(11 Novembre 2001) Salerno. I woke up early this morning, threw my clothes on and ditched the dumpy hostel. Not far from the train station, there are few people around the streets, probably because it is fairly early on a Sunday morning. I caught a train, the regular FS kind, to Pompei, a trip of about an hour. The train was almost deserted, and left from a little side track. I was feeling quite dirty and unshaven, yesterday's nine hours on a train, combined with last night's poor hostel didn't make a good combination. In Pompei, I located the hostel very quickly. It is brand new, and not well known, but I had information from another traveler I met in Catania. I arrived right at 10:00, but the desk guy, who was on his way out, let me in. He waited while I put together my daypack and left my luggage in the lobby. It was a pretty good start to the day, even though I wasn't able to grab a shower or shave. This hostel was in the "new town" Pompei proper, and I had a little bit of a walk to get to Pompei Scavi, the excavations. At the gate, I bought a three-day pass that would let me into Ercolano also. The ruins are amazing; it is easy to see why they are so famous. An entire city of ruined buildings, frozen in time in the shadow of Vesuvio. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 63 AD, and sixteen years later, Vesuvio erupted, burying the town in a layer of burning pumice and ash. The destruction of the town is legendary, as are the ruins. Rediscovered accidentally in 1594, people have been digging up the city since then. Four hundred years of excavation and tourism have been fairly hard on the city too. The first thing I really saw was the Anfiteatro, the amphitheater. It is amazing, beautifully preserved. I took pictures and made sketches of the audience passages. I haven't ever seen a cooler vomitory system ever, even in books. I want to use the ideas in a theatre design someday.

The ruins are home to large numbers of stray dogs, apparently surviving by looking cute and eating handouts from tourists. When I entered the park, I was followed closely by a mangy dog, eyeing me carefully. Apparently I looked like his ticket to a free lunch. I'm not much of a dog person, and I was eager to get rid of him. I think he wasn't as interested in vomitory design as I was, and I left the Anfiteatro without him. The streets of Pompei were very quiet, just a few tour groups. I can't imagine what the place is like in the height of the tourist season. It was very windy, and the clouds were particularly gray. Now and then it would sprinkle a little bit. During one little squall, I ducked out of the rain by sitting on an ancient hearth. The hearth was in a bakery, and the millstones for grinding grain were still sitting where they were abandoned. The roads are rutted from chariot wheels, and some of the stores feel like you should be able to walk in and buy something. The wine and oil merchants, in particular, seem quite pleasant.

The archeological park has no interpretive signs and a guidebook or acoustiguide is necessary to understand what you're seeing. There was a crowd of people waiting outside to see the brothel, mainly because a horde of Japanese tourists was inside, busy driving up Kodak's stock. Around 4:30, I was a little bit overwhelmed, tired of walking around, and definitely ready for a shower.

I wandered back to the hostel, was issued my room, a brand new place, 8 beds, only two others occupied. I was glad to use a clean bathroom. After my abolutions, I sat on the bed, with the intent of reading a bit. An hour later, I woke up hungry. I found my way over to the main square of the town, and found an excellent pizza. After, I walked over to the Cathedral to attend an evening mass. I was surprised by two things, first, the church building is stunningly beautiful. I didn't expect that, since Pompei is kind of an unsophisticated town on the edge of a tourist attraction. The other thing that was surprising was the size of the crowd. A huge audience was gathering, I wasn't able to get a seat. This was in stark contrast to my previous Italian church experiences, all on Sunday mornings, where the crowd wasn't sparse, but seats were definitely available. I wondered if I have been missing something, just going to morning mass. Perhaps the Italian tradition is to go in the evening, or to go twice. In any event, the service was interesting. I was definitely tired however, and ready to go to bed when I got back home. I met my roommates, two Australians. The Japanese chef a few nights ago in Taromina said, " I think that if I go to Australia, I would find no one there. They are all here." He may be right.

(12 Novembre 2001) Pompei. In addition to being served by regular FS (Ferroviaria della Stato) trains, Pompei is also served by a private railway, called the Circumvesuviana. It runs Northwest to Napoli, and out to the end of the Sorrento Promontory, to the South. I boarded the train towards Napoli this morning, disembarking at Ercolano. I followed the signs down to the Scavi (excavations). Much smaller than Pompei, and far less famous. Ercolano (in English, Herculaneum) was buried by the same eruption of Vesuvio that destroyed its more famous cousin. However, Ercolano was buried by a flow of mud, not burning ash. Buried far deeper, the mud preserved organic material like wood, cloth and baskets. Rooftops are intact, and their contents amazingly undisturbed. Also, it was discovered far later, and was excavated much more carefully. Most of Pompei's best frescoes and sculpture is scattered in museums. Ercolano was left essentially whole. It is far more interesting than Pompei. I think there were probably less than 25 visitors the whole day I was there. The public baths are stunning. The sense you get walking around the streets is eerie, like everyone simply disappeared. One restaurant had a half-eaten plate of pasta sitting on a table.

