Cefalu to Milan

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

We left a very quiet Cefalu at 6:00 this morning to head for Palermo’s airport before the worst of the morning traffic. The flight to Milan was about an hour and a half and it was rainy and gray upon our arrival. By the time we checked into our airport hotel and headed for the city, the rain had abated, though it did make several appearances on and off throughout the afternoon.

We walked along the lovely, wide, Via Dante, which is given over to pedestrians and forms a wonderful link between the massive dark bulk of the Castel Sforzesco and the lacy, pink-tinged marble façade of the cathedral. The Duomo is one of the largest Gothic churches in the world, with five soaring naves and a capacity of 40,000 people. After lingering there, we took a slow stroll through the adjacent Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, as lovely a shopping arcade as you’ll find anywhere, to the Piazza della Scala and its grand opera house.

We spent some time exploring the area known as Milan’s golden quadrilateral, the home of the elegant shops that make this city an international fashion capital and then just wandered around a bit, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to the hotel to catch up on English-language TV and prepare for tomorrow’s early departure for home. Jane’s flight to Newark leaves at the same time as ours to Philadelphia, which will make things easier all around.

Thanks to all of you who’ve followed along with us, and especially those who communicated along the way. It’s been a great trip, but we’re ready to head for home, our own bed and shower, and an occasional opportunity to sleep late.

Ciao, cari amici!

Mel and Tom

Palermo

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

We finally found out how to get around without using maps or our GPS; we took the train from Cefalu to Palermo and did not make a single wrong turn! Of course, it was the Italian train system (Trenitalia) and, in our experience was, by definition, late. But we did get to Palermo.

This is the capital of the region of Sicily and the largest city. It is another one of those cities that has had many rulers, from the Greeks through the Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, etc. and it was also heavily bombed in WWII. Palermo bears the marks of a mix of influences of all the previous rulers; the central district is a warren of narrow streets dating from Arab times crossed by a few wider but not very wide, main streets from the time of French rule. Palermo has a reputation somewhat like Naples and, given the historical Mafia influence here, the reputation is probably deserved. Beware of pickpockets and thieves on motor scooters and that sort of thing. We had no problems but encountered many dark alleys (a.k.a. streets) where we walked only because it was daylight.

Compared with Naples, I would say that Palermo is grungier but not as dirty if you know what I mean. Not as much garbage lying about (just dirt), very crowded, busy, and lots of lively markets. All in all, I enjoyed the place. The early morning sun changed to gray midday, but it fit the atmosphere of the part of the town we were in. It is not a picturesque place but there are many old “palaces” in various states of repair and everything looks like it is being fixed up.

We headed back to Cefalu after a few hours of wandering the streets of Palermo; the train arrived here only 30 min late for the one- hour trip. Trenitalia! The rain that had threatened earlier caught up with us after we arrived home and we had a dramatic, but brief downpour.

Early tomorrow, we drop the car, catch the plane from Palermo to Milan, where we should have some time to spend with Janie in the city during the afternoon, and then back to the US on Thursday.

Ciao!

Tom (with “improvements” by Mary Ellen)

Monreale

Monday October 27, 2008

Well, today was to have been the big day for Palermo and Monreale, about 30 miles from us. We did not, however, realize that our GPS had something else in store for us. We had decided to go to Monreale first, visit the Duomo, leave the car there, and take a twenty-minute bus ride into Palermo’s bedlam.

So, we followed our GPS’ directions for Monreale – mistake Number One. Besides sending us on the usual back roads, it had no idea where the Monreale was; in fact, it had decided to send us to another town entirely. It was off by over 20 miles and nothing we did could make it acknowledge that fact. Rather, it kept sending us toward Corleone (of The Godfather fame), as if drawn by the fame. So here we are, 20 miles out of the way with a GPS that thinks it did the right thing. Monreale is the location of a famous church that was built in the 12th century and is just outside and high above Palermo. We started following maps and signs but all the roads we found went somewhere we did not want to go like Corleone. About 90 minutes later, we finally stumbled upon Monreale. I would say, though, that the area we traveled through was quite beautiful, though our trip was frustrating. (We also read when we returned that this area is the Mafia stronghold) A trip that should have taken an hour, tops, took three times as long.

The reason we were headed to Monreale was the church we mentioned, and it is really stunning. The interior is entirely covered with mosaics created in the 12-13th centuries to illustrate biblical stories. This is one of the most glorious churches we have seen and was even worth the effort it took to get there. Also part of the complex is a beautiful and tranquil cloister that we visited.

After this morning’s frustrations, we decided that we did not have either the mental reserves or enough time to visit (the notoriously trying) Palermo so we decided to put that off until tomorrow. En route back to our apartment, we detoured into a Sicilian regional park covering many square miles of the mountainous area around Cefalu. The scenery was beautiful and the vistas, both seaward and towards the high peaks, were balm for our frazzled psyches. We also stopped at a mountaintop oratory with beautiful views overlooking the sea and Cefalu -- a wonderful way to end the day.

Tomorrow is our last full day here and we plan to take the train to Palermo to see how it compares with Naples. We’re armed for bear and it should be interesting.

Ciao!

