The Napoli Caper, Part 1: Arriving

Listing out the things we needed to do to get to our place in Naples was easy. Check it out:

1. Drive from Collesano to Messina, the ferry town;
2. Board the ferry, get back to mainland Italy, drop off the family at the train station;
3. Return the car to the rental place;
4. Get back to the train station;
5. Make a very specific train to Naples;
6. Once in Naples, figure out public transportation and get to the vicinity of our AirBnB;
7. Once in the vicinity of our place, contact our host, or be sure to have them knowing a fair estimate for our arrival time so they may be around;
8. Check into the AirBnB.

Our ferry was scheduled for 10, and our train to Naples for 12:50. That pretty much meant that we had to leave Collesano before 7, or 7 at the latest, to get to Messina with enough time to figure out how to get to the ferry, get to the ferry and then onto the ferry. 

Ferry donut; he ate it so fast

I was pretty sure I could find the way back to the rental office, and, after studying Google Maps the night before, I learned that in the worst case scenario, it was only about 4 km from the office to the train station on the surface streets of Reggio Calabria, a distance I could surely walk in an hour.

We shouldn't have any real problems. Plus, it was out anniversary, so positive vibes were on our side.

Everything worked out according to plan, and since no cabs were near the car rental office, I had decided to walk. The rental agent who checked the car to make sure I hadn't crashed it and had filled the Diesel tank told me about the bus: there was a stop, and all buses go to the city center, which is close enough to the train station. I'd have to buy a ticket on board, but they were only 2€.

I knew I had two 20€ notes and about 72 euro cents in coins, and I figured I'd have to walk. But, nestled deep in my pocket was a 2€ coin, so, jackpot.

Of course a bus pulled away as I found the stop. So, I made like Brooklyn and started walking, keeping an eye out behind for the next bus.

I walked about half the way and took a bus the last half. Here's a street shot as I sauntered:

There's a large statue outside of the station, and Cass and I went to check it out while we waited for the train to Naples. It's of Garibaldi, the leader of the unification:

The train finally made it and then finally let us in. The trip was tiresome, as Cass was having a tough time until he fell asleep.

We made it to Napoli, learned the hard way that they do not have a unified Metro system, and had to ride a few stops to get to our neighborhood, a spot originally developed centuries ago right outside the old city's walls.

I have some more to say about Napoli in a bit. My feelings may have been blurred by the fact that we stayed in such a specific area and, in the end, lacked the energy to explore the entirety of the metropolitan area.

Anyway, after lugging our big backpack, the car seat, and the Boy for the majority of the walk from the subway exit, we found our address: 26 San Felippe

The apartment was a two bedroom place on the third floor, but each floor was double height, as in it took two full flights to get to the first floor above the ground level. Getting to our place was like getting to the sixth floor. We even had the Boy walking it, and by the time we got to the top floor, our floor, he was huffing and puffing like the rest of us.

Here's the view out our bedroom's tiny French balcony:

I love the density of the backs of buildings...

The last of our serious advanced apartment maneuvers was over and we could plan out the next few days. The next day was for Pompeii, and we settled on the last day as being a beach day, since we were so tired and mostly ready to stop having to struggle with everything---the language, no home cooking, no toddler routine due to constant change, no beloved cat...

Again, like Syracuse, we ran into some bitchin' Italian keys:

Visiting a Big City: Day Trip to Palermo

Palermo was a little rough. By this time, stressors had been piling up: the heat, humidity, lack of toddler-specific routine, broody teenage princess, and rather bizarre driving conditions were beginning to take a toll. Maybe that's my own memories, but I'm the one writing this, so...

Palermo is the capital of the autonomous region of Sicily, and has been an important city for maybe five thousand years. To say that we could, in a blazingly hot afternoon with cranky kids in tow, begin to wrap our heads around everything would be silly.

We did our best with the few hours we had.