The weather wasn't very good, but it didn't actually rain at all today. Seeing Ercolano didn't take all day. In the afternoon, I took the Circumvesuviana around, checking out another ruin, called Oplonta. I bothered because it was included on my 3-day ticket, and I thought I should get my money's worth. I was the only visitor to the place, an ancient Roman mansion also buried in the 79 AD eruption. A cavernous place, most of the roof remains in place. I bet it was more than 15,000 square feet. Graciously designed, with rooms leading onto gardens and courtyards. It is fascinating, but I think I need a guide to fully understand it. This area south of Napoli has been a resort area for more than 2000 years, and this is a pleasure palace. The town Oplonta is in, Torre Annunziata, pays little attention to the Roman villa unearthed in the midst. I returned to Pompei on the train, wandering around town a little bit before going to bed. I was unable to find an internet cafe, or a bookstore with English language books even after a long hike out of town.

(13 Novembre 2001) I was up early this morning. The two Australians left yesterday, and I had the room to myself; but I simply didn't sleep well.
I caught an early Circumvesuviana train out to Sorrento. A resort town at the tip of a very scenic peninsula, Sorrento is beautiful. The hostel was easy to find, right in the center of town, and I checked in without a problem right around 9 AM. Outside the hostel, I ran into the two Australians from Pompei the other day. They were parting ways, one of them was boarding a train for Bari to catch a boat to Patras tonight. After talking with them a while, and ditching my bag in my room, I went outside to plan today. Unfortunately it began to rain. I decided the intelligent thing to do would be to find out what the weather was supposed to be like. I visited an internet cafe, and found the confirmation of my flight details waiting in my Inbox. I also found that it was supposed to rain much of the next few days. Sorrento has a lot of interesting day trips around, and I decided to save those in hopes of better weather. I climbed back on the train, and rode all the way to Napoli. I figured I'd rather spend a rainy day poking around museums than hiking. I had heard amazing stories and been warned about Napoli. Average Americans find the chaos of the Neo-polis overwhelming. I was warned about street crime, about bag-snatchers, about traffic chaos. It was rainy, and that may have tempered the energy of the city a bit, but I was unimpressed. I had expected to be at least a little surprised. Napoli seemed like just about any large Italian city. It especially reminded me of Palermo. Large and unwieldy, grimy, but with energy and flair. One of my goals was to purchase an Opera ticket for Friday, when I returned to Napoli on my way North, and to secure lodging for that night. I wandered down some interesting streets, and did a bit of window-shopping. By the time I reached Teatro San Carlo, siesta was in progress, and they wouldn't reopen until 4:30. I sighed, and walked up Via Toledo, toward the Museo Nazionale. This is the archeological museum where most of the treasures removed from Pompei reside now. The walk was interesting, full of shops selling everything anyone could want. I stopped at a sit-down restaurant for lunch, real Neopolitan pizza. It was excellent and probably overpriced, but I was able to keep my head dry for a while. I resumed my walk up toward the Museum. When I arrived, I found the enormous pink building suspiciously quiet. It was closed due to a labor strike. I was unable to determine how long it had been closed or if it was scheduled to reopen. Dejected, with a rainy day spread out before me, I did what anyone would do; I had espresso, and chocolate. Feeling much better, I decided to attack the lodging for this weekend. I had the names and addresses of two private hostels, since I didn't have any desire to reproduce an experience like the large HI hostels in Milano or Roma. I found the first one to be out of business. This was a little bit infuriating since I'd picked up the brochure mere days before. I pushed on to the other one, and got a bit lost locating it. Eventually, I located the address, but the neighborhood was so terrible, and I was so generally down on Napoli that I decided worry about lodging if I got an Opera ticket. If not, I wouldn't be returning. Taking a circuitous route toward San Carlo, I found an interesting street, probably 8 feet wide, packed with people and stores selling Christmas decorations. Nativity Scenes are a huge product of Napoli, and the street I was standing on must have sold most of the merchandise. I tried visiting several churches, but all of them seemed to be locked. I guess even churches take siesta here. By the time I made it back to San Carlo, it was about 4:45. I visited the bigletteria (box office), and found out that availability for Friday night was poor, and the available seats were expensive. Rolling my eyes, I turned to leave, but the woman called me back and told me that there was a dress rehearsal beginning at 5:00. I could purchase an Orchestra seat for 20000 ($10). Without hesitating I handed over my money and was ushered into the lobby, then to my seat in row K. It was amazing to be on the main floor of that incredible theatre. A true golden horseshoe, a beautiful chandelier crowned the dome. My seat was directly behind the tech table, an excellent vantage point. Since this was a rehearsal, I half expected the singers to mark, i.e. not sing at full voice. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a full performance. Donzetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," in wonderful postmodern splendor. Coincidentally enough, I will be working on a production of this opera in about two months. The audience was interesting, confined to the orchestra floor, I imagine only 300-400 people were there, mostly students and other performers I think. At the end of the production, after the inevitable long-winded opera bows, I made my way out of the theatre. The streets were rainy and dark. I hurried back toward the train station, just missing a train out to Sorrento. I was relieved to find that the train I had just missed was not the last one of the night. Hungry, nothing was open near to the train. I waited around, and about a half-hour later my train left. I had been unsuccessful at finding an English-language bookstore, and I didn't have reading material. Eventually we pulled in to Sorrento. On the way to the hostel, I stopped at a local restaurant called The Red Lion, and had an excellent pasta. I was alone in my room again tonight.

