it's been a long 3 days

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Let's start with Sunday.
Imagine an area starting at Nobbys car park and running along the foreshore to a line level with Darby st, turn left and go all the way up to Parkway Ave and then turn left to the ocean at Bar Beach. That is the area of the runins of the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Imagine at Nobbys carpark there is a huge arch and at the corner of Darby and Hunter there is another huge arch and in between are ruin after ruin. Then when you get to King Edward park you find the Circus Maximus.
That was our experience on Sunday. It was quite overwhelming. And then to top it all off where Nobbys lighthouse is, you come to the Colliseum. What a day.
The Palatine hill was apparently the religious centre of rome and the place where most of the nobles lived including Augustus.
That night we returned to Trastevere for dinner and went to a restaurant which boasted:WE ARE AGAINST THE WAR AND TOURIST MENUS. Great meal.
Monday morning we headed off for Naples. On the way out we got lost (again!). Our Temporary Exit Visa to the country "LOST" has been revoked. We have now been granted permanent resident status.

We then drove to Naples.
What can i say about Naples? It didn't start well. The exit ramp from the ring road which would have taken us directly to our destination was closed. It took us an hour to find the hotel. But everyone we asked was very helpful - in Italian!!! Our hotel turned out to be a modern oasis in the middle of the most appalling squalor.
You have to see Naples to believe it. Did i say streets are filthy in Italy? The rest of Italy is pristine compared with Naples. We're not sure whether they've had a garbage strike but there is garbage piled up in every ctreet. And we're talking industrial quantities not just last week's refuse.
We went into the city. When we got to the main station they were playing Dean Martin on loudpeaker. Then we went on two funiculi. I thought i was channeling him:

When the moon hits the sky
like a big pizza pie
that's amore

or as the comic strip BC is wont to say:

When an eel rushes out
and it bites off your snout
that's a moray

We went to Santa Lucia near the water. MAZING. iN THE MDST OF ALL THIS SQUALOR IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCLUSIVE SHOPPING AREAS IN eUROPE: GUCCI, aRMANI, pRADA, Cartier.....
We found a very nice restaurant and had a pizza the way they are supposed to be made. Beautiful.

Then it all went pear-shaped.

We caught a bus to what was supposed to be the central station to get another bus home. Then we got advised to stay on and get a bus at a different location. Then we found that this bus didn't go there so we went back to the central station and got on the bus we were supposed to. But the bus driver said no we should get another bus. Then we got on that bus and it took us to.....

we don't know. The middle of somewhere. and it stopped. The service was finished for the night.
we were told to walk to somewhere where we moght get a tram to somewhere which might take us to somewhere where we moght get a bus home. We started walking ... in Naples.... at 10.30 at night.... in the dark.... by ourselves...
We came across a bar and they called a cab and we eventually got home.
At no point were we in any danger but it was extremely unsettling. It left a very negative feel for Naples.
Yesterday we went to Pompeii. Again a fabulous experience. We walked for 5 hours. Amazing

Today we called in on a whim at Monte Cassino on the way back to Rome. MC was the scene of one of the most famous battles of WW2. The Allies couldn't break through. They ended up bombing the Abbey on the top because they thought the german guns were secreted in there. Turns out the guns weren't there and the Abbey was destroyed based upon poor information. Yet another case of the phantom weapons of mass destruction. The view was extraordinary. And the Abbey was rebuilt in 1949 as (from what we could see anyway) a complete replica. Wait for the photos. Hope to do some photos tomorrow at the airport.

This evening we are in Ostia, the old port of Rome. Just got back from looking at the famous LIDO. V disappointing: grey sand and lots of cabanas.

Tomorrow we head for Istanbul via London (don't ask). We have been away for 30 days.

Couple more observations:
1. The same officious head waiter has been following us around Italy. He's in every restaurant we go to.
2. The elctions have just been held here with Silvio Berlusconi re-elected PM. He has promised to clean up the garbage in Naples. It sounds a little like Mussolini's promise to make the trains run on time.
3. Italians are really the most warm and generous people. They have been very welcoming of us - even in Naples.
4. Europe is full of failed actors who dress up as statues of liberty and stand very still in public places in order to get people to put money in the tin at their feet.
These people remind me of the guy who works at the circus. Every morning and evening he cleans out the animals cages and washes the elephants. When they arrive in each town he puts the big tent up and then cooks the fairy floss to be sold that night and then he sells the tickets for the show and operates the canteen at half time. When the show is over he sweeps up and hoses down the big top in preparation for the next day. He gets to bed at about 1am and the next day it's the same story.
All this for $150 per week.
A friend asked him why he put up with all that for such a paltry amount. Why didn't he get another job?
His response: WHAT AND QUIT SHOW BUSINESS?

5. The same accordian player/violinist is following us around Europe. He's on every train or bus we get on playing and touting for money.

In Rome at the coliseum you can have your photo take with a person dressed as a centurion for 5 euros: Now there's a career.
Leone, our B&B host has just given us our first decent cup of tea in Italy. She lived in England for 15 years and married a Pom.

Until Istanbul

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Comments

[Mardi]

statue people
The statue people in public places have also invaded Buenos Aires. Silver stautue person as liberty herself - but working for pesos.