Italy - Florence, Salerno, Pompeii , Amalfi Coast and Naples

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Italy - Florence, Salerno, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Naples
Dave B 5-11-07
I got up and got going around 7:45. The Japanese guy had left really early around 6 and the Italian had left around 7:00. It was just us two lazy Americans in the room.

I headed back to the hostel and checked out. The breakfast included a roll and several different options on the warm drink side of things, including hot chocolate which is what I had. Again the bread was very good and really the meal although very small, was quite good. I headed to the bus stop where I ran into Carmine again. There were several Americans there, the Irishman and the Argentina women. One of the American's were talking to Carmine about Mount St. Helen's. We all got on the bus where most of us were headed for the train station. Again this made it easy for me as all I needed to do is get off when they did. The train station was very busy I suppose Fridays may be more busy than a lot of days. I had about a 45 minute wait for the train I was taking. I could have taken a faster train that cut off about 45 minutes on the trip, but that would have cost me about 5 euros more so I decided to take the local which is free with the Euro pass.

On the train I talked to a lady from Nigeria for awhile. She was there for work. She spoke pretty good English. This region of Italy is very hilly and lots of tunnels. This is close to Tuscany.

I arrived in Florence about 11:30. It wasn't really what I expected. I thought there would be big buildings, but really everything is relatively small in comparison to other places I have been. The cathedral of S. Maria del Fiore is quite big as is the Giotto's Bell tower. I decided to go ahead and go up in the Bell tower. I thought that would be cool to get a good idea of the lay of the City. When your walking around at street level it's really hard to get a perspective of how things are laid out. As I walked around it occurred to me that this City is more about artwork than the structure. These were big league artist that lived here and did their work here. In one area of the City called Piazza della Signoria lots of statues are outdoors on display. Essentially they were just a bunch of naked men and women. I thought about the fun I could have with naming them in the blog. For example the one where the angel has cut off the head of the woman I would title, "She wasn't able to keep her cool and lost her head." I have more ideas for titles. I might have to put an R rating on this stuff. It is kind of amazing how these same artist did lots of artwork for churches, but these same churches are not that open with nudity as portrayed in these artist's work. I know I am missing a link somewhere. I will have to give it more thought.

Man do they use the word "Chow" a lot in Italy. I must have heard that word a billion times since arriving in Italy. They use it to say hello and goodbye. Often they will say it multiple times back to back I guess for emphasis or something not sure.

Anyway I continued walking around Florence as illustrated in the guide I had picked up at the tourist information office. I feel a little guilty not going to the big museums like the Uffizi and Academia, but I do not think I am going to. I just do not know enough about the art to really appreciate it. I know it is great, but unless you have taken the time to understand it you really do not get much from it. Besides this trip for me is more about seeing the world and trying to get a better handle on how people live. I know some of the things I have seen and heard has already changed my perception a little of the world and of the US. As I have said before, my national pride has increased since going on this trip.

I continued to walk around the City. I walked past the aforementioned Uffizi museum. The lines were long to get in. I crossed the Ponte Vecchio bridge, which has several shops on the bridge itself as did the one in Bath. Actually the architecture of Bath is more like I expected to see in Florence. To me Bath is more Roman than Florence. I really think I am going to like Rome a lot as I think it is going to be a little like Bath, but on steroids. I actually was getting a little tired. I really have not been sleeping too good lately and the backpack was getting a little heavy, which I guess should not surprise me as I had it on for about 3 hours now and it isn't necessarily light.

The next place I stopped at was the church of Saint Felicita. In this church there were several people watching the paintings making sure flash photography was not being used. At one painting right in front of one of the attendants I turned my flash off got positioned for the perfect shop and Bam my flash went off. I have no idea what happened. I told the guy I was sorry and he surprisingly didn't seem to be upset about it. I guess it was obvious I had not tried it. Some of the artwork had paint chips gone. I guess when paintings are over 500 years old stuff like that happens. The Bell Tower I had went up in was constructed in the 1300's. Now that's old. A lady in one room of the church volunteered to explain some of the paintings. Her English was not very good and the names of the paintings she mentioned I was not familiar with. I wish I could have done more study in the art and in the languages before coming here. Oh well if you spend your whole like preparing such that everything is ideal, you will never do it. It is kind of exciting actually to learn on the fly. Oh well there is no going back and I have no desire to do so.

After the church I walked up to the Palazzo Pitti. It is a palace with a nice garden in layman's terms, which are my terms. This is something I would enjoy walking around the place and is something I think I will do. The other thing that I would like to do is take a walking tour of the City, which I can do for 20 euros. Actually I think I will just do the Palazzo Pitti and skip the walking tour. I kind of did a self-guided one myself today. From there I felt like my pack was 20 lbs heavier than it's actual weight I was getting tired. I proceeded to the next church, which was Church of Saint Spirito. It was big, but not as big as the cathedral which I saw earlier. It was not open at least I didn't see the entrance so I didn't go in. Most churches can be entered free and often there are no lines. The Cathedral of Saint Maria del Fiore here in Florence, which is right next to the Bell Tower that I went up in, is free to enter and the line was quite short. That Cathedral and the Bell Tower are the heart of the City and everything else moves away from that. It appears to be the highest two structures in Florence.

From there I crossed the next bridge Santa Trinita Bridge. The biggest eye catching thing there were the 3 women sun bathing on the bridge piers. They must have climbed over the railing and just laid out on the ancient concrete of the bridge piers. There were 3 other women doing the same thing on the pier on the other side of the bridge as well. There were some statues on each end of the bridge pier that were kind of cool as well.

The next church was the Church of Saint Trinita. This church was surprisingly very nice. I saw a first there. In one of the locations there were a lot of nice looking artwork, but the area was dark. I saw a guy looking at a box. I looked at the box myself and believe it or not it was a light box. If you insert money a light comes on allowing you to see the painting in more detail. This interest me so I was going to put in the minimum amount of 50 cents for 2 minutes I really didn't think anything in the paintings was going to interest me to a degree, where I felt like I really got my 50 cents worth, but I just wanted to see how much it illuminated the paintings. I couldn't find my change right away and by the time I did the other man had inserted 2 euros. It illuminated the drawing very well. The illumination cost was a first for me.

I then walked to where I was supposed to have started this self guided walking tour, which was at the Plaza Della Repubblica. It was a pretty cool area with a giant archway providing entrance to the plaza. Like a lot of things in Florence there was some scaffolding near the archway, which didn't allow for a good picture. Similarly on the backside of the Cathedral there was scaffolding. I guess these old structures need a little tuck pointing who knows. The Basillica in Milan was the same way. I had enough and was ready to walk to the spot indicated at the tourist office to get on bus 17 which would take me to the Hostel. I was actually rather excited about checking out the hostel as there was also camping at it. I was hoping they might have yurts or something, but expected that to not be the case and if they did they would probably had already been reserved. I have reserved essentially nothing on this trip. Their are a couple things that I will reserve like my stay in the castle that is a Hostel in Nuremberg, Germany and I understand their is a boat in one of the Scandinavian countries that is a Hostel that I will need to reserve. I understand the hostels in the Scandinavian countries are quite expensive. I may not stay there too long if things get too expensive. Hopefully couchsurfing will help out some. I was told recently the farther you go north in Europe the more English is spoke. That will be nice as the language barrier is a hindrance to meeting people.

Anyway as soon as I arrived at the bus stop, the bus was there and I jumped on. I didn't have a ticket, but the guy from Naples said they usually do not bother the tourist much. He said normally they never check to see if you even have a ticket especially during a busy time like it was now. I had no idea where I needed to get off the bus and looked around for backpacks on the bus indicative of a possible person going to the hostel. I couldn't find any so I asked the guy seated next to me. It turns out as luck would have it, he knew where the hostel was at and was getting off at the same stop. Once there he said he had a car and offered to drive me there as it was still a little ways to the hostel. I was a little nervous getting in the car with him, but figured I could always jump out if necessary. There was no problem and he dropped me off.

The walk to the hostel was a pretty long ways I guess at least a quarter mile and it was all uphill. Once there I saw some tents around the huge building. The hostel was not as big as the Dobiaccho hostel, but it was big nonetheless. It was a little disorganized at the hostel, which isn't unusual, but I had less patience today than normal as I was tired. They said they had no towels like the brochure advertised. They said to use your bed sheet. That would not work too well if I took a shower before I went to bed, which is my intention.

Anyway I took my bedding and went up to my room. It wasn't too bad. I got to thinking and realized that I had not paid them anything to stay there. Normally you pay when you check in. Maybe you pay when you go out. Not sure. I will find out tomorrow. I took about a 30 minute nap and went down stairs. They fixed a supper at the hostel and for 9.50 € you got a very nice meal. I selected the pork chop meal as I had not had pork in a very long time. Of course I had bread and pasta with it as well. All and all the meal was very good. I decided to go for a walk. I got my bus ticket and found where the bus stop was at for the morning trip. I decided to spend a little time walking to a high point to get a good view of Florence from above. There were lots of hills around Florence and I found one to the north, which was ideal for the westerly setting sun. I was hoping for a couple good photos. The road, as is common in these old towns, are very narrow and dangerous to walk on and drive for that matter. I heard some cars honking there horns like the buses do at the corner. Their were some mansions in these hills and I got a couple shots that I think might be ok. I am really hopeful of a sunset photo that has a bonzai looking tree in it. You really don't know how they will turn out until you get them on the computer screen.

Anyway after about 2 miles of walking in one direction I decided I better head back as I was spent. I made it back to the hostel and got on the computer to send out a couple couchsurfing request for Pisa and Siena, where I am heading tomorrow. I typed until 11:00 and decided it was time to call it a night.

5-12-07
Holy Cow the cubs win. Well I hope that is not true, but the last time I checked the standings, I saw where they are in second place with the Cards in the cellar. I know one of these years the cubs will make it to the series, but I hope it is not anytime soon. I love to watch them lose about as much as I like to see the cardinals win.

Let me try this again. Holy Cow that was a sleepless night. The guy in the bunk beside me snored like a water buffalo. No I have not heard a water buffalo snore, but I can only imagine it would be loud. The guy did not make it to bed until 1/2 past 12, but when he got cranked up the walls shook. The guy in the lower bunk beside him got up and shook the bed. The guy awoke and asked him what, and he said your snoring. The snorer apologized and said he could not help it. The guy that woke him said he knew that. The guy that woke him ask that he just try to turn over. I felt bad for the guy, but it was nice for there to be quiet in the room again. There actually was a couple other guys snoring as well, but not to the same degree. After about 30 minutes the guy got cranked up again and woke me. I reached over and shook his bed and said he's snoring again. Awe peace and quiet again. After a few minutes he was snoring again, this time the first guy woke him again. He quit but quickly resumed snoring. Finally about 3 in the morning the other guy left the room with all his stuff. I just kept rolling over trying to put the pillow a little firmer on my head to reduce the noise. I have ear plugs, but nothing was going to block this noise. I tossed and turned the rest of the night never really getting back to sleep.

I was amazed, but most of the room was up and out of there by 7:30. I got up after the majority of the room was empty and went to take a shower. I had to use the bed sheet to dry off with since I had left my towel at a hostel I believe in England or maybe in Ireland. This hostel advertised as providing towels, but they did not deliver. I showered, got everything packed and went down to check out. They charged me the room fee at that time as I thought maybe they had forgotten. There are actually quite a few youth hostels in Italy. The kid from Bologna had said there were not. The breakfast consisted of a warm drink of your choice, I selected hot chocolate, and a piece of bread. The bread was ok, but nothing great. I put some butter and jam on it. I felt full after leaving. I sat near the guy that was snoring, but really did not say anything to him as I was pretty tired. As I left the hostel the same guy was ahead of me as it was about a 1/4 mile walk from the hostel to the bus stop. I was walking across the street and bus 17 was just pulling away from the stop I was at. I had just missed it. I stayed there for a little bit and then I heard the guy from the hostel yell at me and said the bus stop he was at takes you to the city center and it was near him. I ran down there and saw another bus numbered 17, but with a letter as well like 17b this time. I ran there and jumped on the bus with him. I talked to him the rest of the way to the center. He was a very nice man from Brazil. He said him and some friends want to drive Route 66 from California to Chicago. I told him that goes right past St. Louis. I always s thought it went to Texas. I didn't know it went out to LA. I told him he could stay with me in the St. Louis area if he liked. Once we got off the bus we exchanged contact information. He spoke very good English. Maybe the Chinese kid from the Boston Hostel is right heavy people do snore more as this guy was a little over weight.

From there I walked towards the Uffizi museum. The crowds were less this time in the morning, which was kind of nice. I got a picture by Michaelangelo's David Statue. I walked on and saw the lines were not too bad at this time in the morning to the Uffizi museum. Yesterday afternoon it was crazy. Moral of the story get there early. I walked on to the museum and Garden at the Palace. I went up to get a ticket and the lady said this was a free day. Wow lucky for me. This is nice as the common person can always afford to go this way. I liked that. Most museums have free days, but I suspect sometimes your probably better off paying so the crowds are less. I was there about 8:30 and things were pretty quiet. I walked right in and stowed my bag as they have a place to do that, which was very nice as I really didn't want to lug that thing around another day as I could feel my legs could use the break. The palace had museums for paintings, for costumes, for treasures etc. It was huge. You could have spent a day alone in the museum with the paintings. I just kind of flew threw them. I needed a guide to get anything out of them. I enjoyed seeing the frescoes on the dome ceilings the most. These were usually of some Greek gods. I have always found Greek mythology interesting. Again there was lots of nudity being painted and sculpted by these guys that the church back in it's day held in great esteem. I guess they viewed the nudity different back then. It disturbs me a little to see how religions change over time, but at that time the rules and laws seem to be held so steadfastly. I wonder if people should take religion a little less seriously and just focus on living the Golden Rule. Many wars have been fought on account of religious beliefs and I just do not thing that is right. The religious crusades being the most glaring example. Bush is always flaunting his christianity yet he goes to war for untrue reasons and believes in the death penalty. If you ask the question what would Jesus do I don't think those two things would be something he would do. Maybe I am wrong maybe Jesus likes wars and all the killings.

I walked through the Garden after hitting the 3 museums. The garden was pretty cool, but there really wasn't much plant life. There were a few grape plants, but that was about it. It was more about the concrete structure and the layout of the garden more so than the actual plant life. I was ready to get going so I went and got my checked bag and headed towards the train station. The self service ristorante that I had went to the day prior was pretty cool so I decided to find that back. I knew it was by the Basilica so I headed that way. Unfortunately however it was closed. I was starved so I stopped and got a slice of pizza. I ask the price in advance and she said it was the same price as if I would take it out. Normally I know I would have been charged extra, but there wasn't any one else in the store so I think that is why she allowed that.

I got to the train station and had about a 25 minute wait until the next train to Pisa. I got on the train and was on my way the short distance from Florence to Pisa. In Pisa I saw a map and decided to just walk to the Tower. I was feeling energized having just eaten in Florence. The tower and cathedral appeared to be surrounded by a wall. I was surprised by all this. I kind of thought this would be kind of like Stone Henge kind of out by itself. It was a longer walk than I expected but I was still feeling good even with the backpack on my back.

As I walked I kind of kept my eyes peeled for a towel and sunglasses. I was looking for sunglasses that fit over my prescription glasses. I only found one pair so far and that was in Cortina in the Dolomites.

