Date: 5 November 2003
Subject: Naples made me Pompei oil

During my brief stay in Naples, I had the privilege of being extorted by some little crooks who had taken possession of a street with free parking, who acted as though they owned it. When someone had paid, they squeezed the mirror on the driver's side toward the interior to indicate that the payment had been made. I believe they had seen the Sopranos a little too often. Another interesting little fact: there were street vendors and window-washers at street corners and I was used to that since that exists also in Montreal. What was new was the vendors under the shelters at the toll-booths on the highway. While you were stopped to pay, they offered you various merchandise and sometimes pushed them through your open car window in the hopes that you would buy them since you had the merchandise in your hands!

Sunday, 2 November:

I got up this morning and it was beautiful outdoors. Since the trip along the Amalfitano coast was on my itinerary, there was no better weather for it. I had found the right road after my wanderings of the previous day, and I went out to see Vesivius. I was lucky, because having left early in the morning, I was able to climb up in the car to the summit. Happily so, because when I went down, they were in the process of closing the only road with accesses the top, to hold a 5 km road race.

The Amalfitano coast is very beautiful and the road that threads its way through it is a real jewel. I was able to see unexpected scenery and I climbed up to the village at the summit, Santa Anna, which looked out over the two sides of the sea. My next step was Pompeii and I arrived there about 3:00. I was able to visit the ruins and the archeological excavations made it possible to see some nearly complete homes. It was very impressive.

Since it was pretty late when I finished my visit, I rented a room at the center of Pompeii in a hotel that had tolerable air. I sauntered about on the streets and made the tour of the center of town rather rapidly. The basilica is very pretty and the central plaza was very busy. One rather odd fact, I saw more liturgical objects in the kiosks in Pompei than anywhere else, even Rome. All kinds of objects, but especially Madonnas and crucifixes.

I returned to the hotel about 9:00 and realized that my room was poorly sound insulated. I was on the third floor [4th floor U.S.] and I could hear everything going on on the street. Unhappily for me, Pompei for some reason I cannot understand was the most active city that I had the privilege of encountering. Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, or Rome were active, but at least that settled down about 10:00. Not Pompei, cars were driving around and people were passing in the street in an unbelievable muddle. I resorted to seeing what everyone was doing, since it was impossible to close my eyes.

Cars were turning around and as soon as one got out of a parking space, another replaced it. Cars continued to go around and around the 4 same streets looking for a place to park. Once they were parked, people got out of the car to walk around on foot, and after a while got back into their cars to go around some more. All this went on until 12:30. Moreover, my badly sound-conditioned hotel was situated on the street corner where all the action was. Cars braking and clutching made an incredible noise and I had trouble getting to sleep.

Monday, 3 November:

6:00 in the morning, and I was up. This time, it was the trucks that braced the hotel as they approached the intersection. They shifted gears after stopping, and everything shook. I took my shower, and in any event I would have been up by 7:00 because all the church-bells began to ring at that time. I have never seen the like!

I decided to give a second chance to Naples. I had really tried, I swear. I had accompanied the Napolitans to work in traffic during rush hour at 8:00, taken one of the 5 lanes (3 for normal people), and headed toward the center of the city. The streets are paved with the original paving-stones of the 10th century, and it really gets stirred up during rush-hour. I wanted to see the archeological museum, but I must have missed the sign because as soon as I arrived at the end of the city, there was a sign indicating the "centro". I followed the signs, and got the same result at the other end of the town. I finally gave up and as soon as I wanted to get out of Naples, all the signs indicated the way to get back in. Unbelievable, because once I got into Napes there were no signs for the interesting sites. I had seen the Duomo when I was there on Sunday, and I didn't like it. But even so, it was impossible to find it again.

The only way that I was able to get out of Naples was in keeping the river to my left and not deviating from that direction. It was most important to avoid all signs that gave Naples as an option. After 30 km or so, I finally saw a sign for Rome and then I knew that I had escaped.

My next destination was Cassino, and the abbey of Montecassino. Paradoxically, it was in approaching Cassino that the drive became more normal and the influence of the Neapolitans was finally stamped out. The abbey is a harbor of peace situated high on a mountain and it very impressive. It had been completely destroyed during the 2nd World War, and was rebuilt along its original lines. The nearby Polish cemetery containing more than 1000 tombs was also worth seeing. I continued on the coast road toward Venice and stopped in a hotel far from the highway which had a beautiful view over the sea.

Tuesday, 4 November:

Since I had some extra time on my hands [literally, on my arms], I decided to go visit the region of Bologna, which should use up my available time. I began with Urbino this morning, a beautiful little town off the beaten path. This town with wandering little streets possesses a Renaissance palace dating fromthe 15th century and I visited the Ducal museum in the interior of the palace. The jewel is certain the Muta of Raphael. Because it was there out of season, and there were few visitors, I had the privilege of having my own personal guard following me throughout my visit. There must have been no more than 4 visitors in total.

My next destination was the little sovereign state of San Marino and I followed a little winding street between Urbino and San Marino which was not sign-posted at all. There were references to "10 km" at the end, and I was certain I was lost. I finally arrived at my destination about 3:30 and immediately found a hotel. The darkness fell suddenly about 4:30 and I didn't want to miss my chance.

This morning I took the cable-car of San Marino to get to the top and visited the old city, in all its beauty..

Til next time,

Paul

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