Some Like It Hot...(March 8, Cont'd)

If you do some casual math (or just read on, and I'll do it for you), you'll realize that by this time we were just about 10 days into our European adventure.  If you memorized our packing philosophy (or refresh your memory here), you'll realize that we were fast running out of clean clothes.  Doreen, the proprietress of Hotel Scoti, had helped us get oriented when we'd arrived the previous evening and pointed out the location of a local laundromat.  


So after taking our dirty clothes to breakfast (thankfully, they didn't eat much), we walked around the corner to the laundromat.  What the laundromat had in proximity, it lacked in economy.  We quickly realized that doing laundry in Florence wasn't going to be cheap, but when you're carrying your clothes on your back for weeks, you're willing to pay a premium to wash what you have, rather than carry more.  


First, we had to puzzle out the token-granting machine.  After a few minutes and some refused, re-flattened, and re-fed bills, we paid 10 euros (~12 USD) to wash three loads of laundry.  Eeek.  Then, we scraped together our coins to see if we had enough to purchase little packets of laundry detergent and still get change from the vending machine, which only dispensed a very limited amount of change.  I thought we had it worked out, until Kee-Min (who was working the dispenser) and I (who was loading a washing machine) had this exchange:

Kee-Min: "I have one packet of laundry detergent, but it won't give us change."
Me: "Right.  It won't dispense that much change.  So just get two bags."
Kee-Min: "Really? Two bags???"
Me: "Yeah, we have three loads of laundry."


I turn around a moment later, and Kee-Min is holding one packet of laundry detergent and, literally, two plastic bags.  Apparently, plastic bags were also available for sale from the vending machine.  Who knew?  In Holly-speak, "bag" meant "little plastic packet of laundry detergent".  Kee-Min, ever the dutiful spouse, followed my instruction just a little too well and purchased 2 plastic bags.  


But what the heck. We were on vacation, and we had two extra bags.  We laughed.  And laughed.  And when an older American couple joined us at the laundromat a few minutes later, we helped them navigate the token and detergent vending machines, then offered them a few extra bags...


We actually enjoyed chatting with this couple, who were traveling through Italy and Spain with a tour group of senior citizens.  We shared some stories, and were once again reminded how fortunate we were to be able to take this trip while we are young, energetic, and able to walk/climb/hike/life our luggage with relative ease.  So - for you readers who are pre-retirement age, infected with wanderlust, and with the financial resources and freedom to take an extended trip: DO IT.  Your life is now, and you have nothing to lose.  


*steps off soapbox*


But our laundry escapades weren't quite over yet.  For those of you who don't know us well, at home, we wash one load of laundry a day, and hang dry *all* of our clothing.  We just don't use the dryer.  But here, our room was too small and our volume of clothing too large for hang-drying to be reasonable.  So we sorted out our heat-sensitive technical gear out, and I went back to our room to redecorate.  Then, we threw the rest of our clothes in an enormous dryer, turned the heat up to "HIGH", and inserted a bazillion euros to make it go.


Now, there was a spell during my childhood when our family used a laundromat regularly; and we used to swear that the dryers were rigged so that they took ~4 cycles to actually dry our clothing.  Apparently, this Florence laundromat missed that memo, because dang, that dryer was hot enough to burn or melt at least 4 pieces of clothing.  For goodness' sake, I had to throw away a cap because the dryer melted the adjustable plastic part. Lesson learned.  In Florence, some like it hot (in the dryer).


But overall, the endeavor was a success: We had clean laundry, and what's a pair of shorts or baseball cap here & there...  


And heck, you all should hang out more often with us.  We can make a morning of laundry an adventure, and I can even milk a blog post out of it...  But, if you didn't really think this was blog-worthy, never fear.  In the afternoon, we headed for the Duomo.  <-- If you're feeling over-achieving, you can read about it on Wikipedia here. Otherwise, come back soon!

Breakfast Around the World, Part III (March 8, 2012)

We had Big Things to accomplish on this sunny Thursday morning.  But first, we slept in.  Then, we headed out to find sustenance. Unfortunately, Obika wasn't open for breakfast, so we settled for a standard Italian breakfast at a coffee/bake shop down the street from our hotel.  Things started with coffee (of course):

Cafe latte for me (L), and espresso for Kee-Min (R).
And Flat Stanley begged to get in on the action (Center).
And no, we did not allow him to have any coffee.

These coffee shops, omnipresent in Italy, are the exact opposite of those found in Greece.  <-- Read about it in detail, but in short - "coffee" in Greece is a relaxed, leisurely social affair.  In Italy, coffee is an in-and-out business transaction, more about the caffeine than the company.  But Italians don't really do "to go" - this isn't a culture that's carting around coffee cups on the street.  No, they are even more streamlined than that.  Why bother toting your coffee around in a paper cup, when you can just order it, slurp it, and go, with the coffee safely stashed in your stomach, rather than your hand?  This is efficiency in the extreme.  The average Italian spends ~200 seconds in a cafe to order, drink, and pay (Holly's estimate, March 2012).  