As I walked down the street towards the tower I was impressed by it. I had heard people say it is all kind of a joke, but not for me. I thought it was very cool. The tower was definitely leaning , I estimate 10 deg. and it was much bigger than I expected. Also right adjacent to it is a big Cathedral. This was news to me. I was in awe by it. Actually I was more amazed by it, than what I saw in Florence as my expectations were a lot higher for Florence. I took some pictures and a guy from Australia was by himself and we reciprocated taking pictures of each other. There were lots of people taking pictures while the other person pretended to hold up the tower. I started talking to a couple Swedish women who were doing this and I ask the lady if she wanted help holding the building up. She said sure so we acted like we were holding it up together. We were on the wrong side of the building and the sun wasn't illuminating the picture very well hence the picture did not turn out that well. I walked around a little more in awe of this place. It was a lot more than expected and I would recommend people include this place in their travels. This is really the only thing to see so a few hours is all you need, but definitely take those few hours. Ok is this a travel guide or journal? Journal of course now lets get back to the I's.

I got back to the train, which like the trip to the tower was a farther walk than I expected, which stands to reason the walk there and the walk back to the train station would be similar distances. The walk back however I was a little more fatigued, which also stands to reason. I tell you I have the sports caster gene. Babe Ruth was a good ball player! At the train station I got on the next train to Livorno. The distance from Livorno to Pisa was a very short distance. At Livorno however, is when the trouble began. I went outside and saw several bus drivers standing around talking near their bus. I asked one how to get to the Ostello (hostel in English) and showed them the address. They said take bus 1 to Plaza Grande (am I ordering from Starbucks are getting directions here?) and then get on bus 3 from there. That sounds easy enough. The ride to the Plaza was great asI got to talk to some people from North Carolina and there were also people from Australia on the bus. Didn't expect so many tourist in Livorno as I do not remember reading about it in my Rick Steve's guidebooks.

After getting off at the Plaza Grande I walked over to where bus 3 was at. The first bus 3 that came along I got on but after showing him the address he said no no no I must get on bus 3 at a 1/4 past the hour. That was a 1/2 hour away. I decided to walk around for awhile looking for a beer or birra in Italian, a towel, a soap container and a memory card not necessarily in that order. I found none, but could have boughten a 200 euro pair of Gucci sunglasses, but chose not to. The Italians lover their sunglasses and are not afraid to spend money to get them. I think the Italians generally speaking are doing pretty well financially. I went back to waiting at the bus stop.

I looked around at the bus schedules, which are always like reading Einstein's Law of Relativity. I figured out there to be 3 buses that were labeled in addition to the 3 with a letter a, b, and c. The bus at 1/4 past was bus 3b. They forgot to tell me that small detail at the bus station and I had threw around some Italian words too. I usually get more helpful responses if I throw some Italian in.

Bus 3b came and I got on. I sat on that bus for about 20 minutes and still had not come to my stop. The bus driver was going to let me know when we were there. The bus went from about 25 people on it to now about 8 and then to 5 and then I decided I better see if maybe he forgot me. He had not. I got my translator out and started asking the lady beside me if she had been shopping today as she had several bags. I then understood her to say work since she said in English "work". She also had helped an elderly lady earlier on the ride and I told her "tu malto gentile", which to me meant you are very nice and evidently it meant the same to her as she smiled and said grazies. This I knows means thank you. Everyone should try and experience the difficulty in talking to someone that speaks a different language. When I get back to the states don't be surprised if I talk really slow and pronunciate a lot and say things like. I am Dave. How are you? This will be said much deliberately with much pronunciation. It will be like your talking to a 2 year old. I digress. I do that a lot it seems.

Finally everyone is now off the bus. It is just me and the driver. There was some sort of cycle race going on to our right. The bus driver stops the bus and motions something to me, which I thought meant come along so I followed. The bus driver runs over to a couple cops and they shove me up against a car and say passport. Just kidding they did nothing to me. The bus driver was asking them I think, the directions to my Ostello. We got back on the bus and he drove me father. I get my translator back out as I am enjoying using it and say bicicletta gara di corsa which means bicycle race. He said sie meaning yes. Me asking that question had no bearing on what we were doing it was just a matter of me wanting to feel like I could talk Italian. It is always a great achievement when I see a smile or hear a word that I know is a direct response to my question or comment. I am most use to a puzzled look or laughter like when I tried to say, very good in response to my meal and it came out many toilets resulting in a puzzled look and laughter in the back room. Hey I can take being laughed at. If I can make someone laugh at my expense in a foreign country then so be it. I am happy for them.

We were getting way out into the countryside by now and the bus driver made a sudden turn down a less traveled road. He seemed to be off his route or was just running a little late. I had no feeling that anything funny was going on, but instead that he was going above and beyond the call of duty to help this wayward tourist. Finally after at least a 45 minute bus ride on 3b we stopped and he said Ostello. He pointed up this rock road. I got off and indeed saw a building up the road. I walked there and couldn't get through the gate I saw a young lady doing some cleaning outside in a big patio looking area with a canopy and tables over it. I yelled Ostello to her. She looked my way and then back down to her task at hand. I tried to slip through the gate but couldn't probably just because my backpack was too big and for some reason I did not think to just take off. I saw no markings indicating a Ostello so I walked back to the road where I saw an older man and younger boy playing some music on the tape player in this orchard. I walked over to them and said Ostello in my best quizzical tone of voice. The indicated yes and said to ring bell. I walked back to the gate and saw an intercom and buzzed in stating my name. A few seconds later the gate opened. I wasn't seeing anyone else around. At most hostels you see lots of people. I walked in the front door and saw a lady doing some cleaning behind this cool looking bar. The bar undulated so you can walk into the undulation and set your drink to your side are almost behind you. Pretty funky. Another lady came down and ask the lady a question.

Finally the lady came back around to the office area and was ready to serve me. I ask her for a room. She asked if I had reserved a room. I told her no and she said we are full. I don't get too excited anymore about something like this as I know I will figure something out. I told her I just traveled 45 minutes on a bus to get here and now you have no rooms. Her English was decent, but no great. She said sorry then made a phone call. Again she came back with the same response. No we are full. She was not being difficult at all as I think she seemed more worried about my plight than I was. I ask her if could stay in tent and if they had any. She said I could, but they did not have any to use. It was now about 7:00 in the evening I was tired and had nowhere to sleep. There were no other Ostello's in Livorno. I finally concluding I need to either find a tent or go to another town that has a hostel. I had a list of Italian hostels so I knew there was one in Siena.

I asked the lady where the bus stop was and she pointed at the end of the road. There were two young ladies that had over heard some of the conversation and looked very worried for me. I ask them if they spoke English and they said they did. I ask them if they were staying here and they said they were. I didn't know what else to say so I said have a good evening and walked out the door towards the bus station. At the gate their was a button that you pressed to open the big metal gates. As I walked out the entrance road I waved to the older guy and young boy. They waved back. A few minutes later I made it to the bus station.

5-12-07
At the bus station their were two ladies. It quickly became evident to me their English vocabulary was less than my Italian vocabulary, which was bad news for any conversation possibilities. But then there was the X-Factor, which was my translator. This was a gift from Mark and something I have been using and becoming more proficient in recent days. I got it out and proceeded. I understood the bus was to come in about 50 minutes. Great, at this particular time, time is not on my side as it normally is these days. I ask them if they knew where I could find tent? A question like that would take about 5 minutes worth of back and forths before the question was understood and for me to understand the answer. I did understand these ladies were very nice and they were doing everything they could to help me. Often they would repeat a word in Italian, but since I didn't understand it the first time, the second time I did not either. At times the two ladies talked emotionally between theirself. I interpreted it to be passionate communication in an effort to help me. I knew these ladies were trying to help me and thought with some effective communication maybe there was hope for lodging Livorno after all. I showed them money to help them understand. I stated Ostello and showed 20 euros and then showed 50 euros and said no and shook my head. From this they knew I was looking for cheap lodging. I explained further that the Ostello allows tents, but I needed a tent. By this time my translator was about to catch on fire from all the use. Finally one of the ladies got out her cell phone and made a call. She talked passionately to the other person for about a minute and then handed the phone to me. I was a little confused and just said hello into the phone. The person on the other end said hello in pretty good English. I realized she had called someone that could speak English and I told the person on the other end my dilemma. She had no good responses for me. She said Livorno is expensive and that I would not find cheap lodging there. I asked her about the tent and their again had no good answer. I think she enjoyed talking to me and I enjoyed talking to her. Finally I came to the realization that I was going to have to sleep in a different City if I wanted cheap lodging.

The older man and boy showed up who were in the orchard near the hostel, at the bus station and they obviously knew the ladies I had been talking to. The older man understood a few basic English words. He said he was the boys uncle and that is his aunt and she is his grandma. The boy said he studied English. Evidently he had not studied it long are did not do well in it, as he didn't know many words.

The one lady ask me if I had a bus ticket. She gave me one. I tried to give her money, but she said no. There was no way I was giving her money. I looked for my old ticket which expires 75 minutes after you purchase it and I knew it was no longer valid and showed it to her. She emotionally shook her head and begin to tear it up. I have never been checked on a local bus and was just going to use it. The kid from Naples said occasionally there will be some policeman who will come on bus and check tickets, but very rarely. He said just talk in English and act like you do not understand and they will let you alone. I told him if that doesn't work I will just get off the bus. Anyway I now had a ticket. They were extremely nice and this conversation has turned out to be the highlight of the day. The leaning tower in Pisa was cool as was Florence, but talking to these ladies was the best. Now this is Europe through the back door as Rick Steve's encourages you to see. I took a picture with the ladies and I. I talked to them much longer than the boy and his uncle so I just got the picture with the two ladies not sure why, but I think it was ok and no feelings were hurt. I ask the boy if he used the internet or had email and he said no. This surprised me as I thought everyone had email these days. His Aunt wrote down the boys address whose name is James and they said to mail picture. I definitely want to do this along with including a note about how cool I thought our meeting was. I will write it in Italian.

I thought the whole time they were waiting for the bus, but they were actually waiting for their ride. As they got in the car, which they fit in like sardines, they continually waved and kept saying Ciao. I said Ciao, Arrividerchi and anything else Italian that I could think of that made sense. The Italian boy continually waved to me as he drove away. They then turned around and drove by me again. I think they needed to turn around due to the direction they were headed, but as they drove by all 5 of them including the driver who I never met, waved in their compact car packed in like sardines with big smiles on their faces. That made me feel good and I think they felt good too.

The bus arrived and I made sure the bus stopped at Plaza Grande and it did. The ride back was less busy and took about 40 minutes. I had just missed the bus to the trentalia stazione, which means train station. Another bus came in 10 minutes and in about 15 minutes I was at the train station. I was not sure how to get to Siena from there or Castlefiorntino, which was another place that had a hostel. The lady working their said to go to both places you had to transfer at Impoli. I had just missed that train and therefore had to wait about 30 minutes before the next one. I called the Hostel and they said they had room. I told them it was going to be about 10:00 before I got there. They said they had room and were open. I got directions and as expected the walk was shorter from the train station than what it probably would be in Siena. I told them I was on my way.

The train left a few minutes late, which I hoped the time would be made up as we traveled as I only had 9 minutes to catch the next train to Castlefiortino at Impoli. At Impoli we arrived about 10 minutes late and of course I missed the train. The next train to Siena was in about 1 hour. I called the hostel and told them it would now be around 11 before I got there and they said fine.

I went to a bar nearby and had a birra moretti. I was rolling with my Italian so I talked some Italian with the bartender. I tried my first complete Italian sentence and in ordering my second beer my order went something like, "Per Favore Vorte (sp) Birra Moretti" and pointed to the draft tap with that name. She said Sie and got my beer. It was a cool experience. I would like to learn Spanish when I get back as they say Italians can understand just fine Spanish as their language is very close. It will be like learning two languages in one.

After the beers I went back to the train station and got on the train. I talked to a German lady on the train that spoke very good English. She worked for the German Embassy in Malta, She married a Maltese man. I asked her if she has any Maltese Falcons and she said no, but they shoot them in Malta. She said they shoot everything. She said so I know about Malta and told her no I am not even sure where the country is at. She explained it's geographical location. I ask her if there is a season on these Falcons. She said yes there is, but there is a lot of poaching that goes on. The train ride to Castlefiortino was very slow as they stopped at the first stop for considerable time. Another train flew by so I assume these local trains do not have the right away and that the faster trains do.

We finally made it to Castlefiortino and I proceeded to walk to the Ostello. I made it there with no problems. It is amazing as it seems every hostel is a little different. It was a very big building near a soccer field. I walked to the front desk got checked in and went to my room. I was rooming with a man in his 50's from Italy that works for a business in Germany.

The rooms were very nice and there were only two of us in the four bed room. I slept well that night.

5-13-07
Had a great night sleep and headed down stairs for breakfast around 8:00. Again the breakfast consisted of a beverage such as coffee, hot chocolate, expresso; a roll or croissant and that was breakfast. Actually a person is surprised in that you are pretty full after that meal after about 20 minutes. I went into an outdoor area and typed for awhile. This particular Ostello closed at 10:00 am, which is common for European Hostels. They take this time to clean the Hostel. I left at 10:00 and headed for the train station. At the train station I saw where a train was to leave at 10:55. I had over 30 minutes to wait so I went across the street and had a soda and typed awhile longer. I had been doing well keeping up with my blog, but was about a day behind at the moment. The table was pretty dirty so I took some of my water and wiped it off with some napkins. I felt a little bad doing this as I am not sure what the locals thought of me doing this. They might have thought well he does not think our tables or clean enough for him. There were cigarette ashes on the table as well. It might seem crazy to think that I could smell the cigarette smell in the table top which is made of plastic, but I thought I could. It amazes me how that smell gets into everything and I am just not a fan of it.

I type for awhile and then all of the sudden I heard some honking in the street near the coffeshop, and no this is not an Amsterdam Coffee shop ether. I looked back and this car drove by at a high rate of speed and then some motorcycles went past followed by a group of bicycle racers. They were very bundled up in a tight group. Bicycle racing is big in Italy. I saw lots of bikers in the Como area as well. I was thinking that I should have taken a picture of that. I walked over to the train station and waited for my train. It got to be about 10 minutes past the time it was to arrive and nothing. I went to look at the monitor indicating train departures and it was no longer on the monitor. It must have been cancelled. There were some Canadians at the station as well and I talked to them for awhile. They were wanting to go to Florence and were trying to figure out the best way to do that. We talked for awhile. Finally, I came to the realization that my train was not arriving. I have not been overly impressed by the Italian trains to date. Occasionally scheduled trains are cancelled and often several minutes late. Overall it is a great way to travel, but their have been a few hiccups here and there.

I decided to walk back to the coffee shop since it was going to be an hour before the next train arrived. I fortunately got my clean table back and begun to type. Again I heard the honking and this time I did get a picture of the bikers. I was surprised they had come back through the same area. The Canadians came back and sat at a table near me. Whenever I see a Canadian the first thing I say is, "So where's your maple leaf". They always have their maple leaf on their luggage somewhere. Like the stereotype in Bath indicated Canadians don't flaunt your maple leaf. For some reason they like to display it. Maybe it's national pride? Not sure. This group consisted of a couple I guess to be in their late 50's, their daughter and a female friend.

I decided to buy a pastry to eat. I felt bad sitting their and not buying anything. The time went by very quickly and I went back to the train station. This time the train did arrive, but it was very full. I assume a lot of the people wanted to get on the preceding train making this one about twice as full. I had to stand along with about 8 other people near the steps that you use to get on the train. People were also standing in the aisles of the train. I talked to an African American woman from Atlanta. She was traveling with another lady who for some reason was standing on the opposite side of the train. It was nice to see an African American travelers in their 20's as you do not see much of that. We talked for a long time. She is a very nice lady.

