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Thursday, September 22, 2022
It was a day off. We slept late and had a unhurried breakfast for a change and caught up on some personal business. As usual there was no hot water this morning. We went out for lunch to a restaurant in the neighborhood. We like trying new place, especially ones that only locals would know about. We actually found a place that didn’t serve pizza. We tried to order the zucchini blossoms as an appetizer but they were out of season. We had them for the first time when a friend in Greece cooked dinner for us back in 2018. We’d never had them before and couldn’t believe how much we liked them. We’ve been on the hunt for them ever since. Instead we order the “Fried Italy” which had fried dough, breaded and deep fried mashed potato and Sicilian rice balls with cheese. For her meal Deborah ordered the eggplant parmigiana. We’ve had this several times in Naples – they don’t fry and bread the eggplant like they do in the States; it’s just sautéed. I had meatballs with meat sauce. We both mopped up the extra sauce with fresh bread. The food was very tasty.
Afterwards we walked up the hill and went to one of the larger grocery stores in the area. For the very first time we found garlic in the vegetable section. None of the grocery stores we’ve been in have had it. In fact, the food here has all been very sparing in its use of garlic. No doubt it’s a regional thing.
On the way back we stopped at one our favorite cafes for some pastries. Their shelves were decimated. Thursday must be a good day for business. We looked around and didn’t see anything that we really wanted and went home empty handed.
During the rest of the day we occasionally checked for hot water. We never got any. We spoke to our host around 6:00 pm. He said he would come over with a plumber tomorrow at 11:00 am. Based on his track record there’s a small chance he might actually show up before 6:00 pm.
Friday, September 23, 2022
We had planned to go to the Island of Capri (pronounced KAP-ree). One of the most interesting attractions there is the blue grotto. It is a narrow cave that can only be entered when the waters are calm. All week long their website has been saying that they were not doing any tours because of water conditions. They update the website every morning at 9:00 am. We’re going to keep monitoring the situation. Regardless we plan to visit Capri before we leave Naples.
As a backup plan we decided to go to Sorrento. You can get there by bus or train but the fastest, most fun and least expensive way to get there is by ferry. The trip takes just 45 minutes and drops you off near the center of town. Win, win!
We walked over to the docks in time to purchase tickets for the 9:00 am ferry. When we got there no direct ferries to Sorrento were shown on the board (we could take one to Capri and then go on to Sorrento but that would be a much longer trip). We asked the ticket seller and he said there was a 9:00 am ferry. Go figure. Two round trip tickets cost us €56.00. We reserved seats on the 4:30 pm coming back. Credit cards are accepted.
The trip was quick and easy. At less than two feet the seas were perfectly calm and the ride was very comfortable. Once off the boat we had to figure out how to get into town. The entire city is built on top of a steep hill. The remnants of the old castles / city walls were evident. We walked a couple of blocks along the shoreline and found some stairs that wound their way up near the town center. It was a very long climb.
We checked out several churches on our way to the main street. The town is replete with restaurants and shops that sell everything lemon. Sorrento is famous for its giant sized lemons – the ones that are used to make limoncello. You can buy lemon candies, lemon gelato, lemon scented candles, and even lemon print clothes. The list goes on and on. We found an interesting shop where the clerk offered to let us taste a bunch of things. We told him we’d be back after lunch.
We found the Duomo, the most famous church in Sorrento. It is also known as Cathedral of Saints Philip and James. It was originally consecrated on 1133 and was built on the remains of an ancient Greek temple. It’s not quite as large as we expected but was still very nice to visit. As you can imagine the decorations range from the Medieval to the Baroque.
Afterwards we walked up and down every street in the downtown area and checked out every restaurant, every gelato shop, and every shop selling anything having to do with lemons. The truth is that we visited a few churches just for cover. This trip was really all about the food. We settled on a restaurant for lunch and waited 20 minutes for them to open. Deborah ordered the special of the day: pasta with eggplant. I got the cannelloni stuffed with cheese. The food was excellent. This might have been the best meal we’ve had since we’ve been in Italy.
After lunch we walked around town some more and just did some sightseeing. The town is high up on a cliff and overlooks the Gulf of Naples. The surrounding area is incredibly beautiful. We took out the binoculars and scanned the area. Across the water we could see Naples’ Castel Sant’Elmo.
Down below there were several “beach clubs” along the waterfront. There aren’t any beaches. The clubs had lounge chairs set up along the docks and people were swimming in the harbor. The water looked clean and clear.
We went back to the first limoncello shop we saw. The clerk remembered us and offered us each a small glass of limoncello. It was very good. We also tried a sample of the white limoncello. It is made with milk and is sweeter than the usual kind. He also offered us a taste of the orange and melon flavored versions. We walked away with a bag of lemon covered chocolates, a jar of lemon creme, and a medium sized bottle of the white limoncello.
Eventually we hit a gelato shop and shared a lemon creme ice cream. Today was going to be about eating as much lemon as we could. We were hoping for a strong, tart lemon flavor. In that regard it was a little disappointing. Further down the street we stopped at a cafe for dessert. There were so many interesting things in the window that we wound up ordering three: a typical Neapolitan lemon cake covered with a lemon creme, a sfogliatella filled with lemon creme and topped with lemon icing, and an eclair that was filled and topped with dark chocolate. The best one turned out to be the sfogliatella.
