10-15-2018 Naples and Home

We woke on our last morning in Florence to a decent day, with no rain predicted for our return trip to Naples.  As always, when it is time for things to get a bit complicated, I was feeling stressed.  We needed to arrange a taxi to the train station, and yet we also needed to check out of our apartment.  Isabella was often less than responsive, and we were worried about how long the check out process would take, and how long it would take for a taxi to arrive.  Silly little travel details that seem quite inconsequential in retrospect, but at the time they made my stomach churn.

Finally, when Isabella hadn’t arrived at what we thought was the proper time for us to catch the train station, we texted her to tell her we were leaving and headed downstairs.  The Taxi app worked perfectly, and the taxi arrived within minutes, just as Isabella also arrived.  She was blustery and apologetic, and tried to carry on a cheery conversation, wishing us well.  With the taxi driver waiting, we were a bit less conversational, but the checking out process was simple.  We handed her the keys and said goodbye and thank you.

Later she gave us a stellar recommendation on Air BnB, saying we treated her apartment like our own home and were very communicative.  Hmmm.  I was glad that I hadn’t said too much about our frustration with her when I did a similar Air BnB review.

Within minutes we were at the Santa Novella train station.  By this time we were “experienced” train travelers, and knew just how to manage the system.  We had plenty of time for some lunch at a small cafe in the station while we waited for our train.

This trip south was a bit less exciting than our first experience three weeks ago.  Is it possible to get that jaded about a 200 mile per hour train after just one trip?  This time we knew not to order anything expensive, and spent the quick 2 3/4 hour trip reading, eating our own snacks and relaxing with the view that sped by.  Even the passing trains weren’t quite so thrilling this time.

Almost empty business class car on the Frecciarossa, do you think Deanna is bored?

Arriving in the Napoli Centrale (main train depot in Naples), we made sure all our baggage was locked and secured to our bodies and we navigated the crowded streets to our hotel.  I had done some extensive research regarding the hotel location, reading reviews that it was difficult to find and in a sketchy neighborhood.  I am glad it was early afternoon when we arrived and the sun was shining at least.

Our hotel is to the left, the train station is across the street straight ahead

The neighborhood did feel considerably different from the world we had left behind in Florence.  It was crowded and busy, and we saw what looked like drug deals going on all around us.  Not sure the people were homeless, but there were definitely some rather tattered and sketchy looking people hanging out all around our hotel, and the construction and graffiti didn’t help with the ambience.

Once we figured out the green gate, found the wall phone to contact the proprietor and climbed the stairs to another locked door, we were definitely wondering about our choice.  When the owner opened the door to the small hall that held his desk and a coffee station, and carefully locked the heavy door behind him, we felt better.  Then, as he showed us our room, we felt even better.  Turns out that the bed in that sketchy little hotel was the best bed we encountered on our entire trip!

I looked around for a safe since we planned to go out for dinner after we settled in.  Was happy to find one in the closet, but laughed out loud when I discovered it wasn’t attached to anything.  Not so sure this safe was a particularly safe one.

The owner was wonderfully accommodating when helping us to arrange a ride to the airport at 4:30 the next morning.  He gave us a name and a phone number, as well as a photo of the man who would be picking us up at that early hour.  Paying attention to safety seemed important to him, so we paid attention as well.

After settling in, we walked across the piazza as he suggested, avoiding the construction and the bus parking lot to walk along the opposite side where there were restaurants and shops and many people walking about.  With a bit of exploration, we decided that seafood was the meal of choice.  After all, we were in Naples, world famous port and most famous for its Italian seafood dishes.

With several restaurants along the walkway, all posting their menus for viewing, we finally settled on one that seemed to have not only good food, but available tables.  The evening was wonderfully warm, and the ambience was very Italian.  We definitely noticed a big difference between the friendliness of the people in this part of Italy compared to the cooler northern area around Florence.  As Luigi had told us when he drove us to the Napoli Centrale two weeks ago, Napolitano’s were the best people in all of Italy when it came to loving life and food and being open and friendly.

Our meal was excellent, although I am pretty sure that Deanna’s tuna from the Bay of Naples was better than my red shrimp.  I remember Deanna saying she thought it was her favorite meal in all of Italy, but that bustecca in Siena was definitely higher on my list than the rather ugly red shrimp on my plate.

The comfortable bed was nice, but with our early alarms set and thoughts of the trip home it was hard to really sleep well.  The 4:30 AM ride through the city of Naples to the airport was interesting.  Naples was a LOT dirtier in this part of the city than other areas we have visited in Italy.  There was a lot of garbage strewn about, and at that early hour with no traffic or people around it seemed much dingier.

Once we arrived at the airport everything seemed to slip into place.  I barely remember this part of the trip.  Our flight from Naples through Frankfurt and then on to Seattle was completely uneventful.  We managed our connections without incident, knew to be ready for the 4 different ID checkpoints in Frankfurt.  Our flight was long, almost 10 hours, and what I remember most is how entertaining it was to watch the Google Earth quality animated image of our airplane as it crossed over Europe and Greenland, and finally Canada. Once we arrived in Seattle, we were happy to use  mobilepassports.us on our phones.  We downloaded it while waiting in line, and bypassed a ton of folks and were through customs within minutes.  Slick.

Our wait in Seattle wasn’t long, and Deanna Alaska’s flight to Wenatchee was earlier than my flight to Medford.  I felt a stab of sadness as we parted, knowing that it would be a very long time before I would get to spend this much quality one on one time with my girl.

Once again we talked about how perfect the planning had been, how our time allotments were just about right.  We then talked about the few things in Florence we had missed.  Somehow we didn’t make it to the church at San Lorenzo, or the huge Market area, or the Medici Tombs, with more amazing Michelangelo sculptures.  As we said over and over, you can only do so much.  Also, as Nickie Wilkinson mentioned in her last comment, “Stick a Fork in Me, I am Done!”

I’ll leave you with a favorite view from the Alaska flight from Seattle to Medford, Mt St Helens in all her glory.