camanoescape – The Wagnerson's Travel Adventures

We left Rome this morning for Sorrento.  Arriving at the Roma Termini or main train station, we caught the Frecciarossa to Naples.  This is their FAST train and boy were they right.  As we got rolling, there is a video screen that shows the speed of the train as it changes speed.Here’s a pic that shows our speed as 301 kilometers per hour or 187.03 mph.  I will try and post a short video of what that speed looks like.

Once we arrived in Naples, we walked to the end of the Naples station.  We had to go downstairs and buy tickets for the Circumvesuviana train which travels across 26 stops between Naples and our destination……Sorrento.  Doug walked up to the ticket booth and asked to buy four tickets.  The gentleman in the booth asked Doug a question in Italian and Doug gave him a blank stare.  The “gentleman” then raised his voice and began yelling at Doug in Italian.  Doug looked to me and I stepped up.  The guy was incensed.  I tried understanding what he was saying but to no avail.  I thought, “Look fella, we just got off of a train going 187 miles and hour, do you think you can throttle back your Italian speed to maybe say…..35-40 mph.  I just can’t do the 70+ mph Italian yet.”  A kind gentleman standing next to us explained why the guy was yelling and a new international incident was quickly averted.  Whew! Still don’t understand why he was mad.

We looked up and saw that the trains leave for Sorrento every 30 minutes and there was one leaving in 3 minutes.  Pressure’s on Camanoescapers….let’s go!  Down more stairs at a gentle hurry speed and out the proper platform where others were already waiting for the train which was not there yet.  We take up a position where there’s not a massive crowd of people and wait for the train to arrive.  Sure enough, here it comes…….right on past us and stopping about 30 yards from us.  By now we are running with our bags.  Also by this time the masses had already piled on and people were elbowing their way ahead of us.  I heard one of our group mention something about maybe waiting for the next one.  Oh contrare!  Leading the pile and using my fully stuffed carry on as leverage, I pressed into the crowd using the best basketball blocking out techniques I knew.  Lynda got on behind me and when I saw that set jaw and stony eyed stare on Doug, I knew that he and Barb were both going to make it on as well.  We were packed in there like sardines in a can, standing room only.  Oh, by the way, did I mention that this particular train between Naples and Sorrento (the Circumvesuviana) is world famous for the amount of pickpockets on board?  Ya, it is.  Not to worry as we all went into this experience with our eyes open and prepared.  Nothing in our back pockets but so many people were wedged in so tight that it is easy to see how people could to fall victim to this kind of thing.

Though I was a little concerned about pick pockets while wedged in there, my distraction on this trip was something else and actually quite disturbing.  Besides the fact it was 110 degrees in the train and the sweat was literally rolling off of everyone (not just our group) AND there were smelly arm pits raised all over holding onto the overhead bars since the train was lurching about, there is more.  Oh yes, there’s more.  My problem came when the 350 pound man behind me apparently mistook me for his wife and thought it would be nice to “spoon” with me.  I tried moving away, but there was no place to go.  I won’t go into detail but suffice it to say that after 3 stops when one lady next to me got off, I was able finally able to slightly pivot and send this man’s attention back to his wife or whoever it is he should have been thinking about.

We eventually arrived in Sorrento but not before going through several tunnels where it sounded like angry bats were chirping at us in the dark.  It wasn’t bats, but it sounded like it.  I will try and post some audio/video of that as well.  (especially for you….Bonnie)  We are now checked into our hotel and ready for the next adventure!

Our last landmark we wanted to find and see before we left Rome this time was the Trevi Fountain.  We walked by the Spanish Steps on our way to the Trevi with the hope that all of those people who were sitting on the steps at 11pm the other night were gone and we could get a photo of the actual steps.  As you can see by the following photos, I don’t think anyone left.

We finally found the Trevi Fountain and it was simply beautiful.  The hordes were here too as well.  Fighting our way to the front we were able to get a few photos.  I’m not sure of the name of the Italian gentleman that Lynda and Barb were hanging out with though.

We set off today to see the location where the movie Gladiator was set.  An ancient structure, the sheer size of the Coliseum is breathtaking.  Closer inspection makes me marvel at the engineering which went into building this thing 2000 years ago.  While the floor of the Coliseum has long since wasted away, the basement corridors and openings where the Romans would send up the wild animals into the arena or the gladiators or Christians would be sent up to fight and entertain the masses are visible. 