While we were having dessert I got a message from our host. He was just getting to the apartment. It was 2:30 pm and only 3.5 hours after he said he would get there. By his standards he was actually early. He said they found a problem (shocking!). He said there was a blockage in the pipe and that they would need some special equipment to fix it. They planned to come back tomorrow and finish the job. If that made sense I might have been encouraged but a blockage would have been on or off – not intermittent as we’d seen. I told him if it wasn’t fixed tomorrow he was paying for a hotel room for the night.
By the time we were on the boat heading back we were both a little tired. It had been a long day and we’d walked quite a bit. We both took short cat naps along the way. Around 8:30 pm I got a message from our host. He wanted us to take a picture of the hot water heater. The plumber needed to know what brand it was so he could bring the right parts. Needless to say our level of confidence in this getting fixed tomorrow is low.
Saturday, September 24, 2022
I got up early and was fuming about the hot water situation. I opened a case with AirBNB and then I called their offices. They sounded sympathetic and said they would follow up with our host. Our concern was that if this wasn’t fixed today it wouldn’t be fixed until Monday because no one here works on Sunday. We were hoping to apply a little leverage. Given our past experiences with AirBNB our confidence with them was about the same our as our confidence in our host.
Yesterday the weather report said it was supposed to rain all day today. We woke to a bright and sunny day. The forecast was for more of the same for the rest of the day. No further comment required.
We decided to take advantage of our good fortune and head over to Oplontis. Never heard of it? I’m not surprised. Oplontis was a very small town that was also destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 AD. It’s about 2.5 miles West of Pompei. Two large villas have been excavated. They are said to be in excellent condition. Like The Old Town of Naples, Pompei, and Herculaneum, Oplontis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This one will be number 54 on our list. Yes, we keep count of those too! UNESCO’s list contains over 1,100 sites in 165 countries across the world.
We walked from our apartment to Piazza Garibaldi where the central train station is located. It took about 45 minutes. From there we bought two round trip tickets to Torre Annunziata. Our destination was 17 stops away and the trip took about 45 minutes. Trains on that line run about every 30 minutes. Round trip tickets cost €7.50 each. Credit cards are accepted.
The actual train was more like a subway than a commuter railway. This line, called The Circumvesuviana (literally circumnavigates Vesuvius), can be taken all the way to Sorrento. There is, however, a high speed train that will make the trip in much less time.
The excavation was just a four minute walk from the train station. Since it was about 11:30 am and there was no food at the site we decide to have a quite bite beforehand. We stopped at a mom and pop salumeria and split a caprese sandwich. Surprisingly neither Mom nor Dad spoke any English at all. You wouldn’t expect that right near a tourist spot. We managed to get along just fine. They were very sweet. While we were eating we heard from our host. They were entering the apartment to fix the hot water.
Tickets to Oplontis cost €5.00 a piece. Another surprise: cash only. From the ticket office we had a good vantage point to look down, into the excavation. We walked down about 50 feet worth of stairs and started our day’s adventure.
Until it was re-discovered the only evidence of Oplontis’ existence was a name on the Tabula Peutingeriana – an ancient map of the entire Roman world. The site was found in the 16th Century during the construction of the Sarno Canal. Construction of this canal covered and/or damaged portions of the ancient town. Initial excavations were done in the late 18th Century by the Bourbons. Work was stopped due to unsafe conditions. Since that time several other excavations have been undertaken.
Villa A (the so-called Villa of Poppea), is a grandiose house with about 90 rooms spread over 100,000 square feet. Many of the walls and ceilings are still intact. Numerous frescos, intact columns, mosaic floors, and marble moldings are still present in the house. The complex contained a swimming pool, Roman baths, gardens, and agricultural operations. There are so many internal connecting hallways that it would be easy to get lost in this house.
It was built in the first Century BC and is thought to have belonged to the second wife of the emperor Nero. Before it was destroyed in the 1st Century AD it changed hands more than once. The decorations range from style one to style four.
Villa B (the so-called Lucius Crassius Tertius) was found in 1974. In 1984 a trove of artifacts were discovered there including jewels and coins. It is currently closed to the public.
On the return trip we caught an express train. It made fewer stops. We arrived back in Naples in just 20 minutes. Once again we heard from our host. He told us that the hot water was fixed. The problem was that the battery in the igniter needed to be replaced. Obviously he hadn’t brought the plumber yesterday as he said he had or this would have been taken care of the previous day. We told him we’d check it out when we got back.
We walked down the Corso Emanuelle I and found a place to have a late lunch. We split a pizza fritte and went back to our favorite gelato place for dessert. To our absolute dismay and unmitigated horror they no longer seem to carry our favorite flavor. If we had not already paid we would have walked out. We settled for a scoop of hazelnut and a scoop of pistachio. They were good but not as good as the amarena we love so much.
Back at the apartment we seem to have hot water. We both showered and Deborah is doing some laundry. If we still have hot water in the morning we just may be out of the woods.