Rome to Naples - a transition

The Villa Borghese in Rome has always been on the list of sights I wanted to see. However, you need to book in advance and it was not to be on this visit. A series of road blocks including our NZ bank declining credit card transactions, using up all the credit on our Italian phone trying to sort it out and well, 'va bene' you just have to accept some things!

So, we set off on foot across town to see the Villa Borghese Gardens, touted as Rome's version of Central Park NYC. We thoroughly enjoyed a walk through the streets of Rome, just enjoying everyday life there. Parking as always was a point of interest and the much increased use of electric vehicles here. This one is an example, parked in an area reserved for two wheeled transportation! Kathy, as always, was on the lookout for Fiat 500's, her dream car, and there were lots of those. This is a city where small cars rule.

En route, we passed through another of Rome's amazing Piazza's, Piazza Popolo, by accident. It had yet another Egyptian obelisk (seemed to be very popular in ancient Rome) and was just huge. But we couldn't stay there long due to the extreme heat, so we headed for the adjacent Villa Borghese Gardens for some shade and hopefully some respite.

To be honest, these gardens did not live up to our expectations. They were nice, but not remarkable. They needed the care of a good gardener... I was expecting more.

So, after a while, we headed to the Spanish Steps that were nearby. When we got there, seriously, you could have baked a potato on the granite. It was hard to imagine our son's visit there in January when the steps were covered in ice and very slippery.

We sought solace in a nearby cafe offering an airconditioned space and were a little refreshed after having a great buffet lunch for 9 Euro.

Then it was time to mooch on to the Trevi Fountain. What a circus!! There were absolutely wall to wall tourists and it felt quite claustrophobic! Nevertheless, you can't be just down the road from this amazing place and not visit it. And as I stood and looked at the monument this time I think I understood for the first time what this monument was all about. You see, there was this guy (the big guy in the picture - he is about 3m tall) was having a siesta in the nude, as you do (it must have been around this time of year). He was awoken by a commotion outside and grabbed a sheet and went to the door to see what it was all about.

There was someone grappling with a horse, right outside. The commotion had obviously awoken his two neighbours who also are having a peek at this guy grappling with an uncontrollable horse that had grown wings.

I had always wondered what this story was all about.

It was a relief to wander away from the tourist rabble and then we chanced on an amazing excavation of Roman occupation right next door. It was so lovely and cool and EMPTY and quite amazing. They had excavated under the buildings above to reveal fantastically well preserved evidence of Roman villas and life there. It was sad in some ways to see a substantial pile of ancient coins there. The caption said that these were most likely a stash from a slave and were virtually worthless in the economy of the time.

The next morning, we set off for the Termini, the Central Railway station in Rome to catch the train to Naples....

I had a sense of foreboding. I had loved Rome on this visit, but would Naples just be too much for me? The books say if you love Rome, you should go further south, as Italy only intensifies as you go further south. But the crime, (30% unemployment), the mafia, the dirt, the rubbish; you know, what would it REALLY be like? Whilst Kathy had lived near to Naples, for some reason, they did not visit Naples as a family very regularly. She too wondered I think, but also had a sense of excitement at coming back to her childhood roots.

It had been arranged that a taciturn chap called Guido would pick us up to take us from the station to our apartment. He led us to his car and when we arrived he tried to open the boot for our luggage. The car behind had parked so close the boot would not open. Va be'...(Italian expression meaning "oh well"). He then proceeded to move his car forward diagonally so that it partly obstructed the stream of traffic pouring past and LEFT THE DRIVER'S DOOR OPEN (!!) further obstructing the traffic. The amazing thing was that no one seemed to care. The traffic simply merged two lanes to one and kept surging past!!

As we travelled into Naples and reached the Centro Storico (the historical centre), then the real Naples started to show. Firstly, the road was like a grade 3 river rapid, paved with ancient cobble stones. It appeared that no appreciable road maintenance had been done here since Roman times. All the cars and scooters just seemed to adjust to an absolute pounding from a surface like Lake Taupo in a storm! In addition, the standard behaviour was to simply drive or walk where you want to go regardless of whether anyone else is approaching at 90 degrees or even 180 degrees. I have experienced traffic in Jakarta, which was not as crazy as this. But there is a sense of good humour. Our driver just expected to stop and give way to others all the time. People just step into the stream of traffic to cross the street and everyone stops for a moment.

