Day 21 - 5/28/11: Conversano, Barletta, Gioia

A few final photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626827038230/

7:15pm: Resting for a bit after my last day in Italy. Can't believe it's gone by so fast. Don't want to go home.

Woke up around 8 and met Angelo at 9. Drove to Conversano where we met up with Annalisa (I hope I'm spelling that right), another guide based there to show me around for the day because Angelo is busy with a new wine business he is setting up. Walked around the old center of Conversano a bit and saw the part of the Castle that's open to the public. Interestingly enough, most of the castle is privately owned. People actually live in parts of the castle and there is a pizzeria! But part of it is open and has a little art exhibition and it's pretty neat.

Day 20 - 5/27/11: Castellana Grotte, Locorotondo, Ostuni, etc.

First, make sure you see the videos I added from yesterday's Patron Saint festivities - at the end of this set

Today's pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626820352974/ 

10:15pm: woke up really early today for some reason but anyway, met Angelo at 9:30 and set off for Castellana Grotte, a famous set of 90 million year old (!!!) underground caves and caverns with lots of rock and water formations. We got my ticket then went over to nearby Putignano, which is famous for the taralli crackers. Went back to the Caves for the tour and it is pretty mindblowing. The long tour is almost 2 hours long and you walk deep into these caves with room and corridor after room and corridor filled with stalagmites, stalactites, and other formations of various colors. It's so humid and wet down there that the floor and railings are wet. The culmination of about 1.5km in is the white grotto which is just full of white formations (see this link - not mine - no photos were allowed today past the first room). On the way out, the light was coming in the hole at the top of the first room (this was originally the only way in) and I snapped an amazing photo!

The tour was English and German at the same time and it could have gone much faster if repeating wasn't necessary. also she had these silly little jokes about Italian culture and the rock sculptures (for example saying one that kind of looked like rabbit ears was the playboy bunny?). But regardless, it was really cool.

Day 19 - 5/26/11: Trani, Castel del monte, Gioia del Colle

Pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626812953348/ - videos will be coming

11:50pm: Woke up just before 8, right after which some fireworks went off. Had a smaller breakfast and met Angelo at 9:30. Set off for Trani a more working-class seaside fishing town with a very important historical significance. The immense cathedral sits right on the water, as does the town's castle. Wandered the historical center a bit, including the gorgeous public park, and the neat bay of a port mostly used for fishing boats. Some of the fisherman were selling their catches right on the waterfront. Angelo showed me a beautiful little ceramic shop where the woman makes everything right there. Trani still has a little Jewish community and many of her ceramics are Jewish themed. I bought a gorgeous mezuzah and a little dish that you grate garlic on. I love buying things in little shops like that where the person who is there is the owner and the person who makess everything.

Day 18 - 5/25/11: Altamura, Polignano, Alberobello

7:20pm: relaxing in the room for a while because later I will go out and see the town's patron saint celebration. I'm excited!

Woke up around 8, had breakfast, and met Angelo at 9:30. First we went to Altamura, where they are famous for their bread that stays fresh 10 days and is the only baked product of italy's protected food products. This bakery was the oldest of the many in town, around since the 1400s. It's a huge wood oven that fits tons of breads of various sizes, focaccia, etc. Tasted some tomato focaccia that wasn't quite as good as the one in Bari, but still pretty freaking amazing. The town itself is also very quaint with a really nice historical center.

Day 17 - 5/24/11: Gioia del Colle, Matera, etc.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626673046975/

10:15pm: Another long day! Woke up around 8, took a nice long bath, had a breakfast of cappuccino, cake, croissant, and cantaloupe. Met Angelo at 9:30 and walked around town a bit. Toured the castle from the 11th century that was used by Frederick II and is now home to a small Archaeological museum with a few artifacts found in tombs about 5km away. Unfortunately it didn't become a preserved national site until the early 1900s, so thieves took a lot of the best artifacts. Also wandered through the historical center and in the lovely duomo.

Day 16 - 5/23/11: Ah Puglia

Not too many pictures today (Bari is not that photogenic and most of Gravina was underground and in a museum), but they are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626665140365/

10:15pm: Exhausted after another long day. Woke up around 7 and scarfed down a coffee and toast and made the short walk from the B&B in Lecce to the station in plenty of time for the 8am train to Bari. The train was packed and interestingly for a Monday morning tons of people had suitcases. Then more people kept getting on with each stop and it kept getting hotter. and the train kept getting delayed somehow, even though it left Lecce on time. A miserable 2 hours 10 minutes later I was in Bari 40 minutes late, where it wasn't even that warm, and could finally catch some fresh air.