Upon arriving at the Siena Train Station I waited around to make sure they had gotten a train to Overti (sp) where they were headed. I had considered spending a night together with them in Overtia, but it didn't work out as there were no bed and breakfasts that had an extra bed. When they were in line getting their ticket I ask them to pick up a train schedule book for all the local trains in Italy. It is very hard to read and I guess I am going to have to spend some time figuring out how it works. I suspect it really isn't that hard to read. The bus schedules however for the City's are extremely complex.

We said our goodbyes and they left for their next train. I waited for several minutes to get a bus to Siena's City Center. Once off the bus I decided to walk around all along packing my backpack, which was getting very heavy. My right hip has been giving me a little trouble as well so it would be nice to get some of the weight off, but I sucked it up and kept going. This is why I am taking this trip now, as I am sure the ailments will be more severe as I age and this trip would be a lot more difficult in my 60's than it is now. I may have to try to do some physical rehab on it in the future actually maybe before this trip is over. I know I have very limited flexibility with the hip now in comparison to the other one. After stretching it I can barely walk for about 15 minutes and then it starts feeling better again. The physical therapist noticed a few years ago the cracking and popping noise in there and told me then that she thought someday I would have problems with it. I notice too that I have altered my walking a little to compensate, which is a bad thing because that means I am going to have to retrain my muscles as I am currently favoring my left leg. I am going to start rehab I think tonight, which will consist of stretching and strengthening exercise. I better not wait another 3 months when this trip is over I will just have a bigger mess.

After getting off at the city center I walked to the Basilica Di Francesco. It was a pretty big church but this is Italy and everything is relative. I walked around the backside and saw an escalator and decided to take it down to see where it went. There were several escalators and it turned out it went to a parking lot. I thought maybe it had something to do with the Basilica. They sure spent a lot of money to give people a way down the hill. They could have just built steps, but I suspect no one would have taken them as it was just too far. A lot of Siena is auto free so I guess this helps get people to the main area without driving.

From there I walked to il campo, which means the field. This is a big relaxing area with a huge brick plaza. People lay around the plaza as if it is a beach or something. There is a pool made of concrete where pigeons hung out I guess for a drink. People could also get a drink of water from the public drinking area near the pool. Essentially there is a spigot for filling up water bottles. I walked to an area, which I believe to be the City Hall and a portion of this building you could walk into that was shaded, but no roof. I talked to an Australian couple for awhile. They said there are two horses races a year held in the big plaza outside of the building. He said they hall in sand and fill the plaza with a few inches of sand and races the horses on that. Later in the day I stopped at a postcard stand and saw where they had a postcard with the horse races on it. I typically stop by the post card stands before leaving a city to make sure I have seen everything on the post cards. I rationalize if something is cool in the City and worth seeing it will show up on the postcards. I stayed there for about 45 minutes as it was cool and it felt good to take the bacpack off. I decided I better get going so I walked to the Duomo, which is the big attraction in Siena. This place iss huge and I guess you could call gawdy. It had so much detail all over the building. Inside the building it had bust of all the former popes. I am not sure at what time they quit putting popes up there, but there were a lot of heads. The pulpit was ridiculous with all the detail in it and it being elevated about 10 ft. above the floor of the church. I sat back and thought about the cost and how this money might better be utilized for those less fortunate. Isn't that what the bible was telling us. It seems everyone interprets differently the bible. Usually it is in a manner of how they want to live their life or to help justify previous mistakes. Many people find it extremely hard to admit mistakes and for convenience will interpret the bible and religious beliefs in a manner that conforms to the way they lived or want to live. That is the easier thing to do than to admit a mistake. Others just blatantly make mistakes and think God will forgive them. I like to think if God knows all, then he knows really why you do what you do then why should you have to tell this middle man a priest who is human and makes mistakes as well. Why not talk directly to the man up stairs God. You learn from day one in your Baltimore Catechism that God made you and that he knows all. I can understand being it being a good thing in that it makes you take the time to reflect and change your life if something needs changing. So there are definitely benefits to confession. But to me it makes as much since to just talk to the man upstairs directly and forget telling the middle man, which in this case is the priest. It just seems to me that we could all simplify things a lot if we just pretty much lived our lives in accordance to the Golden Rule. Essentially the bible teaches us to do that, but then people interpret things differently, which becomes a problem. I have always enjoyed sermons in Church and listening to the readings, but the repetition of everything gets a little boring at times.

I was reading about Assisi just before typing this and read how St. Francis of Assisi agreed that these lavish expenditures of money was getting out of hand and he thought the church leaders should live a more humble life and less lavish life. I am on the same page with St. Francis. If I have a boy someday may I will name him Francis in his honor. Then again he would probably get teased a lot and get beat up a lot. Maybe I will name a pet that instead. Other pets do not tease each other for their names or do they? 😊

Where were we? Oh we were in the big lavish church with all the pope heads! It was cool seeing the artwork and sculptures if you forget about who were putting them up there and how they seemed to honor human beings and not the humble man upstairs.

For 10 euros you could see about 5 other things as well, so I paid the 10 euros instead of 6 so I could see the whole shooting match. What does that mean anyway? Am I saying it right and/or using it in the right context? In the one end of the Church in a level below the church is a baptismal area, which requires entry on the other end of the church. Again had some awesome art work most of which is about God it appeared to me for which I liked. The artwork of the church leaders of the time is what I take issue with. Or was it the followers that insisted on these lavish churches to honor their leaders. Either way it seems to me the popes could have put the kibosh on this stuff if they wanted to. I am however glad they didn't now, as it sure makes for some good viewing and Italy is thankful now as well, because the tourism industry is alive and thriving. Rick Steves said at his conference that there are lots of churches in Italy, but no one goes to them. Most churches did however have masses it appeared to me so I am not sure he is completely accurate about his comment. Most people like to see things fail that they do not believe in. It take a strong man to not be that way. I can only think of one man that I feel is that strong and it is Lonn.

From there I walked to the museum Dell Opera, where you can walk up to this high arch above the museum and see the City. I knew I would not get much from the actual artifacts. The spiral staircase to the top of the arch was pretty narrow, but not too long. My backpack and I were touching walls pretty much on all sides. I had to bend over because of my height which is the case in all these places. The Italians or a pretty short race generally speaking.

At the top of the arch you could see most of Sienna. I try to do this as often as possible to go to the highest point of the City to get a better understanding of how the City is laid out. I did this in Florence, Bath and now Siena. Some City's like Venice and Amsterdam or really flat and there really isn't a high point. There were a couple big buildings in Amsterdam that maybe I could have went up in, but in Venice really there were no tall buildings.

Siena is built on a small hill with Valleys all around it. Most of the Tuscan region is like this. You see lots of Olive trees on the rocky hill sides and a few grapes. The way I understand it northern Italy is where the best grapes are grown for wine making. I took lots of photos and then headed down.

I then walked to the crypt the next place on my ticket and it was pretty much boring. This is a place under the church where I assume they use to bury people. Not sure. There were a couple places where they installed glass in the floor of the church such that you can see down into the crypt from the church. I guess in case any dead people would try and leave the crypt, they could see them getting away? Not sure. Anyway the crypt was quite boring. There was only one place left on this ticket, but it was a decent walk away from my location so I decided it was time to head to the Hostel. I found the bus stop after asking a taxi driver how to get to the address of the hostel. I decided to call the Hostel since I recently got burned in Livorno and they had plenty of room.

The bus arrived and I ask to buy a ticket, but the driver said he did not have one, but told me he would tell me when I needed to get off the bus. I just rode it without the ticket. I have never seen anyone check the ticket on a bus. They do check them regularly on trains however. When I get to Naples however, I will definitely get all the proper tickets there since it is somewhat of a corrupt area.

I made it to the hostel and got checked in. It appeared to be a very nice hostel with not many people there. I got checked in and was glad to see there were only two beds in the room with no one else there at least not yet. Other places may have had four people in a room of this size, but not here. I saw at the front desk there was a dinner served between 19:00 and 21:00 which is 7 to 9 in America. It was only 6:00 so I had an hour to wait. I was both hungry and tired so I was able to take care of one of those needs immediately as I chose to eat the hostel meal. After about 45 minutes of laying there not really sleeping I decided to head down stairs to see what was on the tv. It would be nice to catch some American CNN as I really lose track of what's going on across the pond. On my next train rain I will have to get another paper in English to get my fill of the American News. Internet access is not that great in the City's I have been too and those tend to be extremely pricey. Really I think I am doing very well on the money front as the Hostel lodging has only been 15:50 and the couchsurfing obviously free. Couchsurfing appears to be more popular in the US than in Europe, where I understand there is a thing called Hospitality Club which may be more prevalent.

Downstairs there were two Italians watching tv one I estimate to be in his 50's, the other in his late teens early 20's. They were watching soccer highlights from I assume recent games. They are soccer crazy over here. As you drive through City's you see people playing the game kind of like you might see people playing softball / baseball in the US. I watched this with them until 7:00 and then ask the staff, where the dinner was served as I could not smell or see anything. He said it is down the street at a restaurant. You just never know how things work over here. I paid my 9.68 € and headed down the street. Now sure how they came up with the 0.68 but they did. He said it is a 2 minute walk, which absolutely means nothing to me.

As I approached the place that looked like it might be it, a person saw me looking for the restaurant name and said, "Hostel." I think he has seen that look before. I said yep and he showed me in. This restaurant had an awesome pizza oven. From where I was seated you could see the flames inside and the hot bed of coals. The outside of the oven had some tile on it that really made it look nice. There was a clay tile roof like top, which really made it look nice. They had big rods with platforms on them to take the pizzas in and out. Another rod was used to stoke the fire. Occasionally I saw them throw a piece of wood in the oven. It appeared the flue was on the other side of the oven, but was partially blocked by a wall so I couldn't be sure. It appeared to me that it baked pizzas in about 4 minutes as I tried to time it. I ask the waiter a little later and he said boisterously that it cooked them in 1 minute. I was not sure whether that was the truth or not, but regardless it was definitely quick.

I ordered my meal of pasta with a tomato sauce and chicken and potatoes. The pasta was good and the parmesan cheese they give you is magnificio. It is a lot better than the parmesan that you get out of that green can that I never really liked. I was envisioning the chicken to be baked and something similar with the potatoes, but I was wrong. The chicken was batter and fried and the potatoes were French fries. Not exactly the Italian cuisine I had come to expect. The 1/2 liter of wine, which is a common portion over here however was very good. I always choose the house red and it cost usually around 3.50, which seems like a pretty decent price.

As I was finishing my chicken the waiter sat down two other people at my table having 4 seats. I was extremely surprised by this. I said high and was happy to see they spoke English and low and behold they lived in Columbia, MO. I usually say I am from St. Louis, but this time I gave a more detailed location. He was a professor who was teaching in a study abroad program in London and his wife I guess keeps him organized and made their travel plans. I am guessing his age in the late 60's early 70's and her to be in early 60's. Just guesses. They may have lived in the Lake District of England and not London, I forget as I know the Lake District came up. The Lake District area I have heard a couple people say now is great for hiking. Might have to think about that for a next trip. I told them they were probably looking for a nice romantic evening and now they were seated by me? They were very polite and kind, but I had a 1/2 liter of wine in me and travelling by myself so I was ready to talk. I am joking about that a little, but we did talk quite of bit about all kinds of things. We talked politics for awhile and it was cool to know that worldly people like this man did think Bush was ok at first. Maybe I have always been too hard on this guy. The other options probably would not have been much better. The war in Iraq was what upset them the most. They were mad that his administration thought we would go there "mission accomplished" and leave. They had no plan after Saadam was removed. He obviously held that country up and kept all the different factions at bay. It seems it should have been quite obvious that once you remove the supporting structure of a country that the mess we have now might happen. I assume they teach that kind of thing at West Point? They also said they warn there students about the anti-Americanism in the world today. He says it upsets his students to hear that, which didn't surprise me as I myself never thought about the rest of the world when I was a kid either. As a result of this trip however, I have become more patriotic than when I left. We are a great country and as the Canadian lady said at the end of the day we will do the right thing. We did it in WW II and we will do it again. We just have this major blemish on our record now.

Anyway we completed our meals and headed out. It was a nice meal, but I suspect they will never let the waiter seat them by another person like that again.

Back at the hostel I saw that I now had a roommate. At first I was disappointed, but the more I got to know the guy the happier I was to have him as a roommate. The guy is from Australia, quite common to find on the road, married with two kids. I believe he said he was 45 and he is retired from the Australian military, where he was a helicopter pilot. He flew to Istanbul, Turkey where he bought a motorcycle and is spending the next 4 months on motorcycle driving around Europe stopping at a couple different motorcycle races. He said he went to Greece from Turkey and then to Italy. After Italy he is going to France and to England, where he will attend a race. He said in Athens Greece he had some great conversations with the locals. He said they live completely in the present. He said people would buy him coffee and insist on him not returning the favor which he tried to do. He said the second day there a local noticed him again and told him to come with him for coffee. He told the guy the coffee is cheaper at a closer café and the guy said that coffee is no good and told him to follow him. They walked a ways and went to a café and had there coffee. He said the guy insisted on buying the coffee as well. He said he saw a fishermen come in and had some coffee, which he gave the man fish to pay his bills. He said it was neat to see how they live and a lot different from what we are used to. He said they lived so in the moment. He said he had all these Greek ruins all around him, but he enjoyed his time he spent with them the most.

He also told me about all the craziness he had seen on the road. He talked about running out of gas on the Amalfi Coast and how crazy the roads are there. How fast everybody drives explaining how the posted speed signs he thinks everyone views as advisory only. I can't remember seeing anyone pulled over now that I think about it. I see lots of police in City's, but no one out on patrol trying to catch speeders. Wow what an interesting trip.

We were both spent, but enjoyed talking so much we ended up talking for two hours. At midnight we agreed to shut her down. Lights out 24 hundred hours.

5-14-07
We got going around 7:30. I showered he went for breakfast. After showering I headed for breakfast. The Australian was just pulling out so I got a picture of him and his bike. It was quite the setup. I saw him walking the bike with the engine essentially idling. I was thinking how well behaved this powerful machine is. There were two Australian women on pedal bikes near him. He was having a chat with them. I headed back for the breakfast consisting of a roll and hot chocolate. I seem to have a more steady mood drinking the less caffeinated beverages. From the hostel I headed for the Siena train station. Got on the first train to Salerno. Arrived in Salerno mid aftertoon where I walked around for most of the afternoon as my couchsurfing host would not be home from work until later in the evening. I took the bus she had said to and got to a bar she recommended I go to to wait for her. The bartender knew the lady and I text her to let her know I was there. She arrived shortly. At the bar I had a beer and they gave me some chips to eat. I was hungry so that sounded great.

Ramona, the couchsurfing host arrived and we headed to her house. She is a very ambitious lady as she has taken this old house and remodeling. She said someday she wants to open a section of it up to single people like her that are still living at home. It will be designed for those folks to learn to cook and do things on their own. She is a professor in Naples and has a lot of great ideas. Lets just say she has lots of irons in the fire.

She fixed a great meal and we called it a night around 12:00.

5-15-07

On this day I was wanting to get my hair cut and burn my photos to a cd. Ramona drove me into town and dropped me off at the place she likes to go to for computer work. The folks there said they could do it in about 30 minutes. I needed a hair cut and ask them if there was a barber close and they pointed to a place just down the street.

