On to Naples

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But first, some final thoughts on Rome. Rome was built on immitation and assimilation. Most of the famous statues of ancient Rome were based on Greek works, as did later generations immitate early Rome. Forums turned into churches, senators into bishops, etc. I did have a large sense of Deja Vu looking at some works of art, that I saw somewhere else only a day before.

My mom loves to ask for directions. Me, I like to wander around a bit and try to figure it out before I give up and ask. I also don't like to ask where something is when I'm standing right in front of it, which is what happened to my mom quite often. She also found that when she asked for things in Italian, they answered her (of course) in Italian, which she couldn't really understand. Then they'd switch to English or hand gestures and all was fine. I usually would just go, "Buongiorno, Parle Engleise? Si? ah, thank you."

There were street performers that seemed to always play the Godfather theme. I think we heard it at least four times on seperate occasions. Do they think we would like it? Mostly, people just groaned, but maybe they got more money out of the groans, who knows.

Now onto the train trip to Naples. Pretty uneventful. My mom leaned over and said, "if it weren't for the architecture it kinda looks like Sonoma County" Well, it's not like we're going to Mars.

We took a taxi to the hotel. That was more eventful. Not certain, but I think our driver must have broken at least a dozen traffic laws. But then again, everyone does. We even went slightly onto the sidewalk. I haven't experienced that since the gypsy cabs I took in Moscow.

We were starving, but I had it in my head to taste pizza at the birthplace of the Margharita pizza, right NOW. So, I schlepted my hungry self and mother several blocks looking for it. I finally found it, only to be told they weren't going to be open for dinner for another 3 hours! So, we just ate at a cafe. I'll try to go there tomorrow. Side note... most of you know of my allergy to wheat. Yeah, sucks big time. I have found that if I hop myself up on expectorant and Alieve, I get only a mild headache. I don't think I could live this way, but damn it, I'm having pizza!!!

One very odd thing. On our way to eat, passing the Piazza Plebicito, there was what looked like a dead dog lying there. There were people around looking, but no one seemed concerned about this. On our way back, there were three more dogs playing dead! Was this some kind of odd performance art? I saw one of the dogs twitch every so slightly, so they were alive, and multiplying.

Naples, as expected, is a bit rough, but I really wanted to see it. Really don't know why, maybe because it's a wasted treasure, of a city that was once so great but has fallen into decline. Since the 80's there has been a big push to reinnvigorate it, and has an emerging art scene now in its own right.

Tomorrow, if the weather is good enough, we'll go to Pompeii. There's a bit of rain expected tomorrow. The weather in general has been very mild, sometimes a slight shower at night, but that's about it. My hair is not used to the humidity, and I have curls that I never knew existed! I'm glad that this isn't August humidity. That would really suck.

Ciao,

ADJ

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Comments

[Chris Hutchings]

Sounds fantastic!
Just dropping you a note to let you know that your travel blog is being appreciated. I especially like that they're getting a bit longer and filled with more bloggy detail. Keep it up! Can't wait for you to get back so you can tell us all the juicy stuff you had to leave out. ;^P