Month: October 2016

You will want to read about the Greek Boys last experience.  We have been late posting as the blog editor was just stunned at their experiences.  Please read on.

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Rainy day and museums planned for the day. Another great breakfast on the roof then back to the room to confirm flights and get on the road!

Getting checked in easy peasy…Wait! Don can’t find his passport <can you say the “F” word now?>I think it’s called for.  Rooting thru both suitcases, two backpacks, under the bed, the closet, the waste baskets, the toilet…where could it BE!!!!  It could be in the hands of a thief either from the airport train, the maid, who knows????

Panic again with much hand wringing, the “What shall I do” ballet thru the hotel room and finally resolve that we’re screwed.  We get on the U.S. Embassy’s website only to find that we are to request a police report which usually takes 5 days to process, then we must have an appointment only they don’t have one until December!  Now we’re really doing the dance! Suitcases, backpacks, purse holders, lifting the hotel floorboards.  Alas, no passport.

“Let’s just go there!” I cry.  We elected to call.

The words, “Really? We’ll be right there” gave me the false hope I was waiting for!  Off we went in a cab in the rain, Don with his raincoat, me with my umbrella.  We  arrive and Don can’t find his copy of his passport even though he’s downloaded everything to his phone. Apparently you can’t bring a cell phone into the embassy!  He finally finds his copy as I’m told my passport won’t matter as I’m NOT going in.  Oh great, I’m stuck on a rainy veranda and freezing. I turn to Don to ask for his coat but he’s been whisked inside and out of my reach.  No problem, certainly they’ll let me into the waiting room! “F” no!

I can only imagine the 1950’s we’ve all seen in black and white movies: “Oh! You’ve had your passport robbed? Oh please, you and your mate please come into our lounge. Here, have some bubbles to soothe your misery while we take care of everything! Oh, lost your money too? Do not worry, we’ll have 100 Euros for you to buy the essentials (the equivalent of 500 Euros today).” In 10 minutes a new passport is delivered, many hands are shaken and the diplomats are on the phone to the police berating them for their lack of diligence.

These are the thoughts that passed thru my brain for the two hour wait on that balcony, the only comic relief being the man who didn’t believe the “No photos!” ban.

“But I’m taking them of the tree across the street!”

“I told you NO PHOTOS.”

“But I’m…”

“Sir, I’ve told you NO PHOTOS!” as he reaches behind him to summon help.

The officer and the tourist are both white-faced now and I’m giggling!

So we’re off to get photos for the new passport, the rain now steady now, the toes of my shoes black with wet.  Very nice gentleman who was way more sympathetic that our Greek consulate – I mean U.S. Consulate, except all the employees are Greek!  Back to the Consulate assured of a quick resolve – go to the head of the line.  I’m confident and looking for taxis but lo…another hour only to find that Don can’t find anyone to wait on him although they’ve called ahead.

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So he’s out – no! He’s called back because the card he asked if he needed, told no, you have it all – is on the desk and he has to go back in and claim it.

Recap – day one to Athens, airport strike, day two, touring day, 3rd and last day spent in the consulate until 3 PM!

We grab a cab and rush to the Architectural Museum hoping it’ll be open after 4. Yea! 8 PM!  Wait! We haven’t eaten in hours!  Greg elects to skip lunch and see some damned art! He’s going thru withdrawal!  Halfway thru the first wing of three on the first floor we spot a sign to the cafeteria.  Guess what? At 4 there’s pretty much cheesy pretzels and swill left for the tired travelers! Thank goodness we’d elected to get beers as they come with potato chips!  20 Euros later and back to the naked baby parade upstairs.  Fortified with alcohol we’re on our way with a vengeance and the museum did not disappoint with wonderful preserved artifacts of all descriptions.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, the cloak room was full of backpacks only and you couldn’t take your soaking umbrella into the museum so we kissed my umbrella goodbye and Don stowed his wet coat as best he could on board and we were off.

Now that we’re done, I spy Don trying to find my umbrella as I walk to the door. The umbrella stand is a shambles of umbrella shards and water and laughing attendants.

As we descend the stairs we are happy to see sunlight although it is still raining.