I walked into the barber shop and indicated I needed a haircut by illustrating a cutting motion with my fingers while holding my hair up. They got the point and told me to sit down. It was obvious this guy did not know any English so I got two pitures from a magazine and indicated I wanted my haircut like those pictures. He understood. I asked him price and he didn't understand the question just indicating to sit down first and we would worry about money later. This is common in Italy as often this is the case but I just didn't want an exorbitant cost. He begun clipping away and did not stop for 40 minutes. I did not have much hair to cut either. In the meantime he offered me coffee and once took the cloth off to shake the hair out and I thought the haircut was over but he then motioned for me to sit back down and the clipping resumed. He obviously was very meticulous and thought was doing a pretty good job. I think the shears must have opened and closed a million times.

Finally the haircut was over and pulled out a 20€ and handed it to him. I thought surely this would cover it. He started looking around for change so I then pulled out a 10€ and he shook his hand in agreement. I thought this guy could have taken this tourist for a 20€ but only took 10€. This was another great experiencing and I walked out of their with a smile on my face thinking you know maybe their is hope for mankind. I know pretty loft goals based on one haircut but it doesn't hurt to dream now does it.

In the computer store they now had time to burn my disc. The owner told me to follow him and we headed upstairs to his office. I asked him about the likelihood of this disc being able to be played in the US. He called someone and said yes it should work. It took about 30 minutes by the time he had completed. I also ask him where I can find a internet point in Salerno and he told me to sit down at the computer at their front desk and use it. I sent out some couchsurfing request and checked emails which took about a 1/2 hour. In the meantime he had offered me coffee like the barber. I ask him how much and he said 5€. This seemed way too cheap and I ask him if he remembered I had used the internet and he said not to worry about that. Again I was extremely happy not about how cheap it was but how nice these people are. This is southern Italy where all the bad guys are too.

From there I took a bus ride up the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi admiring how steep the cliffs were and how high. Actually many portions of this road was quite scary. Frequently we had to stop and backup to find a spot where two buses or a bus and car can meet. Most places the road is not wide enough for a bus and anything else. They drivers always honked there horns at corners to alert any traffic that might be on the other side. It is truly a remarkeable ride.

I stayed in Amalfi for awhile and went swimming for awhile. I walked around town and then headed back to Salerno. It was a really cool ride and it look like there were some really nice hiking trails in this area. I may try and come back and do some hiking.

That night Ramona fixed some octopus and once I got past the thought of what it was it was very good. It helped she had it chopped up into pretty small pieces and no longer retained any appearance of the octopus I had seen earlier. We stayed up and talked for awhile and I soon turned in for the night. It had been a great day. I had seen the Amalfi Coast in all it's glory and met two great Italian people in Salerno. I slept with a smile on my face.

5-16-07
I got up today around 6:45. Maybe that is why I am so tired. Getting up early and going to bed late. Again yesterday had been a long busy day. I would not have it any other way.

Things started out with a drive with Ramona, which like the day before was an event. First of all I asked her how she had gotten the dent in the side of her car. She said it was in an accident where the other person signaled to turn in one direction and turned the other way. She said she was tired and didn't like how insurance companies work and decided to not go through the hassle of the paperwork. The damage was to one whole side of the car. She said she does not want to be like everyone else, but to be her own person. I told her that I agree with that as long as in her heart what she does is really what she wants. Sometimes I think people do things that they really do not like just to be different. I know people who are snobbish towards you if you do not listen to National Public Radio. I listened to it and did not like it. I don't think I am a bad person, because I do not like something. I am just being honest. Similar to hockey I have watched the sport and tried to understand the game, but I still find that I really do not like it. I have never understood and liked the fighting in the sport. There are rules against it, but than there is an unwritten rule that it is ok to fight during the game. I guess it is like the brush back pitch in baseball. More intimidation than anything. I believe if a person gives something a chance then so be it. Diversity is what makes the world go around or at least interesting. As long as some one is open minded about something then so be it if they do not like it.

Well, the drive continued as did the excitement. Ramona continuously swerved into other lanes. I told her if she was in the United States she would get pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving. I told her about having to walk a straight line and breath analyzers etc. Also I mentioned in the US there are a lot more police officers on the road than what you see around here.

Ramona is an extremely intelligent women who just picked up English during her travels. She can also speak several other languages. Because she is so bright I tried to pick her brain as much as possible, but it seemed the swerving got worse the more she talked. I had asked her about Mount Vesuvial, which had buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. Ramona said yes and commented that the gas was what killed them not the lava. She said that is why you see the weird facial expressions on the mummy's face. She said the best ruins from Pompeii are not in Pompeii, but they are in Naples. She said there was also an earthquake in this area in 1944 during W.W.II. I loved learning about that kind of stuff but because the swerving had gotten so bad I quit asking her questions. There was one car that honked at her, because of the swerving. We drove essentially around Mount Vesuvial to get to Naples. Once we got into Naples the traffic came to a grinding halt. There was about 5 lanes of traffic merging into 2 lanes. I was curious how this was going to work. This was an opportunity for Ramona to put on her makeup. I crossed my fingers and just watched in amazement. Everyone just creaped to the right where the two lanes were. It actually worked pretty well. I had asked her when she was supposed to be at work and she said 9:00. I looked at my watch and it was already 9:00 and she said yeah she knew she was going to be late and added they are use to her being late referring to her employers. She said she teaches a class to college kids. She said she will be lecturing to them until 5:00 tonight. I ask her if she has notes and she said no she just talks and having done it for 5 years it is easier now. She is a very talented lady there is no doubt about that.

Once we got close to her work she was mad when the spot that she referred to as "her parking spot" was just taken by another car. I was amazed by all the trash piled up all over. It was very disgusting as a matter of fact. We drove around a little more always in the direction of where she needed to be and finally she said ok I am going to do this. We were in a parking garage and she drives onto this walkway ramp and over the walkway back to this column. We were clearly in an area where you are not supposed to be. I ask her if she was supposed to be parked there and she said no and added I will probably get a ticket. We did our fake kissing on each cheek as Italian's do and were on our way. I was heading to the Circumvensia subway from where I would be getting off at the first stop and switching trains at the train station. At the train station I would be getting off and taking the next train to Pompeii. Yeah it seems weird to think I was going to Pompeii. This was the City you had always heard so much about, but never thought of ever going there. Today I am.

At the first train stop it seemed to take forever, before the first train came. Three trains had stopped but were going in the other direction before even one came in the direction I was heading. You got the impression that people in Naples were not surprised by the train being so late although some looked around a little as if thinking looking down the tracks would result in a train arriving faster. Eventually the train did arrive, but as was getting to be the norm standing room only. These trains are packed and I think the majority of people don't validate tickets on most of the trains. The ride was very short and I was off the train again. There were a couple teenage kids doing some yelling as they walked. I was beginning to get the impression that all teenaged kids in Italy were loud. Ramona however told me those are just the uneducated kids. I guess in Italy like in the US, kids do this to draw attention to theirself helping themselves feel important. The uneducated ones need this more than others.

This time however my ticket was checked, but it was not on the train it was once you left the station. Fortunately, the ticket I had, which I was not even sure was valid, turned out to be valid. I walked to the ticket booth bought a ticket to Pompeii and was told the next train was leaving in 4 minutes. I ran downstairs to the trains with my backpack and fanny pack strapped to me. It seem like even though time is on my side it seems I still have this inherent desire to rush. Not sure where that came from, but it is there.

On the train I talked to three ladies from Philadelphia who were traveling together as a group. They had a neat device where they download informational programs about the various places they visit without paying for the audio phones. It was a pretty nice deal and appeared to be worth the money.

At Pompeii I went towards the entrance and a tour guide approached me and ask if I wanted to join a walking tour group for 10€. I feel like I do get more out of the sights if I learn a little more about the sight and the guides did fulfill that service. I decided to do it. The guide seemed a little arrogant really, but was pretty good. Met a really nice guy from Pennsylvania who I liked a lot. He actually volunteered to take a pictures of me for my blog, which I had told him about a little earlier. I had mentioned about going to Argentina this year as well and he said that is a place he wants to go next. Also had a couple from California and their grandson in the group. She was a mapping engineer from California who was bragging about her grandson and her work all the time. She said in her field she pretty much writes her own check as their is a big demand for the work she does. She also talked all the time about how they take their grandchild all over the world. During one portion of the trip the guide discussed how people back in the Roman and Greek days had corrupt politics. Pompeii was a Greek settlement for a long time and then a Roman settlement later. I made the comment that after 2,000 years politics have not changed a lot. She chimes in and says they had Bill Clintons back then even. I wanted to say something about Bush, but I didn't. Maybe I am wrong about this Bush guy. Maybe this Christian leader of ours will work to end abortion. I can't remember when the last time I heard him say a thing about that. Oh now I remember it was during the last presidential election campaign. Maybe going to war in Iraq was a great idea. Maybe all these innocent Iraqis that die everyday needed to die. And maybe these American soldiers that die everyday needed to die as well. Maybe going on the aircraft carrier a few weeks after the war was over and telling the people Mission Accomplished. Maybe we won the war then. It sure does not feel like it to me. Maybe thinking that these people in the Middle East, who have hated the way we live for thousands of years, would welcome us with open arms and consider us as their liberators wasn't just a little naive. Maybe if their was no oil in the Middle East we would be doing the same thing in Iraq just because we are nice guys. Maybe we should go into Africa and liberate those people from the holocaust that goes on over there, but wait a minute I do not think they have oil. Surely that is not a factor. Maybe giving tax breaks to the rich is a good thing especially during war times. China is happy to buy more of our debt I am sure. I am sure calling other countries the axis of evil is a very diplomatic thing to do. Yea Bill Clinton is a horrible guy. He had oral sex in the White House. Let's chop off his head. I am sure Clinton did some corrupt things, but I really did not notice anything near the level of what Bush does. He sure doesn't seem very Christian to me. He must be living his life from a part of the bible that I have not yet read or heard about. I just ask the Norwegian couple, "What does Norway think of our president". They are a couple in their 50's. They said well the young people do not like Bush then again the old people do not either. Ok no more politics. I know both sides are pretty corrupt I just vote and side with the people I think are helping the most people and primarily side with the party that is following the Golden Rule, which is my mantra.

The tour lasted about 2 hours, and for 10 euros, which included admission I did not think was such a bad deal. From there I was looking for some lunch as it was 12:30 and I had a roll for breakfast and that was it. I walked to a place that said self-service, which in Florence that resulted in a pretty good and cheap meal. That was not the case here after checking the prices I decided to walk down the street. I saw a pizzeria that sounded pretty good at the time so I walked there. The prices looked pretty good so I ordered a pizza and a beer. The pizza was pretty good, but I had better. The draught beer however really tasted good. A couple near me sat down and we talked for awhile. They were from New Jersey and he is a mechanical contractor. I told them I am a Bruce Springsteen fan and we talked about Bruce for awhile, which is always enjoyable for me. The guy said he had done a water reclamation plant in Colorado and has done a big project in Texas as well. They finished their meal about the same time I did. Maybe it was because I was doing most of the talking, maybe it was because I had more to eat than them or maybe it was just because I subconsciously really enjoyed sitting and not carrying that back pack around for awhile, but for whatever reason they were done before me. I should really look more diligently for a place to store the pack, but I am always trying to save a buck here and there. I went up to pay for the meal and the guy at the front desk motioned me back towards the table. I thought well maybe the waiter had to pick up the money from me even though the folks from Jersey had paid up there. Finally I held up money to the guy in the front and this time he said your friend paid for it. I finally understood the people I had just been talking to paid for my meal. This is the kind of stuff that really pleases me. Not because I did not have to pay for the meal, but because there are people out there doing good deeds. I hope it wasn't because he was a contractor and I being an engineer it was a reflex reaction to buy the meal, but instead just out of kindness hoping for nothing in return. As I walked out of the restaurant I saw his wife but not him and thanked her and she had no idea he had even done that. Anyway it was a very nice gesture and that made me feel good. Hopefully it did the same for him as well.

At times I find myself hurrying to get on a bus, not that I get a good seat but because if there are a lot of people on the bus it gives me the opportunity to offer my seat to someone else. It gives me the opportunity to do a good deed. Is it wrong for me to do such a thing? I don't really think it is for a couple reasons. First of all most of the young kids that get in the front of the line do so, so they do not have to stand. By me getting there I am essentially taking a seat from a young kid and saving it for an older person. If a older person shows I give them my seat if they will take it and it makes me feel good, it is a good example for the younger kids and it probably makes the older person feel good in several ways as well. Namely it makes them physically better and it makes them feel good about the future of the planet after they are gone, which may be a little bit of a stretch I know but I am brainstorming here work with me a little.

From there I walked back to the train station waffling on what to do and where to go. I really liked the mountain hiking in the Dolomites, but thought maybe I should go to Sorento. Good hiking I thought might be at the Hostile in Agerola, but maybe another day laying on the beach in Sorento might be nice too. I thought maybe I could get some input from the tourist information center and ask them about the surrounding hostels. Well they were of little help and basically said they are for tourism around Pompeii Only in a very terse non friendly manner. Maybe they were having a bad day, maybe somebody was mean to them who knows. I knew right away no information was going to be gained there. I headed for the train station and went to Castellmare Di Stabia. From there I was going to try and get to the Hostel in Agerola or the town of San Lazzaro. Agerola I found out is a region with towns making up the region. The town of the hostel that I was looking for is San Lazarro.

I finally decided yes I am going to skip Sorrento and head to the hills of San Lazzaro. It is always a little exciting going into a nontouristy town where you know very few can speak English. I walked around looking for the bus station. As expected no one could speak English and the so called universal words like Internet and computer they did not seem to be picking up on either. I was starting to get a little frustrated and considered just getting back on the train and heading for Sorrento. Finally someone said the internet point is down the road in the Plaza. It was now after 2:00 in the afternoon and everything was closing down. It is very common for things to close in the afternoons. I thought again maybe I will stumble across a place to buy a towel as I have been keeping my eyes peeled for that for several days now. The internet shop I discovered was indeed closed. The place I thought I had to wait for the bus however, was not where I was told by the person I had asked earlier. So I walked back towards the train station where the guy was telling me to go that I had met near the closed internet shop. Upon arriving there I talked to a women the best I could and she said to wait here and I could buy the ticket on the bus. She left and I ask the next person I met and he said I had to walk down the street and at the end of the street is where I needed to catch the bus. He also said I needed a ticket and could not buy the ticket from the driver on the bus. The more people I ask, the more different directions I got. Whose right? This seemed to be pretty common getting lots of different stories from the different people. I walked down the street and indeed there was a bus stop. I ask a person the best I could and I was confident I had the right spot. I ask where to buy the tickets and they said the shop is closed now, which was right next door to the shop we were at. I asked so now what using a couple Italian words and several gestures and shrugs. Finally two young girls motioned to follow them and I walked with them to a shop down the street who sold tickets. Then they walked me back to the bus station and walked up to a couple other young girls probably about 13 and said something in Italian. I gathered they were going to the same town as I was and I was to follow them. I ask the time of the bus arrival and they said 4:10. I had over an hour to wait. I was thinking this Hostel better be worth it all the crap I have had to go through to get there. I tried to get out my PDA and do some typing, but I was tired and just didn't have the energy in these less than ideal circumstances. The young girls around me were giggling non stop, which was a definite distraction as well and an irritation at times as well.

I decided to go get a coke and maybe practice a little Italian. The people I tried to ask how to pronounce the Italian words did not appear very willing to help and the sign language was for me to go away and jump off a cliff. After awhile it started to gently rain. Finally 4:10 arrived and then the bus around 4:15, which did not surprise me that it was a little late.