Day 15 - 5/22/11: Lecce blog and pictures

pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626656209443/

10:15: Pretty uneventful day. Woke up around 8, had breakfast delivered to the room consisting of coffee, toast, and 2 delicious croissants.Since there's not all that much to do in Lecce, I didn't rush out. Around 9:30 I went to the Provincial Museum and I was literally the only person there. They turned on the lights for me. The place is free entry and i believe it has hurt the museum. The collection is just endless cases of old stuff, not really labeled, no descriptions given, parts of it are closed and empty, and no one visits. Such a shame; it could be great.

Then I wandered up and found the big castle. That was also strangely empty. there were a few rooms exhibiting the local craft of cartapesa, which is making figurines (mostly religious) out of paper mache. It's amazing stuff and again almost no one there.

Right behind the castle is the town's park, called public gardens. Since it was sunday morning a lot of families were going to/from church so it was quite fun to park it on a bench and just people-watch. this is quite a little park with gardens, a bar/cafe, two different playgrounds for kids, and a big fountain that was empty.

Wandered back into the town center and just browsed until lunch time. I got a rustico from La Rusticana, a bustling place on the main drag between two main squares. A rustico is basically puff pastry filled with cheese and tomato. It's a Leccese specialty. 1.50 euros of deliciousness. Then I went over to Natale and got a gelato and sat in the main square Piazza Sant'Oronzo and just people watched for a while.

Then as mid-afternoon came, the siesta started, everything closed, and the streets completely emptied again. with literally nothing to do I came back to the B&B for a while, then left around 5, wandered around and came back around 6, and then set out for dinner around 7:30. On the main street all these little vendors selling handmade goods set up every day. Unlike the immigrants hawking illegal crap, these people have badges and seem to always be in the same place. I bought a nice little pair of pearl earrings for 7 euros from one of them and then went to Nonna Tetti for dinner. I had a local specialty called ciceri e tria, which is hard to explain. basically it's wide flat handmade pasta, most of which is boiled normally but some of which is deep fried (think chinese food takeout crispy noodles?), and mixed with chick peas. Google for a picture :)

Sufficiently stuffed I came back to the B&B and now I just have to pack up to move on already. Tomorrow I join a tour of the highlights of Puglia!

Day 14 - 5/21/11 Lecce Pictures

Pictures here: warning many many churches!

All Naples Pictures Posted!!

Day 11: 5/18/11

Day 12: 5/19/11

Day 13: 5/20/11

Enjoy :)

Day 14 - 5/21/11: Lovely Lecce

10:30am: sitting on the train to Lecce, buckling down for another 4 hours of beautiful scenery through vineyards, hills and mountains, occasional ruins and olive groves. I was concerned about getting from Naples to Caserta in enough time to catch this train, so I took an early 8:40am metro-train, getting there in plenty of time. So all my worrying was for naught.

There's a wireless connection called “Passenger” but I don't have a password :( This train originated in Rome and was way more full than I thought it might be. Because of the MINI fares, I paid only a little bit more for first class than a second class ticket would have been so I went for it. Honestly everyone who says there's not much difference is right. In fact there's even less room for luggage so I had to leave it on a rack; luckily I can still see it. There's no more legroom and all you seem to get is a welcome drink and snack. Wish I'd had internet in Naples so I could have downloaded all the shows I've missed this week.

Day 13 - 5/20/11: Napoli

3pm: sitting on the couch in my room for an afternoon rest sipping a Lemon Soda. Internet works on the ipod again but not on the netbook still.

Anyway, woke up and had breakfast. Today there was someone else there – hilariously enough a British guy living in LA working for the Getty villa as a curator so he is here for work. What are the odds LOL! Anyway, I finally took my luck with a bus and got on the R4 to go to Capodimonte. It's up a huge hill so there's no way i'd walk this one, and there's no metro access up there. Anyway, a French couple was getting off too and someone told them where to go so I just followed. It was still a decent walk around to the museum but at least the walk back would be downhill.

