When I found out that my best friend's husband was going to be stationed in Naples, Italy, with the Navy during our time in Scotland, I started hatching a plan. It involved traveling to Italy to see her and her family. I became a little obsessive about planning this trip (as both Margaret and Paul can attest). But I wanted it to be great. Since we were traveling at Christmas, I also didn't want any unwelcome surprises like "Oh, the train from Rome to Naples on the 23rd? That's been fully booked for 6 months." Yeah, okay, so, obsessive. But the plans came together. Involving lots and lots of transport - the kids and I counted how many planes, trains and buses we went on over the trip...here are the totals:
| Transportation |
Number |
| Planes |
4 |
| Trains |
9 |
| Buses |
6 |
But ridiculous amounts of transport aside, our goals were modest. I just wanted to see Margaret and her family and enjoy more light than we see in Scotland in December (not difficult, since Scotland is about level with Southern Norway and it's very dark in the winter...). Paul just wanted us all to be (relatively) calm and get along. So it began.First stop: Amsterdam for an overnight stay. Got there too late for the Van Gogh museum...but we saw the outdoor ice rink and the I Am sterdam sign, both pictured below.
Next day, we continued our journey to Italy. Once we arrived we had a couple of days preparing for and celebrating Christmas - "gingerbread" houses and Christmas cookie-baking pictured!
After Christmas we visited Pompeii. It amazed us because of the vastness of the site - we felt we explored a lot, but there were many parts of the city we didn't even get near. The day alternated clouds and sun, which made for some lovely pictures - a photographers paradise, even for an amateur photographer like me. Top row: view with trees and mountains, kids on ruins. Bottom row: Paul and Audrey in the amphitheater, artsy shot by Paul of a bit only he explored.
We visited Vietri (properly, Vietri sul Mare) with the Rudmanns as well, on the Amalfi coast and known for painted pottery as well as dramatic views of the city seemingly tumbling down the hillside toward the sea. Top row: Margaret, Nora and I pose in the mirror of one of the bathroom setups in a ceramic tile store. Bottom row: view of the sea and part of the city from the beach below.
Our last trip with the Rudmanns was to downtown Naples. The traveling party was much reduced; just Margaret and myself and the middle (6 and 7 year old) girls. The itinerary included Christmas Alley (more properly the Via San Gregorio Armeno
, a bit of a side street off the Spaccanapoli, the main street in the historic center of Naples) devoted to presepe, or nativity scenes that feature not just the traditional characters, but everyday people and even celebrities too) and one of the two places in Naples that claim to be "the birthplace of pizza" (L'Antica Pizzaria da Michele). But before we set off, we had to get re-accredited at the security office at the base; I had Paul take a picture because we spent so much of the first week of our vacation at the security office (due to the holidays, we could only get visitor "day passes" that had to be renewed every day) it needed to be included in the photos! Top row: Mike and I at the security office, day 5 or 6. Large figures for presepe, including the Queen (in pink toward the front of the table). Bottom row: This just made me laugh...street decoration of the magi adoring Jesus...and a pizzaria. The crowd outside L'Antica Pizzaria, as we waited for our number to be called.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we leave the naval base (and our going-native guides) to venture to the (temporarily) frozen north of Florence, and then return to Rome before heading back home!
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