Mary Ellen and Tom

Siracusa

 Sunday, October 26, 2008
 
After putting off our trip to Siracusa twice, we decided to proceed this morning. Since the morning weather icons were displaying rain over the entire island for the day, we knew we were going to get wet wherever we went. Besides, meteorological luck has been on our side throughout this trip and we thought it might hold. Let’s just say that, even in the rain, Siracusa is a lovely city. Most memorably, the Piazza del Duomo is glorious – large, open, traffic-free and just lovely. Or, as one of our (multiple) guidebooks says, “enchanting.” It was wet, though, and so were we. We did stroll around the city, but were happy to return to our car, our “dry land” for the day.

We continued to Noto, a nearby city that had been totally relocated and rebuilt after an earthquake at the end of the 17th century. The result is considered a model of urban planning, beautiful baroque city – one gorgeous piazza after another, filled with golden-hued buildings and green spaces.

Most of the day was spent in the car, trying (desperately pleading with our GPS at times) to get from one place to another. Tom was our driver and it was a tough slog. (When he said he’d actually consider a beach day tomorrow, I knew we’d crossed a line!) We were happy to reach Cefalu (no evidence of rain here!) and we were more than ready for this evening’s happy hour when we did!

Fortified by happy hour, dinner and the wine that accompanied them (thank you to Brian and Susie Lenney), we may be ready for Palermo tomorrow, instead of the beach!

Ciao!
Mary Ellen

Cefalu

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Today we had no big plans so it was a day to spend some time in Cefalu. This is a well known resort which has a beautiful beach that stretches a mile or so from the city center toward the east. The weather is still nice here and there are a few people on the beach and even in the water. We walked around the old streets for a while, found an Internet access point to post our previous blogs visited the Duomo here and then went to the Saturday market where Mel picked up a leather backpack-purse for 5 Euros!

We met again with Mary Ellen’s cousins before their return to London and then headed out for a ride around this area. As usual, our GPS found some of the unusual ways to get from one place to another and we even wound up backing out of one street because it was getting too narrow for the car.

Tomorrow we will try again for Siracusa. We have learned that the weather forecast is about as reliable as it is in the US so we will just go and see what happens.

Ciao!

Tom

Southern Sicily, Agrigento

Friday October 24, 2008

With plans all made for a trip to Siracusa on the east coast, we watched the morning weather report (not to be confused with last night’s forecast) and found that rain was predicted for that area, so, ever adaptable, we headed south today. (The weather report is something we can understand, since we are familiar with the icons for sun, clouds, and rain and the words for the days of the week)

The trip was a ride down the center of Sicily, which was quite nice. The island is quite hilly and mountainous, with many farms but few trees. Agrigento was founded by the Greeks in about 800 BC and at times ruled by Carthage, Rome, the Saracens, Normans, French, and Spanish. The attraction there is the Valley of the Temples, the remains of several Greek temples, one of which is among the best preserved in the world. It was a warm, very sunny day so we took it easy walking around the archeological park and grabbed whatever shade we could. As always, things were poorly marked and usually only in Italian but this time we were smart enough to purchase the audio guides before starting.

We enjoyed a farewell dinner on the patio at a seaside restaurant with our cousins, as they will be returning to London tomorrow.

Tom and Mel

Western Sicily, Erice

Thursday Oct 23 2008

Today, we drove to the airport in Palermo to pick up Mary Ellen’s sister, Jane who flew in from the states to join us for the last week of the adventure. This was also a chance to practice for our dash to the airport on next Wednesday when we catch a morning flight to Milan for our return on Thursday. The airport is on the opposite side of the Palermo from Cefalu’ and about 60 miles away. The problem we found is that the local powers (and we can all speculate on who they might be) have never followed through with the idea of building an Autostrada through or around Palermo. The limited-access road ends at one end of the city and another begins on the other side. You take a boulevard through the city and this tends to slow you down. We will see how it goes early next Wednesday.

Jane came through her flight over in good shape so we decided to do some sightseeing and headed for the western town of Erice. This is a town founded by the Greeks on a small plateau about 2500 ft above the sea with beautiful views of the coast. It is a walled city with a medieval atmosphere and quite enjoyable to just walk around. We spent a few hours there and then decided to return to Cefalu.

We got back to the car just before a rainstorm began and felt quite lucky to be under cover. Then we tried to start the car. Our rental car comes with an alarm system that keeps you from starting it unless you press a button on the key fob. The button was no longer working. After trying a few times, I called the Hertz office in Italy and said we were stuck. They asked a few questions about the rental and then said they would be back to me in 10 minutes. They texted back saying the had sent a truck, it would be there in an hour and if the car did not start, we should get a cab back to the Airport in Palermo (about 50 miles). This from a fogged-in medieval town on top of a mountain! As promised and to our great surprise, the truck arrived exactly (as the bell tolled) an hour later. Unfortunately, our only common language with the mechanic was Italian so communication was less than smooth. But he took one look around and said that the problem was that the nearby mountaintop cell phone tower was interfering with our alarm system. He rolled the car a few hundred feet down the hill and it started immediately. What next?

We got together with our cousins this evening and had another great family time. For the Brits, the weather is a definite upgrade and Brian really enjoyed Cefalu’s fine beach and even went swimming this afternoon! I’d venture to say that the sea is probably too cool for us desert rats, but for a Londoner or Adirondack Mountain lake swimmer, it seemed warm.