“Would you like my coat?” my chevalier asks.

“Taxi!” is my reply.

We’re then informed that the two main streets to our hotel are closed under protest due to lack of jobs for the younger crowd and all taxis are 15 Euro.  Yeah sure, here’s your 15 Euro, just get us home for we’re informed tourists now and we’ve learned to expect to expect wallet rape as a matter or course!

Total tab today less dinner? 175 Euro and for that we have a museum experience – 20 Euro, two beers, cheese pretzels and a bowl of potato chips!

The alarm is set for 3 AM for our 6:30 flight. Believe me, the thought of just going directly to the airport now was a real consideration!

Enjoy a few pics of the better parts of the day!

Greek boys out!

The trip to Pompeii and Amalfi Coast took Jerry out for the day.  This left Larry, Debbie and Joyce on their own.  Larry asked to see the aqueducts and maybe the underground.  Since it was Larry’s birthday, we decided to visit the Underground tour.   Debbie’s interpretation of the tour:  You go underground, WWII bomb shelter for Naples, WWII resistance history, aqueducts, museums and some displays of trash dumped at the site.  Sounds great!

On the way, there were stops for some churches.  (Joyce has caught Debbie’s church fever.  Debbie says that it is a treasure hunt.  The outside is often very plain but when you go inside what a surprise).  First stop on the church hit parade was Chiesa del Gesu Nuevo.  Church Moment: The church is the final resting place of much-loved local saint Giuseppe Moscati, a doctor who served the city’s poor. This includes a recreation of the great man’s study, complete with the armchair in which he died. The walls contain ex-votos, gifts offered by the faithful for miracles purportedly received.

This was followed by another church visit directly across the street, Santa Chiara.  Debbie’s Church Moment:  It was built at a different time so it looks different.   It seemed like when the second church was built that someone should have said “Oh wait a minute, there is already a really big church right across the way.  Maybe we should not build them so close”.  (Once again organization people).  A third church, Chiesa Cathedral of Napoli.  Church Moment:  Also known as Duomo di Napoli is the main church of Naples and the seat of the Archbishop of Naples. The church houses a vial of the blood of Saint Januarius which is brought out twice a year.  When the dried blood usually liquefies. If the blood fails to liquefy, then legend has it that disaster will befall Naples. (We did not see this).

We proceeded on to the tour.  Let’s just say that Debbie’s interpretation of the tour was wrong.  The tour was an underground tour of tunnels that were built by the Romans / Greeks and then used for  a World War II bomb shelter.  They took us through the tunnels and into some underground wells / pools.  The street level squares were the places that common people went to draw water.  To reach the pools on the underground tour, every 2nd person took a lighted candle.  (Yep, lighted).  The went through these little narrow tunnels so small that you had to turn sideways.  (Some participants had to dust dirt off their stomach and seat once they got out.  Also, it is hard to walk sideways and carry a candle without getting your feet  tangled up trying to walk sideways.  People were supposed to shout out if you turned left or right. (Notice the words “Supposed To”)).  When you finally got to the pool, there was a violin and cello duet. (Debbie said that she was not sure what she would say if all the money that she invested in a child’s music lessons turned into a job playing the violin in a tunnel).    Joyce declined this part of the tour for claustrophobic reasons.  The tour also included experiments in growing plants underground.  The plants looked like they were dying to us.

We then proceeded up gut wrenching flights of stairs in the semi dark to  ground level.  We stumbled out into daylight and into the museum.  (Debbie was able to take a picture of 25% of the museum).  Our guide lined us up, grabbed an umbrella and marched us down the street.  Yelling “ Watch for cars!  Don’t walk in the middle of the road”.  We stopped in front of a door and the guide said “Wait here and stay out of the street”.  (We seemed to have issues following directions in her mind). The guide left and came back to lead us into a 1940’s apartment.  She then pushed the bed aside to take us down stairs and into a basement that was the back side of a Roman theater.  She led us around to come out into a side street to complete the tour.  Joyce’s evaluation of the tour was “Cheesy!”.  Debbie and Larry both thought it was “Interesting”.  Larry says that he would not pay for it again.  Debbie says that your children would love it   but do you really want to give them a lighted candle?

