Sunday 12th September

 

12/09/04 Day 71

Ahh! it's a the talk today is it?- an advantage of being updated with the diary writing...

Things looked a bit dainning as we realised we would miss the early train to Rome and have a 6 hour wait in Brindisi - but nothing in Brindisi burned out as we expected it to...

It would be very difficult to account accurately the events of this morning, as we are not entirely sure where we went, but I shall do my best:

The ferry, of course, dropped us at the port, thecustoms people weren't checking passports, and once we were on our free shuttle bus one stuck her head in and said "Don-)our-ius?" and "Italians!?" to which we allowed the 6 (presumably) 'Italians' to answer "see" and we were off.

From the port we drove around the port and were dropped at the train station, which was also the port. From there we walked up the pedestrian precinct (deadly quiet, but really attractive) until we began to near the port. Not liking the way the specola city was behaving, we circled back to the port, hoping in catching it from another angle. It might make up the mind whether it was port in getaway or beheaving.

Heather departed in search of MacDonald's, refusing lengthy to propose the idea of walking along the port through the town and towards the port, where, to our great relief, we found the train station.

By this time I could quite sympathise with Heathers desire for a coffee and almost wished I liked the stuff - especially as the (smart and almost classy) train station cafe was serving them for under 50p!!!! The first view of Italy was not now impressive - the port of Brindisi. The town, though, I thought wasn't bad - but dead because it was Sunday (I think they take the whole 'day of rest' thing seriously here). Finding the station was unusually evil therefore utterly frustrating, although it was very nice when we got there and I can now confirm I like Italian coffee and their croissants. The train journey got more frustrating as it went on and I ran out of things to do (and I refused to fall asleep because I wasn't about to miss anything in Italy). So southern Italian scenery: kind of what I expected - once we got out of the 'real' it was more agricultural than I had heard - vast fields of wheat and enormous vines with big juicy grapes. Plus also a large amount of giant poles tree along the railway line. The scenery in parts was a bit like Greece - not and barren but without the industrial buildings all over the place. As we moved North it became more lully, with lush valleys and rivers, like Bavaria. Then as we went further, you could See over many valleys of cypress (Glove became of the low cloud levels). Brumhaven dotted the view. We hit the coastline (black sand and rock), passing mountains into Naples was visible from miles off - to huge that Naples was visible from miles off - to hugeold and now (hyscrapers and the sprawling mass around them) which seems to have consumed the surrounding towns and turned them into a suburbs of the city (aided by the 'metro-like' circumstances lane which took you 'out' but not properly out of the city). When we got to Naples I felt like we should be in the North because we'd travelled so far (although it was only (lush hours we were on a down fast train (which, in England in the same time would have taken us from one end to the other) but no, we were still comparatively in the south. What do I make of Italy so far?: big, spacious and with lots of potential - in some areas it would seem the Italians had not had time to get around to farming/changing/keeping up or even building much of the land. It looks like it may have done when whoever discovered the country did so. It also gave the impression that, wherever you are youre feel unlobted. But then I suppose France cheap feel like Red or a train because it never shows you the people or their home environment. Only looking at stations Speaking of which, people who wee meeting friends at stations looked like they might cry it was so emotional - big hugs, kisses and smiles. I fond think they hadn't seen each other for years, but it was probably more like weekly. The little old lady in our carriage, when getting out we already prepared lunch, offered us salty dough rings and her sandwich. It would have been rude to take it but somehow it seemed rude not to - she looked gutted to do, already a very friendly country.

Naples, however was a bit of a shock to the system. On arrival in Piazza Garibaldi the traffic was insane, we have adopted many methods of crossing roads - the most effective of which, just walk out and to hell with the cars being fired at you. We went in search of food and it wasn't long before we were ripping over pushathorne, pizzone and cafe bars, all serving delicacies and slices of pizza. And so we stopped to enjoy our cheap and first of many (I'm sure) Italian pizzas. The search began to find a hostel, the place we'd wanted being fully booked. It didn't take us long to whilst out inNaples every building has 5 storeys and usually hostels, and up 3 or more flights of steps. By the time we found a place we were panting and dripping with sweat. I think the guy recognised this as he let us down to sit. Game nothing until water. Just trying to get there had taken us about 40mins walking + the streets weren't particularly busy (hagan, still Sunday!) and all the shops were boarded up so that you could only see the graffiti. Two things struck us on arrival (1) a litter problem - literally tripping over the tuff which had been bagged in the corners or not even that, but left to blow around on the breeze. (2) we watched someone being robbed within 10 minutes of been in Naples. Never seen that before. And it made us slightly wary of the back streets from the hostel (esp like 'learned' that it's not wise to take your valuables out with you). Of all the Eastern European cities we've been to I didn't expect Naples to be the one where I felt most threatened.