Although the weather has been somewhat-to-very cloudy since we arrived on the island, it’s been warm and the occasional heavy rains have occurred either while we were driving home or overnight. We realize that Sicily is a beautiful place and look forward to seeing more of it. Tomorrow we will head east to Siracusa and other places along the East coast.

Ciao!
Tom

To Sicily

Wednesday October 22, 2008 

This morning we headed south to our final week in Italy in Sicily. The trip down to the ferry across the Strait of Messina took us first along the coast for about 100 miles. The coast in this area of Calabria is nice, but not as pretty (the terrain is relatively flat) or difficult to drive as the area around Maratea so we made good time. We connected up with the Autostrade for the last part of the trip to the Reggio Calabria area where the ferries for Sicily dock.

The ferry ride was cool and breezy for the 30 min trip to Messina. From there we headed to Mel’s favorite city in Sicily, Milazzo, so she could get her picture taken in front of a town sign. (For those who do not know, that is her maiden name). We were surprised that the area we saw was quite nice since the guide books have nothing good to say about the city. There is no known family relationship to the city other than the name so we went on to our final destination, Cefalu’.

The ride across Sicily along the north coast was always close to or in sight of the water. Sicily is mountainous, so there were also numerous tunnels as we moved from east to west. Cefau’ is a pretty (I don’t know if it is a top 37 or not), old city which is a favorite among tourists who come to Sicily. We picked it due to its central location on the coast and we are in a spacious apartment in the old part of the city. We met Mary Ellen’s cousin Brian and his wife Susie and daughter Rachael here and will to spend time with them this week. Tomorrow, we will pick up Mel’s sister Jane when she arrives in Palermo in the morning.

Ciao
Tom

Basilicata

Tuesday October 21, 2008

Today might be considered a down day especially after the excitement of yesterday. The region we are in, Basilicata, is not one of the tourist areas of Italy other than for Italians spending time at the beaches. So we were looking for something to do possibly for the first time on the trip. We settled on visiting Castelmezzano, described as “one of the 37 prettiest towns in Italy.” Who knew there was a “prettiest 37 towns” contest?!? Our guidebook did not say what number this town is, but let’s guess!

Getting there was half the fun. We are on the coast and our objective is in the middle of the boot. That means crossing two or three lines of mountains and climbing at least 1000 meters each time. Our GPS seems to believe that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line or something like a straight line meaning straight over the mountain rather than around it. It sent us on a few wonderful roads, some of which might be considered poorly paved cow paths; in fact, we did share the road with some cows, no fences or cowherds in sight. So the trip was quite interesting and also beautiful. Unlike my preconceptions, the mountains are covered with trees and we were treated to fall colors, though not up to New England standards. But then again, it’s still warm here.

Castelmezzano is a nice little town (I will vote for it as #26), perched on the side of a rock outcrop, which makes it quite distinctive. We walked through the entire town, or should I say climbed through it, to the “fortress” on the other end of town. All that remains of this is a low wall but I can’t imagine anyone climbing up and taking the fortress. The views of the surrounding peaks, the town below, and the valley below that were beautiful.

One thing we found there that will bring Mary Ellen back soon is what is called “Flight of the Angels”. They have strung a cable between two of the rock outcrops about 1 KM apart and you “fly” from one hilltop town to another across a deep ravine face down in a kind of sling attached to the cable. They actually have strung cables for the same span in another section of and we guessed that was so they could say that if one broke, they had another you could use; no excuses accepted! Unfortunately, the ride was closed for the season, but Mel will surely return when it re-opens. (See the photo of the descriptive sign.)

We went from there to Pietrapertosa, a similarly situated village and the other end of the Angel flight. We only stayed a while in this town since we were all climbed out from Castelmezzano, but we did have a lovely chat in our excellent Itaglish with three nonne (grandmothers) caring for a darling two-year old boy on the steps of the local church.

From there we took the non-straight line route back to our apartment, which turned out to be longer but quicker.

Tomorrow we travel to the tip of the boot to cross the Strait of Messina by ferry to our destination in Sicily, Cefalu. There, we will rendezvous with Mel’s sister Janie and their cousin Brian Lenney, his wife and daughter, who live outside London.

Ciao!
Tom (with improvements by Mel as usual)

Return to Mel’s Roots

Monday, October 20, 2008

Today, we set off for Moliterno, the hill town in Basilicata that was home to both of my paternal grandparents. The drive, guided by our GPS, took us on a route for which a description as “back roads” would be considered an upgrade! As we traveled the barely one-lane roads, past farms that seemed far removed from the 21st century, I thought of my grandmother who, perhaps, moved along the same roads when she left her home by horse-drawn carriage on the four or five day trip to Naples, where she embarked for New York in 1901.

As we drew close to Moliterno, we began to climb above a valley of verdant farmland. Rather than take the “new” approach to town, which tunneled through the mountain, we chose to drive the winding road through the forested slopes that wore the glorious colors of fall. Once in town, we stopped first at the cemetery. My grandmother’s maiden name is much more common in Moliterno than my grandfather’s (who died when my father was ten and about whom I know very little), so we were searching for her side of the family. After an interesting recap of the history of immigration from Moliterno, the helpful gentleman at the cemetery advised us to go to the town hall, where a directory was kept of who was buried where.