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Naples is a different type of city.  The streets are narrow and winding.  Vendors set up their booths on the side of the road.  Taxis, cars, scooters and people all mix together.  We liked Naples better than Rome.  It felt friendly and we didn’t see as many tourists.  We shopped the streets and made our way to the bay.

For Larry’s birthday dinner, we found a Chinese restaurant with good ratings close to the flat.  We think that we made their day.  We went for take away and spent 30 minutes going through the menu.  We thought that we ordered a lot of food until we discovered that the size portions were about half the size of what we are thought. Luckily, we had bought more than enough.

 

Sit down because we know that you will find this unbelievable.  The Les Cheap Girls paid for a bus tour.  What has Napoli done to them?  It was actually the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill that did them in (Remember wandering aimlessly?).  They discovered that they could see Pompeii and the Amalfi coast in one day on a tour.  We know that all hardliners are shocked and the Greek Boys were probably knocked to the ground but yes, a day tour.

We began our tour standing, huddled outside a hotel at the train station waiting.  Our driver appeared and loaded us on to the bus.  The total tour number was 8 with only one selfie stick.  The driver introduced himself as Max or Massimo.  Our group sat at the back of the bus except for Joyce who scored a better seat.  She quickly began talking to the other members of the tour group.  Joyce found out that the 20 something guy (Let’s call Jeff) was from Miami.  Jeff was on the tour with another cool guy (Let’s call Randy).  As we rode the bus toward the first stop, Joyce asked Jeff if he traveled with his Dad very much.  (We wish you could have seen cool guy, Randy’s face. The backseat had a good view of him chocking).  No, Jeff said “that is not my Dad that is my colleague”.

Joyce:  “What do you guys do?”

Jeff:  “We work for an airline”

Joyce:  “Are you flight attendants?”

Larry:  “Joyce, you have to start high.  Ask them if they are pilots”.

Jeff and Randy did not respond.   From this point onward, Jeff & Randy were referred to as the Son and the Dad.  Randy was a good sport and kept asking where his son was (He did grimace a little each time he asked.  The guy wore pink shorts how can he be Jeff’s dad?).  Jeff enjoyed it more than Randy.  We drove down the Amalfi coast line with several stops.  (Tour included lunch which made Les Cheap Girls Happy). Debbie’s Interpretation of the Tour of the coast – They grow lots of lemons, have windy roads that people try to drive on while other people walk in front of them resulting in honking, there is an island just for parties and celebrities like to vacation there.  (Debbie and Joyce said to look for them in next week’s Us and People magazine.  They are busy planning their outfits for the next party on the island).

The tour stopped in the city of Amalfi to look around.  Surprisingly, there was another church.  The Basilica of the Crucifix.  We think it is also called the Amalfi Cathedral.  We dragged ourselves up a big flight of stairs and paid for the tour.  (Not Jerry – he was saving his money for gelato)
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Next off to Pompeii through the mountains.  Debbie got an up close and personal look at the mountains on the way down the Amalfi coast and cutting through. (Debbie thought that we drove too close to the mountain and cars.  Quote: “You should not have to honk before going around a corners.  This is just wrong and made me ride with my eyes shut”.)

Once we arrived in Pompeii, we met our English speaking Pompeii tour guide, Miguel, (We’re not actually sure about his name).  We were thrilled to finally get to follow an umbrella.  Miguel said to close our eyes and imagine.  (We did close our eyes to concentrate harder on what Miguel was saying as the accent was heavy.  We are not sure that you could call it English.).  Pompeii was not exactly what we expected.  It was huge and you could spend a couple of days.  Much of the Pompeii artifacts have been sent to museums and Pompeii rebuilt.  What was really confusing was the art pieces that were on display in Pompeii.  At first, we got really excited until we figured out “hey wait a minute, no one ever mentioned giant stuff before.”  (It must be a problem because the guide kept pointing out what was not part of Pompeii and art.  He must have to repeat this for tours that aren’t as smart as ours).

The tour was a success.  It was nice not to worry about how to get places.  We can only imagine taking a ferry to the coast (With Debbie and Joyce hanging over the side barfing away) or riding a train / bus to Pompeii.  We thought it was well worth the price. The Les Cheap Girls need to rethink their cheapness value proposition.

