Tu vuò fa' l'italiano

4/17-22/13

But then, who wouldn't want to be Italian, if only for a while? ;D

I certainly enjoyed my time as an Italian wannabe a couple weeks ago.  The food!  The weather!  The people!  All gorgeous.  I'd never been so far south in Italy before, and I have to say I kind of loved it (surprise surprise).  I want to start taking Italian classes again when I get home... or at the very least download some Italian podcasts to drive around with.  I love that language, probably even more than Spanish, and it's so sad how much I've forgotten :-/

Naples was our home base during this trip, and my basic impressions of the city can probably be summed up as such: I didn't know what to expect.  I'd actually heard some rather negative things about the city before going; that it's dirty, and unsafe, for example.  I don't really know how unsafe it actually is.  I felt pretty secure the whole time, but I was walking around escorted by 3 guys haha.  It is a bit dirty... OK, more than a bit.  There is a serious problem with litter.  And the buildings all look very old and worn because nobody's bothered to repaint them for what looks like several decades.  But I really, really liked it.  There is so much life! and color (despite the peeling paint hehe).  And even though the whole city is chaotic and seems to be going full speed in every direction at once, the people were all so nice.  Warm nice.  Good nice.  Didn't meet a single nasty person while we were there.  Dunno if I could live there, but it's definitely worth visiting.  Oh, and the pizza is every bit as deliciously marvelous as it's supposed to be.

It was an intense weekend.  I left Lugo Wednesday afternoon, immediately after school, with my friend Alberto.  We bused to Santiago, where we waited about 2 hours for our flight to Madrid, where we then waited 8 hours for our flight to Rome.  And folks, if you've never had an overnight layover at an airport before, DON'T EVER DO IT.  EVER.  I cannot recommend it, unless you're saving major moolah on the tickets.  If you do it, bring plenty of entertainment, and maybe even a yoga mat to sleep on.  That'd be pretty smart.

After so many hours at my favorite airport (read: my least favorite airport), we had the afternoon to walk around Rome before meeting up with Iago and taking the train to Naples.

Perfect weather!  I even got something of a tan :)

There were poppies growing everywhere... loved it.

Forum remains.

Colosseum! Naturally.

Me, with some Roman stuff.

^_^

 Pretty flowers everywhere.

Stopped for a quick break at the Circus Maximus.

Fontana di Trevi! This time I drank some of water ;)

Quick look at the Pantheon.

Vittorio Emanuele II monument in sunset light.

And these pictures are all from the same area of Rome!  There is just... too much to see there.  I CANNOT WAIT to go back with my brother in June.

That night when we got to Naples, Guido met us at the train station, and we went and had our first Neapolitan pizza experience (first of... oh gosh, 3? 4?), though sadly I don't have any pictures of this.  There will be pictures of later pizzas, because they were amazing.  I could eat them everyday of my life.  And be fat.  (But happy.)  A word about my travel companions: Alberto is a friend I've made in Lugo, and Iago and Guido are both part of his group of friends, that he's had every since... elementary school, I think.  Guido's currently studying in Naples, and so he has an apartment there complete with extra beds, mattresses, and couches.  Basically this trip happened because he gave us a place to stay :)  These are some pictures from when we woke up the next morning:

 View of crumbly buildings and laundry from our balcony.  I liked it.

And after a quick breakfast of cappuccini and cornetti, and some dodging of the absolutely terrifying traffic (no traffic laws are obeyed there...), Alberto and Iago and I headed off to Pompeii for the day.  On the way, we enjoyed a lovely train ride with a view of the sea, mountains, and the company of a really friendly Italian lady.

In the modern part of Pompei, there's this monument.  Really moving.

Reproduction of a vineyard in Pompei; Vesuvius looming in the background.

Streets.

Archaeologists, excavating.

The boys, entering the remains of the temple of Apollo.

Sittin' in somebody's house.

Mosaic and mural.

Old-fashioned take-away bar. hehe.

More mosaics.

Can't believe all this paint and everything is still preserved.

Hello, there.

In the forum.

View back over the city from The Garden of the Fugitives.

There were a ton of stray dogs there.  These two were playing.

View of the sunset on our way back to Naples.

I didn't expect Pompeii to be so huge, or there to be so many well preserved parts of the city.  We spent about three times as long there as we intended, and still didn't see everything.  Incredible.

This was the only night we didn't eat pizza for lunch/dinner... hehe.  Saturday we took a morning train to Salerno and went to the beach at Vietri sul Mare.  I'd never been to the Amalfi coast before, and I am so glad we went!  One of the most gorgeous places I've ever been.  And Vietri sul Mare must be known for ceramics, because there was a factory and dozens of little ceramics shops all along the coast (as well as some funny plant holders...)  As beautiful as it was, Positano is supposed to be even prettier... (nudge nudge, hint hint, James).  And, of course, it was wonderful to spend a day on the beach in the sunshine... I've been feeling so Vitamin D deprived in Lugo!

Revving up with some yerba mate on the train ;)

le whoa.

Guido, Alberto, me, & Iago

Example funny plant holders.

Mountains going right up to the sea.

There were also gigantic lemons.

And flowers. And gelato ^_^

We stopped down there a while to watch some kids playing soccer.

Walking back into Salerno, looking over the port.

And after another train ride back, we got some more fantastic pizza and brought it back to the apartment for dinner!  So delicious.  I don't know how they do it, but the crust is both thin, and soft/chewy.  And with fresh buffalo mozzarella?  Oof.  What defenses can you offer? (none)

I will neither deny nor confirm eating almost the entirety of this pizza...

Sunday we got a different view of Naples.  We got off the crowded streets and away from the completely insane traffic and took in a panorama of the city from a hill with a little castillo.  And when we came back down, the city was as close to deserted as it probably ever gets (there was a soccer game).  Got some more pictures, and some more pizza!, and then packed up and caught a train back to Rome.

Really a huge city.

Back down on the crowded streets.

Inside the Pizzeria di Matteo.  These man are magic.

mmm, mmm, mmm.

This pizzeria is also the only one in Naples where Bill Clinton ate.

...it is not the only pizzeria where Alberto and I ate. haha.

Took a peak at the Colosseum by night.  This all night layover was definitely more exciting :)

We hung out at a little grocery store/bakery/bar place in Rome pretty much all night, and then Alberto and I caught a 4:30am bus to the airport.  From the moment we got on the plane, till we got off the bus in Lugo (except for the trip via metro from the airport to the bus station in Madrid), I think we were unconscious. hah.

Intense, but a weekend well aprovechar'd!  And this weekend I'm going to meet Cristine in Oporto :D  I'm so excited!  I feel like a little bit of Tampa/home is waiting for me in Portugal haha.

Really, really can't wait to go traveling (in Italy!) with James when he gets here.  It's going to be fantastic to spend more time in Rome.  Everyone seems to say you could spend two months there and still not see everything, and I believe them.  Only 34 days till he arrives!

I've got some Lugo stuff I want to write about, too... Gonna have to do some catching up when I get back from Oporto.  Stay tuned ;)