The bus was crowded as seems to be normally the case. I stood on the front steps of the bus so I got a great view of the road. As we got into the mountains and drove through several small towns like in Naples, trash disposal seems to be a problem around there. The roads were winding and pretty treacherous. The driver was hitting the horn frequently to warn any approaching vehicles that were out of sight at the corners. This is extremely common in this kind of terrain. I also saw it done frequently in certain parts of Ireland.

I started asking the lady next to me some stuff about where I needed to get off. I used my translator the best I could to pose the most precise questions possible. We were not having much luck, but we were enjoying trying. Finally she turned around and ask if anyone knew how to speak English and no one did. I finally determined from the conversation that she was getting off before my stop as is most often the case. It seems I am always going to the end of the bus route for these hostels. As the lady got off she told the bus driver where I needed to go. I had told him as well, but I always assume they will forget and usually remind them a time or two. There were now down to 4 people on the bus and the bus driver posed a question to the passengers asking them where they needed to go. He indicated a few of us including myself should get off this bus and get on the bus behind us. So I did. When getting on the other bus I showed the other driver the address of where I needed to go. The bus driver was having a conversation with two workers on the street. I assume he was just bull shitting with them as everyone that could understand Italian were laughing at the conversation.

Finally the bus driver got going and he was singing some of the time and talking to the other passengers. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Finally we got to the stop and the bus driver motioned me off the bus and pointed to behind the bus. I saw a big building, but didn't recognize it to be the hostel until I got up close. Finally I thought the long day is over.

I met my hostel mates. Dave is a British guy who now lives in Texas. Also in other rooms were a couple in their 50's from Norway and a couple from the Chec. Republic who were on their honeymoon. Yes on their honeymoon. Hostels are not that bad! I walked around town looking for a place to eat. This is a major event for me so I try to chose it wisely. I walked probably about 3/4 mile in search of the perfect restaurant. I am looking for something a little off the beaten path and maybe something that doesn't get a lot of business and is family owned. Your right there is actually no way you can know all that just by looking at a place, but I use my gut the best I can. I walked south from the Hostel and came to a great overlook. I didn't realize this town San Lazzaro was nestled along the Amalfi Coast like this. I took a couple pictures.

From there I walked through town in the other direction. It seems like this area is always a little overcast and sometimes foggy. Not sure if the geography of this area causes this or what? Finally after walking all over town I walked into a restaurant that I did not see anyone else in and I was not sure it was even open. As I walked in, an older gentlemen I suspect to be in his 70's came to the door. He said yes they are open, but no pizza. I think that is because the pizza ovens must be heated up and it is a pretty big ordeal to keep going. I said that is fine and sat down. He was well dressed with a nice vest and slacks on. I heard a child running around in the back. I ordered a beer and cannelloni. On the menu it said the pasta was homemade. Perfect that is what I desired. I also ordered baked chicken. I have been eating all this pasta I craved something else and the baked chicken sounded great. While drinking my beer a little girl brought a bowl of something out that I did not recognize. It was nothing I had ordered she was just being a little kid. She was definitely a cutie and her grandfather came out and got her and made her go back into the kitchen. I got the impression they were eating supper theirself and watching the news as I could hear that on the TV.

The little girl then brought out the cannelloni. I took a picture of her as she sat it on the table. I think she liked that as she was wanting to see the picture and after seeing it smiled from ear to ear. I ask grandpa to take a picture of her and I. She wanted to do more of the pictures, but I think grandpa thought she may be disturbing me so he said no to her and made her go back into the back room.

The cannelloni was to die for. I am not sure if I was just really hungry or it was that good, but I really enjoyed it. After eating it I was hoping the little girl would bring out the chicken too, but instead grandpa brought it out. No one in that restaurant could speak a lick of English except for me and my English is not that good. It really makes it hard to communicate when you do not speak the language. Yeah Ty Cobb played a little rough. I am going to apply for a broadcasters job as I can say blatantly obvious things with the best of them. Anyway we were not communicating with many words that's for sure.

Actually this whole town pretty much speaks Italian. The hostel folks who are some of the nicest people that I have met on this trip speak English and a 5 year old kid staying at the hostel who may be the people who run the hostel's son speaks good English as well. Yes the kid is only 5. It was the weirdest thing I would have thought the kid grew up speaking English. I was talking to his granddad from Dublin and he said his first language is Italian. Last night I talked to him and had no clue he really spoke Italian. Kids that age are learning sponges that is for sure. I really wish they would institute a foreign language requirement in schools just to make the kids more well rounded. I wish I had learned a foreign language that is for certain. Hey it's never too late. When I get back that will be one of the first orders of business. To learn Spanish and to find a job of course. You know there was a day where this trip would really stress me out with regards to finding a job and the lost money from not working but you know I really, truly from the bottom of my heart do not think about that at all. That sentence would make my grammar school teacher proud as would most of my writing for that matter. I do try and save money as much as possible, but I do not worry about the money I am missing out on by not working.

Anyway the grandfather brought out the chicken and it was great. I was having a great night I was interacting with the locals and loved seeing the child. There is one thing that is universal and that's the kids. They all act the same for their first 5 or 6 years of their life. They are just kids and all they are concerned about is having fun. After that though they seem to get corrupted by the people around them and to conform with their culture whatever that might be. I wish we all could be more like kids.

When it came time to pay for the meal grandpa came out with the little girl. I gave the money to her and then she pocketed it and walked away from Grandpa. She finally came back and put up a clinched fist with the money in it to Grandpa. Grandpa was losing his patience and slapped the girls hand. She would not let go. He continued to slap the hand harder and she stayed firm. I was surprised she would not let go. Finally she released her hand and took off crying. She was crying loud and I felt embarrassed for the people their as I suspect they felt embarrassed that that happened in front of me. I thought she had gotten what she deserved really. It might have been better if he had tried to coax the money from her instead of starting into the slapping, but I suspect some of your patience leaves as you age.

Anyway what had been a great meal on several levels was dampened a little. I threw out as many of the Rick Steve's happy words as possible, which I think helped put the night's meal in a good light. I know I really enjoyed it.

I headed back to the hostel and talked to everyone for a while before calling it a night. I was really tired and slept great that night.

5-17-07
I got up at 7:45 and went to the grocery store for breakfast. I miss milk so I got some of that along with cereal. I really wanted some eggs, but didn't want the mess of cleaning up the frying pan so I chose not to deal with it and bought the cereal. I also got some cream filling type of stuff that was like a big twinky, but not as good. In addition to the breakfast food I grabbed some sardines, crackers and chocolate. This was the same meal I had on the hike in Menaggio and it really hit the spot then. I talked to the lady running the hostel and she told me what time the bus arrived that took you to Boomerano, where I was beginning my hike that was to end at Positano. I went back to the Hostel and typed for about 30 minutes then headed for the bus stop about 20 minutes early. I stood there wondering why I got here so early thinking I could have typed awhile longer. The bus stop was about 100 ft. from the hostel. I decided to head for the local grocery store and grab some chocolate, more as a reason to do something than out of hunger. Then after the chocolate I decided to grab a coke. There is no language barrier when you say coke. They know what that is. The bus pulled up a few minutes after returning and I got on. I told the driver Bomerano, which is where I wanted off. He said sie meaning yes.

After driving the winding roads to Bomerano I got off at the piazza. The directions said to go down on a small road under a viaduct. Well the only road I really saw going down was the road that the bus was on and it is a small road at least to our standards in the US. I walked down it thinking you know this is the biggest road around here, I bet this is not the small road they were referring to. After about 3 minutes of walking I turned around and headed back to the piazza to explore a little more. This hike was to take about 3 hours, but I suspected it might take much longer if this trail is marked like the trail in Mennagio which wasn't essentially. Essentially on these trails your given a set of text directions and really nothing on the trail.

At the piazza I did indeed see a sign marking several trails. They were a little hard to follow and essentially looking at the map I knew nothing more of where I would be hiking today. There was a very small road going down to the right however so I took it. From now on if the instructions read a small road I need to put a very in front of it, to help in understanding. I walked down the road and as I did, I became more and more confident that I was on the right path and the viaduct soon approached that the instructions said I would encounter. After walking under the viaduct I saw a small concrete stream that the directions said an on the other side were steps, which where I needed to head up the mountain according to the directions. I was getting cocky thinking I couldn't get lossed now. I made it up the steps and looked around at all the terrace farming. I was near some grape vines that were mounted on structures over some very good soil, where potatoes were planted. I thought about that and assumed they did that to keep the hot sun off the potatoes which is a cool crop. I also saw beans and peas planted under the vines in several locations.

I walked to an area where they said a cave would be and I saw something cave like that really was not that impressive. There were some cats around the area a few were near the cave. It was starting to rain so I got out my rain coat. While doing so there were a group of women hikers ranging in age from 30 to 60 I estimate. That was a good sign other hikers on the trail. The clouds were flying low this day it did not make for good sight seeing. I was confident however that the clouds would not hang around all day or at least provide some photo opportunities. I will make the clouds disappear if need be. I have that kind of power you know.

As I walked a little further down the trail I met two women who appeared they might be mother and daughter who were from Australia. Again more good signs of being on the right trail. As I walked I encountered more women hikers. Now this was saying a couple different things. Was this trail that easy that men do not want to do it. Had I fallen off one of those ledges and I am actually in heaven? What was going on here. Anyway I plodded on. The rain had pretty much stopped if you were to call that rain. It really barely even sprinkled. I came to a tee location where the trail was marked in two different directions. I walked to my left just to see what was there and saw a place to get water and a great view of the Amalfi Coast. I took several pictures. The sun was now trying to get through the clouds and was successful in a few locations along the coast. It was an amazing view. They call this trail God's path and I believe this look out was the reason why. It was beautiful and nothing I have ever seen before. I was a little concerned that the natural beauty of the US might trump anything that I would see in Europe, but I was wrong. This was truly beautiful. It was like nothing I had previously seen. After having a moment, I walked back to that T intersection and read the instructions again.

The instructions said there will be a rock point sticking up with a sign on it, which I had just passed. The next instruction was to turn right and go up the hill and you will see a public water source. The public water source was just over there to my left. After mulling it over I went right up the hill. As I got higher and higher up on the mountain I was becoming doubtful that this was right. I saw a little rock hut and heard a bell ringing. Was this some kind of creature trying to lure me into this rock structure? Or was it just some goats with bells. The ringing was loud enough I thought for sure I should be seeing the goats. I saw nothing and decided to hike. Another reason not to go to the hut was because I assumed this was private property. I was not scared. Finally I decided this trail was not right as I was not finding any public water and didn't suspect I would since I was getting so much higher than the houses in the area so I turned around and headed back. When I came to the rock hut I saw what was making all the noise it was indeed a bunch of goats. A lot of them had bells on. They were grazing around the hut. Not sure why I had not seen them earlier. I walked back down the trail where I saw the public water and continued on from there. On this trail you walk past several houses which it is amazing that they even built houses on these rock ledges. It is quite amazing to see. Often they had a terraced front yard with vegetables growing in them. I liked that, vegetables in the front yard. You sure do not see that in the US much. I guess it is more about surviving here and less about what your yard looks like or how big your house is or how many toys you have. It's a lot simpler existence. I wonder if they are more happy?

As I hiked on I came across a couple other hikers. This time there was one guy with 3 women. I then came across a group of 5 women. Not sure what the deal is with all these women on this trail. It was over 5 miles and there are pretty steep sections and some trails on sheer cliffs. Not exactly a walk in the park. Anyway I came to another location where the trail wyed. The directions said to keep to your right when you come to a location where two trails go left and one goes to the right. Well the trail to the left was the most well defined while the trail to the right was kind of grown up in grass. It said stay right where two trails go left and there was really only one trail to the left. I started down the trail to the left wondering if this was right. I got farther down the hill. I couldn't see any trails going back up. I kept hoping around every corner the trail would turn back up, but it didn't. The instructions said if you take the two trails to the left you would end up going to the city below. It looked like that is where this trail went. Finally after about 5 minutes of heading down hill I turned around. When I got back to the wye in the trail and saw where there appeared to be remnants of another trail to the left at this location. I would barely call it a trail even. This must be what they were referring to as the other trail. So I hung to my right and as I walked I grew increasingly confident that I was on the right track. The trail was pretty consistent for awhile and no major decisions had to be made. Finally it turned and went way up on this rock ledge which was a little adrenaline pumping as off to the left there was a sheer cliff that would not be good for your health to fall off. There were a couple 55 gallon drums full of water along the trail for some reason. They were definitely not for drinking. The trail then went down into a wooded area and in this valley there was a stream that had some water flowing through it. The area reminded me of the rain forest in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. Lots of lush green foliage. I paused in there and wondered if maybe I should have lunch there and decided not to as I suspect after a few minutes being stopped I would have gotten cold as it was cool in this shaded area.

Around the next corner I saw an overweight lady I guess in her 40's gasping for air on the rocks about 200 ft. from me. She was clearly out of shape and probably should not have been on this trail until she got in better shape. Another girl was hiking with her. As I approached them I ask them if they needed any water and when they said they have some I ask them if they wanted a can of sardines, which they also said no to. I told them that is all I had to offer. I didn't tell them about the chocolate I had as you know a lady never turns down chocolate. You notice I only offer things that I think they will not take. I didn't tell them that the trail was not going to get much easier for them anytime soon. Maybe I should have. I did say the trail would be easy to follow in the direction they were going. They said yeah they had heard this is the easier direction to stay on the trail. I had only seen two other hikers that were traveling in the same direction as I was. That reminds me of the canoe trip I was on at Lake Quettico. We were heading in a direction opposite all the other boats. We were canoeing against the prevailing winds.

I am fascinated how people ride bikes and roller blades and put on awesome shoes etc to do all this physical activity for exercise and then they buy what ever equipment they can, to make it as easy as possible. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? You would burn more calories if your bike did not have quite so many gears are the roller blades did not work quite as efficiently.

After that I soon arrived in this village called Nocelle. At least I call it a village not sure what the Italians call it. It is a group of houses that are constructed in the side of this mountain about 2,000 feet above the sea below. There are no roads up here so hiking is required to get up there. I saw one guy working with two horses in a very confined area. I felt a little bad for the horses as I am not sure where they could run. I also think about people who mention living in communities that have close access to medical facilities. These people would not get medical facilities quickly if they were in need of that. I was also admiring the weather I had took my shirt off awhile back to impress all the babes on this trail (that's a joke ). Most of my jokes are that way, I have to cue the person when to laugh. Now it is somewhat cloudy and fairly cool. It changes so much. You might wake up one morning and it be sunny and then 2 hours later it is cloudy. All the pictures of the Amalfi Coast seems to show numerous clouds.

I was reaching a point where I needed to follow the directions very closely. The directions states several turns were necessary. I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would get lossed in the town of Nocelle as there are no streets just walkways and lots and lots of steps as you might imagine up here on the side of this mountain. I could see my destination town of Positano and thought if necessary I would just follow the road into town. I ended up on theses long series of steps that appeared to essentially be taking you off the mountain. I had remembered the directions stating if your tired you can just take the steps down. It wasn't that I was tired and actually I am not a big fan of steps anyway as they tend to hurt my knees more than a gradual descent on a trail, but I assumed I was on them. After descending several 1,000 steps I guess I decided to have lunch. I have never been on this many steps in succession in my life. It was brutal. I sat on the steps and had a couple cans of sardines and my chocolate bar. I really wasn't all that hungry, but just really wanted the rest more than anything. I think I have actually lossed a few pounds on this trip as my pants are fitting more loosely, which is a good thing.