With the help of yet another friendly citizen, we found the Records Office in the town hall and then things really came together. We were able to communicate with the clerk, who did not speak English, and, armed with my grandmother’s birth year and month, she went to a file cabinet and pulled out the Birth Registry from that year, 1881. After some initial difficulty, a smile came over her face; not only had she found the official hand-written record of my grandmother’s birth, but she saw that my great-grandmother’s surname was her own! I had tears in my eyes as I looked at the register and tried to take it all in. The clerk then typed and stamped three times (this is Italy, after all!) a document with all the pertinent information, which, she told me, is proof enough for me to obtain an Italian passport. (We shall see; this is contrary to other things I’d read previously.)

As we left the office, I examined the document and found that it contained the address of the house in which Grandma was born! Our trusty GPS gave us to believe that it was very close to where we were, so we took off into streets that were just a few feet wide and that climbed stairs and wound back and forth. When we were within a couple of hundred feet of the address, we met an old lady (who could have been my grandmother!) who insisted on walking (climbing) along to help us. We found the narrow street, but many of the houses were numberless. Then, neighbors began coming out of their homes and leaning out of their windows to be a part of the hunt. Our story was repeated, commented upon, surnames remembered, and stories told (not fully understood by us) about others with the same surname, etc. Everyone wanted in on the action, but no one could say for sure which of the numberless houses was the correct one. We came close enough for me, if not for them, and we tore ourselves away with some difficulty.

Back in the little town square, we decided to stop in the small library to ask where in town we might find public bathrooms and a public Internet point. I think I already knew the answer to both questions, and the librarian made us feel very much at home as we checked e-mail and posted the pent-up blog entries Tom had on his thumb drive. When I told the librarian about my own career, she was delighted and rushed to give us a poster of Moliterno and ask us to return.

After a picnic in front of the medieval castle overlooking a neighboring town with a long section of a Roman aqueduct, we headed off for yet another archeological site that Tom had discovered, the Roman ruins at Grumentum. By now, you know the drill: forum, arena, houses, baths, mosaics, temples, basilicas, and amphitheater, so I’ll say no more.

This was a memorable day, truly a highlight of our trip.

Ciao for now!
Mary Ellen

Paestum and the Tyrrhenian Coast

Sunday October 19, 2008 

Happy Birthday to our Kevin!!!!

Today we drove north and west from our base to the ancient Greek settlement of Paestum in the region of Campania. The drive up there was partly along the beautiful coast and then inland to a hilly green area covered with trees and farms. Paestum was settled by the Greeks in the 6th century BC and later taken over by the Romans as part of their empire. The town was eventually abandoned due to the collapse of the empire and malaria, which spread throughout the population in the surrounding swampy land. Silt and forestation covered the city and it was lost from memory until the 1700’s when someone noticed the visible remains.

We first visited the museum, which contained beautiful examples of Greek pieces recovered from burial sites and temples. The area contains the remains of the later Roman settlement, but is most noted for the three remaining Greek temples, some of the best preserved anywhere. We spent a few hours at the site, then headed back south, hoping to take the coast road back to our home base. After a few arguments with our GPS (You don’t really think I could go down that road/alley do you?!?), we reached the coast. We followed the coast south, stopping every so often to admire a beach, town, or view and take more pictures, of course. Toward the end of the afternoon, along the town of Sapri’s seaside promenade, we saw the local citizenry out for their Sunday afternoon passeggiata, or stroll. The evening passeggiata is an Italian tradition and some towns take it very seriously as a time to meet and greet, see and be seen.

We saw the sun’s golden disk set into the sea before we arrived back at our apartment to find our hostess, Filomena, her husband and young daughter waiting for us with a gift of wine made by her father. Needless to say, we did not hesitate to accept!

Another fine day in a part of Italy that is lovely, but largely ignored by tourists.

Tom and Mel

Matera

Saturday, October 18, 2008

This morning, we drove northwest, almost all the way across the "boot", to Matera. The trip there was quite varied in scenery first with mountains covered with trees, reminding us of upstate New York, and then areas devoted or previously devoted to agriculture which looked pretty dry similar to some of the farmland of eastern Colorado or Nebraska with some evidence of the emigration from these areas in abandoned farmhouses. And every once in a while there would be a mountain topped by a town with the cream colored houses so typical of this area of the country.

Matera is the site of the sassi, believed to be the oldest dwellings in Europe. These cave dwellings, layered one upon the other on the sides of a steep ravine, were once inhabited by religious hermits, who also established many cave churches. Eventually, they became homes for families; by 1950, 15,000 people, half the city’s population, lived in the sassi. The homes were squalid; a cave typically housed a family with six children (despite a 50% infant mortality rate!!). Somehow, they literally carved out room within the cave for their animals: generally a donkey, a goat, a hen and her chicks! We visited one such cave, which had been occupied until the late 1950’s, and which contained the family’s original furnishings.

The outcry caused by Carlo Levi’s description of the deprivation of life in the sassi in his book, Christ Stopped at Eboli, forced the government to act. During the period from the early 1950’s until the late1960’s, the sassi population was forced to relocate to planned communities on the outskirts of the city. In 1993, the area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and since then, things have been cleaned up and "prettied up". The upper layers of the caves have been re-populated and many have been converted into restaurants, cafes, B and B’s, shops, even a four-star hotel! Though the caves can still be seen lining the ravine, it’s now hard to imagine them as family homes less than fifty years ago.