Larry ended his day by walking to Burger King.  He also returned with a disorganization report but did say the Whopper was well worth the wait.

 

 

We started our day early in preparation for the move to Naples.  We waited for our last visit from Fausto and needed to print tickets in his office.  Now here’s a treat.  Fausto is not real computer savvy nor is his friend who only speaks Italian.  So picture Joyce, Fausto, Debbie and the friend huddled around a computer.  Joyce turns to Debbie (wait for it) and throws her under the Italian computer bus.  Joyce says “Debbie is a computer expert, she can do it”.  (Debbie says that she could do it if the operating system was not in Italian, all text was not in Italian, and the keyboard wasn’t Italian – different).  After entering the information and fumbling around, Debbie was ready to print but it won’t.  She finally figured out that the document was saving to  PDF and told the little guy how to change to a printer so it would print.  (All this in Italian and hand waving).  To top it off at the end, the little Italian guy turned to Fausto, pointed to Debbie, waved his hands about how hyper she was, and hee-haws.   (Well, yes, she was a little hyper about missing her train and you people don’t seem to have the faintest idea how to print.  Debbie and Joyce saw you both shrugging your shoulders).

Fausto was supposed to arrange a cab.  However, he kept getting put on hold by the cab company.  (What happened to I know the owner?  Fausto will get you a deal?)  At this point, we spilled out on to the street with our luggage.  We decided to walk to the taxi stand and use 2 taxis if needed.  Fausto suggested that two people and the luggage take a cab and the other two ride Bus 64.  We all looked at him in horror.  We were done with Roman buses and there was no going back. (Remember Debbie and Larry could be on wanted posters for not using a ticket). Joyce, with Debbie trotting at her heels, took off for the Taxi Stand with Larry and Jerry trailing in their wake.   Joyce picked out a taxi in line and says “You – Cuatro (Four) “.  Thus ensues a cuatro discussion between the first taxi in  line and the guy with the bigger taxi.  Our appointed driver handled it well but we think that the conversation went something like this.

Cuatro Driver (our driver):  Those stupid Americans don’t understand  taxi etiquette.

1st in line Driver:  They are too stupid for words and there are four of them

Cuatro Driver:  Yes, you don’t want them in your taxi.  They probably don’t know where they are going.  I will get rid of them for you.

1st in line Drive:  Yes, take them away

Cuatro Driver:  Okay, I take you now.

To top it off, he drove us to the station for 10 Euro which is half the price of the deal that Fausto got for us.  (Maybe we are too stupid for words).

We arrived at the train station to discover that they Italio train is leaving on time yet late again.  We  moved a step up in the train accommodations and paid for a snack.  Coffee drinkers got tiny plastic cups with instant coffee.  We all got some nifty cookies.  (We think there were vending machines in our car for less than what we paid).
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Once we arrived in Naples, we caught a cab.  We arrived at the flat and almost had heart attacks when we thought that we were going to have to climb 4 flights of stairs with our suitcases.  Luckily, there is a tiny elevator that runs for .20 cents.  (Yes, you read this right – you get in and deposit .20 for a ride).  The rest of us walked up the stairs.  Joyce kept getting slower and slower until we figured out that Larry had gotten her to carry his carry on bag which is filled with rocks (He denies the rocks but we don’t believe him).  The owner met us there and gave a tour with directions.  As soon as she left, we had our first power outage and it took us 30 minutes to get power back on.

It is a nice flat but does have it’s drawbacks as does all places.  The biggest drawback is that the microwave can only run if nothing else is on.  If you try to cheat, the breaker flips and takes down the power system.  (We think the first time, the apartment just took the power down to show us who was the boss).  The internet is sporadic (This is why the blog is running 3 days behind –  Yep, Really?)  and we know where all the Italian Goth Teenagers go to hang out at night.

At the end of the day, we arrived safely and are happily ensconced in our new flat.