I hate the smell of sardines on me so I put the cans in a plastic bag and tied them to the back of my backpack so I could dispose of them as soon as I found a trash receptacle. The last thing I want is for my backpack to smell like sardines. After resuming the descent I could feel my calves starting to ache a little. When I made it to the bottom of the steps I paused for a moment and my calf muscles just quivered uncontrollably. I didn't know they were being strained to that degree. I know to not put as much stress on the knees I keep my knees bent to put the stress on the muscles. That must have been why my calves were spent so severely. I walked for awhile thinking that would help and it did, but not right away. I walked along the narrow road to the City always being vigilant of the traffic. I walked past one area where there appeared to be a vacated beach. I saw a cable that had a chair attached for lowering stuff down to that isolated beach. I wondered if people road down there in that chair as well. The drop was probably 400 feet I imagine. It looked a little dicey to me.

I made it into Positano and found it to be even more touristy than Amalfi. I figured it would be the opposite. I was ready to leave there as I am becoming a little bit of a tourist snob. I find myself trying to get away from them as much as possible. After walking around the town and all it's shops and all it's people most of which were Americans, I headed to the bus stop. I figure if I want to see Americans I can do that at home.

On the ride back to Amalfi I sat by a young lady from Chicago who was traveling with 2 or 3 other women. One of the persons had been studying a broad. They had gotten here in January and had been traveling ever since. They said they had no desire to ever see another Piazza, Museum or Duomo. I knew where they were coming from as every City has them and I too do not plan to take those things too seriously either. I have seen a couple and they really are not that much different. If I understood the history and art a little better maybe I would, but I don't. Maybe someday I will learn more about that and will come back at that time. They did not seem all that friendly so I didn't talk to them much, probably sorority chicks. I am sure that comment might peak some interest. It seems like every person that I have ever met that said they were in a sorority followed that statement with an apology for being in one. The greek system always seemed a little stuck-up for me. I remember in intramural basketball they always thought they were better than they were and half the time they were drunk. I was always on pretty good GDI teams and I can't remember ever getting beaten by them. I must admit I always tried a little harder against those frat boys. I have a bad habit of judging these people a little. I think it is better for a person to have to work for things in life and often these kids were rich. Not always but some were. I have always thought this way really. It's not something I learned as an adult. Maybe I have always been an adult. I think I have always been pretty responsible. Until now? No I think this trip is responsible as I have worked hard for 13 years. I have put more value on doing things and making memories than having material possessions. It's harder to make it into heaven when you have money. The bible says that. I see so many church goers that let that statement go right through one ear and out the other. They do unethical things in there jobs, run their neighbors off their property so they can rent their land out to make more money from hunters even when they have millions. People just don't get it. Lets put it this way people just don't see things in my world which, I suspect is a little over simplified and idealogical for that matter.

The bus arrived and I was on my way to Amalfi, This ride from Positano to Amalfi is the craziest ride of my life. I thought the trip to Amalfi to Salerno was crazy, but the ride from Positano to Amalfi is nuts. There was an Italian guy in his 60's or 70's dressed to the hilt that was riding with the rest of the Americans. The cliffs were straight down often as much as 500 ft. straight down not more than 6 ft. from where our tires were. You see the waves pummeling the coast, I over heard the lady behind me telling a friend that if this bus goes off the cliff what she was going to do as if it would matter. Several women were getting sick. A couple moved to the other side of the bus away from the cliff side. I heard one lady's boyfriend say if she wanted they could get off the bus and walk to Amalfi. It was probably a 2 mile walk. The one older Italian guy yelled out, we shall die singing and started into, "When the moon hits the sky, like a big piece of pie, that's Amore". The whole bus erupted in laughter. To be totally honest I am not that good with heights and really do not want to take that road again. I suspect it might get better after several rides, but it is crazy. Making it worse often you have to stop on the road to allow another car to get around, or to back up or for the bus to back up. These roads were not meant for two fiats let alone a bus. These drivers have nerves of steel. I couldn't do there job.

I got off at Amalfi and scrambled around looking for a place that had hiking information I wanted to hike from Amalfi to San Lazzaro. The hike is about the same length of time as the drive if, and that is a big if, you stay on the trail. It was around 6:00 which would be adequate time provided I didn't get too lost. I really had no idea where the path is however. I asked a local after walking 1/2 way through Amalfi. He wasn't sure where the path was, but couldn't speak very good English. But as most helpful Italians he said to follow him. We went to another person who could speak some English and they passionately discussed the situation. The new person said it was too late to be trying the hike. I told him I could make it if I just had a map. The original guy told me to go a couple doors for a possible map. After going there the person said they had no map. This person suggested going to the tourist information center, which was on the left just pass the church. Well I went to the church and looked around there. No luck there. I walked all the way down to the main road and asked a policeman for the tourist information center and he pointed up the road. I walked up the road and sure enough it was there, but it was closed. To say it is just past the church and to the left is a stretch. Sure it was just past the church, but it made more since to me to say go all the way to the main road and make a left. You could not have gone any further past the church or you would have been in the sea. Anyway I saw a book store so I went there and he did indeed had a map, but it was 5 euros and the path would have still been hard to find. I decided not to risk it and went back to the bus station. I got on the next bus to Algero or in particular the next bus to San Lazzaro. I sat behind two women who were commenting on the Italian guy outside. It was the same guy who had been singing on our bus. They said they have seen him there everyday. I jokingly told them I think he works for the Amalfi Chamber of Commerce. We talked for an extended period of time and learned that they are from Atlanta. They were staying in a hostel closer to Amalfi than myself. Aaron and Sharon are there name. Sharon said I was not very American to do what I am doing. She told me some of her views about Americans and there need to have possessions. I agreed with pretty much everything she said. She is an accountant and a very talented person. She worked in London I believe she said for 5 years and was moving back to the US soon. She was trying to get in as much traveling as possible in Europe before moving back to the states. I gave her my blog information and she said she would definitely check it out once she got back to London. I hope she does as I would like to talk to her further. We said our arrividerchis and boun viaggios as they exited the bus.

I moved to the front of the bus and made sure the bus driver knew where I was needing off. I had fun talking to the bus driver. Telling him his driving was malto bene meaning very good. Actually he was a very good driver. Of all the drivers I road with he was the one I felt the safest with and we were in areas where feeling safe was very important.

I got off the bus and headed to the hostel. It was about 6:00 and my other hostel mate, as the Australians would say, was talking to the hostel owner about something and he motioned to me to say they were going to be gone tomorrow so I needed to settle up tonight sometime. I suggested we do it right away, but he said no no no no do it later tonight. He was just being extremely nice and I said ok I will check back with them. I went back to the hostel and decided to go ahead and have some supper, of course I was going back to the same place I had been the night before. As I walked in that direction I saw the guy walking into the church. I yelled at him and motioned to my mouth and he motioned me to his restaurant and walked me back there. His granddaughter was there again. I asked him what he recommended and he told me the gnocchi. I tried some of Nicole's, the couchsurfer in Sacile, and tried it a couple times since then and had never had any as good. I was hoping this would be the time when it would be as good, but it was not. It was ok, but not that great. I also had a bowl of ravioli which I liked a lot. It was a lot different from what you buy in the can. I was also disappointed as his granddaughter did not serve the food. I did take a picture with him and his granddaughter. I left and went back to the dorm and typed for awhile and talk to my dorm mate. We had another dorm mate and he was snoring loudly. I decided to sleep upstairs in the room where the Norway people slept the night before to get away from the snorer. The newlyweds had gotten back, ate some food, showered and went to bed. They had a long day on Capri and were tired. They did not get to go to Grotto on Capri, because the surf was too rough. I mentioned the Grotto near Amalfi if they wanted to check a grotto out closer. I don't think they were going to do it. I was tired too so I called it a night as well around 11:30. I had no energy left to continue to type.

5-18-07
I slept great up stairs from where I was supposed to sleep. That guy was snoring bad when I left to go up there so it was definitely a good choice. He is a loud snorer. Dave, the other hostel mate, had said he himself intentional snored loudly a couple times and for whatever reason that made him turnover or for whatever reason made him quit snoring. Anyway it was fortunate that I was not in there as I am sure I would have not slept much at all.

I typed for awhile and drank some water. I have gotten into the habit to drink water in the mornings before eating which seems to help curb my appetite. It seems whenever I get up and eat right away I am hungrier sooner in the day. But I drank some water. It seemed the words were flowing this morning not necessarily of what I had done but more thoughts and ideas were flowing onto the screen which I guess was counterproductive with getting caught up on the diary but the self-introspection aspects were a positive.

Dave had went for a walk that lasted about an hour when he got back we had some tea. I had bought a box of tea and really didn't want to carry around the whole box. Dave was in his late 50's I estimated and had some pretty strong ideas on things. I told him I was wondering how their water systems and wastewater systems work around here. I do not see wastewater treatment plants or water treatment systems. All I saw was the sea, maybe their wastewater plant? I hope not. Dave said he didn't think they probably treated it. I told him I sure would think they would have to treat it in some fashion. He didn't think they did. I told him I thought they used a lot more water than they needed to. He stated well if you got a lot of water you might as well use it. I told him it still takes energy and resources to treat and pump the water. I told him that the water coming out of the spigot has lots of pressure and you do not get that kind of pressure out of the tap. Somewhere a long the line the water is being pumped. Now they could have tank on top of the hill that supplies this water pressure. Dave then argued with me about having this kind of pressure even at tops of hills. I told him I agree their might be underground reservoirs at tops of hills but you do not have pressure out of the ground providing like 40 psi of pressure. Water of that pressure will provide a water column of around 90 ft. He cited artesian wells. I told him artesian wells are spraying water 90 ft up in the air. Anyway it was amazing how somebody is so adamant he is right even arguing with me someone who has studied this in school and more importantly practice this kind of work for over 13 years. I know another person that is adamant about his beliefs even if you have the schooling and experience to back your thoughts up. Anyway I got a little tired of all that arguing really quick. It felt like I was working again. It seemed like my job you do a lot of arguing with people which is not fun. Arguing about what? 90 % of the time it was about money. Money, Money, Money the root of all evils and in my opinion will lead to the end of the USA's empire. Greed is a bad thing but so many people are after that holy Grail called money.

Anyway around 12:00 I said goodbye to the honeymooners and to Dave and went to the bus stop. The bus arrived pretty much on time and I was on my way for what I expected to be a long bus ride. I assumed we would go in the same direction as we had came up there. I was wrong. We went trough this tunnel and right away you could see Naples and Mount Vesuvial. I was wishing I was on the other side of the bus as it was a great photo opportunity. I was starting to get a better understanding of actually how small this peninsula really is that is comprised of Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi as well as several other small communities. It just takes forever by road to get anywhere as the roads are so narrow and you are always stopping to narrowly get around cars that you meet or just happen to be parked in the middle of the road. It is pretty lawless actually.

It looked like we would be in Naples within minutes, but I was wrong again. Two wrongs within an hours time does not make a right! As is true of big things at a distance it always takes longer to reach it than you expect. Take driving across Colorado after you see the Rockies. It takes a long time before you actually reach them.

I think we probably drove another 1 1/2 hours before reaching Naples. Yep Naples that crazy town where every person is a pick pocketer. It was time to put the guard on as everyone gets robbed here. Why am I going there then? For the Pizza of course. This is where Pizza was founded and they have the best Pizza in the world. Also to see the craziesness. That's why everyone comes to Naples to see the madness and for the pizza.

The bus driver ask me and the other tourist if we wanted off the train station as he said we were stopped at it now. I tried to say Piazza Garibaldi which is the plaza in front of the station. Where we were at was definitely not a piazza nor the train station. It must be near. I said Sie. Another overweight guy with some wild hair started grumbling because I was trying to get things organized to get off the bus. I sure thought the last stop would be at the train station and we would have lots of time. My initial reaction was to tell the guy complaining to chill out, but I thought this is just the way they are in Naples. Everybody yells at everybody so don't take offense to it. I got off with the older German Lady, who I thought to be in her 60's, and she was concerned as well. She spoke pretty good English so we walked around the corner and saw what looked like the train station. She recognized it to be correct.

We said good luck and were on our way. Dave from the last hostel said the Naples Hostel is right by the Mergillina Metro stop or the Lego as they call it in Naples. I looked for the subway and found what I thought to be it. It was roped off however. I decided to get a quick bite to eat and having ate pasta for the last 18 days a good old hamburger sounded pretty good. I went to the nearby McDonalds and had a happy meal which is what I normally eat. I told them to keep the toy. The prior happy meals I had gotten I tried to give away the toys to mothers with kids but they would never take them from a total stranger. I don't get it? Maybe they are just good moms!

After that I walked back to the spot with the ropes and the attendant there said I have to go and get a bus ticket. I was still confused I have to get a bus ticket to ride the subway? Anyway I walked where he instructed and started asking people where the bus station was after having walked for awhile.They pointed in the direction. I told the guy at the bus ticket office I needed to go to Mergellina Lego stop. He said bus MN1B and I saw the bus. He didn't act like however I needed to buy the ticket there. So I walked away and asked around some more and they said I needed a ticket. I walked back to the same guy and told him ticket for Megellina Lego stop. I pulled out some money and he saw the ticket I had used this morning to go from San Lazzaro to Naples and he indicated he wanted to see it. I had my money laying near the window and he gestured to me to put that in my pocket. From that I knew he was trying to help me. I guess people walk up and steal right at the ticket counter. I gave the ticket to him and he looked it over and said that is good to use at least that is what I interpreted from his gestures. I walked over and got a seat close to the front of the bus. A young lady was sitting there and I ask her if this bus goes to Megellina Lego stop and she said yes. I also gestured to her asking if her stop was after or before then. She indicated after and I communicated to her asking her to remind me of when to get off. She said she would. It is a lot of work communicating without language.

After a long wait we were off. There were a lot of other people going in the same direction as me evidently as the bus full. As we were waiting a couple gypsies came through looking for a handout. The one lady had a baby. It is sad they use these baby's trying to get some sympathy money. At least the people playing the music or providing some entertainment whereas the gypsy's just want handouts. When they walked by my hand went right to my pocket to make sure nothing was removed. I had the pocket zipped so they had there work cut out for them to get to the wallet. If they could move my hand, unzip my pocket and take my wallet without me noticing then they could have.

We got going and more people were getting on the bus. Like in most big City's in Europe the buses are crowded. I started talking to the lady next to me and I learn she speaks English. She said she is a teacher in Naples and teaches English to her kids. This was a great find. She told me exactly where the stop was and where the hostel was at. She also told me where to go around town. I ask her about the Spanish District and she said it wasn't safe. I would keep that in mind should I make it there. She said now when you get off the bus you have to go behind the train station. I thanked her and through out a Malto Gentela and got off the bus. I enjoy those direct contacts with the locals very much. I think they enjoy it to a certain extent as well. Someone to travel this far to see their City I guess means something to them. As I walked towards the train station I saw a post office. I was thinking maybe I will get a chance to mail those pictures back home. I had been thinking about that a lot lately so I really needed to get that done to get it off my mind. I am always fearful of losing these pictures and my writings as I could not regenerate them as there is just too much happening to remember it all.