Tomorrow, it will be another trip into the past as we head up the coast to the ancient Greek ruins at Paestum.

Ciao for this Saturday night!
Mel and Tom

Mezzogiorno Coast

Friday October 17, 2008

We are now in territory new to us and did not know what to expect. Please do not tell anyone, but this place is beautiful. We don’t need any more people making this into another Amalfi. We are in Maratea, a small town in the province of Basilicata on the west coast. We spoke Italglish with our landlord and she recommended a few places near here to visit including the town of Maratea itself. We decided to follow her advice for today’s itinerary.

Maratea is one of those little places that outsiders don’t know well but is packed with Italians during the summer. Right now, the hotels are empty and there are fewer people about so it is quite nice. We compare the scenery around here to what we have seen in Cinque Terra or on the Amalfi coast but the area is far less developed and quieter. We drove to Maratea and wandered through a beautiful old town, which is actually pretty expensive due to the Italians who summer here. It is one of the prettiest towns we have seen, with lovely squares, shops, stepped lanes, and winding streets. After walking through the town, we drove up the mountain on which it sits to see the statue of Christ the Redeemer on the top. It is smaller than the one in Rio but quite spectacular, and it shares its 2000-foot high mountaintop and its spectacular views down to the sea and to the surrounding mountains with a basilica.

From there, we drove north along the coast, ending up on a beautiful and nearly empty beach for lunch, then back down south of our apartment and into the region of Calabria. One of the places we stopped at was Tortora, an old town perched on a cliff on top of a hill, as you can see in the pictures. This town is the real deal, with little done to pretty up the houses, but there seems to be a lot of reconstruction beginning and there are many places for sale. The only way through the town is a one-lane, two-way road, which we navigated pretty easily because we were there during the 12-2PM time when everything shuts down. From there, we drove down the coast to admire the views and walk through another town before heading back here to our apartment.

Tomorrow we head inland, to visit Matera.

Mel and Tom

Naples to Maratea

Thursday October 16, 2008

You probably got the idea from the last post that we found Naples to be hectic and faster paced than other Italian cities. Then we picked up our car for the trip to southern Italy! Driving in Naples is something to behold and, if possible, avoid at all costs. The rental agent told us how to get out of the city which involved driving down a few one way streets the wrong way. Then we got into traffic, where we had to make a left turn across a line of traffic going the opposite way, helped only by the fact that the other two lanes to our right were also turning left with us and acted as a block to keep the cars in the oncoming lane from running into us. All this on streets of an city already chaotic, partially due to the fact that they seem to have determined that traffic lights and street name signs are superfluous! Thank Garmin for that GPS. On the other hand, the GPS sometimes seems to have a mind of its own (one that doesn’t work too well). For example, after leaving Naples, we headed for the Amalfi coast and were sent by the GPS down a street that was closed. It does that every so often and never finds it necessary to apologize.

Anyway, after leaving Naples we went south to the Amalfi coast road. This is a beautiful and famous drive along the coast from Sorrento to Salerno. Mary Ellen was concerned about the trip, as she had been on the road before and knew it is to be quite narrow and winding with sheer drop-offs on the seaside, the rock face on the other, full of blind curves and tourist and local busses making passage difficult. (She folded in the passenger side rear-view mirror to preserve its integrity.) She didn’t have the requisite faith in my driving ability. She does now. We were detoured by the GPS so we drove south to Salerno on the Autostrada, then back north on the coast, with a drive up a mountain to the lovely Ravello to see the views, the old duomo, charming piazza and lots of ceramics shops. Back on at sea level, we continued to the gorgeous Positano, turned around, and drove back south to Salerno. The weather was somewhat overcast but the views were still beautiful and the drive was exciting for both of us. Lunch was in a spot overlooking Positano and the coast.

From Salerno, we headed into the part of the trip that neither of us has ever seen, the Mezzogiorno, or southern Italy. It was still overcast but we could see mountains rising around us and, on some of the hills, old towns that looked like something out of the middle ages and may have been. Our destination, Maratea, is a small town along the coast that looks convenient for exploring this area. We are in a large apartment on the second floor in a very small group of not particularly attractive houses about 500m from the beach. The mountains around seem to be wild and attractive. We will be exploring the area tomorrow and report on the results.

Tom (with editing and improvements by Mel)

Rome to Naples

Wednesday, October 15, 2008  

We bade farewell to our Trastevere apartment and headed for Naples via train from Rome’s Termini station. The trip was two hours and we arrived in Napoli at about 12:30 and quickly checked into our hotel (with WiFi access!!) and headed out to spend the afternoon exploring.

We walked the length of the main drag, Via Umberto I, where the sidewalks were lined with transient vendors on one side (thousands of knock-off handbags and watches), brick-and-mortar shops on the other, and, in between, hapless pedestrians and those motorcyclists who find the sidewalks faster than the streets!! We survived the length of the street all the way down to have a look at the port, then headed into the interior of the old city. We walked through the old Spanish quarter of the city, where the streets were so narrow that little sunlight penetrated. Small shops lined the ground floors of tightly-packed buildings, with apartments stacked above. The requisite laundry hung from the balconies and across the lanes, dogs barked, children played ball, babies cried, motor scooters roared, and the baseline noise level was pretty high. From there, it was on to the historic core of the city, which seemed to have more churches than Rome, as well as a charming street lined with shops and workshops devoted to the crafting and sale of Nativity scenes. Many are quite elaborate, with running water, lighted interiors, and fascinating add-ons like pizza ovens! We visited the Duomo and, after a bit more walking, headed back to the hotel to regroup, enjoy a little wine, and figure out where to go for dinner. (From Tom-Naples is not very photogenic and it is simply littered with trash, despite the fact that the recent garbage strike has been resolved. I can’t imagine what it was like when they were not picking up the trash.)