After spending the morning at the Coliseum, we returned home to our historic district apartment or flat, and it was like we walked from the movie set for Gladiator onto the set for Westside Story.  That description accurately portrays the feel of our little apartment here.  An inner courtyard where everyone looks at everyone else and everyone knows everyone else’s business……except their business is all in Italian and we are just barely squeaking by in that regard.  As you can see, it’s laundry day for us and the neighbors!

We walked into one restaurant here in Rome because of the reviews.  Without a reservation, they led us into a back room that opened up into a dining area for 50-60 people and the place was hopping.  Laughter, hand waving, and loudness were the orders of the day.  The waiter asked if we wanted to try the house specialty — antipasta.  (I don’t know what these restaurants have against pasta)  Sure we told him and shortly thereafter, he began bringing dish after dish after dish after dish of different types of antipasta.  Fourteen different total dishes and it was delicious.

As we were sitting there eating, Doug noticed that there was a special surprise dinner guest dining a couple of tables across from us.  We never saw the Secret Service agents protecting him though.  After spotting ole GW, we quickly dedicated this meal to Jessica!

Where in the heck are we……………….where did all these people come from……………and how do we get back to Tuscany?  It was a culture shock arriving in Rome from the confines of our small village in Pergine Valdarno.  There were people every where.  The crowds were so onerous when we ventured out from our little apartment 250 yards from the Pantheon yesterday afternoon that we soon returned to the confines of our apartment to wait out the crowds.  We did see a few sites near our place.

And Jessica, this one’s for you!!!!!

Venturing out after dark last night, we soon discovered that the people and the crowds stuck around.  Visiting the Pantheon, the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, we discovered we could not enter as they were holding a church service inside.

We next went in search of the Spanish Steps….a so called masterpiece of fine art with the steps spreading out like a fan.  It was kind of hard to see the masterpiece with all of these people around.

Our journey for the evening ended after zigzagging, mostly lost across old Rome.  It pointed out the need for a REALLY GOOD map which we did not have until a young couple, a Russian girl and a Lebanese boy who lives in Australia, shared their map with us and in the end gave it to us.  Very nice and sweet kids!  We finally arrived back at our apartment close to midnight after eating pizza and a glass of wine while seated outside along a narrow street, with taxis crawling by only 18 inches away.  The end of a long and chaotic day came and off to bed we went.

In 2002 our son Sam went to Italy and came home with a picture of him in a 3000 year old toilet facility.  Barb’s dad Bob saw it one day and got a funny look on his face.  A couple days later he showed up with a picture of Barb’s mom Marge sitting in the same facility…from about 1980!  When Sam went back to Italy in 2011 he took a picture of girlfriend Ruby in the same toilet.  

Fast forward to the present, Barb’s one and only goal for this trip to Italy has been to have her picture taken on the family 3000 year old crapper.  So today, off to Ostia Antica it was for our merry little group, to find the family crapper.  We’d been warned Ostia is a huge site, as it was the original port for Rome, predating Rome itself by hundreds of years.  No worries, find it we did after several hours of hunting, only to find…  

They fenced the darn thing off! After taking a few photos of our disappointed heroine, we were met by another group, who listened with growing sympathy to Barb’s tale of woe as they perused the family photo album of all the relatives sitting on “their” throne over the years.  Finally one of our new friends couldn’t take it anymore.  “Jump the fence!  It won’t hurt anything!  I’ll cover for you!”  she said.  Before cooler heads could prevail, little Barbarina was over the offending fence in a flash!  Hence, 

Our picture of the day, Barbarina fulfilling the family tradition of having their picture taken on a 3000 year old Italian crapper.  The exact same one her mother used 33 years ago.  Thank you fellow Camanoescapers for helping to make this happen.  Special thanks to the kind lady who gave Barbarina the courage to scoff at the law in the finest Camanoescape tradition!

Without incident we successfully navigated the A1 autrostrada on our way south to Chiusi where we would drop off our rental car and catch a train to Rome.  On the way down to Chiusi, in the distant hilltops we would catch glimpses of ancient fortified cities.

Getting off the autostrada near Chiusi, we were faced with the question of whether we should continue on with our planned journey or take a side trip to Perugia to do a meet and greet with the famous prosecutor there who tried Amanda Knox.