Around the spot where I parked was this mural. I don't know what it means, but after two weeks of looking at ancient rock buildings, sometimes the figurative stuff from the '90s is cool:

Like much of Sicily, many religious buildings started out as temples, were converted into churches, then were converted into mosques, and then converted back into churches. Sometimes a circular dome is all you get to signify that history:

Some buildings in Palermo were started by the Arabs, but finished by the Normans:

And jsut so we're all clear, as I've been mentioning the Normans on occasion in these Sicily posts: the Normans were the descendants of the Vikings and French inhabitants on the northern coast of France who invaded and conquered England. They brought a certain visual cue that we associate with England, but really is the Norman deal: the suit of armor.

Those guys got down here and pushed out the Arab conquerors.

Here's a statue of what must be Roger I, the Norman savior, surrounded by his subjugated subjects, in chains and occasionally hand-less:

The main cathedral in Palermo is an ancient one with ties to both Islam and Catholicism. Behind the palm trees on the left below is a Greek temple looking opening, the dome and basic shape is very basilica-like, and on the side facing the right-side of the frame, there is a wide array of black volcanic glass inlaid in the work done in the Muslim manner:

The black volcanic design of the former Muslim leaders

One famous intersection has, on each of the four corners dividing the streets, a similar facade with statues and a fountain, each one telling a different historical story, but I've included only one picture:

On the right below is one of the oldest churches still standing. It was converted into a school for imams back when the Arabs ruled, and then abck into some kind of chapel. It's very basic, and if not for Cass's need to chase pigeons, I would have explored the inside, the "door" being a thick blanket:

He really got to chase the birds here, as he and I just stayed outside.

It surely looked cool on the approach, as do many site-lines in places like this:

By this time of the day Cass was fully asleep and I was growing weary and soaking wet with sweat carrying him around. I took one picture of this cool building, a theater or educational building for a university maybe, but I missed the front that's hidden behind trees in this picture. I saw the building on a bus a few minutes after I took the picture, realizing I hadn't gotten a picture of the ancient Greek-looking facade:

Palermo was nice, but it was so hot and I was so tired and weary that a return trip would have to be reserved for Corrie and I alone, and even then, we may just choose Syracuse. Or Sardinia...

The next day was one of the last great logistical juggles, making it from the mountains of western Sicily to all the way to Naples.

At least we had the positive energy that it was our 11th anniversary on our side. Go us!

Beach Day: Trekking to Cefalu'

Our first day-trip from Collesano was to the beach town of Cefalu'. This coastal village about 6 miles west along the coast shares much of the history with Palermo and Collesano, the north-western coast of Sicily having a slightly different background than, say, the south-eastern coast.

It does glow beneath the mountain from a distance, the church easily the biggest structure in town:

Walking around was great, as evidenced by the smile:

The church was nice, and we ventured inside. The scale here is normal for European church stuff, making you feel small and the like, but I always think back to my memory of what the church looked like from a distance, towering over everything.

In its presence, you get a more realistic feel.

At one point walking around, we went through a portal in the wall and found ourselves on a rocky path next to the crashing waves and the ancient wall.

The water was so blue and inviting, very similar to that first swimming hole outside of Siracusa. Corrie had me take a shot of her:

We ate a fancy, oceanside restaurant that catered to tourists, but this wasn't on a sandy beach. The dining room was multi-tiered and the outdoorsy section was like a veranda overlooking the rocky coast we had just been walking along:

We went back to the car, got our swim stuff ready, and joined the masses on the beach and in the water. It was refreshing. Afterwards we went back to Collesano and rested before dinner.

Here are a few more pictures from around town. The first is one of the few remaining Arab portals gazing down at the shore:

Lola on the rocky path outside the wall:

Breastfeeding on a marble statue from inside the big church:

The church:

Cass and me messing around on the grounds of the church:

It was a beautiful and ancient little beach community. LOTS of tourists, though...

Construction work happening on a tourist establishment

Trying to get real visual perspective on the village and mountain

Ocean off in the distance; road back to Collesano

Collesano: Ancient Village in the Mountains

Corrie is awesome. I know I'm somewhat biased, but in circumstances like these, crazy foreign trips, shell have some weird idea usually inspired by some innocuous thing---in this case it was the photos supplied by the AirBnB ad for the place we stayed.