NAPLES MAKES ROME SEEM LIKE CHILD'S PLAY!!

Our restaurant research led us to a local institution, Da Michele, for pizza (in the same location since 1870!!) Several blocks before we found it, we stopped to ask a gentleman what street we were on (without saying where we were headed). He immediately asked if we were looking for Da Michele!! We had a great meal and the opportunity to talk to a young Neapolitan couple; he wanted to practice English and we were eager to use our Italian. It really was fun! It was also good to see a line of locals waiting to get in when we left.

Tomorrow, we head south via the Amalfi Drive, to our digs for the next week. We’ll be staying in Maratea, a small coastal resort. From there, we’ll explore the mezzogiorno, or southern part of the country and pay a visit to the small village that is the birthplace of Mel’s paternal grandparents.

We don’t expect regular Internet access from here on out, but will keep in touch as we can. We hope you will, as well.

Mel and Tom

Ostia Antica

Tuesday October 14, 2008  

For the last full day in Rome, we left the city for the excavated port city of Ostia Antica, a 30-minute train ride toward the coast. As you can probably tell by now, we are fascinated by Roman ruins, possibly due to those years of Latin we were subjected to.

This location is probably second only to Pompeii (and far less-visited) for size and preservation of an ancient Roman city. It was covered over by silt from the Tiber River, so there are whole blocks of buildings, which were abandoned in about 500AD. What remains has been looted by the locals, (“What the barbarians did not take, the Barberini (local family) did.” is a common saying in Rome.) but there is more than enough to understand how people, both rich and poor, lived. The remains of shops, temples, apartment buildings, a mill and bakery, theater, baths, warehouses and, of course, the main square, or forum. To give you an idea of the size of the town, the main street you traverse is about 1 km long and has dwellings and other structures on both sides, extending out 300 yards or so. We spent about 4 hours there and saw about half the area.

Since it was our last day, we had to see one more church, this one the Basilica of St. Paul. We’d missed it on previous trips, as it’s a bit “outside the walls” and off the beaten track. According to last night’s TV, the pope was there yesterday to attend part of the festival of sacred music we’d enjoyed Saturday night at St. Ignatius, so we thought it was time we stopped by, as well, especially as this is the worldwide Catholic church’s Pauline year. This church seemed to be bigger than St. Peter’s! We walked in, unknowingly, via a side entrance and were surprised by the size but then we realized we were in the transept. The nave was immense, looking more so because there was little in its five aisles! The church is built over the Tomb of St Paul and also displays the chains that were used to imprison him before he was executed in Rome.

After dinner in our place we went back into the centro storico to see the Forum once more, as we had lovely memories of it at night, dramatically lit and a beautiful sight. Well, maybe they ran out of light bulbs... No illumination, so Tom had to take some pictures by street- and moonlight.

Tomorrow, we’re on to Naples by train.

Ciao!
Mel and Tom

Rome

Monday October 13, 2008

Sometimes, we actually apply lessons learned in our previous experiences, and this was one of those times. We were planning to go to Ostia Antica, which I described yesterday, a 45-minute trip by train. Our guidebook book said “Open daily”, which we now know means open every day but Monday. So we changed our plans and headed for places we knew for certain were open Mondays.

Our first stop was the Baths of Caracalla, which is a massive structure in a residential area of the city. These were public baths erected by one of the cruelest emperors. (He killed his brother so he would not have to share power with him; you get the idea.) The place is immense and its interior spaces are not intact, due to looting in earlier centuries (especially by one of the powerful local families in need of decorations for their various palazzos), but you can easily get an idea of the scope of the enterprise. The building is more than 300 yards on a side and contained hot-, warm- and cold-water pools in addition to exercise rooms, saunas and areas for sunbathing. There is some restoration work going on (a given, pretty much anyplace in Italy!) and we counted ten stories the scaffolding being used! The highlight, of course, was the fact that the complex contained libraries. Mary Ellen wondered if patrons were given same admonition she gave students about not bringing books near the pool!

We made our way across town and back to St. Peter’s for a look inside the great basilica this afternoon. It is quite possible that the dress code check there is more rigorous than the security screening, but we passed both without any need to give up sharp metal objects or cover our shoulders with Kleenex! The interior of St. Peter’s never fails to impress and we used downloaded audio guides on our MP3 players on our initial pass and then just wandered around on our own. We decided to take the elevator to the gallery at the base of the dome, but we passed on making the climb up to the lantern. We have done that in the past and know that the views are truly the best in the city, but it’s a long, hot, claustrophobic climb and will remain a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. The gallery above the altar provides spectacular view of its own; the top of the dome seems near, while the floor of the church seems far, far below. In contrast, the rooftop views are disappointing. Access to large areas of the roof has been restricted over the years and it’s impossible to get a large, sweeping view of the great piazza below. Ah, the good old days!

