to ask the correct question, his trademark apparently. Our train left patras for athens at 2:30, one hour into the journey, we were informed of some type of problem with the train, and were forced of and onto a bus. one hour later we were again asked to exit and reboard a train, the train of course wasnt their. At 5:30 the train arrived and we were on our way again. we finally arrived in athens at around 9pm. Just over 36 hours of traveling. My dogs were barking. we sorted out a hostel for the night, had some greasy greek gyros for dinner, sat on the roof of our hostel for a beer, and passed out soon after.
Now we are already forced out of our room to accomadate people with "reservations" so we are sleeping on the roof tonight. it shouldnt be to bad, except for the bugs, but well see. tomorrow
we strike off for one of the islands, so today is about athens. Now, im in desperate need of a shower and a change of clothes, so im off. until i figure out whats up with my computers internet issue, i may not put to many photos up, but ill see what i can do. ttfn
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