Our new flat ranking:

1.  Venice
2. Naples
3. Paris
4. Rome

 

Today was an ecumenical day as our two goals were St. Peter’s Basilica and the Jewish Walk.  We braved the traffic tunnel and were able to find the river within 10 minutes.  Amazing what good directions can do for you.

We followed the Jewish Walk which included the Jewish Ghetto, October 16th museum and a lunch at a kosher restaurant. History Moment: A sad day in Italian history, on October 16th, 1943, many Jewish people were rounded up in the Jewish Ghetto as part of the Shoah.  The museum was very moving and described what happened that day.  The square is in sight of Roman ruins.  We strolled through the Jewish section and were convinced to try  fried artichoke.  We had an enjoyable lunch and then set off for St. Peter’s.

We arrived at St. Peter’s and found that we needed to go through security.  At this point, it was established that the Italian police needs some organizational help.  While in Vatican City, it seems that Italian police conducted the security scans.  (Debbie says that they need her desperately).  Security was set up with 4 lines for scanning with approximately 8 people across (or however many people you can stuff in the line with despised selfie sticks.  Really, why do you want to take pictures standing in line with a bunch of strangers?)  So, you get the picture.  Eight people that will eventually funnel down to one.  Ever been in those traffic construction where it goes to one line and you get really annoyed?  Like that except you are on foot.  Then it started to rain and everyone whipped out their umbrellas (Except Debbie who had decided that it would not rain and did not take her spiffy new umbrella).  Shortly after, we had committed to a line, Jerry opted out of St. Peter’s and headed back to the flat.

The rest of the group toughed it out but then  went through the inspection gauntlet.  The man in front of us failed the gauntlet and was not pleased since he had waited so long in security.  (We are not sure if he used proper language in St. Peter’s square.)  The rejectee had worn shorts.  Larry had on shorts and was worried that he would become a rejectee also.  Luckily, his shorts covered his knees so he was allowed in the church.  (Don’t you think there should be an inspection before you go through security?  Just saying…Italian organization often leaves us breathless. )

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To end the day, Larry got to take close up pictures with the Swiss Guards (He really likes those outfits and they are about the length of his shorts.

So, we accomplished our goals and rushed (okay maybe not rushed) to tell Jerry everything he missed.

The Greek Boys – Day 6… and counting

Today was a beautiful morning with blue skies, billowing clouds and a huge breakfast included with our room.  We sat and gazed at the Acropolis and ate a fun mix of US and Greek foods – omelets with dolmades and feta cheese – Yum! We encountered a man there who told us all about the walk below and how Socrates was led along it to prison.

We set off full of excitement about the day to come.  The walk up to the Parthenon/Acropolis was much better than imagined.  The sun clouded over and there was a slight breeze and with a few pauses for pictures, the climb was fairly easy.  Easy enough apparently that my step counter didn’t count any of it as stairs! <grrrr>  We spent a good while looking at all the repair work being done, much of it correcting previous bad repairs.  They’re doing an amazing job of it!

History moment – the Acropolis is really big and really high up in the air.  It was Greek dedicated to Athena, then Christian dedicated to the Virgin Mary, then Ottoman.  The Ottomans were the most colorful as they stored their ammunition there and blew large chunks of it away.  The Greeks successfully decided to get it back and took out the middle section firing cannonballs from the sea – end history moment.

We descended the back stairway to visit the Agora which was the original Greek market – aka the Safeway of Greece.  Not much in the way of buildings, a few headless sculptures well worn, a nice church from the year 1,000 and an ancient tire lot – see pictures below.

We walked up to the temple of Hephaestus, supposedly the best preserved temple in Greece.  At least all of the columns were there!  Some of the upper artwork survived as well.  After that we entered the on site museum where the better preserved statues were kept.  Mostly heads of different Greek people from peasants to priests and the local ladies.

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We were given a free tasting of 6 Greek red wines and later a taste of port wine.  There was a map and a full description of all the wines sold there and the owners, a husband and wife, explained where each wine originated, what the soil was like, the wine’s characteristics and why one year was better than another.  We opted for salads with dried figs, feta and greens which proved delicious and plenty of food, ordered glasses of our favorites and two bottles to go, one for the evening and one to take back to the States.

