As I stated in my earlier blog, we had no really specific plans of where to go and what to do on this trip. We are visiting family and friends and if something tickles our fancy then maybe he head out. But that's a maybe alright. You can use the last two days for confirmation. Like they say: you plan your work, and you work the plan. Boy are we ever working the plan, or non-plan would be the better take. Just read on and you will see.
Saturday dawned early, or at least earlier for some. I was awake before 7 and after a short time trying to get back to sleep, I decided to get up. I took a few extra minutes to get awake and ready, and then headed out for my morning brisk walk. It was a bit overcast and rain was in the forecast starting tomorrow, but the sun did some peeking out during the day so basically we had a cloudy but OK kind of day. My walk around the take takes me past this one parking lot that turns into a bazaar every Saturday. When I was passing it, the bazaar was coming to life. Not being a bazaar type (some might argue this point) I usually have no interest in these gatherings. But, hey, I am in Italy and this could be interesting. I stopped and decided to walk around. I had no money with me so looking was all I could do. The lot was completely taken over by the vendors although a few were still setting up. I guess the wares that were offered are similar all around the world, but maybe not. This one had numerous fruit and vegetable stands with a wide array of items. The peppers were very bright red, yellow and orange. The celery, carrots and arugula were also brightly colored and everything looked bigger than what you get in the states. There were many clothing vendors, toy vendors and such along with pastries and candy. Being Italy, there were also olive vendors with like 10-12 different olive types in barrels and other sundry items. I can't say this is any different than the states, but I can say that it was before 8 AM and the place was a mob scene. Half the town was there and the other have was either on it way or just leaving. So you go early and make a big strike, then go home to begin supper preparations with your spoils. I got back on my walk and headed back to the apartment. I made my cup of tea and waited for someone to show up. As it turned out, someone was up early. Maria wanted to go to the beach. So she arose about the same time I did and headed out on her own, after I had left. Out side of the fact that she left the inner door to the apartment open and unlocked, it was a rather uneventful morning.
I ended up having a second cup of tea, just to kill the boredom. The place didn't stir much until late morning. We had nothing planned, but then a call from Angela and we were invited to her house for lunch. This would be a 3rd visit for lunch since arrival. But, a free meal is a free meal. Once everyone got up and got ready we headed out for our noon luncheon that started around 2:15. It was again, pasta, bread, salami and fruit. You don't go away hungry, but I do go away sleepy. It is too heavy for my sensitive stomach. I feel over full and I know that I eat too much. Just that way it is. And it tends to impact my dinner, which I am too full to eat. So that was one of our two exciting activities of the day. The other was our trip to church which is up the street from our place, about 2/3rds of a mile. As we got to the gates for the lot, there were no spaces. There were no spaces outside the church either. So we went to this lot that had one space open. We took it, wondering if we were illegally parking, but sometimes you have to live on the edge. We walked back to the church and finally realized that mass was like half over and we basically missed it. We slithered back to the car and then parked the car at the apartment (more later) and settled in for the evening. Another exciting day has passed on by.
Sunday was not much different that Saturday, except that I did not walk the lake path. It was raining in the AM and on and off for the remainder of the day. The day did start a little earlier as Nello was coming in to the Naples airport and I had to pick him up. So everyone except Maria came along. He was due in at 11:35 and arrived soon after that. But we had to wait for him to deplane and get through customs. We arrived at 11:30, found a place to park the car (I think is was one of the 1/2 dozen spaces for Uber like operators, but we stayed there anyway. Nello showed up about 12:08 PM and we headed back to the apartment so he could shower and change. Once he was done, we headed back out to go to, you guessed it, Angela's as she invited us again. Lunch was fruitte de mare (seafood) with spaghetti, bread and some cold cuts, plus pastries.
Again, ate too much and got tired. Went back home and stayed until 6 when we headed back to church for mass. I have included a few pics of the church. And that was the day again.
Now, to give you and idea about driving and parking in Italy, I have a few pics of the car, the driveway and the street we are on. As you will note, the car is a mini van called Alahambra. It easily holds 6 people and up to 8 total. So its not a compact. The problem there is that most of the cars are compact or just slightly larger. They fit anywhere. Mine does not so easily. To get into the parking spot at the apartment, I have to maneuver back and forth multiple times to get into the spot and then to get out. If I do not do it correctly, I will scratch up the car very badly. The driveway has walls on both sides and is about 18 inches wider than the van, but there are pipes sticking out of the wall that makes things a bit antsy. The car beeps when you are close to an object, and this car is like a symphony going down the driveway and when I try to park. There is also another car of someone who lives there so I have to out maneuver that too. It is very tight. Its not much better on the road, with cars parked everywhere and buses and trucks taking up half your lane. But its Italy, so you learn to deal with it. Look at the following to get an idea.
Its hard to get the true picture from these. You need to be there and experience it. But that is not practical so this is the best I can do. And so ends this blog. I hope there will be more activity in the coming weeks. Just try to overlook the lack of excitement. Who says writing has to be interesting?
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