Though the cafes usually have a few stools at a bar, most people don't even bother to sit in the mornings.  We were an anomaly.  First, we insisted on sitting.  Second, we ordered pastries to go with our coffee. Third, we occupied our seats for at least 10 minutes.  Yes, this was marginally awkward.  No, I didn't really mind.  Breakfast is "the most important meal of the day" and that goes double, for me.


Unfortunately, I neglect to photograph *any* of our breakfast pastries, on *any* of the days we were in Italy.  Food photography FAIL.  But suffice to say - they were good, but not amazing.  Unquestionably, the best pastries on our whole trip were found in Greece, as described here.


We'll loop back to breakfast again later on in Europe, but for now - a brief post, for an even briefer meal.  Next up: laundromat adventures.  I know you love how thorough a blogger I am, so be sure to come back soon!!  =)

Dinner at Obika: Finally, some mozarella in Italy! (March 7, cont'd)

It was 9 PM.  We'd just arrived in Florence.  We were tired and hungry.  We were perilously close to falling victim to:

 

Late + New City + Tired + Hungry = Grumpy Holly + Relationship Stress

But Kee-Min is a clever man and had an ace up his sleeve.  He'd already scoped out a dinner spot: Obika, a mozzarella bar located just a block away from our hotel.  Did I marry a smart guy, or what?

Obika has locations around the world: Japan, UK, Turkey, Canada, US (New York City and Los Angeles), and Italy.  You can find links to each are here.  My research just this morning indicates that menus aren't standardized among locations; I'm actually pretty curious to check out the LA location.  

[My research also indicates that it is DineLA Restaurant "Week", July 16 - July 27, 2012.  Ohmygoodness.  Locals, check it out here.  While this is unrelated to blogging about Our Big Adventure, I can't continue without at least mentioning it.]

But - *ahem* - back to Florence, and Obika.  We spotted a sign board for the restaurant on the sidewalk, which directed us through an old stone courtyard to another building in the back, which housed the restaurant.  Unfortunately, it was too dark to capture this sneaky little stone entry/courtyard in the dark, and we never went back in daylight.

We were seated quickly in the bright, open restaurant.  The floors, tables, and chairs were all made of light wood, as were the shelves that lined one wall.  The opposite wall looked out on the courtyard area, where seating was offered during the warmer months.  Indoors, seating was at a mixture of "regular" tables and taller, bar-height tables that accommodated 8-10 people, either several smaller groups or one large group.  There were also a few seats facing the mozzarella/appetizer prep area, in the style of a sushi-restaurant.  Patrons were, as far as we could tell, a mix of locals and tourists, of all ages.  I quickly felt at ease.  This probably helped:

Prosecco: Such an easy pre-meal habit to acquire in Italy...

We opted to share a few plates.  We started with a mozzarella tasting (of course!):

3 mozarellas: Paestum (mild), Pontina (strong), and Affumicata (smoked)

We agreed that the Pontina was our favorite, and the Affumicata wasn't doing that much for us.  The smoking left a bit of a weird skin on the outside that we didn't especially like.  Still, I love me a good side-by-side comparison of anything (thereby relieving my memory of having to hold on to anything for too long), and this was a great way to compare flavors and textures.  I was feeling a bit veggie-deprived, so we moved on to a platter of roasted veggies:

Clockwise from top: Eggplant, Zucchini, Carrot, Mushrooms

The veggies had a kick of charbroil without tasting burned, and they were left a bit crunchy (my favorite).  And there was not a trace of sliminess, although eggplant & mushrooms are often prone to sliming while cooking.  These were dry, and delish!

We also shared a pizza:

Prosciutto Pizza: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma DOP, Mozzarella di Bufala,
Organic Tomato, Rocket (the green stuff)

Sorry, Naples - Call us American, but we liked this pizza better than yours.  I'm not sure how traditionally Italian this restaurant is; it certainly didn't have the down-home-cookin' vibe that we enjoyed at Sora Lucia on our first night in Rome.  The atmosphere felt more like an enoteca (Italian wine bar), which we haven't really told you much about yet, but we will, soon.  But enotecas typically serve finger/snack food, rather than full-on meals, like Obika does (we didn't have any, but they also serve pasta dishes as entrees).

 

We weren't in the mood to split hairs over categories, though.  Whatever you want to call it - the food was delicious, the space was relaxing, and the service was solid.  We left full - but not too full, and I insisted that we back track to a gelato place I'd seen when we walked in from the train station.  Despite the late hour and chilly temps, gelato was calling my name.  I enjoyed a tasty-but-not-outstanding scoop or two, and Kee-Min ordered what turned out to be an enormous waffle/Nutella sandwich, which we forgot to photograph.

A note about these waffle sandwiches: SERIOUSLY GOOD.  The waffles are made fresh, while you wait, and slathered with enough Nutella to fill all the waffle crevices.  The heat of the waffle makes the Nutella warm and melty and mmmm....delicious.  Kee-Min doesn't have the dessert stamina that I do, so of course I helped him finish this delectable creation once my gelato was gone.  To work it all off, we walked the whole four blocks back to Hotel Scoti and fell into bed...

Next up: Full day of adventures in Florence!!