(14 Novembre 2001) This morning, it was still quite gray, but the sky seemed to be brightening. I left the hostel, and visited a grocery store for lunch supplies, and also bought a cheap umbrella. The umbrella was a hopeful insurance policy against rain, the theory being that if I was prepared for it, it wouldn't rain. I climbed on board a bus destined for Amalfi. The bus followed a winding road high up on the cliffs that make up the famous Costeria Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast). The bus ride was pure pleasure, and a big part of today's sightseeing. The ride was relatively long and slow, but the view made up for it. Tourists are warned to avoid sitting on the right hand side of the bus if they are afraid of heights. Of course, I sat on the right, near the front. The road, a narrow ribbon of asphalt laid midway up a cliff seemed quite precarious. At times, the sheer drop directly out the bus windows was heart-stopping. When the bus had to pass another, from the opposite direction, usually some reversing was required, and then the process was very slow indeed. The rear-view mirrors were hydraulic, retracting out of the way. Without this, the buses could not physically pass. Amazing. It was raining on and off, and I was worried about how slippery the road might become. I reassured myself that these drivers did this every day. Then we would pass some German tour bus, whose driver most assuredly didn't do this every day, and I would get nervous again. We descended into Amalfi, a tiny town huddled on a hillside next to the sea. As I got off the bus, the sun burst through. I wandered around town, which didn't take long. The church was closed for siesta. Amalfi is famous for its handmade paper, and I visited a paper mill, and bought some beautiful writing paper as gifts, from the old man that made it.

After only about 2 hours, I boarded the bus again, riding back toward Sorrento. I stopped at Positano, to have a look around. Positano, like Amalfi, is a small coastal town. It is amazingly vertical; buildings are wedged in amazing places. It is also very chic. It is full of overpriced stores selling expensive clothing to rich tourists. I was reminded of Vail. Interestingly, the clothes seemed a bit dowdy, not the incredible fashion of Milano. I think it was marketed toward older tourists. I wandered the town a bit, following staircases downhill, then across a tiny beach. I watched the sunset from a steep staircase draped with beautiful bougainvillea blossoms.

Darkness descended as I climbed back up to the main road to catch the bus. I went on a bit of a goose chase for a laundromat, and resigned myself to dirty clothes for the rest of the trip. I met one of my roommates, a Canadian from Nova Scotia called Nicholas. We returned to The Red Lion for pasta. Tonight, instead of a football game, the televisions were playing a network called DeeJayTV. I enjoyed seeing the videos of some of the popular songs here. After our excellent pasta, Nicholas and I wandered town a little bit, pausing to use the internet. Have I mentioned that I love the Levi "Engineered Performance" ads?

(15 Novembre 2001) Sorrento. Nicholas and I ate breakfast at the hostel. Despite the uneven weather, we decided to make a day trip out to Capri. While waiting for the ferry, we were pelted by a bit of rain. The ferry was a largish hydrofoil, and the ride was probably 30 minutes.

Capri, the world-famous island, sits off the tip of the Sorrento Promontory, off the Costeria Amalfitana. Composed almost entirely of limestone cliffs, I don't believe there is a beach anywhere on the island. A very chic place, a funicular railway goes from the harbor up to Capri town itself. Opting for a different route, Nicholas and I hiked an amazing staircase up to the town of Anacapri. With beautiful views everywhere, just looking around on Capri is amazing.

