Yesterday we walked the morning away, took a brief rest at home, and then continued to meander for a few more hours. Somehow we wracked up 25G steps, and a great deal of them were going up staircases. The walk alongside the Napoli harbour is truly lovely - wide and for pedestrians only, which gave the mind and heart a rest from ducking Fiats and motorcycles. This place makes you feel vibrantly alive and highly alert, sometimes that is a great feeling and sometimes the adrenalin rush that is needed to cross traffic or step carefully over broken roads leaves you a bit depleted. The energy is frenetic and yet there is such beauty in the old buildings and in the plants/trees that must have floated over from Africa on the wind.
We found a wonderful market in the afternoon wander, and picked up pasta, cheese, stuffed eggplant and roasted peppers for our dinner. And two ricotta cheesecake pieces! It was a feast and one that would have been easy if we had a microwave (still don’t know why we don’t) or a functioning oven (simply does not light). Dave created a water bath type of pan on one of the burners and we easily used the aluminum containers to warm it all up that way. Easy.
I have also discovered the magnificent Napoli olive, expertly brined, at exactly the right ripeness. The bag of about 20 that we bought didn’t last an hour, and we’re going back today for more. Much more.
Streetlife around here is fascinating. In the late afternoon, as I was giving my toes a much needed breather, I heard a loudspeaker moving through the neighbourhood. I thought it was someone spouting propaganda but a peek over the veranda revealed the fruit & vegetable vendor. He announces his presence, snaps open his panels and doors to display his wares, and then baskets start dropping from the higher apartments and verandas. These obligingly get filled with the proper order and then it’s hauled back up to the window. Payment’s in there somehow, maybe at the start.
One of our major scores yesterday was to buy two rain ponchos for 3 euros. Mine’s pink, bro’s is blue. We hoped this might appease the rain Gods and that Murphy’s law would apply, but I’m afraid not. Rain will return this afternoon and be a part of our travel day tomorrow, but at least this time we will be staying high and dry.
Tomorrow, we take the fast train to Salerno, and two buses further on to get to our next destination, Agerola, on the Amalfi. Two nights in our own rooms in a hotel there, then two nights in a Salerno hotel, and then another long train trip to our final destination in Brindisi. The days are getting short.
Today is another laundry day, because we’ll be hoteling it for the next four nights. And right on schedule, the rain has made another appearance, but at least it is not heavy. And the glittery Galleria Piazza Garibaldi is not a long walk from here, so that promises to be a pleasant and dry place to spend a few hours, and probably quite a few euros!
Ummmm have you become an olive lover?!?!?!
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