We attempted a museum close to home but it was supposed to close in an hour so we opted for a well-deserved rest, another glass of wine and looked up a restaurant for dinner.  We’d just see it and the architectural museum the following day.

We met a delightful couple at the next table.  The gentleman was fairly quiet and we learned that this was because his wife couldn’t manage to shut up although she somehow managed to shovel in her food at regular intervals.  Despite her table manners we had a wonderful dinner and a quiet evening.

Finally things were back to normal…or so we thought during our sleep of the innocents!

The goal today was to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  Unfortunately, we got distracted on the way.  We found the Victor Emmanuel II monument.  History Moment:  Victor Emmanuel II (was King of Sardinia until 1861, when he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century.  We didn’t know who he was but really built himself a fine, fine monument.  There is a statue of him on a horse where his mustache is 5 feet long and it is a really big building.

The group got turned around and wondered aimlessly looking for the Forum.  We thought a couple of times that we had found it but instead it was just some other Roman ruins on the street  with art stuff (Did I mention that 2 of the group started feeling poorly with colds / sore throats?  We made the third visit  to a Pharmacy during our outing.  (Debbie says that it is difficult to be seen with a group that is coughing and sneezing its way across Rome.  We think that contributed to our disorientation).

Eventually, they found their way to the Roman Forum.  History Moment:  The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.  We were in a found state for awhile.  We found the forum, the temple of the Vestal Virgins, Caesar’s house and others.

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We continued our “lost in Rome” extravaganza with circling back to Victor Emmanual II and riding several bus lines.  Eventually, we made it home and the sick ones retreated to their rooms.

The Coliseum is one of Rome’s biggest landmarks and was our goal for the day.  We hopped aboard Bus 64 and took off for the Coliseum but first our daily church stop.

Church Moment:  The Pope has declared 2016 it an “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy ” Holy Year which has inspired Catholic pilgrims from around the world to visit Rome.  So we went to a pilgrimage church.

Santa Maria Maggiore is a pilgrimage church.  Church Moment:  The church celebrates, Holy Mary, the Mother of Christ.  The church displays an urn that is said to contain wooden fragments from Jesus’s manager.  The church also contains some of the world’s best preserved mosaics from early Christians.

We looked for a restaurant before visiting the Coliseum.  We found one and Debbie ordered Bucatini all’ Amatriciana – This Roman dish is made with guanciale (pork jowl), sweet tomatoes, onions, chile peppers, and Pecorino Romano cheese. – (Debbie did not know what she ordered until after it was served and she was half way through it.  Joyce just told her that it was a specialty of the region but not about the pork jowls.  For you doubters, Debbie finished it all).

The Coliseum or Collosseum was our next stop. History Moment:  The Coliseum  is an oval amphitheater in the center of Rome.   The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators.  It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles,  animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

Now according to legend, the Romans were able to have 50,000 people enter the Coliseum in 15 minutes.  This does not happen in today’s world.  It is totally confusing involving circling the Coliseum on foot in a hunt for the entrance, which then involves finding the right ticket line without losing your party.  (Debbie says if she was the ruler that she would make people with selfie sticks gladiators and let them battle it out with their sticks.)  You can see from the pictures that much of the floor is missing and can see down to the entrance to the arenas and cages.  We did make it inside but people in the party were grumpy for awhile.
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After the excitement of a 1000 selfie stick wielding tourists in the Coliseum, we needed the calmness of a church.  We visited another pilgrim’s church.  Church Moment: The Church of San Giovanni in Laterano is the cathedral church of Rome, Italy and therefore houses the cathedra, or ecclesiastical seat, of the Roman Pontiff (Pope).  After he is elected, the Pope must actually sit in this chair to become the Pope.   The Holy Stairs, are white marble steps encased in wooden ones.  According to Catholic Tradition, they form the staircase which Jesus climbed to be sentenced by Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem .  There were brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother, St. Helena.  The steps are in an adjoining building.

You can see from the number of pictures that Larry really liked the Coliseum.  It is history brought to life before your very eyes. (or selfie stick).  We traveled back home on the bus.  (We felt more like gladiators as we fought our way on to the bus.)  You can see Debbie and Larry had a big wash night ahead.