We poked around some stores, and then rode a chairlift up to the peak of Monte Solaro. The chairlift was a single-person affair, took twelve minutes, and was a thoroughly interesting ride, passing over houses and streets, and then climbing an impossible cliff. The view from the top was only slightly more incredible than the ferocious wind. Rolling from the south, enormous whitecaps filled the ocean. The view was indeed amazing, with the whole island spread out like a model. We admired the view for as long as we could stand the wind, then rode the chair back down. I see why two person chairlifts are more popular than singles.

From Anacapri, we hiked down to Capri town itself. We wandered through, not pausing much, and headed out toward the Arco Naturale. More than a few times today I was reminded of Mackinac Island in Michigan. Capri's Arco Naturale is far better and bigger than Arch Rock, but the idea is the same. A natural limestone arch, framing a stunning view. We wandered around, taking in the stunning views.

The cliffs were a variegated grey, the forest shades of dark green, and the sea stunningly blue, topped by a frosting of white foam. Amazing. We followed a path downhill, near another cave, past a mansion ridiculously perched on a point. The path descended, and we walked down further, to the water right near the twin Isola Faraglioni, a symbol of the island. There was a closed waterside bar, and salt spray in the air. It was still very windy.

Winding around back toward Capri town we passed a large pink mansion called Tragara, designed by Le Corbusier and now a hotel. The place gained notoriety because it is where General Eisenhower first met Winston Churchill. We paused a bit in Capri, eating a refreshing gelato. The sun had been out most of the day, and we discussed our good fortune. We decided to do another bit of a hike, an ill-planned walk out to Villa Jovis, the ruins of a palace that Emperor Tiberius used to rule the entire Roman Empire for more than 25 years. It was also allegedly the site of some of the western world's largest orgies. We missed a turn on the way out of town, and ended up near a Villa surrounded by razor wire. Attempting to follow a small path toward the ruins failed, as it deteriorated into a sheer rock wall. Darkness was falling quickly, and we had a few tense moments extracting ourselves from the cliff and getting back to town. We took the funicular down the hill. While waiting for the ferry, the heavens opened and it began to rain very hard. We returned to Sorrento, and neither of us had the energy to look around for someplace different to eat; so we returned again to the Red Lion. When we finished our meal, the house treated us to shots of limoncello, an excellent local aperitif.

(16 Novembre 2001) This morning, after breakfast at the hostel, I climbed on board the Circumvesuviana destined for Napoli. Sorrento isn't served by FS trains at all. Nicholas joined me, but he disembarked at Pompei Scavi, he was headed to the ruins. Arriving in Napoli, I had barely 4 minutes to catch the train I wanted. I made a world-record fast change of trains, including having my ticket updated, and stepped onto the 10:21 Intercity to Roma. I was amazed how close Napoli and Roma actually are, I was stepping out of Termini in Roma before 1:00 in the afternoon. I walked to a hostel near the station, at which I had made a reservation earlier. I dumped my bag, and headed off to town. I first stopped at Teatro dell'Opera, to check the schedule, and ended up buying a ticket for tonight. I wandered around a bit, then caught the metropolitana out to EUR, this time with film. I took a lot of pictures, probably more than needed, but I intend on using it as design research someday. EUR was as I remembered it, but I felt slightly more sympathetic with the architecture. I think that I like the square coliseum after all.

Returning to central Roma, I stopped at Terme di Carcalla, and found myself mere minutes too late for admission today. I rolled my eyes and got back on the subway. I visited Easy Everything, and did a bit of email and internet. Around 6, I checked in to the hostel. I think it is pretty shitty, but it will be serviceable for the next few days. I'm afraid it has a big party atmosphere, bigger than I am interested in. Stupid Americans. I showered, reflecting that it was merely 30000 a night and much more convenient than the HI hostel. I changed, and headed out to find something to eat. I also found an excellent gift for Mary. I made my way to the Opera House. The production was "I Due Foscari" a rarely performed Verdi work. I thought the production was really uninspired, and the singing mediocre. The other occupants of my box were Japanese, and they kept asking me questions about the plot. The performance was poorly attended, but it was a non-subscription evening, so that may be unsurprising. I returned to the hostel and slept, I was the first one to bed in my room of six beds. It was nice that none of the beds were bunks though.

