Spring Break Part Two (Or, Why Scooters Should Be Outlawed)

Moving on to Part Two of the Italian spring break adventure: Naples.

Actually, we didn't go right to Naples from Alghero. Because of the way it worked out with costs, we decided to fly to Rome for one night and then take a train. RyanAir flew us into the sketchiest looking airport I have ever seen, with old military planes scattered everywhere and a run-down looking interior, and then we had to take a shuttle bus to the city center. In front of us and to the sides was a group of middle-aged Italian women who didn't shut up the entire trip, and one seemed as though she had had a little too much fun on the plane. The shuttle bus took about an hour because of all the traffic, and as we reached the train station, I was unimpressed. So far Rome just looked like a city.

And that's one thing I learned on this trip. Even though foreigners may have romantic and idealistic perceptions of a place, to the people who live there, it;s just home. It's a city full of people like any other, and just because there are some fantastic tourist attractions to see doesn't mean there aren't also creepy shops and back alleys and a homelessness problem. But learning to embrace the individual rhythm of each city is just as important as seeing the sites.

But we had just arrived in Rome, tired from our day of traveling and overwhelmed by its size. We trudged to our hostel, not too far from the train station, and couldn't even comprehend the size of the guide map. There were so many tiny, twisting streets and nothing seemed to lead anywhere. After our not-so-positive start to break, we wanted to see something cool, so we decided to head to the Trevi Fountain because it was so close to our hostel. It was definitely awe-inspiring to step around the corner, hearing rushing water for a few steps before, and see this massive fountain.

 After that, we were still feeling a bit homesick, and we saw a British-owned pub so we decided to stop in for a couple of Guinnesses. We felt a little guilty that we were sitting in a British pub in Italy, but, except for the Italian being spoken around us, it was a nice taste of home.

After dinner in a touristy restaurant that was nevertheless tasty, and a couple gelatos, we went back to the hostel feeling much better and excited to move on to Naples in the morning.

The next day we made our way to the train station and had to watch the natives to figure out what to do with our tickets. We climbed aboard a train that reminded me of Harry Potter because of the compartments and, not realizing that our tickets had listed seat and compartment numbers because we couldn't read the Italian, just found somewhere empty to sit. Soon a young Italian man joined us and proceeded to talk on his two cell phones the entire trip (he got off about an hour before us, but it was still kind of annoying. He could end every conversation with "ciao, ciao ciaociaociao.")

In Naples, we saw the same any-city vibe we had seen in Rome, and thought that if we got towards the more touristy areas things would take shape. Our hostel was down a side street on the second floor of a building, and it was really weird because you had to leave your key with them whenever you went out, and the managers smoked inside all the time (we got used to inhaling secondhand smoke in Italy, but it as still strange to have it inside).

Our plan was to go to the National Archaeological Museum and see the artifacts that had been discovered at Pompeii, because we were headed there the next day. After going back to the train station to get a map because the hostel owner said he had run out, we walked through the city to get to the museum. The sun was shining and extremely warm, almost hot. As we walked further into the city, we didn't notice it improving at all. Garbage lined the sidewalks, street vendors selling really weird items fought for position, and there were run-down buildings and strange shops everywhere. As we walked, we literally had to dodge out of the way of people on scooters who seemed to think that they could go wherever they could fit. The cars barely obey the traffic laws, but the scooters don't obey them at all. People were constantly honking and revving their engines.

We were relieved to finally get to the museum, until we walked up to the door and saw this sign:

Closed on Tuesday. Guess what day it was. Of course.

So, with our whole day's activity impossible, we consulted my guide book to look for other things to see, but our afternoon mostly consisted of wandering around in the hot sun. At one point Ian very nearly got hit by a car and, because he was feeling shaken and we were both hot and tired, we stopped for lunch. It was in a tiny pizzeria, and Naples was supposed to be the place where pizza was invented. The waitress didn't speak any English whatsoever so we both ordered margherita pizzas as best we could and ate. I had actually gotten quite good at communicating with waitstaff. Besides pointing, I actually used a lot of Italian words over the course of the week. But there's always that barrier of not knowing exactly what the other person is talking about.

After lunch we had no idea what to do. We were getting creeped out by Naples and wished we could go back to Rome. We walked to a place on the map labeled "Orto Botanico," Botanical Gardens, and headed there. It was gated. Closed. Nothing was working for us. We sat on a rusting bench in the middle of a rotary surrounded by trash, pigeons, and somebody's shoe. We were defeated. We went back to the hostel for the night. Here are a couple of pictures of the nice things we saw in Naples, but they don't encompass what the city really looked like.

The next day was our trip to Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed yet preserved by the volcano Vesuvius. We were both really excited about this trip. I had been once before and couldn't wait for Ian to see it.

It was raining. The day before, when we had nothing to do, blue skies. Today, rain. We didn't let it dampen our spirits, though, as we headed for the train station to take the public transportation to Pompeii. We had to listen to a trip of men play the violin, guitar, and accordion in our faces for about 15 minutes of the trip, but overall it wasn't too bad.

Pompeii itself was incredible. It's one of the highlights of break for me. There was so much history, and I couldn't believe I was walking through what used to be a busy, thriving city. We rented audio guides and listened to the information about what various buildings would have been used for--we saw everything from courts, temples, stadiums, and government buildings to markets, bakeries, laundries, and brothels.

We spent upwards of six hours in Pompeii. The sun came out intermittently (after I had bought an umbrella from a vendor), and we had so much fun wandering around the ruins. We didn't want to go back to the city, but eventually we got back on the train and headed back to our hostel.

I'm not proud of where we went for dinner. I don't condone it. It's embarrassing to think about. But between the bad area we seemed to be saying in, getting hounded by people trying to sell us things on the street, not being able to find an open restaurant, and being exhausted from our long day, we ate at McDonalds. And you know what? Almost everything is the same in Italian as it is in English there. Big Mac. McChicken. It was easy, and it was deliciously American.

Coming soon: Rome! Stay tuned.