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Published: December 15th 2007
The Easybus we took to Stansted
(This bus was different from the one we took 2 weeks ago. This bus was larger and more comfortable, and the windows were not covered.)2 weeks after my 1st "out-of-UK" trip to Copenhagen, I was travelling out of UK again - this time to Italy! (7 of us embarked on our short weekend trip to Rome & Naples.)
However, things didn't go as smoothly as we expected. Like the previous trip to Copenhagen, our flight was departing Stansted early in the morning, so my friends and I decided to go to Stansted the previous night and spend our night sleeping in Stansted. Upon arrival at Stansted, we realised most of the "sleeping-friendly" areas had been occupied. In the end we settled down outside a baggage handling area. At 2am, we were woken by 2 cleaners who told us to go away because they wanted to clean the area. (Why must they clean that particular area at 2am???) Feeling tired and irritated, we walked around the airport trying to find another location to sleep, but all the "sleeping-friendly" locations were occupied. After walking aimlessly for 20 minutes with our luggage, we felt so tired and pissed that we slept right in the middle of the check-in area. At 4am, we had to wake up and move away again, because the check-in desks were opening and
First sleeping location in Stansted
Our stay here didn't last long, as we were chased away at 2am by cleaners who wanted to clean the area... @Ø#Å$%£Ç&... there were people queuing around us... Finally, we settled down behind a shop and tried to went back to sleep, but at 5am, we were woken by 2 airport staffs who went around waking everybody up. Hence, for the whole night, we only slept for around 3 hours...
The rest of the day was more or less uneventful. We already suffered a lack of sleep, the flight was long and the seats were not very comfortable, the queue of the passport control in Ciampino was long, Jack lost his umbrella, it was drizzling in Rome, we had trouble finding ATMs in Rome Termini, Wanqin had a headache and she even vomited, I had a runny nose which flowed like a tap, the train from Rome to Naples had a horrible one-hour delay, etc etc etc.... We finally arrived at Naples at 7pm feeling tired and moody (we wasted one whole day without doing any sightseeing).
Luckily, we managed to find a nice pizzeria for dinner and had an excellent meal of pizza and margherita, which boasted our spirit and morale. After dinner we went to a gelateria across the street and stuffed ourselves with gelato. After we had
2nd sleeping location in Stansted
We were so tired and pissed that we slept in the middle of the check-in area... but we had to wake up and move away at 4am as the check-in desks opened... satisfied our stomach and taste-bud we went to satisfied our eyes and cameras. We went to the harbour-front and walked to the Castel Nuovo area. As we walked, we realised that Naples is truly a city with a wild character. Some roads have potholes, but drivers do not care. Some buildings are dilapidated, but they are still being used. Obeying traffic rules is optional (most Neapolitans choose not to) and crossing the road is an adventure by itself. Graffiti covers almost everything from stations to trains, and yet historical monuments are untouched and are shining with glory and grandeur. For a group of Singaporeans who had spent most of our lifes in a clean and orderly country, Naples is dirty and chaotic, but it's exciting, spicy, and addictive.
From Castel Nuovo we walked along the coast to the area facing Castel dell'Ovo, and we had a splendid view of Castel dell'Ovo and the lights of the Bay of Naples. Later, we took a walk back to our hotel. On the way, we went to the same gelateria again as my friends Elsa & Wanqin wanted to have some gelato for supper. We returned to our hotel feeling full and
3rd sleeping location in Stansted
As some people woke up and moved away, we moved into their area and continued to sleep. However, 2 airport staff came to wake everyone up at 5am... &%Ü#X$£È@!!!! satisfied. Although we didn't manage to see much of Naples (we only walked around for 2 hours and it was night-time), we manage to taste the 2 best (and most famous) food in Italy - pizza & gelato. I'm sure I will return to Naples again in the future, to visit the place that I didn't visit this time, and to stuff my mouth and stomach with the fabulous Neapolitan food....
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