Off to Napoli

Sunday February 9, 2014

Well our time in Rome has come to an end.  And it feels like it is time to go.  We have become so used to being here that we are contend , just as much, to stay home as to go out exploring.  So now we are off to Naples for five weeks.  That should spark some interest.  We have been to Naples once before, about 6 years ago.  It was a flying trip though, just two nights spent here, with one day spent visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum, and a brief walking tour of the city.  This time we will explore the area in more depth.

We are renting an apartment on the outskirts of he historical center.  It will prove to be an interesting time.  The apartment is more spacious than our last accommodation and is in a residential area.  Naples does not seem to be as tourist orientated as Rome.  The city generally appears more run down and a bit on the seedy side of looking.  We are near a Metro station and there are at least 2 buses that run close to the apartment, so we will soon see how easy it is to get around.  Like Rome, it is a hilly city.  These two old farts were huffing and puffing by the time we made the trek from the Metro to our apartment, with way too much luggage.

Tomorrow, we will get our bearings, find the grocery store and wine shop, two very important locations; get our bus passes figured out and plan how we will approach our stay here.  The weather  here, has been like Roma's with unusually large amounts of rain falling in the past month.  Other than the inconvenience caused by so much rain, we were blissfully unaware of how much damage had been done.  In Rome, I read this morning that there have been many potholes open u in the city because of all the rain.  There have also been several road washouts.  We were aware the river was running high.  On our way out here, there was a lot of water lying in fields and I saw two instances of civil defense workers, directing traffic through areas were roads were flooded.  I hope it stops soon, I have had enough!!  It is supposed to be 16 degrees tomorrow and sunny, so finger's crossed, but weather forecasts here are about as reliable as at home!