Back From Rome
September 26, 2006
Back to Naples yesterday on the Eurostar Alta Velocità train.
The Alta Velocità reaches speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour on the Rome/Naples route and cuts what would ordinarily be a multi-hour train trip down to an amazing 90 minutes. Trains of this type are now the standard in Europe along high-traffic transit corridors. It sure would be nice to have a transportation infrastructure like this in the U.S.
We are not going to be able to support our "car culture" forever.
I guess the Acela train that runs between Boston and D.C. is a good start.
Anyway, I had a nice trip up to Rome. I met up with a friend who lives in Denver and we roamed around the city a bit and then we went to the beach near the town of Ostia. Ostia is probably the ugliest town in Italy. The beach, on the other hand, was beautiful.
Unfortunately, I was so busy being sociable that I almost completely forgot to take pictures.
Sorry about that.
I did get this nice shot of the fountain (again) in the Piazza Navona.
Not much else to report for yesterday. On my return to Naples, I went shopping for dried pasta, some passata and some fruits and vegetables, etc. I made lunch back here at the apartment. Then, I did some laundry and made my way through a bunch of work e-mail. Later in the evening, I went for a walk around the neighborhood.
Grocery stores in the U.S. could learn a bit from the Italians about organizing their produce in an appealing manner.
The grapes labeled uva regina in the photo are a new favorite of mine.
Weather was a bit dreary yesterday and looks like more of the same today.
My plan for today is to go out and visit some of the local museums. The National Archeological Museum is here in Naples and it is one of the main reasons that I wanted to come here for my vacation. All of the "good stuff" that they removed from Pompeii and Herculaneum is on display there. And among the "good stuff" are some of the most famous artifacts ever rescued from antiquity -- for example, the so-called Nestor's Cup.
When I was here in the summer of 2000, I was so short on time, I "saw" the whole museum and its collections in about twenty minutes. Ech. This time, I'll be able to take a more leisurely stroll around.