We did climb the Janiculum Hill, which runs between Vatican City and Trastevere, and has a lovely promenade and great views across the Tiber to the centro storico and beyond. At the base of the hill, we found ourselves in “our neighborhood”, after stopping to pick up wine and other essentials, made our way home for happy hour and blog writing before heading out for dinner.

Ciao!
Mel and Tom

Holy Rome

Sunday October 12, 2008

Yes, we know we have been going to a lot of churches but there are just so many here. Seems like there is at least one on every block. But this was the visit to see the Pope at the BIG one here, St. Peter’s. Through some advance online research, Mel found out that the pope would be saying an outdoor mass today at 9:30 to canonize or recognize as saints four people, so we had to join in.

And it was interesting, indeed. The four new saints were from Italy, Ecuador, India, and Switzerland. We sat in a mixed section of people, some from India and some from Italy. Whenever one of the new saints was mentioned a cheer would go up from people of that country, who would wave flags and banners, kind of like your typical international soccer match. We were amazed at the number of people from the different countries, especially the large contingent from Ecuador. We voted the Swiss to be the best behaved and the Italians (Neapolitans, of course!) the most spirited. It was pretty uplifting to be among so many people who had come so far as pilgrims for to witness a ceremony in honor of one of their own. (Personal note from Mel to any of our readers who think they might be headed for sainthood themselves: You might want to have some kind of codicil in your will stipulating who [or what worthy cause] should receive the royalties from the sale of t-shirts, tote bags, baseball caps, scarves, flags, and banners emblazoned with your name and likeness. I am afraid that the heirs of the new Saint Gaetano missed out on a good thing here. As one of my beloved high school teachers, Mother Genevieve Marie, used to admonish her charges, “A word to the wise ought to be sufficient”.)

With the size of the square there, and it was full, we were about in the center so we got to watch the Mass on TV and listen to the readings in any of the languages of the participants, including English and Greek. Once again, our Latin and Gregorian Chant came back to us from the far recesses of our memories. At the end, the pope got into the popemobile and drove through the crowd. We were within about 20 feet for the pictures we have.

After Mass, the enormous crowd was headed either to the subway or into the Basilica, so we, of course, went elsewhere. A little lunch and a stroll before getting on the subway for the trip down to the other end of the city and an attempt to find Via Appia Antica. This was the old road that the Romans built to link Rome with the rest of the world. It ran all the way down the boot to a port on the east coast and is renowned as the place Romans go on Sunday for a little walk. It is also supposed to have some of the monuments that were put up along the road and maybe an aqueduct or two. We have looked for it before with limited success (ask our boys about the Death March) and we did about as well this time finding a path with a few monuments and little explanation. Anyway it was a fairly pleasant stroll but we did get to wait for a bus for about 40 minutes to return us to the 21st century.

Back home for some wine and dinner. We will have to go back to Vatican City on Tuesday to visit St. Peter’s but tomorrow’s destination will be Ostia Antica, the original port city for Rome.

Ciao!
Tom and Mel

Tourist Rome

Saturday October 11, 2008

This was the day to catch up with all those things we had hadn’t yet done on this trip that everyone comes here to see. We even started it by using public transit, the nearby tram that goes only about half a mile into the old city. From there we made our way, stopping at a few beautiful churches, including Il Gesu, the Jesuits’ home in Rome, to the Pantheon. As our downloaded audioguides described, this is the oldest continuously used building in Rome. It is about 2000 years old and has a dome, which is beautiful on the inside, as well as an engineering marvel; it is the model for all the domes we now see on churches and government buildings. This type of architecture was lost for over 1000 years until they studied the principles embodied in this building in the middle ages.

From this gem we headed to the center of tourism in Rome, the Trevi Fountain which, even in October, is mobbed with people. It is beautiful but hard to enjoy. The next (brief) stop was the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps and from there we walked up to Piazza del Popolo and the Pincian Hill in Borghese Gardens to enjoy the city views and the relatively quiet surroundings.

After our usual lunch in the shade, we walked over to the Tiber and followed it down to the Castel Sant’Angelo, near the Vatican. Much of the walk was along a quiet stretch of the quay and, when we began to encounter large throngs again, we descended to the river level and walked on quietly, taking in the wonderful views of the dome of St. Peter’s.

We then followed the Via Gulia, which was once the longest and straightest street in Rome, and is now celebrating its 500th birthday. It is lined with churches, palazzos and lots of history. After a few more piazzas and glimpses into alluring courtyards, we headed home for happy hour on the roof, accompanied by church bells, a few helicopters, and the last of our drying laundry!

Tonight, we returned to the centro storico for a concert of sacred music by a German choir in the very baroque Church of St. Ignatius, another Jesuit bastion.

Ciao!
Mel and Tom

Ancient Rome

Friday, October 10

Today it was Ancient Rome, which is quite close to our digs, just across the river. Regardless of how many times we see this area. We are always impressed by the fact that these ruins still exist.

Anyway, we began the day with a walk over to Circus Maximus, walking through the field where they staged chariot races for up to 300,000 people. We used an audioguide on our MP3 players to help us understand the significance of what now looks like a sunken field.