Day 12 - 5/19/11: Napoli & Caserta

8:30pm: back in the room, soaking the feet in the bidet, and completely exhausted! And annoyed because the random internet connection won't work on the ipod anymore either. :(

Woke up around 7:30 and had breakfast. Mamma asked if I wanted something different but I told her it was fine. Realized the milk snafu yesterday was my mistake – the two pots on the table were coffee and hot milk, not coffee and tea. Whoops ;) Then I set out and since I couldn't figure out the damn bus system here, I tried looking at signs in Piazza Dante – and if I may digress for a moment, I saw a TRASH TRUCK in this square!!!?!? Anyway, buses were full and nothing convinced me that if I got on I wouldn't end up somewhere I didn't want to be (In Rome and Florence I've had no problem experimenting, but not here.), so I just walked. Down Via Toledo again, but this time all the way to the water. Beautiful views of Vesuvius and the boats bouncing up and down in the sparkling blue water.

Day 11 - 5/18/11: Napoli

3:45pm: phew! Napoli is exhausting. Had to come back for a rest. I'm able to get some internet sporadically on my ipod but it won't connect on the netbook for some reason, so I'm not sure when i'll be able to post everything :( Anyway, slept very well and very much last night – that was much-needed. Woke up to the alarm at 7:30 and went to breakfast at 8, where mamma had set up a whole display that appeared just for me. There was a bit of misunderstanding with the coffee so I didn't get any milk, but that's ok. She was very concerned that everything was ok and that I slept well. If there's a place you want to be taken care of by an italian grandmother, it's naples.

In my reading I had learned that Caffe Mexico, right on the square where I'm staying, is one of the famous/best coffee houses in all of Naples – and Naples is said to have the best coffee in Italy – and we already know Italy has the best coffee in the world. So I popped over there for a ridiculous cappuccino and then walked the 5 or so minutes up to the Archaeological museum.

Day 10 - 5/17/11 - Blog & Pictures - Pompeii & Napoli

Pictures here

9:20pm: in Naples so tired and full I can barely even stay awake to write this. But first I must make the following declaration. Today, May 17, 2011, marks a divide in my life. All the days before today are BNP days. All the days after today are ANP days. That's Before Neapolitan Pizza and After Neapolitan Pizza. Yep, it's that good.

Anyway. Woke up and left the B&B in sorrento – I had paid the night before. Caught the 8:25ish train to Pompeii which kept filling up more and more with each stop. I was lucky to have a seat and even luckier to make it out alive at the right stop with all my belongings. Suffice it to say if I never see the circumvesuviana train again, it won't be sad. So I got to pompeii shortly after 9, got my ticket, left my suitcase, and set about trying to listen to Rick Steves's audio tour on my ipod. It started well enough but since the site is SO vast and things are always under construction and restoration, it ceased being productive pretty quickly. Got lost trying to find the theatres but finally did. The place is so big that I can see how people would spend the whole day there, yet it's so confusing, the signage so poor, and the roads so difficult on the feet to walk on that I don't see how.

Day 9 pictures and i'm baaack!

For now anyway. Amalfi pictures here

going to post all the blogs from naples now.

I'm alive!

Hi all, don't worry napoli hasn't eaten me (I'm doing all the eating :)) but I don't have stable Internet at my B&b and the unstable one only works on my iPod for some reason so I can't post full blogs and photos. In better news google finally recovered my post from may 12.

Will post everything asap

Day 9 - 5/16/11: Ravello, Amalfi Town, etc.

9:30pm: phew, yet another long day!! Woke up early and caught the 8:30 amalfi coast bus again. It was even more full this time so I am glad I got there early and got a seat on the side not facing the cliffs :) It arrived a little after 10 and then I hopped on the bus to Ravello, another 25 minutes. Ravello is tiny and cute and thankfully mostly flat, up on a cliff, so the views of above and below are lovely. Wandered for a while, bought a cute little ceramic thing to hang on the wall that says lawyer in Italian with owls (yay Rice!). I wasn't in the mood to see the villas that you can pay to visit. So about an hour later I took the bus back down to Amalfi and tried to buy a ticket for the 4:30pm boat back. NO boats today she said. Ooooooooook I mean yeah it was breezy but hardly strong wind. Guess I'd have to deal with the bus, which granted gives more flexibility time-wise because there's one every half hour, but the buses are notorious clusters.

Day 8 5/15/11 Pictures

Pictures and a couple videos here :)

Day 8 - 5/15/11: Positano, Herculaneum, and more

9pm: having a bit of an early night tonight to try to get to bed early. So tired after another day! Woe up pretty early to catch the 8:30am bus to Positano. At shortly after 8, there were people already on the bus so I'm glad I got there early to get a seat and get a seat on the non-water facing side. To say I didn't like the bus ride would be an understatement. I hope they pay the drivers VERY WELL.