Travel in Europe: A Few Notes on Trains & Hotels (also, our arrival in Florence - March 7, cont'd)

We watched the sun set and the Italian countryside fly by from a First Class Tren Italia car on the trip from Naples to Florence.  After just 2 inter-city train trips (Rome --> Naples and Naples --> Florence), we were completely sold on train travel in Europe.  If you're planning a trip around Europe, we strongly recommend a Eurail Pass (http://www.eurail.com/home).  There are a variety of options at many different price points, so check out the website and see what fits your trip. 

A side note to our American readers: If you're planning a car-free Europe trip (this is very feasible, so don't be scared to do it), remember that the train will, most often, bring you straight into the center of the city.  For most of our European trip, we would take a high speed inter-city train, leave the station, and walk less than a mile to our hotel or hostel.  In contrast, airports are often banished out into the suburbs and reachable only by cab or public-transportation tango.

Do be aware that, as trains replace airplanes for much inter-city travel, individual ticket prices are typically in the high-double to low-triple digits.  Keep in mind, though, that you won't be paying extra baggage fees or hefty taxi fairs.  For shorter trips, you will also save time, since there is no check-in, security screening, or lengthy boarding line.  Of course, a Eurail Pass will help reduce the cost, if you use it to its maximum. Just bear in mind that many of your intercity trips will require reservations, which themselves carry a small fee, anywhere from 3 - 20 euros per ticket, depending on the country.  

 

The Eurail Pass is accept by *most* national train services in Europe, but bear in mind that each of these is separately owned an operated, and thus has its own regulations, reservation policies, and fees.  Despite the lack of continuity, we had few problems with our pass.  Typically, when we arrived in a new city (disembarking at the central train station, of course!), we would immediately find the ticketing office and make reservations for our departure.  Rather, Kee-Min would go make the reservations, while I watched our bags.  Standing in lines with full hiking backpacks can be dangerous...for the people behind you.  We tried to keep everyone safe, by keeping the backpacks out of lines - and turning around veeeeeeery slowly the rest of the time! 

 

Practice makes perfect, and by the end of the trip, we had our system streamlined: Exit train - find ticket office - make reservation/watch bags - find Tourist Info Center - obtain map - exit station. 

In short, we are train-traveling converts.  Consider this: Our train pulled into the Stazione di Santa Maria Novella (the main train station in Florence) around 9 PM.  We walked this route to Hotel Scoti:

Train station to Hotel Scoti: less than half a mile...

The Hotel Scoti was a great find for our Florence visit.  The hotel itself is on the upper floors of an old apartment building-turned-office-building-partially-turned-hotel.  As is common for the smaller hotels in Italy, the building itself is not a dedicated hotel, but rather shared by the hotel, an attorney's office, and possibly a third professional office (I can't quite remember).  This seemed a little weird to me at first, but I quickly got used to it (and promptly forgot, until this very moment, that such a set up is quite rare in the US).  The other offices/businesses never caused us any problem - and frankly, always looked deserted at the times we were coming and going.

The Hotel Scoti is located along a very upscale shopping street in the center of Florence.  Just standing on the street, pulling open the enormous wooden doors to the fancy marble-fronted building made me feel almost famous. Or rich.  I mean, seriously  - this was my first stay in a hotel located "Just after the second Prada boutique."  Indeed...  

Our room was small and simple, but more than sufficient: comfy bed + clean bathroom.  There were common rooms with places to eat, relax, and watch TV.  We got a great deal on the room (off season) and were 100% happy with our stay.  However, I should note that if you are looking for a luxury experience (sky high marshmallow mattress, stark white bedding, big room with break-taking view, every amenity, etc.), this isn't the place for you.  But it is a comfortable room in an upscale area, and no more than a mile or two from nearly everything Florence has to offer.  Our only mode of transportation in Florence was our feet.  Doreen, the owner, is an Australian transplant who moved to Italy and opened the hotel.  Although language was seldom a problem at hotel reception desks, we enjoyed chatting with a native English speaker for a few minutes.  She asked about our trip and our plans for Florence, offering suggestions and assistance, should we need anything.

What we needed at that moment was a snack, and a sleep.  Kee-Min had already scoped out a dinner spot, less than two blocks from the hotel: the Obika mozzarella bar. You can check out their website for now, but be sure to come back tomorrow for a quick review of what we enjoyed there!

Locavore Lunch (March 7, Cont'd)

Stanley & I at the edge of the Vesuvius crate

It was 2 PM on Wednesday, March 7th - and we were already on our third adventure of the day.

Adventure #1: Naples Bay Run!

Adventure #2: Vesuvius!

Adventure #3: La Stanza del Gusto (read on...)

La Stanza del Gusto is a nuevo-Italian bar/restaurant in Naples.  It is a "quirky" (most commonly used adjective on TripAdvisor, where it ranks in the top 20% of Naples eateries) mix of wine bar/tapas spot/sit-down restaurant with a focus on local ingredients and cuisine.  Kee-Min scoped it out on-line and was really looking forward to trying it.  Since I was the one who insisted we spend a few days in Naples - my reasons are detailed here, in case you are dying of curiosity - the least I could do was support any proposed culinary escapades, within reason.  [This is, incidentally, how we ended up on a subway/funicular/walking adventure to try Donna Teresa the previous evening.  And while our meal there was solid-but-not-amazing, the whole visit was an experience we're glad we had.]  Plus, bless his Singaporean-ness, my husband generally does have excellent food-dar.