She'd tell me, "I don't really care how far from Palermo's center it is, the pictures are awesome and it's cheaper than the place next door."

We have an AirBnB next door to us in downtown Long Beach, the second floor of a late 19th century home, and we've checked the cost from time to time for prospective family visits, especially after Cass was born.

Anyway, instead of a cramped floor in a drafty house in downtown Long Beach, we got a three bedroom, three story hose in the small village of Collesano, about 42 miles west of Palermo. Technically it was a four bedroom, if I remember correctly, but one of the rooms was locked up tight, and technically it was about 35 miles down the coast from Palermo, and then seven miles south into the interior. Also, the first floor was a flight of stairs up above the street, so really it could be considered a four story house.

A few interesting things about Collesano:

1. It was sacked by Hannibal of Carthage around 460 BCE, and already an old place at that time;
2. There are remnants of both the Arab conquerors and their Norman followers in the shapes of their religious structures;
3. It's home to the Targa Florio Museum ("targa" is Italian for race and Florio is a a guy who started a big race that ame to be named after him) and was one of the stops on the famous Sicilian race;
4. The population still hovers around 4000;
5. The residents are friendly and the children bold, always interested in practicing their English.

The top floor had the kitchen and dining room. It wasn't necessarily so wide or long, but it made up for it by being tall. Gotta love the fact you'd need to climb a bunch of stairs just to eat. The top floor also had an open air balcony with a table, washing machine, and drying twine set up. It was also basically fenced in with chicken wire fencing, a precaution for birds.

Here's the picture from the window in the dining room, also on the third floor:

From the balcony off our bedroom, the floor below the kitchen and dining room, looking away from the sun:

Collesano had so much charm in the random designs around all of the tiered levels and corners. Here, a stairwell onnected various levels of the town, only two trees grew through the walkway. Should we alter the trees? Hell no! Just planters around them and tiny stairs between:

Collesano was our home-base for a few days. On one day we went to the beach town to the west called Cefalu', and on aother day we headed east to Palermo. On day-tripping car days, you'd have to start with some caffeine and pastries:

Similar to the daytime picture off the bedroom balcony, the town's cross is visible lit up at night.

That was taken on our last night, after a long day at Palermo and before a long travel day getting to Napoli, our last extended stay on this trip.

Part of me could live in Collesano, it being a hidden mountainous gem fifteen minutes from the ocean.

Just Passing Through: Day Trip to Temples of Agrigento

Sicily, while being the Mediterranean's largest island, is small enough that a person could drive around the entire thing in a day. We had planned to drive from Syracuse to Agrigento, rather, the tourist heavy Temples at Agrigento.

Agrigento itself is a large modern city, and on the outskirts is a 2 km long complex with three major temple sights and dozens of smaller pieces and former domiciles. 

On this sunny mid-morning-to-early-afternoon adventure, what I remember is the stifling heat, carrying Cassius most places, and us sweating each other out. He's a big boy, and this wasn't his most outgoing day on foot.

Corrie had him tied to her chest most of the days in Rome using our Ergo carrier, but it was lost on the train to Calabria or the apartment in Rome, and my turn had come to be on Cassius-duty.

Being assigned to Cass was great, but it meant plenty of corralling and carrying. And that whatever historical info about the site was lost on me.

The first temple, at the bottom of the site. It's the least restored/surviving of all of them:

I say "bottom" of the site because there are two entrances, one at the top, and one at the bottom. The bottom seems to be more of the main entrance, with a more accessible and bigger parking lot. The site slopes pretty steadily, and wherever you enter, you either have to walk up and then back down, or down and then back up. Unless of course you spring for the taxi, which of course we did not.

The second temple is in the best shape, and around the front (not in frame below) is a felled statue in also in rather good shape.

There were plenty of people inside, and it looked like we could have joined them, but they turned out to be workers, construction workers in the preservation department.

There's Agrigento proper in the distance. We had to return to find for wifi for a message (a post about communication is still coming).