Got to Positano a little after 9 and walked my way downhill. As I was doing it I knew there was no way I was walking back up, it would either be by bus to the top, or by boat from the bottom back to Sorrento. Kept winding down, popping in and out of shops. Finally hit the “center” of town, the Bar Mulino Verde, and got a “cappuccino freddo” - basically a really good iced coffee. Worked my way all the way to the water and decided that avoiding that bus was worth the cost (13 euros) of the boat back to Sorrento leaving at 12:30.

Day 7 Pictures - 5/14/11

Pictures - and a few videos - from yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626719853310/

Day 7 - 5/14/11: Capri, etc.

Note: All the pics so far (not including today, which probably won't be up til tomorrow b/c there are some videos, are here)

5:45pm: relaxing in the B&B for a while. Woke up around 7:30 and had breakfast, which surprisingly doesn't start until 8:30. If there's one complaint I have about this B&B it's that. I don't want to rush around but considering the area is known for being busy and congested, it's strange that they make it hard to get an early start. Anyway, breakfast was nice out in the courtyard with a cappuccino, cake, croissant, etc.

Went down the “Ramp” to the port. you can see said ramp in one of my pictures. Basically an insanely steep pedestrian pathway. But I made it and decided I would NOT be doing it again :) Bought a RT ticket to and from Capri for 30 euros total – ouch! - and took the 9:15 boat, arriving around 9:45. 

Day 6 - 5/13/11: Lovely Sorrento

I give up waiting for blogger to restore the post from May 12. Here is yesterday's:

9:30pm: Sitting in the B&B Sorrento after a long, but good, day. Woke up just before my alarm at 7:30, finished packing, had breakfast at Bar Valle, and walked to Largo Argentina to get a taxi. It was only 7 euros, I was expecting more. Hopped on the train and went to Naples. It arrived a bit late, but was otherwise fine. Had a bit of trouble finding the tourist office but foundi it and picked up my 2 Artecards for museum admission and transport while I am in Campania. Managed to catch the 11:11am Circumvesuviana train (think above ground subway) to Sorrento. The train was packed and I had to stand for half the trip until the train emptied out at Pompeii.

Day 5 - 5/12/11: Old Stuff

5/18/11: wow only took blogger 6 days to recover this


About 10pm: Today was so long I don't even remember what I did this morning. Woke up around 8 and went to St. Eustachio again for breakfast. Backtracked to Largo Argentina and took Bus 87 to San Clemente, where I had tried to go the other day. The church itself is beautiful and from several different centuries, but then you can pay and go downstairs for several different ancient things. First, the old church but also a bunch of Mithraic stuff, which Rick Steves describes as a strange cult. And it was strange indeed down there. I feel like over these past few days I have been underground a lot. Anyway, there weren't that many people down there (tour groups were just arriving as I was leaving), it was dark and there were sounds of gushing water from the old aqueducts, and I cannot say I liked it very much!

Day 4 - 5/11/11: Rome, Rome, Rome

10pm: Sitting in the room after another long day. Didn't sleep that well but then slept til after 9am. WTF?!? Rushed out and instead of having breakfast at the bar included with my B&B I walked a few minutes to famous St. Eustachio, supposedly with the best coffee in the city. It's pretty delicious and so was the chocolate croissant.

Walked over to trastevere and found the Villa Farnesina, which is a Renaissance villa that has a lot of paintings and frescoes from Raphael. Walked through Trastevere through where I was last night for dinner. Still a very lively place even in the morning! Found Piazza St. Cecilia, where I wanted to see the church and also have lunch. Yesterday in the catacombs, I saw St. Cecilia's tomb and a replica of a statue of her. Today I saw the church build on top of her house. She was a 12 year old Christian killed for her faith so they built a church in her honor. She's the patron saint of music. For 2.50 you can go downstairs and see the ancient excavations of her house. Pretty cool.

Day 3 Pictures - 5-10-11

More than 100 pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626574582979/

Day 2 pictures: 5-9-11

Pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626692862122/

Also I got up the video from the Spanish steps of the opera practice. It's only 4 seconds and high-pitched: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/5707886355/in/photostream

Day 3: Aventino, Testaccio, & a Lot of OLD STUFF

6:15 pm: Holy long day. Slept well again and woke up to my alarm at 7:45. Had brekfast and set out for the Aventine hill. I knew I could take bus 30 there, but somehow I kept walking around Largo Argentina in circles so I decided to hop on the (not-so-)Express bus 40 to the station, then the metro to Circo Maximo. Still a big empty oval. Set out to find the Aventine Hill - on a day like today I had to find the Knights of Malta Keyhole - famous for perfectly framing St. Peters's dome. Pretty amazing stuff. Also wandered through this lovely orange garden (with equally lovely views) and saw the peaceful Saint Sabina church. Descended the Aventine in the direction of Testaccio to find the famous covered market. Yummy food wonderland full of fresh fruits and veggies from all over as well as lots of meat and fish and bread (and pet food and toilet paper?) stands. I found the one thing at which California beats Italy - the strawberries.