We decided to forgo any side trip and to continue on with our plans to turn in the rental and catch a train to Rome.  With the car dropped off, we arrived at the Chiusi train station in plenty of time for our 11:45 train.  There were a few moments of confusion in trying to decipher which train was the Intercity 583 that we were supposed to catch to Rome at 11:45 am, when they don’t post the train number and the only train showing that was going to Rome was leaving at 12:38.  Nevertheless we were able to board our train when it arrived at about 11:44 and it pulled out 2 minutes later.  No lollygagging allowed.

Making our way to our seats we found 4 people firmly ensconced in our assigned seats.  I looked at our tickets and compared them with these seat numbers and concluded, yup, these kind folks are in our seats.  Seeing the perplexed look on my face, a twenty-something American kid who was sitting a few seats back quietly said to me, “Just tell them to move.  People just sit in seats whether they are theirs or not.”  Buoyed by this kid’s encouragement and the looks on the faces of my fellow Camanoescape travelers who appeared to be leering at me as if saying, “WTH, are we going to have to stand for our 90 minute train ride to Rome?”, I approached the group of 4 and told them as politely as I could that they were in our seats.  The man of the group was as ineffective in communicating in Italian as I was.  When I explained what was going on to Lynda, the man brightens and says, Do you speak English?  Yes, I told him.  So we both figured out what was going on in English.  They had 4 seats but their assigned seats were about 30 rows back.  Off they trek with their luggage and we sit down.  When I saw the man later in the train ride he told me they had to kick 4 people out of their new seats as well.

Enjoying the train ride we entered a tunnel and then stopped.  For 5 minutes we sat there while the air pressure in the train cabin fluctuated at an alarming rate.  It was like what everyone experiences a couple of times every flight on an airplane where you need to pop your ears.  That pressurization comes on gradually.  The train experience was like the airplane experience on steroids.  Passengers in unison would visibly wince and turn their heads.  After a few minutes the train started moving and every so often there would be another instant flash of painful ear pressure until we got out of the tunnel.  We couldn’t figure out what or why that happened or why we had to sit there in the darkness for five minutes.

Arriving in Rome with new found flexibility in our eardrums, we departed the train with our luggage.  With Doug running point and me taking sweep, our little group made our way through the massive Roma Termini to the outside world to the taxi stand without incident from any pickpockets.   We caught a cab to our Rome apartment where we will be staying for the next 3 nights.  Here at last!  Wow, there are a lot of people here in Rome.  Sidewalks packed, people walking in the streets because there’s no room on the sidewalks, dodging taxis, Vespa scooters and bicycles.  More to post about the hordes, but later

Well, after a good night’s sleep we’re up and ready to leave our wonderful villa here in Pergine Valdarno.  It is 7:45 Saturday morning and 10:45 Friday night back home.  Jemma’s birthday today…..or tomorrow depending on your perspective.  We will try and touch base with her once we get to Rome this evening about 7 pm….or 10 am on her birthday morning.  Even the folks here at the villa have warned us about the pick pockets in Rome, with Irene our landlady telling us she had her cellphone in her front pocket of tight jeans and they still were able to lift it without her knowing about it.  More adventures to come!!!

After having breakfast with our landlord Irene at one of the establishments in town, we set off later in the day for Castelnuovo Beradenga and the ancient village of San Gusme.  It began raining as soon as we left the village of Pergine Valdarno.  Castelnuovo, which means “new castle” was built in 1366.  We stopped there and explored the town square and took note of the Church of the Madonna del Patrocinio which displays a painted and glazed terracotta Madonna from the 1300’s.  You can see it in the background of this picture (and no, I’m not talking about the two ladies in the foreground dressed in black):

We went into the only business open during the pausa, a bar, where they made us sandwiches and we ate inside to stay out of the rain.  Finishing the sandwiches I suggested that it MIGHT be too cold to eat gelato right now.  You would have thought I told them that someone just shot President Kennedy.  Okay, okay, let’s get some gelato.  With gelato now in hand we head back in the cold rain for the safety of our BMW to eat our precious treat in the confines of the car.  Once the gelato craving was sated, we set off for the tiny hilltop village of San Gusme.  Documentation of this village dates back to the year 867.  It is absolutely spectacular and quaint as the following photos show.

This little statuette at the entrance to San Gusme depicts a squatting man doing his business.  On the commemorative plate next to it, the translation in English says, “King, emperor, pope, philosopher, farmer and worker: a man doing his daily functions.  Do not laugh, think only of yourself.”

Climbing back in the car we tried to find our way back to Pergine Valdarno, our village.  Here are some of the sights: