A place in Tropea

In Briatico we were very well treated.  We were given the summer house of a young man, and we spent three full days relaxing and visiting the nearby towns. 

During the day we would drive to Tropea, Pizzo, or across the toe of the boot to Stignano.  Tropea is typical of most of the towns in the area.  The main thing that is interesting about Tropea is how tiny alleyways will end overlooking a cliff.  Pizzo is very small and not particularly interesting, but it is the birthplace of the delicious dessert called Tartufo.  Tartufo are balls of ice cream - either one or two flavors - filled in the center with some form of sweet sticky syrup.  Pretty delicious. 

Our day trip over to Stignano was fun.  The road was not the best, which is always thrilling.  We crossed over the mountains, passing through both hard rain and sun.  Stignano was a surprise.  A cute stone town that was surprisingly hard to find. 

In the evenings we would retire to the house and cook ourselves some dinner.  Our host and his girlfriend joined us once, and prepared a regional Calabrian pasta dish.  Our time in Tropea was sweet and refreshing.

La Costiera Amalfitana

The Amalfi coast is a beautiful peninsula south of Naples.  The southern coast of the peninsula is 40km (25 miles) of steep vegetated slopes and rock cliffs.  Tiny villages are scattered along the length of the peninsula, clinging to the rocks.

The road along the coast is extremely narrow.  Probably one of the most interesting memories I have of our time navigating the coast is due to the narrow roads.  We were just about to leave one of the villages, and as we turned a sharp corner we came across two buses trying to pass each other.  The buses had met at a particularly narrow part of the road that did a bit of an "S" curve.  The houses on each side came right up to the edge.  We sat there watching the buses move forward a little, then move back.  Slowly they wiggled their way past each other, but how they did this still baffles me.

Along the road there are tiny replicas of the villages clinging to alcoves in the rock cliffs.

Napoli: The European Third World

Napoli is a city of chaos.  We arrived to this dirty, crowded city after dark.  It felt like we were arriving to some city in the heart of Africa.  The place we were staying at was incredibly difficult to find, especially from the direction we were trying to approach it.  Once, we started going up this street which got narrower and narrower.  It got so narrow it became difficult to navigate between the vehicles parked on each side.  I eventually had to turn off onto another road.

Finding our hosts house took quite some time.  We ended up parking in a plaza at the bottom of the hill and walking the skinny streets up to his house.  Walking up some zigzagging staircases we finally found it.  He was an elderly man living in a big house off of a small community courtyard.  Him and some friends treated us to some very traditional pizza with mozzarella di bufala.

One afternoon we took a tour of the Naples underground.  It was just as impressive to be underground knowing that the mayhem of the city was just above us, as it was to realize on the streets outside that such quiet catacombs were below.

One day we went walking up the endless staircases of the city to the fortress at the top.  We had a very funny encounter with a dog, who thought he was the fiercest thing in the country.  Javier showed him who was boss.  With a few barks and a couple steps toward the dog Javier had him running and crying all the way home.

At the top of the stairs you can see out across the city all the way down to Mount Vesuvius.

On the south side of the volcano is the ancient city of Pompei.  This city was incredibly well preserved since it had been completely buried under several meters of ash until its discovery in the 16th century.  The sad thing now is that the Italian government has not been taking the best care of the city.  Not long before we arrived one of the buildings collapsed. 

As they excavated the city they began to notice large oddly shaped air pockets in the ash.  In a moment of genius they filled these holes with plaster.  As they suspected, these air pockets were the voids left after the bodies of the people buried in the ash had decayed.  The resulting plaster molds were perfect images of the last moments of the people of Pompei.  The shriveled screaming figures are terrifying.  Unfortunately these plaster molds are falling apart today.  The technology used when they were made was not meant to last so long.

Romans in the Snow

 We spent four days exploring the vast city of Rome.  We stayed with two young men very near the sea, and we either took the train or drove into the city each day.  On the first day we were there it snowed an awful wet snow, and we became completely soaked.  We even experienced the cliche scenario of a bus splashing us with a wall of water as it drove through an enormous puddle.

Other days in the city were much nicer.  The sun came out and we enjoyed the beauty of the city - even if we did have wet feet. 

In the Vatican City we visited the Vatican Museum, climbed the stairs to the top of the Vatican, and watched the Swiss guards at their stations.  The Sistene Chapel and numerous other exhibits in the museum were extremely impressive.  We spent hours investigating the many painted rooms and halls of art. 

The guards at the Vatican have been Swiss since the 15th century.  When Javier was studying as a child in the Swiss school, he was always taught that the Swiss were so cooperative and peaceful.  Yet these guards are used by the Pope because of their reputation as fierce warriors.  Which is it?

Siena: The Snow Continues

In Siena we stayed with an Indian man who was working there for a year or two.  He was lonely being away from his family, and he was very happy to have guests to chat with.  We made Spanish lentils for him - without Chorizo.  There were other guests as well, and we all enjoyed our time in his tiny kitchen.

When we awoke the next morning, we found the streets covered in many inches of wet, heavy snow.

The whole city was alive with excitement with the snowfall.  In every plaza there were children and adults making snowmen, throwing snowballs, and sledding down any small hill they could find on garbage sacks. 

This plaza is the hallmark of Siena; the Piazza del Campo.  It is a semi-circle that slowly slopes down to its flat bottom edge.  This plaza is the site of a semi-annual horse race along the outer edge, and a daily place for a coffee.

It is great to see people of all ages playing in the snow, but my absolute favorite part of Italy when it snows are the enormous number of Moon Boots that appear.