April 13, 2007
Italy: Day 2
Today was much
better than yesterday, though there were a few snags. I started my day with a
fantastic breakfast of a croissant, cappucino, some thin slices of prosciutto,
salami, and swiss, and yogurt. After breakfast I headed down to the bus stop and
met a very nice couple from England who are also staying in the hotel. It was
from them that I discovered that you need a ticket to ride the busses and the
trains, and if the inspectors come on board and ask for your ticket and you
don't have one, you get a stiff fine. Coincidentally, you cannot buy tickets for
the busses on the bus itself; you have to get them at the train station.
Needless to say, I had no ticket.
Two stops into my ride to the train station where I intended to buy my ticket, three inspectors board the bus. €34 down the drain. The kind British couple tried giving me ticket but the inspectors were having none of it. Awesome.
I eventually made it to the station and
rode the train to downtown Naples where I got off and did some exploring.
Walking around, you can't help but notice that everything has been here for a
long time. All of the buildings are quite old, even if they contain new things.
Nearly every window has shutters, and walking down the streets you'll eventually
bump into some really old building or a Piazza interspersed with shops and small
restaurants. Ever since arriving in Rome and all around Naples, I am surprised
at the amount of graffiti on pretty much every building and wall. I'm also
surprised, particularly in Naples, at all of the trash littering the streets and
sidewalks. You can't go two blocks without having to step over (or go around)
anything from papers to bottles, broken furniture, discarded luggage, you name
it.
In addition to some miscellaneous food items for friends back home, I also
picked up a cellphone for myself. I wasn't able to bring my Treo as it is a CDMA
Sprint phone and you're not going to find anything but GSM overseas. Thus, I
bought the cheapest piece of shit GSM Nokia phone I could find (€39) and a
card for it. Once I managed to get some minutes on there, I had a heck of a time
trying to figure out how to actually call the United States. Language got in the
way of me asking the representatives at the store how to dial the US, and all
they were able to understand was that I was asking if I was able to
call the United States. 
Even with the help of a
cute Italian girl who spoke better English than the reps, they really couldn't
answer my question. Every time I tried dialing my home number I got some Italian
recording which, the aforementioned Italian girl informed me, was a secretary of
some sort. She asked me if it was possible that I had a secretary at my home,
and while I certainly wouldn't mind a hot in-home secretary that speaks fluent
Italian, I'm pretty sure I hadn't hired one. I never was able to figure out how
to dial the numbers properly on my own, so I asked the internet when I got back
to my hotel. Turns out you have to dial 001 and then the number, and I was
trying every possible combination of 011, 01, EXCEPT for 001. In any case, I now
have a phone for when I travel.
Tomorrow I am headed for Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi.
(11:47)
Update: Scratch that. Apparenty that tour isn't available until Monday. Maybe I'll head up to Afragola instead.
(12:14)
Search :: Previous Entry :: Next Entry