Nott What You'd Expected...

Have We Met?... or... My faithful return to the blogosphere

Dear Blog. It has been 4000 miles since my last confession.

I'd like to think that my 2000 pictures from break more than makes up for a lack of journalling or blogging, but in this head of mine, I know I'll look back on them and have no clue which church I was snapping away in, or what piazza I found so interesting as to waste 30 odd pictures in...

such is life I guess... and maybe my newfound lazy attitude about documentation is a testament to the break as a whole- a more relaxed, less emotional trip though the more chilled-out parts of Europe during the Spring Break period- a time dedicated to laziness and chilloutedness....

Since my last post was a random picture post combined with an 'i'm alive, don't worry' message for family, I've been to Sorrento, Pompeii, Naples, Pescara, Montesilvino, and Rimini- and all without a decent post . trust me, after posting random crap for 7 months and somehow managing to leave out entire cities or overblown experiences... it's been tough.

Not to mention hard to recall all of the details that so often slip by if not written down or documented immediatly following....

That said...... Sorrento was a chance for the group to... re group. Hilary, Aaron and I said hello to Kate, jumped on a train in Rome and headed to Naples, where a few hours were killed before two very grown up looking buddies, Emily and Mary stumbled off of a train from Sienna and we all crammed into the Circumviensa, a trashy tram-like mode of transportation that wrapped around the Amalfi coast and took weary, (and by the looks of it, homeless and slum-dwelling) people from place to Amalfi place along the coast.

We tempted fate by telling our appartment renter that we had only 4 people instead of our actual 6, but some bold faced lying and sneaking (at one point contemplating jumping from the balcony to escape her knowing glances) kept us in the clear, and about 200 Euro richer....

Sorrento is interesting in its ability to draw huge amounts of tourists- Americans, young high schoolers, etc- but with no real draw.... that is to say, it's chill, but that's about it. The views are breathtaking from the cliffs, it is less than an hour from Pompeii, but otherwise has no real reason to be popular... The beaches are limited, small, and dirty, and the historical significance of the town was pretty lost on me....
However, our apartment was awesome (think IKEA meets Amalfi Coast), we were located directly above a famous Gellatoria (Sophia Loren is a devout customer, as is the model they covered with Nutella and made a nude sculpture out of chocolate with), and the sun shone beautifully every day.... save for the day Aaron Kate and I spent 5 hrs going to the Worlds Best Pizza place in Naples.

Our first night was spent settling in and preparing for Pompeii. The gang decided tourist traps should be knocked out early, and laziness could then dominate the rest of our time there. Fair enough. Problem was, for most of group (history majors, abitious travelers), getting Pompeii out of the way meant getting up at ungodly hours - something Mary and I could do without...

So we met them in Pompeii, a few hours after they got up.

Pompeii was a bit of a shock. Even after countless thousands of hours of the Discovery Channel (Shark Week not included) and TLC (no What Not To Wear) that formed my education as a youth, I was in no way prepared for the amount of remains. I guess after wading through archeological sites from other Roman eras and places, I expected the typical half-ampitheatre, a few columns and maybe a fountain or two... hell, why not a road or a wall... but the completeness was really shocking.

We walked on well paved roads, peaked into houses almost entirely intact, and- thanks to laziness on our parts in not grabbing a free guidebook, Mary and I spent most of our time assuming or surmising the purposes for the artifacts that we saw- "This must be a gutter, helpful in plumbing and drainage" I would say. "And these beautiful marble countertops, quite good for displaying dried fruits or delicious spit roasted meats" Mary would reply....
We were right most of the time...

My favorite was the 'Beware of Dog' mosaic, a floor decoration still intact after nearly 2000 years...
Kate was sufficiently burnt, the group was tired, and we returned to Sorrento for relaxation and Limoncello (see also, Danny Devito's drunken appearance on The View following a night of hard Limoncello drinking on Lake Cuomo with George Clooney)...

Naples....or... the armpit of Italy..
Naples, or Napoli as it's affectionately known in Italy, may be one of the most disgusting places in Italy. To be fair, Kate, Aaron and I visited it on a blustery, rainy day- our second full day in Sorrento- with the sole purpose of eating at the World's Best Pizza place (as mentioned by several guide books and apparently a dark novel read by California's finest asshole art students who we met in line)

I felt like a true tourist, standing in a mob of real live Italians waiting for the pizza, especially after noticing that the mob was actually just people waiting to be seated and we needed to get a ticket first.... We are Americans. We are dumb. Luckily, Kate had the gusto to ask someone how to order/get on the list, and we quickly joined the group of waiters.

The pizza is apparently so good and so damned cheap that lines can be as long as 3 hours long.... luckily, it was raining and we had an awning to stand under- and the line was just an hour long.
Pizza and a beer came to under 5 Euro, making it the cheapest most delicious meal I've ever had... wood fired pizza in the heart of Mob country- What depressed us the most was the thought that we had reached the pinnacle of Pizza perfection... from this moment on in life, we will never have a better pizza. Who could compete with this place? It was cheap, had been around since the 1800s, and was authentically Napolian (i'm not sure that's right...)

With train tickets included, the trip was just under 12 euro, easily worth it.

Gelato, more Loaded Questions and cheap Chiante made the night complete.

The next day, Aaron and Emily departed for Athens/Istanbul, and Hilary, Mary and I hit the beach while Kate cleaned up on some Grey's Anatomy... The beaches were dirty but effective, and despite feral dogs and frat frisbee wannabes, our tans took a nice step in the right direction.

The next morning the girls headed off in their own directions, while I stayed behind in hopes of catching a train to Pescara from Naples at 3. My trip to Pescara.... worth it's own sloppy, depressed post... followed by good times on the Adriatic Coast....


A few randoms....
Magnum BonBons? Maybe there is a god.....
I wholeheartedly disagree.....

posted by Kevin @ 1:29 PM