Odd how this turns into a travel blog every time I am abroad. It feels like a suitable outlet for the experiences I have while abroad, which means that maybe it isn’t quite so odd. Yesterday the Lady Talis and I spent the day in Napoli. I discovered during this jaunt that Naples is actually called Napoli in the language of Italy, which means it is actually Napoli. Rome is also Roma and Florence is Firenze. Dang near fifty years and at least ten of those in social studies or history classes and only now is my American butt aware of these things.
We walked nearly 15 miles in humid 80+ degree weather over the course of a day. We spent most of our time in allies and side streets picking our way through the city in search of Pizza and other cool stuff. We wandered into castles and down to the shore where we encountered huge cruise ships. We saw the mall, which is domed and covered in glass ten stories high. We learned of the ease of transport to the many islands nearby, which is why we will be back very very soon.
Napoli hits different than Roma. For one, the walk along the spaccanapoli, a road that appears to bisect the city, also transcends the depths of wealth and poverty. In the span of fifteen minutes on foot I stepped over a half dozen dead rats backing in the midday sun, on to a university area brimming with colorfully dressed and more colorfully spoken students, out into piazzas loaded with high end stores. To be fair, this small cross section of the city we explored barely scrapes the surface of all it has to offer. From the castle on the hill we were able to see the glass skyscrapers of a downtown business section we’d otherwise completely avoided. There are many parts of this beautiful city like that. Yet what we saw was enough to realize how old and beautiful and often diverse Italy can be.
Some Thoughts:
- I’ve been giving real thought to the things I want to do each and every day. I want to spend time constructively with the Lady Talis–planning things and talking out important stuff. I want to do this less than I want to spend time just lounging lovingly with the Lady. Still, a day holds time for both. I want to play some manner of video game. Soon that will be College Football. I seem to be loosing interest in other games in preparation for the time required for this one. I want to write. I always want to write. These are the things. I suppose contact of some variety with my grown children, but I love that they have their own lives, so this is less of a daily thing at this point.
- Next step: working that all into a daily life that also makes room for the things I must but do not wish to do, like exercise and work.