Italy 2006- 9.1

Trenitalia, a lovely way to see the country. We set out to Naples in the morning in order to catch a local train to Pompeii. The countryside in Italy is almost completely rural. We really didn’t see anything in the way of suburbs like you would see in the US. The rural areas are in turn fairly dense in terms of housing, with the occasional medieval village on a hilltop. Very picturesque.

Trenitalia, at least the Eurostar variety is quite comfortable, and had us talking about how it was that airline travel could not be that way, aside from the obvious economic issues. A few other observations: the doors on the trains sound like some low keening banshee when they open and close. The other is the explanation provided with the train passes is less than adequate. The passenger is expected to fill in the dates of travel by hand, in blue or black ink, PRIOR to boarding the train. The conductors do not do it for you, even if you failed to do so. They will most likely ignore your infraction, until you get one that doesn’t and will then berate you for your mistake. Fines are possible but can be gotten out of by being a stupid, but polite Americano…

Pompeii is simply amazing. Like Venice, it is a unique place, but this time a very haunted one. Seeing the folks who live on the slopes of Vesuvius to this day puts the images of eventual repeat of this disaster front and center. The culture in evidence is really quite impressive, but I would not want to live there. I guess I am addicted to technology.

We visited most of the main areas, but of course the newly restored brothel stands out. We were just in front of a group of asian tourists with a particularly witty guide. They were laughing up a storm. They quickly traded laughter for gasps when the frescoes became visible.

We made it back to Rome, and rode with a cab driver who must have known every back street in the city and was unafraid, or unconcerned about driving them at 80 km per hour. He got us back to the hotel in half the time that our first driver managed. Dinner was a follow your nose to a likely looking trattoria called Ponte & Parione just east of the Piazza Novona. We sat outside and had a great dinner, despite the cicuit breakers tripping 3 times, and me knocking just about everything I could off the small table. The food was great, the price was pretty good, and we capped off food in Italy just right. A final celebratory proseco at the Café Bernini in the Piazza closed the book on touring Italy.