Arrivederci, Roma! We said heartfelt ciao-ciaos to our Arena House hostess this morning, grabbed our last Italian breakfast from the coffee shop down the block, and hoofed it to Termini station, luggage and all.
Last night in Rome, we took pics of the neighborhood.
Our rooms were on the second floor. Below is us with our sweet hostess, Barbara.
Although very close to the coliseum and bustling traffic, we were comfortable here in quiet, little rooms with a view of foliage.
And, here’s us eating gelato in Vatican City the other day, at ‘the place where the nuns go.’
Roma Termini is wild with travelers, beggars and pickpockets, so we kept our eyes on each other and our luggage. Waiting was mostly uneventful, except for a little comedy in the ladies room as we witnessed one woman cut to the head of the line and everybody else bawl her out. The woman ahead of me turned to presumably explained the situation in rapid-fire Italian, but I had to smile and say, “English?” “Oh, ha, no!” she laughed and gave me a wink. For some situations, words are extraneous.
We wait, watching the board for our platform.
Our train to Naples was a half-hour late, but we had assigned seats so there was no shoving, and the 70 minute ride was so smooth and relaxing we all fell asleep. In Napoli Centrale we switched trains to the “Circumvesuviana” which runs from Naples to Pompeii and Sorrento. It looked like there might have been shoving involved on this one, but mostly everybody preferred Sorrento over Pompeii, so we had seats! Jane remarked that Circumvesuviana was what she had expected of Italian trains — dirty, crowded, and noisy — so she was pleasantly surprised to find our first ride so pleasant. (Charlie and Virginia will have vivid memories of this train!) We’ll be on Circumvesuviana for the next couple of days as we travel back to Naples for the museum, liquid chocolate and some original Margarita pizza; then to both the Herculaneum and Pompeii ruins.
Pompeii is quite the change from Rome: small and quiet. We did manage to locate a terrific gelato place right across the street, so that’s a relief. Lots of tourists, of course, but our hotel is a bit out of the way and has a lovely garden area. Right now it’s lit with twinkle lights and lanterns, and off in the distance we see the mountains separating us from the Amalfi Coast and the peninsula that includes Sorrento.
Ahhh…good night!