On this particular day, we were waaaaay off the standard Italian eating schedule of a super-fast breakfast and long, late leisurely lunch.  We'd gone for a run in the morning, then gotten cleaned up and headed out to La Stanza, hopeful (from hours provided on the website) that we could procure a very early lunch before our trip up Vesuvius.  But when we arrived, tables and chairs were still stacked, and the only employee visible was sweeping the sidewalk outside.  We were advised to come back later.

So, we grabbed a snack and headed out to Vesuvius, figuring we'd try to return for a late lunch, if our timing allowed.  We were back in Naples by about 2 PM. Kee-Min Math determined that this allowed us plenty of time to take the subway back out to La Stanza, have our lunch, subway back, pick up our bags, and still make our train to Florence (at 4 PM). I decided to trust him and (try) to be carefree about the tight timing.

So, off we went.  La Stanza also claims to be open all afternoon - but we walked in around 2:30 and the place was deserted.  The bartender/waiter/owner (???) looked mildly confused, but still invited us to come on in for a bite.  The kitchen was, apparently, open.  I felt awkward. Kee-Min felt adventurous.  Par for the course...

The interior design was definitely contemporary, and the walls were covered with blackboards describing the food and drink options (in Italian):

Kee-Min ordered a beer, and while he enjoyed that, I nearly got myself stuck in the bathroom (hint: the door is a PUSH, not a pull...d'oh!):

Beer photo.
There will be no stuck-in-the-bathroom photo.

We used some Eng-talian to explain that we only had about an hour for lunch, and our waiter friend made some suggestions of meals that would be speedy.  Despite the time crunch, we each opted for a soup and an entree - you can hardly do differently in Italy!

Our soups arrived, and we realized we'd forgotten one thing: our bathing suits.  Seriously, the largest serving of soup I've ever had:

Kee-Min had a white bean soup, seasoned with dill.

I had a garbanzo bean soup, with orange peel and whitefish.

As you can see from the photos, there was a pretty high bean-to-broth ratio, making these more like stews than light, pre-lunch soups.  Truly, each could have stood alone as a cold winter night's dinner.  Kee-Min thought his was pretty good, but I wasn't impressed.  I felt like I was eating a can of garbanzo beans that had been drenched in orange juice, served with a side of fishy-tasting fish.  But beans are healthy, so no harm done - and it was time to move on to the entrees anyway.  

Our server suggested only 3 or 4 entrees that were quick to prepare, so our entree choices were limited.  Kee-Min ordered fried fish , served over cold roasted veggies:

The fish was slightly greasy, but seasoned with some Indian spices, nicely battered and fried tempura-style.  Overall, it was quite tasty.  I ordered a salad with seafood.  I'm not sure if this was a translation or interpretation problem, but this is what came out of the kitchen:

Definitely not what I was expecting!

Yes, those are octopus tentacles.  Lots of 'em...  And while those are definitely veggies underneath, I was a bit surprised to see steamed, chilled veggies replacing lettuce as a "salad base".  Ah, well - cultural experience!  I must confess - I was disappointed when I saw the dish.  But the octopus was actually relatively tender, and the veggies had a decent vinegar-y dressing that I appreciated.

That said, though - I wasn't impressed with this spot.  Despite the good reviews and high-ish price tag (soup + entree was ~25-30 euros/person), I wasn't terribly excited about the food.  I thought the soup was mediocre, and my entree - although better than I expected when I first saw it - wasn't exactly amazing, either.  I do give them points for contemporary and innovative cuisine - and I would probably go back (hypothetically) for an after-work drink and snack.  But I would be slow to agree to dine there for a meal again.

In fairness to La Stanza, though - Kee-Min did like this spot.  He was intrigued by the reviews, the decoration, and the atmosphere - he liked it before eating anything, I think.  And he did give the food a higher rating than I did.  It's not often that we disagree on a restaurant - but he'd return here much more readily than I.

With a 1-1 tie in the votes here (and since I really don't like giving a place a bad review), I'll include a link to this post, from the Urban Italy website, which provides an enthusiastic review of and perspective on La Stanza. 

As it was getting late, we skipped dessert and settled our bill.  I was starting to get *really* anxious about missing our train.  Bless Kee-Min's patience, because I was rather cranky as we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our bags.   But, as usual, my concern was misplaced, as we collected our bags and were back at the train station just in time to hop on our high speed train to Florence.  Zoom, zoom!

Good bye, Naples. Hello, Florence!!

Running, Safety, Kickstarter.

I'm taking over the blog today for some shameless Bia promotion.  But we'll get to that in a minute.  To set the stage, I'm re-posting an entry I wrote while we were in Singapore in February [scroll to the bottom if you remember this entry]:

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From Feb. 12, 2012:

We interrupt this travel blog today for some seriousness.