Then, on to the Colosseum, which we entered with our Roma Passes, bypassing the long ticket line. The place is hard to describe, but we had a downloaded Rick Steves commentary to guide us. The Colosseum is a ruin with some walls obviously rebuilt but the fact that it is still standing is amazing. Yankee stadium has been there~100 years and will be gone as soon as they close it, but the Colosseum has been standing there for 2000 years and was used for over 500. (Note from MER: A couple of weeks ago, I saw a column in the NYTimes reflecting on 45 years of memories at Shea Stadium; we must be joking!)

From there we entered the Palatine Hill-Roman Forum complex, which is all on a combined entry ticket with the Colosseum. We climbed the hill to look at the ruins on the Palatine. These were the palaces and houses of the emperors and their families and are mostly ruins with little explanation (unless you get the audio guide). We also ran into our first pickpocket attempt of this trip, which was unsuccessful.

Then down the hill to the Forum, along the Via Sacra from the Arch of Titus to the Arch of Septimius Severus. Audioguides again helped us understand what this place once was; we needed no help to appreciate the monumental construction skills of the Ancient Romans.

It was a hot afternoon and, after cooling off in the Campidoglio, the gorgeous Michelangelo-designed piazza at the top of the Capitoline Hill, we headed off to see the ruins of the Imperial Forums, which lie alongside the sidewalks that Romans pass every day. This aspect of the city, the coexistence of the ancient and the routine of daily life, is always so striking to us.

We pressed on to the see Michelangelo’s Moses at the Church of St. Peter in Chains, which also houses the chains that held the imprisoned Peter, and the mosaics and reputed relic of the crib of the Infant Jesus at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

We walked a few blocks to Termini, the city’s main train station, and luckily, just before collapsing, we found a bus that took back to Trastevere and “home”.

Rome

Thursday Oct 9

Today we walked our buns off (don’t we wish!) through medieval (which surrounds our “home”) and Renaissance Rome. Campo dei Fiori, with its morning vegetable and flower market, is just across the river and a few blocks in, so that was first on our itinerary. From there it was on to Piazza Navonna, Via Condotti, and the Spanish Steps.

We had reservations (easily made by phone or online) at the Galleria Borghese, in the Villa Borghese park, so we did not hang around the Steps, but continued to this final destination. The museum houses a wonderful collection of paintings and sculpture gathered in various (and often nefarious) methods mainly by a member of the family who was a cardinal, as well as a nephew of the Pope in the 1600’s. Many of the antiquities in the original collection were later “secured” by Napoleon, and, since he did provide some small payment for them, the French would not return them and they now reside in the Louvre. But what Napoleon did not take is still quite impressive.

From there we headed back to our place here in Trastevere, walking through the streets of Rome, past both ancient and contemporary landmarks, on a bright sunny day with temperatures in the high 70’s. Hard to beat for Roma-philes!

Tomorrow it will be Ancient Rome, and the weather looks just as good!

But, not before we venture out to find some gelato, savor the evening, and try to find a place to post this two-day entry to our blog.

A joint effort today by,
Mariellena e Tommaso

Siena to Rome

Wednesday 8 October

Today was one of those pretty good ones, especially with the final result. We dropped our car in Siena and, in order to make up for the stock market losses, took the bus down to Rome rather than the train. We have had some unhappy experience with the Italian train system and the bus was cheaper and faster. Then from the bus depot to our apartment we splurged on a taxi. Having driven in the cities we have been to and getting used to the “rules” of driving here, I still was astonished by the new set of rules they use in Rome. Anyway, we were pretty amazed at the way our taxi driver got us to our apartment here, which is on a street in Trastevere (across the Tiber from the main part of Rome). Our place is on the first floor of a small building on a street that would be a narrow alley anywhere else, but here is a two way street.

We had some time to walk around Trastevere, which is an amazing community. We are about a block from one of the main squares and three blocks from the river. Almost every street has small food shops, two or three restaurants and churches, and then you get to a Piazza with four more of each! Lots of people are out on the streets, tourists befuddled by the street layout (which is indescribable), and residents talking with one another or on cell phones, which seem to get no reception indoors. We would also be among the befuddled if it were not for our GPS to get us back to the apartment.

Tonight, we set out to sample the night-time scene in Trastevere, which proved to be even more lively than we’d encountered this afternoon. The streets are full of strollers of all ages, restaurants line the small byways with tables and every piazza seems to be party central – and all of this on a Wednesday! We stopped into the church of St. Bartholomew, on the tiny Isola Tiburina in the Tiber. The church was lit up and open, so we wandered in. It was quiet and lovely and then, as we were about to leave, at 8:30, the bells began to ring and scores of mostly young people began to stream in. Every evening, there is a prayer service open to all who value a time of silence in the midst of the city living. It was very moving, mostly sung by a small group of strong voices, with responses by the congregation. At the conclusion, almost no one left the church; people gathered to talk with friends, even to greet visitors like us. We made the moment last by walking along the quiet side of the Tiber for a while before returning to the perpetual party in Trastevere.

Though our apartment is on the ground floor, we have a key to the rooftop terrace, which is a delightful place for our happy hour, writing blog entries, and planning the next day’s itinerary, as we listen to nearby church bells. Did we mention that there are lots of churches here?!?

We do not have Internet access a nostra casa, so our plan is to continue writing each day and use a thumb drive to upload periodically when we stop at Internet cafes during the week. Of course, we’ll also be hoping to read lots of your messages during those stops, as well!

Ciao for now!
(Begun by)Tom and (edited and perfected by) Mel