Day 1 Pictures

Finally uploaded here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626563382329/

I'll tag and title them later but most of them are pretty recognizable anyway ;)

Day 2: Orvieto, San Pietro, and More

Phew, what a long day! I actually slept better last night than I have in a long time - take that, jetlag! Woke up with my alarm at 7:10 and got ready quickly because I had an 8:22 Intercity train to Orvieto that I had already booked (at half price by booking in advance). Got breakfast at the cafe my B&B associates with. Nutella croissant never a bad way to start the day. Bought bus tickets (following my Italian victory of asking a newsstand if they sold them - in Italian!) and took the bus to the station. I never realized how massive Termini is. It's basically a shopping mall combined with a train station that has more than 30 tracks. Anyway, after a short delay, the train set off and arrived in Orvieto a little over an hour later.

Orvieto is lovely, but, really, not all that much different from the other hilltop towns I've seen. The duomo is ridiculous, however. And it has this amazing system of over 1200 underground caves. Now they offer a tour so I took the English one at 11:15 for 6 euros. Orvieto was originally settled by the Etruscans, so you have ancient olive oil mills/presses, quarries, and ... pigeon homes. Wandered around a bit more and grabbed a quick focaccia lunch at a bakery, followed by a delicious gelato. One shop had gorgeous olive wood stuff, reminding me of my favorite shop in Siena, however, the owner greeted everyone in English and there was a sign outside saying "$ accepted here" - I refused to buy anything just on principle. Made my way back to the duomo and took the bus to the funiculaire to the station and bought a 2pm ticket back, arriving in Rome a little after 3pm.

Day 1 Cont.: Ciao Roma!

Sitting in the room at the lovely B&B (lying in bed more accurately) after a long day that really feels like two. After the plane arrived a few minutes late, I coasted through passport control. An aside - WTF does a girl have to do to get a frigging Italy passport stamp because apparently going through an Italian passport control with a US passport is not enough! 

Anyway, luggage took some time so it was nearly two before I went through customs and found my trusty Rome Cabs driver waiting for me. And thanks to him he provided the first epic memory of the trip. As he was pulling out of the airport, he didnt let this girl cross the street (Pedestrians do NOT get the right of way here - in fact i think there is no such thing as Right of Way here). she gave him a look, then he drove on for about 2 seconds. stopped. backed up. got out of the car, and totally told her off. Holy crap, have I ever mentioned how much I love this place?!??

Day 1: The Plane

4:10 pm Pacific: Sitting on the plane, finally in flight after a short delay. The boarding process reminded me of that Italy vs the rest of Europe Youtube video - in other words, a total cluster. I would have thought most people on this flight were tourists, but there are a significant number of Italian-speakers on board. I'm sitting in front of a priest, so I feel safe.

I would have to say that this Alitalia plane is as nice or nicer than other planes I have taken to Europe. A personal in-seat entertainment system, relatively wide seats (emphasis on relatively) and perhaps the best feature for a short person like me, a kick stand foot rest that pops down. nice!

Holy Crap Where Has the Time Gone!?!

Sarò in Italia in tre settimane!!!

It seems like just yesterday I was formulating the plans for this trip in my head. Now it's only 3 weeks away and after a few potential road bumps, it's all steams ahead. I readjusted my itinerary a bit from the last time I posted - it's now 5 nights in Rome and 4 in Naples. After starting to read about all the things to see in Naples, I just had to add a day. To compensate, I decided against the cooking class in Rome. That freed up a day and I think I'll be able to fit everything in to Rome that I wanted to see, and more. In the interest of maximizing my time and sights, i'll stop in Pompeii on the way from Sorrento to Naples and check out Bari for a few hours before meeting up with my tour guide.

In Rome interesting things have opened up recently and I've made plans to take advantage: namely the Domus Romane at the Palazzo Valentini and the underground/3rd level of the Colosseum. I prepaid for both of those tours, as well as reserving a time to see the Galleria Borghese, finally. I wonder how things like this got around before the internet - these sights are too new to be in any guidebook, thank god for TripAdvisor! I also pre-purchased a few train tickets to take advantage of the "MINI" fares and saved several euros.