DATE: Thursday 13 July, 1995
PLACE: Rome to Pompeii
WEATHER: Hot
REMARKS: So that was Roma!?
Breakfast and check-out. Load the car, set off: and immediately
we're lost! We circulate, experiment, try, try, and try again.
Eventually the airport is a lure and we follow the signs.
A bank to cash traveler's cheques is interesting: entrance
via a one-person tube which encloses the victim before admitting
you to the interior. And then they couldn't change the money
(I think the teller was blaming the computer being down, but
I couldn't tell for certain). We end up at the airport where
the exchange is made, then back onto the Reccordo Annulare
and (gulp) the toll-gate at the entrance to the autostrada.
An impatient follower gets us our ticket and we're off.
250+ kilometres at 120-140 kph. Long straight stretches
(2-5 kms), 3 lanes, and at times frightening speeds of other
cars. However the behaviour is impeccable. Advance warnings
and progress points are frequent, no hoardings to distract,
a brilliant smooth surface, and service bays comprehensive.
13,000 lire, Rome to Naples.
Napoli looks a mess. Jumbled, cluttered, and industrially
dirty. Thank heavens we're just passing through on the motorway.
The famed Bay of Naples is invisible behind a cloud.
However we have passed and noted Monte Cassino (the strategic
value and prominence is immediately obvious), and Vesuvius
(obscured by the hazy cloud). Pompeii is an easy find.
Touts immediately direct us to a supervised car-park (wanted)
and a buggy-ride (not wanted). Refreshed we enter.
Immediately the extent of the city and the excavations are
evident. Clearly a populous city.
The heat is oppressive and walking tiring. Desiree, however,
is in her element It may not be Greek, but it is 'classical'.
Hither and yon she leads us: the Forum, the Theatre, the Necropoli
(I decline the diversion), the street with licentious frescoes
(invisible).
Well laid-out, with clear streets etc. There are even drinking
fountains (as at the Coliseum), but the streets are 'blocked'
with traffic barriers (odd in that time, as they could well
be passable, being boulders with gaps between). I note, again,
the flat bricks.
Four hours are spent, than have a late afternoon tea to
the strains of a full-blooded Italian family argument: daughter
(teenage) vs Mother, and sundry males who may or may not be
related.
Destination next: Casserta. North of Naples, recommended
to us by the Manager of the Hotel Alimandi.
A minor diversion (a turn in error) takes us into a VERY
traditional Italian rural village of narrow cobbled streets
and a slow progress behind a peasant's horse and cart. Just
amazing; but no hotel to be seen.
Restored to the routeway, we find Casserta proper. We are
dazzled by a vista which culminates in a Palace glowing pink
in the evening sun at the end of the road we're on.
First tries at hotels too dubious (separate rooms) or expensive.
Desiree strikes gold: 2 rooms, 4 beds, breakfast, 160,000
lire. Very modern, aria condizionata, and elegant design. We're
sold.
Dinner at Ristorante Soletti found by walking and choosing.
Lovely meal - kids win over the staff: Pastries to go on the
way home and into bed - at last!
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