Long Day

September 19, 2006

Yesterday was a really long day

Not only did I walk all over Rome taking pictures, but I also got on the train later and came to Naples -- a bit more than two hours -- claimed my apartment key from the landlord, signed some paperwork and then tried to get oriented here in the city. "Get oriented" in this case means "walk around ... a lot."

After I dropped off my bags at the apartment, I took a long trek up the Via Toledo, which is a major thoroughfare here, and then went all the way down Spaccanapoli (the nickname for a series of connected streets in the old city) until I got to the train station, stopping for a coffee in the square in front of the church of San Domenico. At the train station, I picked up a much needed street map for Naples -- I forgot to buy one on my arrival -- and checked e-mail at an "Internet Point" there.

I didn't take my camera with me, but it would not have really done much good ... By the time I got to the station, it was nearly completely dark. However, I did get a good sense of the city and I sort of figured out how all of the neighborhoods in the city center stand in relation to each other.

From the train station, I got back in yet another taxi, rode back to where I am staying, got cleaned up, had a beer at the Caffè Gambrinus, which is the classic outdoor cafe in the neighborhood where I am staying, grabbed a pizza at a restaurant nearby and then went for a long walk down the waterfront to the Castel dell'Ovo, one of the major landmarks here.

I'm really not sure how I managed all of that in one day, actually.

I was pretty tired, though, when I got back "home" ... and I slept extremely soundly through the night.

The plan for today is to basically explore a bit more and get settled in.

-- Aaron