(17 Novembre 2001) I woke up this morning quite early. The hostel was ridiculously loud last night. If I weren't leaving Italy tomorrow, I'd be tempted to find someplace else to stay. The bed I had was terrible, and the late night conversation of my roommates inconsiderate. I left, being as quiet as I could, not bothering to find out what the hostel's idea of breakfast was. I took the metropolitana out to Ponte Mammolo. Waiting for a bus, I had an excellent Italian breakfast. I climbed on the bus, of that peculiar middle-distance variety. My destination was Villa Aridana, a set of ruins near the town of Tivoli. I got off the bus in the village of Villa Adriana, and walked out to the ruins. Emperor Hadrian built this palace during the second century BC. It is enormous, something on the order of 1 million square feet. It was plundered for years, but still inspired many modern architects to study the design.

In one passageway, graffiti dating back to the 18th century testifies to the long time tourist potential. Because the complex was so huge, I didn't try to interpret what every one of the buildings was used for. Instead, I wandered around. I absorbed the magical atmosphere of 2200 year old buildings, the incredibly beautiful fall day in the countryside. I admired the reflection pool, and the beauty of broken arches. The brick made a beautiful contrast to the dark green pine forest and to the pale sky.

This morning was all about "smelling the roses." I know that tomorrow I'll get on a plane and be dumped back into my normal life. I needed time to capture memories. I walked to the bus stop, and rode contemplatively back to Roma. I took the metropolitana all the way across the city, to the Terme di Carcalla, my other favorite set of ruins. This time I had my camera, and I was able to take lots of photographs. Unfortunately, the light wasn't quite as good this afternoon as it was at sunset in October when I was here, but still stunning.

I walked back toward central Roma. I stopped at the Capitoline museums to buy some souvenirs. I made my way to the Fontana di Trevi once again. I closed my eyes, and flipped a 500 lira coin over my shoulder, insuring my return to Roma. I joined the crowds on Via del Corso, window shopping here and there, stopping in at the gigantic RicordiMediaStore to pick up some music. I went to a Saturday evening Mass at the breathtaking San Lorenzo in Lucina. Unfortunately, by the time I reached Oviesse, my favorite Italian department store, it was closed. I ate some dinner, and slowly made my way back to the hostel. On the way, I had a serving of what is purportedly Roma's best gelato. It was good, but Taromina and Padova are still tied. At the hostel, I repacked my bag very carefully, keeping my small day pack outside the main pack. I went to bed around 10:30, and of course, was awakened repeatedly by stupid hostellers.

(18 Novembre 2001) I didn't sleep well at all, I kept waking up, even when the noise from my roommates had subsided. Eventually, my alarm rang, at ten minutes to six. I got out of the shitty bed, dressed in my flying clothes, shouldered my bag, and headed to Termini. I was one of a few people on the 6:21 express train out to Fiumicino Aeroporto. I checked in at the SwissAir desk, and as expected, had to spend money to secure my new ticket. I checked my big backpack, and headed off to have my last Italian breakfast for quite a while. I'm going to miss the coffee desperately. I browsed the shops near the coffee bar, spending the last of my Italian lire. I bought a copy of "Harry Potter E La Pietra Filosofale." I was disheartened to find that I didn't have enough money left for a package of United Colors of Benetton condoms. I passed through security uneventfully, and browsed the duty free stores, spending absolutely no money on overpriced designer goods. Flight LX651 from Roma to Genevè was uneventful. The flight was about two hours long, and I was served an excellent breakfast. I found that amazing, since any flight of that length in the States will get you merely a little plastic glass of juice. I had a relatively quick plane change in Genevè, and soon was on a nearly empty Airbus A300 headed for New York City. Again, the food was wonderful. Every time I was about to drift to sleep, I would be asked if I'd like chocolates, or Ice Cream, or another beer, or some cognac. I think I like SwissAir. After two movies, we landed at JFK, uneventfully. I wasn't exactly nervous, but I was mindful that less than two weeks ago a plane of this same model had crashed killing 300 people when taking off from JFK. Immigration and Customs at the airport were boring; I was reunited with my backpack successfully. I picked up the shuttle bus, and headed out toward the subway station. On the way, I passed a backpacker, about my age, headed out on some sort of trip. I wished him well, and shook my head in awe at the idea that as one journey ends, someone else's begins. The subway was uneventful, and it was odd to have familiar landmarks appear. Suddenly I was at the Port Authority, passing through the station that I used twice a day all summer. Moments later, I was at 59th street, changing trains to the 1-9 to Lincoln Center. Someone asked me "what's the next stop?" and I smiled and said 66th street. By 4:00 PM New York Time, I was stepping off the Elevator on Johanna's floor.