Some of my running friends may already be familiar with the story of Sherry Arnold, which has reverberated through the online running community over the past month.  Briefly, Sherry was a mother/wife/runner/teacher living in Montana.  She left her house for an early morning run on January 7 and never returned.  Two men have been arrested for her murder, although very few details have been released about the investigation, and her body hasn't been found.   [*EDIT: Her body was found in March. The two men were charged, and confessed.  Neither knew her personally.  They were out driving around in the early morning, high on something, when they saw her, kidnapped her, and ultimately killed her.*]

I first heard about the incident on SUAR's blog.  SUAR normally writes hilarious and very true blog posts about the struggles, successes, and sometimes necessary bathroom antics of being a runner.  [If you're a runner, her blog should be in your Google Reader.]  

But SUAR and Sherry are cousins, and as the story of Sherry's disappearance and the investigation unfolded, SUAR's blog took a turn for the serious as she shared her confusion, grief, and mourning with her readers.  Ultimately, and with the blessing of Sherry's family, she organized a Virtual Run for Sherry on February 11, 2012.  Runners all over the world responded.  They printed bibs, formed groups, and planned to run together in Sherry's memory.  As of Saturday night, over 20,000 bibs had been printed.  SUAR, thank you for making this happen.  You are amazing.

On Sunday morning in Singapore (which was the evening of Feb. 11, Montana-time), Kee-Min and I completed our Run for Sherry. While many of the virtual runners in the US were battling bitter cold, snow, and ice, we headed out into 85-90 F and ~90% humidity.  To be honest, I hardly noticed.

This one's for you, Sherry.
[And no, we did not just jump out of the swimming pool.]

Our course was nothing fancy - just a 5 mile loop to and around the Pandan Reservoir.  It was a route we've run many times while staying in Singapore.  But today's run was different.  

Today, I wasn't running to find quiet, to burn calories, or to clear my head.  

I wasn't running an interval, or a tempo, or a fartlek.  

I wasn't running to train, or to race, or to recover.  

Today, I was running for Sherry.

I was running to grieve.  I was mourning the loss of Sherry's life, as well as the innocence, security, and comfort that were lost in her attack.

I was running because I believe that a run should be a refuge, a lesson, an escape, and a passion - but never a burden, a fear, or a prison.

I was running to feel powerful.  Baseless and random violence leaves a feeling of helplessness in its wake.  Moving forward (literally and figuratively), under the power of my own body, was a small step toward regaining a feeling of control.

I was running because I train outside, by myself, in the dark, at 6 AM and 8 PM. 

I was running to feel strong, and to send that strength to Sherry's friends, co-workers, students, running club, family, husband, and children.

As we came in to the last half mile, some lyrics floated through my head, courtesy of Matthew Wilder...

"Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no.

I got to keep on movin'.

Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride

I'm runnin' and I won't touch ground, oh-no.

I got to keep on movin'."

Don't worry, Sherry.  We're gonna keep on movin'.  We know you would.

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So why bring this all back up again now?

Well, during the last mile of our Run for Sherry, Kee-Min and I started talking.  We talked about running, about safety, about GPSes, and about connecting a GPS to some kind of safety alert.  We tossed around a pile of ideas, potential roadblocks, and possible solutions.  Of course, neither of us had the expertise to bring such a project to fruition.

However, the ladies behind the Bia Multi-Sport GPS Watch had some of the same ideas and the know-how.  Now, they are working to bring this product to life.  There's some pretty sweet technology going on in this sucker, so check it out.  In addition to its small size and (allegedly) fast GPS connection time, the major selling point for me is the safety alert.  Push & hold a button for 3 seconds, and your GPS coordinates are sent to a number you set/provide.  For an annual fee, you can also have it set to contact emergency services.

They have the technology, and the prototypes - but they still need some funding to bring the project to the marketplace.  Right now, they are in the homestretch of a Kickstarter campaign here, and they have less than a day left to meet their funding goal.  So please, please - go over, check it out, and if you are able, toss in a donation.  They are offering some excellent incentives for different levels of sponsorship, and you will only be charged if they meet their goal.  So check it out (today!!!), show some love for this technology, and, most of all - think about how this *could* make a difference in the life of a runner/biker/hiker/skier that you love.

Volcano 'Ventures: Vesuvius! (March 7, Cont'd)

Hello there, Mt. Vesuvius!

Our original itinerary (courtesy of the H&K K-N Travel Agency) scheduled us to visit both Herculaneum and Vesuvius together, as a day trip from Naples to Ercolano.  In fact, the top of Vesuvius is often shrouded in mist in the morning (see above), and so makes a good afternoon excursion following a morning in Herculaneum.  

[Note:
Ercolano = The modern city

Herculaneum = The ancient city buried under Ercolano]

But Kee-Min and I are two of the slowest tourists ever, so we spent about 6 hours in Herculaneum the previous day, thereby missing the last bus up to Vesuvius in the afternoon.  We briefly considered skipping the Vesuvius climb entirely, but we had such an awesome time touring Herculaneum (described here and here) that we decided we really couldn't pass up a visit to the volcano that made it all possible.