After walking through the train station I got to the back side of it and started walking up a slight incline. I met a man that said Ostello? I guess the backpack was a dead giveaway and I gave him a cheery yep! It is always good to find you home base. There was some construction going on and along the path I had to walk under the counter waits on this crane. I was thinking in US they would have this area flagged off at least I think they would. If anything fell off that crane it could hit someone. I walked what appeared to be the side of those big concrete counter weights. Those things should they fall would definitely leave a bump on the head. The hostel was pretty much like any other hostel you check in sign a paper show them your hostel international card and they assign you your room. This one however was different in that there was only one key to the room. If there was a person in the room the key was in there if no one was in the room the key is held at the front desk. I kind of like that actually it seemed like a pretty good system. I went to my room and saw there were several other people in there and I saw a bottle of alcohol and some fruit drinks. It looked like these guys were ready to party. I went back downstairs and ask if their was another room available and told him these guys were some party animals and I was wanting a decent nights sleep. He was a little short with me and said if you want a room by yourself you pay more. I went back to the room and took a 1/2 hour nap. I really didn't sleep much but just shutting my eyes seems to help clear the mind a little. It is kind of weird how rest helps clear the head. Kind of like exercise in that regard. After the eye closing period I headed down to the sea. I took my camera and hid my PDA under the covers in my bed which I typically do. Often I will throw some dirty underwear over the location in the bed where the PDA is and if they want it that badly then they probably need it worse than I do.

I walked along the sea for a long time. I took a few pictures of the Nuovo Castle with Mount Vesuvial in the background. I was amazed that the volcano that buried Pompeii was so close to Naples and really for that matter so close to everything. I just thought it would be away from populated areas more than it is.

The moped craziness in this City is unrivaled. It seems pretty lawless. Actually most of Italy seems lawless to me. In Holland I saw some policemen but really nowhere in Italy. Britain had a pretty prevalent police force as well but I consider them to be very similar to us in a lot of ways. The mopeds would just weave in and out and around and under the cars. Essentially whatever it took to get to Point B. Not sure wherever their point A's were at but their Point B's were somewhere where they were in a hurry to get to. They had since enough to wear helmets which surprised me a little.

Along the water front there a few people laying on the rip rap rocks catching some rays on the sunny Friday evening when I was there. Mainly young men and women were liplocked with what it appeared to be some sort of adhesive. Maybe love, maybe gorilla glue, not sure but whatever it was, it was strong. You see loads more of public displays of affection in Italy than I have anywhere else. I have not seen as much gay and lesbian stuff as I expected though. A few women holding hands and that was about it.

There were a couple big sailboats out in the harbor. I saw a couple guys racing small sailboats with remote control which was cool to see. I think the controls just changed the sail positioning. I watched this for awhile as this intrigued me. Once I made it to Castle Dell' Ovo I decided to walk towards it. There are several restaurants around the castle which is actually on an island or peninsula out in the bay. I was tempted to check the restaurants out, but decided this is going to be way more touristy than what I am looking for. I walked on to the Harbor, where there was a cruise ship parked. Saw several water taxi services departing from this location as well to several locations such as Capri, Sorrento, and I believe Positano as well.

I made it to the next castle which is castle Nuovo and walked over to it. It was pretty much closed, but I walked up close enough to see in the interior piazza. This is one of the biggest castles I have seen. It was gigantic. There were vendors selling stuff all around it. Normally the vendors are African American and sell mainly purses and belts. Some sell watches as well. From here I walked into the Piazza del Peibiscito. It was not clean as most of them I have seen, but had lots of graffiti on the buildings around the piazza. There were about 6 different soccer games going on at the time. I waked up there to watch the soccer for a few moments all along marveling at Mount Vesuvial which is in the background. That's the one that buried Pompeii. Sure wasn't what I expected. The area is very hilly and/or mountainous. It is amazing really how mountainous Italy is. Reminds me a little of Montana.

From there I walked to the Spanish District. This is the area the local said is dangerous. I looked around and saw groves of people. I am not sure what she meant as this place was bustling with activity. I walked up the alleys looking at the things for sale. I saw people of all ages from children to out elders. I wasn't seeing the danger that's for sure. I walked past a sunglass place. I still seek these fitover sunglasses. I left mine somewhere. I sure wish I would have purchased the ones in the dolomites in Cortina as those were the last ones I have seen for sale and they were for only 30 euros which isn't cheap but not bad either. They are cheap in comparison to a lot of sunglasses I see around here. They like their sunglasses here. They like fashion for that matter. Something I am not overly interested in. As long as it keeps me warm and covered I am content.

I walked into the sunglass shop and ask the standard question do you have sunglasses that fitover and showed the motion of putting the glasses over my glasses. A optometrist was in the back and the lady motioned for him to help me as he spoke a little English. He did not have any so I left. I then decided to walk back to the store and ask him for a recommendation on where to get good Naples pizza. He came out of the store and told pointed a about 50 feet down the street to a place. He said that is original style pizza. He said you can go down to a place who's name I forget and get good pizza too but you will pay 12 euros there or you can get good original pizza here for 4 euros without the tourist. I liked the way he was thinking and he knew exactly what I was looking for. I threw a Malto Gentela his way and went to the Pizzeria he suggested just down the street.

I walked in and saw this was not a very fancy place. A lot of the Pizzeria's have these big fancy pizza ovens, but you could tell this one was rather old. They appeared were just getting it going. There was significant smoke inside the oven still. The outer covering of this oven was an older tile with old outdated color. There were not many people there yet. I think I usually go to these places earlier than the locals. It was about 7 at the time arrived. Another lady came in so after me and she was just getting something other than a pizza. I ask her for a recommendation using my translator I showed her the word as I could not pronounce it. I had ask the cook to day the same earlier but he wouldn't. Finally the lady pointed to the pizza called mime. I said mama mia not really knowing how that would come across and mainly just being goofy. I told the cook I wanted the mama mimi. The name of the place was Pizzeria Mimi at least the best I could figure as I wasn't exactly sure as there was not a lot of things with their name on it. I primarily just saw one sign with that name. Another guy pulled up outside on his scooters many of which are brand name Vespas. He brought his helmet in and went into the backroom. I was drinking one of the Italian beers with a crime family gangster looking character on it. I decided to use the toilet so I walked in the back and ask for the toilet. The guy that had just walked in were sitting on the steps to the toilet changing his shoes are something and said my friend use this toilet and showed me where there was one near where he was at. I walked back to my table and an older guy in his 60's had walked in and a younger man in his 30's. Of course the ages I am guessing on. They had both ordered pizza. I was trying to talk some Italian to the guy sweeping the floor, who was the guy who had pulled up on his scooter and was actually very friendly. There had been a couple other workers who had walked in recently as well. The place was getting busy. The worker indicated the one younger guy can speak English. He was a little shy but his English was not too bad. He said there is an American Navy base there and he learned English through his interactions with them. I had told the guy sweeping earlier that I was sorry I was tourist in my best Italian and he recognized the words surprisingly as I am horrible at pronouncing the words. The guy earlier said that is fine and I think from then on we kind of hit it off.

The younger guy said the locals like America being here because they protect them. They like us for our guns. That was interesting to me. I had heard another Italian say the same thing that Italy sides with Americans on most issues because they want to be protected by us. It seems like we are buying their friendship to me. So do they like us or just our guns. I suspect it's the guns more than anything. Nothing like buying friends. However I had heard another Italian say that the sunglasses came from America and I think the Italians must have took it from there as there are a lot more sunglass wearing folks here than in the states and the diversity of kinds will blow your mind. I was enjoying talking to the younger local and learned he was a painter. I don't think he made a lot of money or was highly educated but he did seem quite content where he was at. I bought him a beer and he accepted. I took some pictures of my pizza as it cooked. There was still some smoke swirling inside the oven so I don't think they had the bed of coals stoked quite yet. The time to cook the pizzas ranged from around a minute to about 5 minutes. I wondered how hot those ovens get. My pizza came out and it looked quite good. The crust was rolled at the end and contained a filling which I think consisted of sour cream cheese and some meat. The guy by me said that is the Canoli style are something like that whereas his did not have that. His cost 2.50 whereas mine was 4.00 euros. His pizza came out about the same time. He had finished his long before mine and I decided to have another beer as well. The first beer was in a big bottle which is quite common and probably contained about 24 ounces. The second beer I ordered was a smaller one.

The place was bustling now as there were lots of people there waiting on pizzas now. Since the pizzas cook so fast and they make them so fast within 10 minutes most people had their pizzas and were gone. It was quite entertaining to see. I noticed lots of people interested in my conversation with the other guy. I guess they do not hear much English here. The guy I was speaking English to said he had to go and went to pay his bill and then left. I had just finished my pizza soon after and figured I would go up and pay as well. I told the one kid who had rode in on his scooter that I would like to take picture. There were about 6 men working there, which seemed like more than plenty but I suspect they do no get paid much. They were always so boisterous and were having a good time. Another man walked in and the guy motioned to him and told him to come over and speak English to me. This man was originally from California and went to school in New Jersey and got his masters in Wisconsin. He said he worked as an Electrical Engineer for many years and came over here once and fell in love with the place. Wow you will not here that about Naples very often. He said I saw where they all seemed to be having a pretty good time getting by and not working very much. I ask him if these guys had other jobs and he said probably not. He had married an lady from Naples who was standing beside him. He said he teaches English here. I ask them if these guys had internet and he said he was sure they didn't as he said he does not either. He said he has to go to an internet café. The guy invited me to sit with them and I surprisingly told him no and that I was going to get going. I explained to him that I was hoping to get a group photo with these guys. He explained that to them in Italian and they were excited about that. They ask me what I was doing and I told them traveling for a year. My translator explained that to them and the one guy said he wants to do the same thing. I suspect his job of making the pizzas however might limit him a little. Not sure maybe not. You can travel South America really cheap. I asked my translator if this area was safe. He shrugged his shoulders and said probably not and laughed. I laughed too.

The short guy wearing a ball cap was getting ready to put a pizza in the oven and indicated for me to take a picture of this and I did. I think he liked that. He was definitely playing to the camera. Then everyone gathered around and I gave my translator the camera. The short guy who did the cooking jumped up in our arms and the picture was taken. This awesome and the thing I was trying to do as much as possible. A lot of this however at least the exuberance would have not been possible if not for the translator and the English speaking guy I spoke to earlier. I thanked them several times and told them I was ready to pay my bill. He said the cost was 11 euros I reminded him I had 3 beers as I had bought the other one for the one guy and the one beer was a big one. He just kind of gestured 11 euros as if to say this is enough. I know they didn't charge me what it really cost. I walked out of Pizzeria Mimi's with a smile on my face and I think they enjoyed it as well. I was on top of the world as that was the perfect experience.

From there I walked back to the Hostel. I was at least 3 miles from the hostel so it took me probably 40 minutes to get back. It was easy to find however all I had to do was walk along the Bay of Naples. This trip still seems a little surreal. I have to ask myself at times am I really in Naples, in Venice, in Milan, London, in Dublin, in Amsterdam? Jay is right this is a trip of a life time!

5-19-07
I got up around 7:30 having had a rough nights sleep. The guy that slept in the bed nearest the bottle of alcohol got in around 2:00, but was pretty quiet surprisingly. He did however snore some and his breathing was heavy and a little labored. I assumed he had a tin whistle night causing these qualities. The next morning after breakfast I met him in the room and he was actually very nice. He obviously just had a really congested head causing the breathing problems. I don't think he had had a lot to drink either. He blamed it on the window being open the night before that is causing his health problems. I mentioned he snored a little and he apologized all over the place. I told him it was not a big deal and felt a little bad for even mentioning it thought I was the one with maybe 3 hours of sleep not him. He informed me that the museums are free today and recommended one to attend. I decided since they were free I would go to the archaeological museum since they are to have all the Pompeii Ruins.

I took the train to the stop nearest the museum and did so without any problems. At the information desk there is a sign that says you must make a reservation to see the Erotic section of the museum. It was right there in front of everybody almost to entice you to see it. Whenever anybody reads something like that you know they are going to of course go see it. Really thought what can be worse than the stuff you seen in any video store or the magazine stands right on the street. He said you do not need a reservation as long as you are not a big group. It was just uno going, so reservation requirements did not apply to me that's for sure.

I walked around the first floor of the museum and the marble sculptures were indeed pretty neat. The sure size of the stuff was the most amazing thing to me as well as the detail. Some of the tubs had an amazing amount of sculpture on the sides. I took a couple pics. I quickly walked down stairs to see the Egyptian stuff but wasn't all that impressed by it. Again my education level of these items like the paintings is so dismal that it is hard to really appreciate it fully.

From there I headed to the next level where there were lots of jewelry and that sort of thing. So called the Treasures. This section was not too interesting to me just lots of beads and necklaces. This level also had the erotica section. It wasn't all that great I didn't think. Just some phallic stuff and some stuff with animals which did surprise me a little and probably the reason for the Secret Section classification. From there went to the top floor and saw some paintings I really like looking at paintings when I know something about them. I really had no information about the paintings so I figured I might as well mosey on down the road to the train station

I didn't really see much from there to the train station Just a lot of people selling their goods on the streets. I kept a close hold on my wallet most of the time however as I did see some shady characters at time.

At the train station I hurriedly made a reservation for the train that was leaving in about 8 minutes and jumped on it. On the train I text Francessca a couch surfing lady that said to contact her when in Rome. She was at the beach and said she would be back around 8 and she would contact me then. I typed for awhile on the train.

Arriving in Rome around 3:00 I headed for the nearby subway being sure to be familiar with the subway maps and directions. I saw several nuns on the train, which surprised me a little. I also saw signs warning you of pickpockets. There were lots of police however so I really felt comfortable but yet was continually cognizant of where my valuables were at all times. Everything went very smoothly, surprisingly smoothly actually. It was great. It took awhile for the train to get there but once it did and I was very impressed by this subway train. It was very modern and a scrolling board showed the upcoming stop and there were boards on the side of the train showing all the stops. It was easy actually. Once getting off I walked on this street that was twice as wide as most City streets in the US. I was thinking how nice all this was. The Romans planned things better than we do these days. I assume during land acquisition time for public roads there was no such thing as Eminent Domain. If a property owner did not agree with the road location he was simply killed. Actually I doubt these roads were built long after Rome had fall. It was neat to give them the credit for it. It is amazing however the outline for how most democratic governments govern is based on the Romans or Greeks system. I saw a show on PBS once that made comparisons to the Romans and current sports in the US and it was scary how similar they are. You can't but realize the origin after watching the show. I really want to spend more time when I get back from this trip learning more about the Romans and Greeks. They were so ahead of their times. I also would like to learn Latin and Spanish. The Latin because so much of today's medicine and language has Latin roots and Spanish for my own personal development. My mind has really gotten bad the last 4 or 5 years. I think this trip is great to get it going again. I feel like the incredible hulk as my mind is growing. I really had to adjust my cap size. Ok enough BS. I wonder if those words have Latin roots?

Really the only trouble I had was finding the hostel. I knew I was in the area just not sure where it was. There was a big tennis tournament going on where I was walking, but where is the hostel? Finally I walked back to where I had passed and seen the youth hostel insignia that I have seen so much of lately. The couchsurfing has not been nearly as productive that I thought it would be. I wonder sometimes if it is anti American sentiment or just people that have other request. Surely other people do not have better profiles than I do? I think some of these couchsurfing folks are little out there at times. Not sure. Most are very nice at least the ones I stayed with but the others must not be. Who knows my views on couchsurfing are still developing. Stay tuned on that. I am going to keep trying. It's great when it works.

Anyway I got in my room and it was in a huge area with 16 beds. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but what are you going to do. I talked to one guy from Boston who was pretty negative about everything it seemed, but was really down on the hostel in general. He said last night about 3:00 A.M. There were about 5 guys who came in and they turned the light on and were loud. He said it was really late before he got back to sleep. There appeared to be about 4 people already in the room. That was a bad start as there is always a view more that will arrive. The chances were high that their would be at least one snorer. Who knows some nights when you think things will be great they are not and vice versa. I know the street was right outside as the street noise was loud.