The other thing that strikes you is simply the roar of raw noise. The tyres on the cobbles, the sound of the vehicles all assault the ear drums.

The city itself is also visually amazing. Graffiti is everywhere, but the sense of entering a historic place that is still a live city today is there.

When we arrived at our apartment, we had 3 levels of security to get through. Firstly a huge box section steel gate, then a locked door to the lift and then our apartment itself with a series of 5 dead bolts and top and bottom bolts as well.

Our host was an open and friendly Italian primary school teacher and she was keen to give us all possible information on what there was to see in Naples. To make sure we were still listening she would ask us questions: what was the name of the famous chocolate shop?What was the colour of the tower at the castle? We were trying to focus but our eyes were starting to spin.

Finalmente she locks us in from the outside with the four turns of the 7 dead bolt system! Ok, we relax and decide to go to the supermarket across the road to get some supplies (we knw how to get out - we were listening).. Oh, no, there she was at the checkout. We skulk through and around behind a row to wait for her to leave. NO MORE INFORMATION PLEASE!! We are in word overload.

Our return to the apartment with cheese, salame and pasta was a success. We had not been robbed, kidnapped by the mafia or run over by a motor scooter.

But the transition from Rome was considerable. This was like a different country. At this point, I was undecided if I liked it or not.

'Stumbling Upon' in Rome

On this trip to Rome we had a vague idea that this city had so much to offer and we had only seen just some of the tourist highlights. Wow, by day 2 we SO knew that was true.

We had previously stayed in a location close to the Termini central railway station for convenience, but this time we opted for an apartment we found on 'AirBNB' which was close to the Vatican and in an area not so populated with hotels. This choice proved to be better than we could have imagined.

Day 1 we stumbled out of the apartment in search of our first Italian ritual, the morning 'cafe latte' in a local bar with a 'bomba', a doughnut filled with a lovely creamy custard. As we settled in on the street and watched the local Italians start their day, we knew we were back in our second home. Carabinieri with their red stripe down the side of their black trousers called in for a smoke and coffee; impeccably dressed Italian men and women everywhere engaging in spirited conversations.

We could see the ancient walls of the Vatican right there, so we decided to wander over - why not? As we entered the Piazza outside the St Peter's Basillica you can't help but get a feeling of awe and excitement. This place in my experience has the most impressive piece of architecture and human endeavour I know of. The design, the scale and the grandeur of it all takes more than one visit to fully appreciate.

A good humoured crowd was coursing towards the in bound security and we decided to join in. Inside the wonder of the place impacted us again, just as in the past. Thousands of tourists were accommodated with ease. The splendour of the architecture - we just had to soak it up.

Next stop was a complete contrast with some lunch at a cafe beside a pedestrian crossing. Traffic in Rome has been accurately described as being similar to rocks in an avalanche. I had re-familiarised myself with the recognised wisdom of how to cross the road, even on a pedestrian crossing - "stride purposefully across, but ensure you get eye contact with the driver and they will stop for you". I laughed as I watched a local pick up a panino and saunter through the avalanche stream across the pedestrian crossing. It simply parted around him enveloping him until he reached the other side, completely unperturbed, nonchalantly consuming his panino all the while!

As I watched I also recalled how the car horn is so much more of a multi function device in Italy. In my native culture it is used pretty much solely to express displeasure at another driver's behaviour or occasionally to say hello to someone you know. In Italy, it does have these uses, but SO much more including a polite, "I'm here, less than 1m beside or behind you" and "I'm happy" and many more emotions of life. Consquently, the horn on all vehicular transport is in constant use!

That evening, we wandered around looking for a place to eat and again 'Stumbled Upon' Dino and Tony's Hosteria. As we indicated we would like a table, the owner separated two tables that lined the street for us. We had not sat down too long when an Italian couple sat down at the table next to us.