So, after our run on Wednesday morning, we made our way to the main train station in Naples (Piazza Garibaldi).  Staying near the train station?  A slightly sketchy neighborhood, but extra-convenient for travel!  In case any of you are visiting the Naples area and want to retrace our steps to Herculaneum/Vesuvius, it's pretty simple:

1. Take the Circumvesuviana to the Ercolano Scavii stop.  This is 11 stops from Piazza Garibaldi, I think, but the stations are labeled - keep your eyes open, and you'll be fine).
2. Exit the Ercolano Scavii station.  Stop.

3. Look to the left and find a small storefront with a sign in the window: "Vesuvius Bus", or similar - there isn't much in Ercolano, so it's impossible to miss.  There will also be a 15 passenger van nearby - this is also impossible to miss.  

4. Pay ~18 euros apiece.  This includes a bus ride up to the highest point on Vesuvius that is reachable by road, and your "entry fee" to hike the rest of the way to the top.  

I won't lie - this bus thing definitely feels like a tourist trap.  But according to our research and experience, it's the easiest and most efficient way to get to Vesuvius.  First of all, the mountain is some distance from the train stations.  Second, none of the local public transit goes to the top (as far as I know).  Third, we were unable to find any reliable information on how to get to the base, or on hiking paths/trails we could take to the top.

So, we took the bus.  And the bus went us up, up, twist, up, turn, turn, up, twist-turn, up, up, up the switchbacks of this Italian mountainside.  We drove through forest, past a speckling of ramshackle roadside restaurants and tiny, nearly-hidden inns, and eventually emerged in a parking lot full of vans and RVs.  We disembarked, were told to be back in 2 hours, and off we went.

First, a sign to commemorate the trip:

Yes, indeed. We were there for the visit to the crater.

We started our walk.  The path was wide and even:

It quickly became clear that, despite any warnings we'd read, this was NOT going to be a repeat of our Mt. Ngauruhoe expedition.  The roughest bits looked like (prepare yourself) this:

Again, we were lucky enough to be in Italy at the perfect time - the weather was cold on the mountain, but comfortable at sea level, and early March is just a tad before tourist season.  I imagine that, in the summer months, this path is packed with people - and broiling hot under the summer sun.  But on this particular day, we had the place just about to ourselves.  We hiked comfortably, enjoying the views out to the ocean:

There was a bit of haze on the mountain, but it actually looks worse in the photo than it did in person.

After about 20 minutes, we were high enough to see into the crater.  Hello, enormous hole-in-the-mountain:

Let's back up for a second, for a slightly broader view:

And, just in case you doubted that this is an active volcano, I give you:

Real, live, active-volcano steam

How did I manage to not freak out while hiking up the side of an active volcano?  Well, first of all, I tried not to think about it (much).  Second, I trusted science:

You can really only see the solar panels,
but they are charging science-y, volcano-monitoring devices.

And really, the view was spectacular.  Stanley enjoyed it, too:

He did have to hold my hands very tightly, though - it was REALLY windy up there!

Could you imagine hiking Mt. Vesuvius as a school field trip??  Talk about crazy-cool!  Well, when we got to the top of the hiking path, this is what we found:

These kids constituted 95% of the people we saw on the hike.

There is also a walking path around the entire crater, but it was closed for repairs while we visited.  So we settled for a final photo:

US! ON MOUNT VESUVIUS! 
I think this one will have to get printed for our "Guess Where We Are?" photo wall!

Then, with frozen fingers and toes, we retraced our steps back down.  When all of our fellow passengers finished their descents, we piled back into the van and returned to the Ercolano bus station.

Overall, we highly recommend the excursion.  It only takes a few hours (we were finished by lunchtime), it is accessible to anyone who can walk uphill at a relatively modest pace for 30-40 minutes, and the "cool" factor is pretty high.  My only warning would be to any "adventure" travelers out there - done this way, the trip is very, very tame.  For us, the jaunt was totally worth it - but it was a casual walk, not an athletic adventure.

So, our challenge to any outdoor-adventuring readers heading to Italy themselves: See if you can find that elusive hiking path from the (very) bottom of the mountain.  And if/when you do, send us lots of details so we can retrace your steps in the future!

Naples Run - aka Worst Run of Our Trip (March 7, 2012)

Anyone who knows our running styles knows...Kee-Min & I approach running very, very differently.  We don't like the same kind of training plans, we respond differently to running challenges, and on race day we absolutely have differing race strategies.  

BUT I can assure you, that we are in complete agreement about one thing: Our run in Naples was the worst. run. of. our. trip.  Hands down, no question.  Don't get me wrong - after coaxing my body through injuries & illnesses, I am thankful for every mile of bonding I do with my running shoes.  But this run was definitely a doozie, for a whole lot of reasons.