The Naples hostel had forgot to give me my Hostel card back and I had forgotten to ask for it so they had to fax a copy of the card. They could not mail it either because I had not realized what had happened until after the post office was closed. At least the hostel said the post office was closed. It probably was. I am not sure where I am going to have them mail it as I am not sure where I am going after Rome. Maybe they will overnight it and I can wait around on Tuesday until it comes in I do not plan to stay here more than 3 days. I think I will probably go back to the hill country of Italy after Rome. I kind of like having nothing planned to tightly and the independence of traveling by myself. The company of traveling with someone else would be nice at times but I would not be meeting near as many people. If I where dating someone and traveling with them they would not let me talk to any women or my trip will be hell if I did and if I talked to guys it would be like you should show more interest in me. Anyway someday I do want to travel with someone special but not on this trip. Traveling with a guy I guess would be ok but who is willing to take off a year and travel. You know how much vacation it would take to take a trip like mine. I guess if you were a teacher you do such a trip in the summers. Bottom line is I have a pretty sweet gig. I may end up traveling even longer than I planned as I am starting to get that bug and when the trip is done my travel days will be as well. I better get it somewhat out of my system now as the trips in the future will be much shorter. I recently met a guy at the hostel who is in his 60's I estimatet and he said this traveling sure gets harder when your older. He said he did a long trip when he was 22 but he said it's harder now. I thought about mentioning to him that is exactly the reason I am taking the trip now but didn't because I thought it might hurt his feelings fearing he was too old to do something he wished he had done. It is never too late to Rock and Roll is my opinion.

He also said he spent six years traveling the world on a sailboat. That obviously spurred some questions from me. The boat was only 30 ft. Which I metioned seemed awfully small. I think he was a little proud of the sized and went on about the need for good seamanship but did admit the boat limits you somewhat. I asked if he had any literature of his travels, and he said he had published a book but do not have any copies left. He said he may put it back in publishment. I told him I would love to read it but I know there are other books out there as well. So much to do. Latin, Spanish, offshore sailing and someday work, but not today! Listen for my evil laugh. Can you hear it?

Well I told the person while he is waiting for the faxed Hostel Identification Card I wanted to find an ATM. He said there was one just down the road. I had tried one earlier this evening, but with no luck. I was down to 2 1/2 years in my possession and I was afraid of the extra charges the credit card company might charge. I was between a rock and hard place with my money situation. I walked there and tried the machine and no luck. I tried every possible password I could think of. I have about 4 passwords out there that I have used in the past. I try to use just one password, but it seems some other companys would require more characters or a number and letter combination and this kind of thing resulted in me having to come up with several passwords. Not sure how a person would get my email information if something happened to me. I am sure it could be done through personal contacts with the company.

The bottom line is I am not getting any cash out of this machine. I saw some people painting near this ATM so I asked them if their was another ATM. Their English was not too good so I stated Bankomat and they understood. They told me 10 minute walk and pointed down the street. Again how far is a ten minute walk I thought to myself which made me laugh internally. Do internal laughs help digestion? If anybody knows that answer please contact me.

I walked and sure enough it did indeed take about 10 minutes plus or minus a minute. Bad news however this maching wasn't liking any of the passwords I offered. At times it was like the machine did not even recognize the card. I remember having a problem in Mennagio but after a couple tries I was able to get that one to work. This situation was reaching critical mass. I have 2.50 euros and have to make it until Monday. I was thinking I would buy as much bread as possible and eat bread and water all weekend. Actually that intrigued me a little. I like physical challenges like that which are kind of a mind over matter kind of thing. I guess I have mashocist qualitys.

I told the people at the hostel I would be back in a few minutes and it had been at least 30 minutes already. I went back to them and told them the situation and ask them if they accept credit cards which they do. That was good because that would insure me a bed and breakfast each morning. Not at a bed and breakfast a hostel. I want to make sure that is clear. They also said to try near St. Peters. Not sure why that would matter but I thought what do I have to lose?

I took a nap as I was virtually sleepless from the night before and somethings were getting a little frustrating with the money situation and the sleeping situation. Problems and lack of sleep is not a good combination whatever you are doing. I tried to nap but really only shut my eyes for 30 minutes. The stupid door in this hostel did not latch so everyone that came in tried to slan the doorto get it to shut but it wouldn't. Also the air flow in the room due to the windows being open caused the door to slam shut on it's own. I had also noticed the guy above me had just laid his sheets on his bed as well as his backpack. This meant whenever the idiot would come in probably very, very late and there's a resonably good chance he would have a few beers in him he would make the bed at that time. I had thrown my towel over the end of the top bunk as a hint to not take it but he did anyway and just put my towel on the end of my bed in a manner that was not conducive to quick drying. There is beds all around too that he could have takn but he chose the top bunk of the bed I was in. From this I determined he must be a pretty bold and most like disrespectful. Bad combination for any hopes of a quiet entrance when he came in late at night.

I decided to take a shower and get ready to meet Francessca the couchsurfing lady who indicated she wanted to meet and get a drink at 8:00. I got ready and ran to the ATM one last time as I had thought of another potential password when I woke up. Again no cash. I was grasping for straws I knew the password I had used earlier was the right one, but I was second-guessing myself. I was thinking I am going to be late meeting Francessca but I assume she would call first and not just arrive at the hostel. I got back to the hostel and got a bag of chips. I had spent 1 euro for that. What was I think I am now down to 1.50 euros. I am screwed if I do not get some cash. I waited until about 1/2 past 8 as they say in England and Ireland and no call as she said she would do. I text her and she said they were stuck in traffic. I was thinking, thanks for the call to let me know that, as I had been sitting there for several minutes now. I get a little frustrated with people like that. I know I would have definitely called to let me know when I would arrive. I text her back and told her I was going to wak to St. Peters to try and get some cash. As I walked in that direction I saw a couple ladies that I was very confident were tourist. I asked them if they have had any problems with ATM's. They said no and the one said she mainly use credit cards. I was at wits end. I saw a ATM a little farther up the street and went over to it. It was one of the more modern ones I have seen. I didn't expect it to work as I had tried probably 6 machines all with the same result. No cash. I entered the password I was confident in and the heavens parted and I could see Moses who stated in the voice of James Earl Jones, "Dave, Take Your Money Please." I yelled out, "Thank you Moses." Ok so I stretched the truth. My exuberance however of having money and the assoicated freedom was awesome. As I walked at a fast pace almost a gallup if I were a horse towards St. Peters Cathedral I came across the two ladies from Atlanta. I yelled to them, "it worked, it worked."
I felt like James Stewart in, "It's a Wonderful Life". I need to watch the movie again but it was during one of his crazy escapades when he goes nuts out of sheer joy and excitement. I was pretty worried about the money and ATM. I had checked my bank account after this ATM madness first started and knew there was money there actually more than I expected. Maybe I can travel longer. I have been staying pretty frugal, which I normally do. But I guess a person that goes on a trip like mine might not be all that frugal. After checking the bank account I knew I wasn't experience identity theft or some kind of craziness like that.

Needless to say I was excited. When entering St. Peters Piazza the excitement grew. Wow what a place. Again the feeling came over me along with the question am I really here? I have experienced that feeling so many times on this trip. I like to think I have worked hard for this trip and am making the most of the opportunity afforded me. I hope that doesn't sound like a braggart, but I am not the smartest person in this world and have worked hard for what I have and for this opportunity. I think too of the Argentina women who work a lot harder than me and because of where they live do not have the opportunitys I have just because of where I live. I hope all Americans realize how good we got it. I suspect many do not. A lot of the credit however goes to my parents which gave me the opportunity to get an education and maybe more imporantly the direction. Getting an education opens so many doors for a person and gives a person so much freedom. I can not over emphasize the need for an education. If you get a good education the rest will come fairly easy actualy.

I marveled at all this crazieness and then walked down to the St. Angelo Castle. I read during war times this is where the pope often went for protection. It was big and beautiful. I saw several priest and nuns in St. Peter's Piazza and at the castle. I had talked to the security garden about the reason for all the chairs and ask if the pope was making some kind of blessing. He said yes the pope is blessing the world tomorrow at noon. He said he will be in the third window from the right of the building he pointed to just outside of the Piazza. I suspect all these religious figures were in town for that. It was 10 at night and the place was a buzz. Is it always like this? Probably my last night in Rome I will come down here and check out the Piazza one last time. This is a cool place.

I was hungry and had money so I stopped at small roadside place and had a burger and beer. They were both good but the burger was a soybean burger with very little beef but when you are as hungry as I was everything taste good. I decided to head back to the hostel and hit the hay. The walk back took about 30 minutes as it was over 2 miles I estimate. I have been doing lots of walking lately and I think have lost a little weight which I needed to do. I was a little concerned about what this night might bring with regards to sleeping. I wasn't holding my breath that this was going to be a good nights sleep, but I have been wrong before. All in all my first night in Roma was pretty darn good.

---

Photos

Naples - Pic 9
I had a blast with these guys this night. It was one of the best nights of the entire trip. I got the impression these guys do not make a lot of money just enough to get by, and live in the moment, not the past or the future in the now! Good for them.

Florence - Cathedral
Cathedral St. Marie Del Fiore

Pisa - Pic 5
I rolled the dice and did not call the hostel in Livorno ahead of time and they were full. I left the hostel and met these Italian Ladies at a bus stop. I had a great time with them even though they spoke no English. I will tell you about it in person some time. They are great people.

Florence - Pic 2
Picture of the area near the Piazza Della Signoria and Uffizi Musuem.

Florence - Pic 3
Looking towards the train station.

Florence - Pic 4
St. John the Baptist Church or Duomo or something like that. I couldn't get the piazza below in the picture very well because of the size of the church.

Florence - Pic 5
In Piazza Della Signoria.

Florence - Pic 6
In Piazza Della Signoria.

Florence - Pic 7
In Piazza Della Signoria.

Florence - Pic 8
Michelangelo's David and Martha's David!

Florence - Pic 9
Famous Uffizi musuem on the left.

Florence - Pic 10
Their is a bunch of statues like this one around the Uffizi musuem of famous people.

Florence Pic 11
The Ponte Vechhio bridge. See how the shops cantilever off the bridge?

Florence - Pic 12
Close-up of Ponte Vechhio Bridge.

Florence - Pic 13
Florence from a surrounding hillside.

Florence - Pic 14
Sunset over the Florence Country Side.

Florence - Pic 15
Palace in Florence.

Florence - Pic 16
How they use to hunt ducks in Rome. See the two mallards sitting on the shell below.

Florence - Pic 17
Florence Train Station. I really thought this place would be a little more artsy. One of the most uninteresting train stations I have ever seen.

Pisa
Does anybody see a leaning tower around here?

Pisa - Pic 2
This person from Norway was having a hard time holding the tower up so I decided to help her. Me being the consumate showman and strongman I was able to hold it up with one hand and wave at the camera at the same time.

Pisa - Pic 3
Pisa has a big church as well. I had heard that Pisa was not that cool, but I thought it was very awesome and definitely recommend going there.

Pisa - Pic 4
Not too shabby and people say this place is not that great. What are they smoking.

Pisa - Pic 6
Birra Moretti. Italian Beer. I am discovering I like beer more than wine.

Siena
I love this Piazza. This is one of my favorites!

Siena - Pic 2
This Piazza they fill with sand a couple times a year and have horse races. I would love to see one of those sometime.

Siena - Pic 3
Siena's Church. Big and Gothic are my two adjectives for it.

Siena - Pic 4
Underneath the church is this baptismal area.

Siena - Pic 5
A little artwork for your artistic eye.

Siena - Pic 6
I climbed up onto the church and got this picture. Then they made me come down.

Siena - Pic 7
Birds eye view of Siena.

Siena - Pic 8
Birds eye view of Siena.

Siena - Pic 9
One of Siena's big Churchs.

Siena - Pic 10
This guy is retired from the Australian military where he flied helicopters. He recently went to Turkey and bought a motorcycle and is traveling from Turkey to Greece to Italy to France to England and then is working his way to Russia, where he sells the motorcyle and flys back to Australia. I think this trip is going to take about 4 months. He was my roomie in the Siena Hostel.

Siena - Pic 11
Grape Vines over a picnic area. I thought this was cool and maybe someday I will do something similar.

Salerno
Salerno's Waterfront!

Salerno
Salerno's Waterfront from afar!

Salerno -Pic 3
This barber is awesome. He took 40 minutes to cut my hair, offered me coffee during the hair cut and only charged me 10€ after I first handed him 20€. He could have easily charged me more. He's a great guy!

Salerno -Pic 4
A picture of Salerno from a far.

Salerno -Pic 5
The couchsurfing lady I stayed with in Salerno likes to cook and she cooked Octopus one night.

Salerno -Pic 6
My couchsurfing bed in Salerno.

Pompeii
The mountain ominously looking behind the Pompeii Ruins is the infamous Mount Vesuvius which buried the town of Pompeii in lava. The people died however of sulfur gas that was initially emitted from the volcano.

Pompeii -Pic 2
One of the mummys on display in Pompeii.

Pompeii -Pic 3
More ruins with Mount Vesuvial in the background.

Pompeii -Pic 4
Amphitheatre ruins.

Pompeii -Pic 5
My City of Ruins. As I type this Bruce Springsteen's song My City of Ruins is playing. How fitting.

Amalfi Coast
Now for the good stuff! Bring on the Amalfi Coast!

Amalfi Coast -Pic 5
This used to be the entrance to a castle and they converted it into a hostel. The hostel rooms were in the right side of the arches. My room was just inside the window.

Amalfi Coast - Pic7
Not sure where or what these mask are used for but they are probably 30 ft. in diameter.

Naples
A view of Naples Harbor with Mount Visuvial as the backdrop.

Naples - Pic 2
Remote controlled sailboats? Had to travel all the ways to Naples to see this.

Naples - Pic 3
One of Naple's Castle on the water.

Naples - Pic 4
I saw this same boat in the Key West Regatta. Check the Key West Blog for the same boat.

Naples - Pic 5
Another Castle in downtown Naples.

Naples - Pic 7
Naples downtown Piazza.

Naples - Pic 7
It's time to make the Pizza.

Naples - Pic 8
Pizza oven.

Naples - Pic 10
Very good night in Naples!

Naples - Pic 11
An Italian breakfast. Not exactly a lumberjack's breakfast.

Naples - Pic 12
Naples did not have a landfill to haul their garbage to so sights like this were everywhere. It was really quite a bad situation.

Comments

[Nancy R]

Photos
Dave, I think your photos of the Amalfi Coast are my favorite to date. Well, with the exception of the Two Dave's picture; the caption definitely makes the photo on that one! All this talk of pizza is making me hungry. Did you know Carlyle Lake is celebrating it's 40th birthday this weekend?

[T and T in Rockford]

Dave, we have been following your blog and enjoying it so much. Your photos are great. Saw your mom in May and she said we should let you know we're reading your blog. You will be our travel guru when we decide to visit these places. Keep those commentaries coming. Be safe.

[Mom]

Octopus soup?
Looks like some of your cajun mixes. Was it good and did she add anything to it? All I can say is interesting ! How do you eat it? I am interested in hearing from anyone that reads this to comment so we have an idea how many hits your site gets from back home. I know Jason looks every day and Sue and Nancy from Caryle. Anyone else?? Inquiring Mom wants to know. Thanks!!

[Robo]

I'm reading!
Dear Enquiring Mom, I too am reading Dave's blog, although I've fallen far behind. I'm working hard to catch up. I'm jealous as hell that he's visiting these places instead of Nancy and I.

[Lucky Charms]

Just Look Pictures
I would recommened just looking at pictures at least that is what I would be doing if I were you as I know you have plenty of other matters to tend to like keeping Albers afloat. I have had 6,600 hits to date. L8TR. Dave