Nek minute, the owner re-appears, leans over the table and pronounces "Rosso o bianco; frizzante o naturale?" in a loud voice, right up close to my face! Heaps of assumptions here!! Firstly that we understood Italian, secondly that we would like wine of one of two colours and thirdly that we would like some water as well! Fortunately Kathy responded in a heart beat with our choices, which satisfied him and he disappeared. He reappeared with what we could call a milk jug full of house wine and a bottle of water. "All'antipasto ci penso io" (I'll take care of the antipasto). Somewhat overwhelmed but amused we meekly assented to this. No menus anywhere. When approached, our Italian neighbours selected their wine and water options, but when asked about the antipasto, they responded with a question - "what else have you got?" This was taken with considerable offence by our host who asked why you wouldn't go with the fabulous choices he had on offer! Undeterred, they pressed him until he thumped a brief menu in front of them. They ended up giving in and having the antipasto anyway.

Our neighbour winked at Kathy as his wife perused the menu. We poured a glass of red wine (which was chilled) and he asked what the wine was like. "Possibly the worst wine we have had in Italy!" responded Kathy!! He had a good laugh and told us not to feel pressured - some chance!

Blam! Our first plate of antipasto thumps down on the table. As we begin to sample the quite unusual selection of unidentifiable deep fried items, blam! A plate of prosciutto and salame, then plate three, a pizza, landed on the table.

As we consumed the overflowing antipasto platters, we realised that ALL the patrons of this restaurant were Italian - a good sign - and we struck up a conversation (or Kathy did!) with our neighbours that was very interesting. We were just like the guys at the luggage carousel at the airport (see earlier blog entry).

By this time we had made our way through a couple of plates of pasta we hadn't ordered either and had begun to bravely say 'no' to all the other directions from the restaurant owner. Also by this time he had become our friend and, with his arm around Alan's shoulder, was offering to sell us the Pope and the entire Italian Government for only 800,000 euro if we promised to take them all away from Rome.

Our table was cleared and a bottle of Limoncello was plonked on the table with four glasses, as by this time the people at the next table were also friends and we were exchanging contact details. "The Limoncello is on me" said the owner, and "you'd better have some more of that" when our glasses were empty. We thought we'd better call it a night and so did our neighbours. Tony the host brought his invoice book over and said "i have no idea what you all had apart fom the antipasto, can you tell me?".

What a great night.

First Impressions in Rome

What a contrast Rome was to us, just arriving in from firstly San Francisco and then more recently Zurich. The clean minimalism and efficiency of Switzerland was in vivid relief to the chaos that was Fiumicino Airport.

At Zurich Airport, the planes seemed to scoot around the tarmac with purpose and speed and no encumbrances just like you had designed it all in Sim City.

Even sitting in the Zurich airport gate waiting for our flight to Rome we got a sense of the Italian world we were so anticipating re-entering - sitting opposite to us was a young man in bright orange trousers with another not far away with lime green!

As we taxied into Rome, you could tell this Swiss Air plane was entering another world! Airport service vehicles were zooming around taxiing planes at random and entering the airport there were hundreds if not thousands of people forlornly surrounding every luggage carousel.

As we waited and waited for our luggage, we watched some locals in highly animated conversation about national politics, hands waving, leaning forward with earnest expressions, full energy in each point being made. Such passion and energy from 3 Italians who had clearly never met before. As they engaged further, their backs turned to the carousel as they made point after point to each other! Forget about the bags, this was fun! When their bags finally arrived, they shook hands and farewelled one another as new friends.

Ahh... back in Italy!! Waiting an hour for our bags to arrive, but such entertainment all around and such a contrast to sullenly waiting in line for an hour at San Francisco for our finger prints to be taken.

Chaos and inefficiency in a delightful mix somehow. Love it.

Once our bags did finally arrive, we simply walked out of the airport via a well worn path labelled 'nothing to declare'. There was a red line for people who had something to declare but I don't think it had been used for years. SUCH a contrast to the Swiss and US experience where they virtually take blood samples and full body scans (I'm not kidding) on entry and exit to any new part of an airport. At no point in Rome did we have to produce ANY documents!!

Ahhhh Italia, bella Italia.....

We arrived at our apartment near the Vatican exhausted, but SO happy to be back.....