My shower, after almost 4 days without one was the only thing that was going to make things better. We headed out to Piazza Dante (Stahue covered in graffiti) where young people were playing football. Something in the square, sometimes in the road. The building in the city, generally, if you find a safe place to stand and look up are big and impressive. Even the residential ones were imposing, but each front has a battery and the customary old lady watering the plants. 5 storeys up or even the past trees. The street we walked down was controlled by the specclus cars and rapids down the middle. The only places open at this time were the gelaterie and pasticceris so our attention turned to the huge 'immigrant' population jelling any old bits and pieces, but mainly handbags in the pavements. The Galleria Umberto was a nice surprise - a huge glass 'shopping arcade' which was very stylish but unfortunately none of the little shops were open. This opened out onto Piazza tresco e trente, the San Carlo theatre and the main palace (has a museum) and square (big and grey expect for modern glass). The gardens were a million milesfrom those of leaving. We moved onto the centro (which actually, finally, looked like it should) and had to find flat area after recently, whilst building a new metro system, they had uncovered the old port. Complete with boats buried under the ground. We didn't find much though by the time, may lips had lost control. The exhaustion was sending me insane and we had pretty much concluded that the city was an 'italian bucharest'. Of course the supermarkets were shut and so we ended up entering pizza (esp-more of the 'stuff' from a place where boy make it while you wait. There was a bad mix-up and we didn't end up with what we expected but I had a folded one with huge amounts of ricotta, ham and tomato inside. Very very Heeling, esp for €1.80. I can nearly advertise season felt wasted as we never booked a place in Rome (we had decided that, at €18/night, is another night in Naples would be wasted and well rather get to Rome). And then, on offer of free pasta (after being told we'd have to walk to we the kitchen and hence we got pizza so you cant say as hard to be in his way) I think he had to decline (while everyone else from on the terrace with the friendly 2 dialers, I kept and stuffed free estates hate hemation on, he, at four friends. owners, learnt A complete idect, making stupid looking and acting like a 12 year old. Thanks a bunch for the hospitality. Still, they provided the nicest bed (very soft till a proper duvet) and so I slept smug and sound right through the night.

I feel like Heather has already said most of what I wanted to say, but Naples made a big impression on me, so I will repeat half of it. Initial reactions were very much Bucharest-only more modern cars/trams/cops etc. And as always now I have this so crushing to walk around the city because there's always some one to dodge or a road to cross or a leud engine making conversation impossible. That idyllic way, that Italian strolé around, oblivious to the world becomes a real pain when there are so many of them in such a small place. You can see that it is one of Europe's most densely populatedcities - for miles it is high-rise blocks with narrow streets and the centre consists of old-style high-rise sheds, with insanely narrow streets. (We discussed the technical difficulties of bringing public transport to such a city) and giving the impression of hundreds of Italians living on top of hundreds more, for mile after mile. Some of the side streets, especially those heading up the hill to the old castle, (which I had to take a photo of) were most unrepresentative. In theory, they were the same as the ones Heather described: only the facades were scraped new and the entire street from ground level to towering heights was a mass of glittering clothes and bed linen and clogs.

The streets in the centre of the old town (or old quarter as it is more aptly known) seemed predominantly wet cars and mopeds would regularly come screaming down them and you could only hope that you were in reach of one of the occasional lines of metal poles which provided some security. Incidentally, I noticed that Naples was not in the LP's list of Italian cities that have had their centres restricted to traffic.

Moving on, each building (if you can refer to them as separate buildings) had a large entrance/hall way which steps then led indefinitely up from to the hostel on the top floor. These entrance ways and stairwells invariably looked like the setting of a horror film - the only paint in sight was marble, crazy paving splattered around like blood! and the walls really dark and it was damp and oh-so dingy. The contrast came in Rome where the same thing was bright, cool and pretty.

Can you imagine a (unanimously Black-Italian Latin) immigrant (we assume) selling handbags in the middle of a road in the centre of London?

The range of food after the Balkans and the "lots try to be different but not really succeeding" Greece was fantastic and I love the way everyone buys a coffee (cafe latte...?!) and a pastry and stands at the bar to drink it; they always serve the same thing, depending on the do time of day: How iconic that in Italy, the coffee capital, you don't get a choice while in England the aim is to give you as much choice as possible! like fish and chip shops, me thinks.

As for the mugging. View. A young guy had obviously tried to pick-pocket an elderly gentleman but he must have grabbed his hand. A short skirtensued with their two hands clasped on the 'valuable' item and the old guy received a fair number of substantial hits. Eventually the robber forced him roughly on to the ground arm behind his back and then made off with the goods (at a very fast pace). And at this time three large guys stood within a metre of it, and did nothing - they didn't even help the man up afterwards.

The next day we were trying to short-cut to the hostel and a guy emerged from behind a van and told us we couldn't go that way, and then did a lot of charades that I can only think meant there was people doing drugs.

I can't decide whether I preferred the quiet, empty Sunday Naples (where the life was up to blow around the piazzas and the vendors got to do what they liked) or the manic, and security of Wednesday Naples (where the risk to your life when literally dodging and being dodged by cars on the main thoroughfare is balanced by the lower risk of citadel)

Heathers pizza was disgusting, mine was scrumptious - the only problem. Heather ate mine.