So, listen up: If you find yourself in Naples, jonesing for a run - Lesson #1: TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO THE BAY.  It will be worth every penny.  We did not do this, as I stubbornly *insist* on running from my front door.  So this is the route we took:

The first mile was spent along on city streets: dodging traffic, avoiding construction zones, and weaving amongst commuting pedestrians.  In our pre-run reconnaissance, we figured that once we got near the water, we would find a nice path/sidewalk to enjoy.  Lesson #2: Such a path/sidewalk appears just a bit before Borgo Marinari (see map above), you know where you turn into the bay.  So we spent the second and half of the third miles running along the industrial port.  We were still dodging pedestrians and traffic, at the intersection of (un)healthy doses of air pollution from land and sea.  Even our eyes were getting irritated from the who-knows-what in the air.  Major, major ICK.  From this perspective, it felt like Naples was made of grey, hazy, and industrial.

But once we rounded that corner by the Borgo Marinari, everything changed.  Suddenly, we were in the ritzy part of Naples - we'd found the expense hotels, nice restaurants, and pricey houses.  There was a wide open path right next to the sand and a gorgeous views on both sides.  On land were fancy houses stacked into the hillside leading up from the water.  Out toward the water was...well, open water and the promise of a new day.  Had I carried my camera on the run (I didn't), this is where I would have started snapping photos.  Incidentally, this is also where we started to see the locals running.  A-HA!! 

Believe me, we reveled in every hundredth of the 0.75 miles to our turn-around point.  Unfortunately, we did kind of need to get back to our clothes and breakfast, so we grudgingly turned around and headed back into pollution and traffic.  So - lesson #3: If you want to run in Naples, get thee to the bay area. [Are you getting the picture?] Your eyes, lungs, and instincts for self-preservation will thank you!

At the end of seven miles, though, it's easy to dismiss the bad, and turn philosophical - running in a new place is always an adventure, and we were thankful for the opportunity to run.  Plus, just one sub-par run helped us appreciate all the beautiful and runner-friendly routes we found in so many other cities on our trip!  And hopefully - should you ever find yourself in Naples - you can use our experience to your benefit.  Just remember: THE BAY!

Dinner at Donna Teresa, Naples (March 6, Cont'd)

On our third night in Naples, we decided to venture farther afield in search of dinner. Through Chowhound, we’d heard of a small osteria in the Vomero neighborhood called Donna Teresa. The reviewers praised the food (classical Neapolitan) and the value (our bill came up to 13€ a person, including full bottles of mineral water and the house red wine). For us, that’s an impossible combination to resist.

The first challenge was getting there. As we’ve mentioned, we decided to stay close to the Napoli Central train station for its convenience. Vomero, however, was pretty much halfway across Naples. To get there, we needed to take the Naples metro (Metronapoli) two stops, and transfer to a funicular that would drop us off just a couple of blocks east of Donna Teresa. That seemed easy enough, until we got to the train station and couldn’t figure out where/how to buy our tickets. None of the ticket machines were marked for the Metronapoli. The tourist information office was closed, as was the tabbachi (a tobacco shop, which in Naples also sells metro tickets – who knew?). Eventually, after thoroughly exploring every option on the ticket machines and examining the station map several times to make sure we hadn’t missed any secret Metronapoli ticketing offices, we procured two tickets from the Trenitalia ticket office. Oddly, even though Trenitalia operates the Metronapoli, it is apparently the Metronapoli ticket vendor of last resort; when we asked the customer service representative at the Trenitalia office, her first suggestion was to go to the tabbachi, even though she was seated right next to the agent who sold us the tickets.

Further, because the train schedule displayed at the station was not exactly a model of clarity, we had to fall back on the universal gesture of pointing at a train and saying the name of your intended destination in a questioning tone. It worked yet again, thanks to a helpful Italian commuter, and we were soon on our way. When we got off at our stop (Montesanto, if anyone’s interested), another helpful local gave us directions to the funicular station, and in approximately half an hour from the time we boarded the Metronapoli, we were seated at a small table in Donna Teresa. The restaurant itself was cosy – eight or ten tables jammed right up against each other – and when we arrived a little before 9pm on a Tuesday night it was about a third full, with a good mix of both locals and tourists.

Perhaps the biggest issue we faced that night was a language barrier. Everything was conducted in Italian, and ordering was based not on a menu, but on a series of binary questions that began as soon as we sat down. Water, wine, or beer (okay that one was trinitary), and red or white wine? Pasta or soup? Meat or fish? Fruit or tarte? Part of the problem here was that our limited Italian allowed us to understand generally what was offered, but we couldn’t really grasp the specifics, e.g. what kind of meat or fish, how it was prepared, etc. But we did the best we could, and there weren’t really any surprises.

We began by electing for a bottle of water and the house red (there was no wine list offered, which leads me to presume that the wine selection was limited to the house white or red). The house red was a little rough, but still good – certainly worth the few euros it cost. We ordered both the pasta and the soup as the primi (first course): the pasta was penne in a basic tomato sauce, the soup was macaroni and spinach. Both were good and hearty, but neither was mind-blowing. Next, we both ordered the fish fry for our secondi (second course). This was probably a mistake since it meant we didn’t get to try the meat dish, but I think we were both hankering for some fish instead of meat. The fish ended up being fried sardines. The sardines were served with a little bit of salt, and they were fresh, tasty and infinitely more delicious than their canned cousins. On the side, we were served some grilled vegetables - broccoli, mushrooms, and eggplant. Ultimately, while the sardines were good, they were not really worth writing home about (notwithstanding the fact that here we are blogging about it). Lastly, we both had the tarte for dessert. Again, tasty, but nothing worth raving about – it would probably have improved with some ice cream, but that wasn’t an option proffered to us.