At the last temple my phone was 1%. I was able to get a few pictures. I jumped up on a large rock and looked back at the middle temple, located below on the left, and the modern city of Agrigento off to the right. The composition is nice, if difficult to make out on the small view here:

This was the last picture my phone could pull off:

I'm not sure I got a picture of it, but the coastline was visible a few kilometers away. Corrie had wanted to get over to it to have a dip, feet or whole body, mostly because it was the third sea associated with Sicily. By the end of the walking it was also because it was hot as balls, but it never worked out.

Sicily is surrounded, technically in the local conceptions, by three separate seas: to the east is the Ionian Sea; to the north is the Tyrrheanean Sea, and to the west is either the Sicilian Sea or the Mediterranean Sea, depending on which local source you're looking at.

These three seas also correspond essentially to the of the triangular shape of the island.

Once finished with the site, and after some driving looking for wifi, we headed north to find our next base, the tiny mountain village of Collesano.

Because Comments Don't Work for Me...

The cave is called the Ear of Dionysius, which is different than I think I've been spelling it. I didn't know until just a few minutes ago that it isn't named for the wine god, rather, it's named for a tyrannical leader of Syracuse, Dionysius.

The amplification properties of the cave's acoustics are amazing, and the because Dionysius would use it as a prison, it was said that he would have guards spy on what was being said by the prisoners.

The properties are quite fantastic, just not that good, science has shown.

Hopefully that clears that up...

Siricusa, How I Love Thee

The stomping grounds of one of my mathematical heroes and another mathematical ideal, Archimedes and Pythagoras respectively, Ortigia Island in Syracuse was a highlight for me.

It was also a highlight for our niece, Lola.

We stayed on Ortigia Island, AKA Old Siricusa, the ancient center "town" part of the Old Town. Ortigia Island is the southern-most nubbin' that juts out into the Ionian Sea on the almost-southeast corner of Sicily. The streets get smaller and smaller as you get inside the tiny island, and the vast majority of people are tourists.

Here's an artists rendering of Ortigia Island:

I found a spot to stash the car and snapped some pictures of the environs, and our two bedroom, two story place.

The east side of the rock wall on the Ionian

Our front balcony, showcasing our "street"

Heading up to our loft

Living room/kitchen/dining room

The key to our place was brand new and part of the modern renovation, but it looked like THIS!:

We had access to the rooftop patio area, and the view looked like this:

On the first day there, we walked around and eventually let Cass play in the water. The following picture is one of my favorites from the whole trip, as you can see him eyeing the stairs off in the distance we would use to get down to the rocky coastline he could play in:

Before getting there, we'd explored the main Duomo square:

And took a few breathers along the way:

The next day we explored the ancient Greek stuff, the Greek Theater and Dionysus's Ear.

That worked out like this: Leave our place, drive to the ruins, then head to a beach to go swimming. After getting back, we would explore some more, since we were rushed for time, having lost the day to the ferry in Villa San Giovanni.

Dionysus's Ear is a popular spot in the ruins complex, and here the family shows off the opening's height:

Once inside the ear, at the back of the curved orifice, the light plays neat tricks:

Then, following the arrows, you  can get to the ancient Greet Theater, which today is still an operating venue:

Afterwards, we came here to go swimming, and Cass was asleep. I got in. Lola got in. Cass eventually woke up, and we moved along to a nicer spot, but here the water was so blue and wonderful:

Later that night we returned to some spots on Ortigian Siricusa, and tried to find as many spots as possible:

Dense streets

Greek columns subsumed by Roman churches 

In the picture below, a sacred well of fresh water still exists among the city (bottom frame), with the ocean water off in the distance (far right in frame):

We even visited Archimedes Square, with a particularly non-Archimedean fountain:

It was fully night time when we made our way back to our place, a few doors down on the left in this picture:

I could have spent many a month here; it reminded me of Venice, with its Mediterranean-medieval design sensibilities.

From Father's Day, a shot I sent to Rob, Lola's dad:

We left Syracuse for Collesano, a tiny mountain village far away, but on the way we were going to stop at the Temples of Agrigento.