Primi: Macaroni and spinach soup on the left,
penne pasta in a tomato sauce on the right.

Secondi: Fried sardines.

Broccoli, mushrooms and eggplant - because it's good to
have a balanced meal!

Dessert! If it looks a little bare, that's because it
could have used some ice cream on the side.

Dinner ended just slightly less than an hour after it began. This was a blessing in disguise, as the funicular stopped running at 10pm. We had originally resigned ourselves to catching a cab and haggling with the driver over the fare, but thanks to the brevity of dinner, we were able to retrace our steps to get back to our hotel (with less excitement than it took us to get to dinner!).

Overall, our dinner at Donna Teresa was decent but nothing special. We can’t argue with the value of the meal for the money spent (a three course sit-down meal for two, with wine, in Italy for 26€? Sweet!), but after factoring in the time it took us to travel there and back, we both agree that we probably wouldn’t do it again.  There probably were other osterias closer to our hotel that offered comparable food, perhaps for a couple more euros. In short, Donna Teresa:

Is recommended if:

•          You’re staying close to Vomero;
•          You can speak more Italian than just a few basic phrases; or
•          You’re just looking for some simple, hearty Italian food at a compelling price.

Is not recommended if:

•          You’re staying more than fifteen minutes away;
•          You can’t really speak Italian; or
•          You’re looking for one of the best Italian meals you can find, and are willing to pay for it.

For someone living closer to Vomero, Donna Teresa certainly would be worth a visit, particularly if he or she spoke functional Italian. But while we appreciated the down-to-earth atmosphere, good cooking, and reasonable prices, Donna Teresa probably isn’t a place we’ll return to if we ever find ourselves in Naples again.

Herculaneum: The Buried City, Part II (March 6, Cont'd)

So when I last left you all, Kee-Min and I were in the middle of Herculaneum.

I'm not sure that's the geometric middle, exactly.  But it's close enough.

We'd already toured through about half of the excavated site (described here, in case you  missed it), including the main commercial area of the city.  We were moving on toward the residential areas.  But first, Stanley begged for a photo with a giant fountain/tub thingamajig:

Now, let's take a peek into some of the houses.  In lieu of a grand entrance hall, most houses opened up into a main courtyard, like this:

Taken from the entrance.

That rectangular area in the center actually serves a purpose - to catch and collect rainwater.  A few close-ups from a different house will give you a better feel for this:

There is a central pool for collecting the water

And if you look up (in a house with an intact roof), you'll see this:

It's hard to tell, but the roof is actually angled down toward the center.  Rainwater flows inward,
toward the center (the anti-peak), and into the pool below.

To help you visualize this, Kee-Min was able to capture both the roof and floor in one photo:

What a clever way to conserve/recycle rain water!   As you can (sort-of) see in the photo above, all of the other rooms in the house were located just off this central courtyard.  These rooms included bedrooms, a room for dining, and a cooking area. Look closely, and you'll also see that the walls are painted.  Wall decoration was pretty important, even back in the AD 60s, and we saw plenty of painted walls and mosaics:

Painting

Mosaic

Mosaic

 Many of the more intricate mosaics have been removed from the site, and if you are one of those stalkers who memorizes the contents of our blog, you'll remember that we viewed those the previous day at the Museo Archeologico in Naples.

Speaking of tiling, there was plenty on the floor, too:

The majority of the rooms had some tiling - or at least, remnants of it.

Putting all of these pieces together: water collection, wall decorations, flooring:

And, of course, there was graffiti:

Ancient...

...and somewhat more modern.

Truly, though, despite one small bit of modern graffiti, Herculaneum provided a glimpse of life in ancient Italy, barely touched by the modern day.  We were extra-fortunate to enjoy beautiful weather and a virtually deserted excavation site. We saw one school group, and perhaps 10-12 other individuals the entire time we were there.  If you're considering a visit, I would suggest the following:

1. Go to Herculaneum.  Admittedly, we didn't visit Pompeii, and so cannot make a direct comparison.  But the Herculaneum site, although smaller, is supposed to be better excavated.  And the excavation is really quite astounding.  Herculaneum is also less crowded.
 
2. Rent the audio guide.  There is no time limit and, in fact, we were so thorough in listening to ours, that our first one ran out of batteries.   We easily exchanged for a fresh one, and spent another 3 hours wandering through the ruins.

3. Give yourself enough time.  We were hoping to do a double - Herculaneum AND Vesuvius, but we spent too long at Herculaneum to make this possible.  Get an early start at Herculaneum, or plan for a two day trip.

A glimpse of the photographer extraordinaire...

And the fruits of his labor:

Herculaneum in the foreground, the modern day city of Ercolano in the mid-ground,
and Vesuvius himself (itself?) in the background.

For the next post, Kee-Min will make a rare appearance as author, writing about our post-Herculaneum dinner adventure.  And after that, the details of our hike up Mt. Vesuvius!