Leaving Pompeii

Pompeii was a wonderful surprise.  I have written elsewhere that we went looking for an ancient civilization, and found CIVILIZATION.  The people at Amleto Hotel spoke very little English.  I had started slipping into Fritanglish, a very sloppy mix of 6 years of High School and college French, a life of English , and about 20 minute of the Rick Steve Italian phrase book which taught me how to tell our favorite cafe owner that Andiamo Tuscanna.  

We were leaving a nice town.  I have heard that some tour advisers don't recommend Pompeii as a town to stay and visit.  We were blessed by arriving on a Sunday afternoon of one of their Holidays, and the town blossomed for a couple of weary travelers that were a tad cautious about large cities after Rome, and the train station in Napoli.  The ruins at the foot of Vesuvious are so humbling and inspiring.  The town just outside the gates is a cross between every small town going about its business, but its business is tourism.

The original deal with Amleto was €99, unless of course, it was cash...and it dropped to €90.  I had a cash crisis the day before.  I figured we should be traveling with about €600 in cash, as the balloon ride was best done with cash.  And the local ATMs were keeping me at $500 per day, and that was under €390 on the machine.  In the town square of Pompeii, there was a store front that sold a lot of services, one of which was CHANGE.  I had about $500US stashed in the room, as I walked back from an UNPRODUCTIVE run to the ATM.  I spoke with the man and discovered his English was marginally better than my Italian, but we both did French.  I confirmed that he could perform the service, and that I wanted to change about $400US.  He checked an Excel sheet on one of the computers that I could have rented net access on, and concluded that he had current data.  I confirmed that he would be around as we went for our evening meal ...7:30ish... and told him I would be back.  We never discussed exchange rates, as I had no cash on me at the time, and the old saying of "Cash Talks and Bullshit Walks" is something I firmly believe in.  I read on his door and roughly translated that there as a 5% fee on currency conversions.  Seemed reasonable to me.

When we went to dinner, We stopped and Marsha looked inside and waited on the sidewalk to cover our ESCAPE if need be.  He recognized me, and I confirmed that it would be $500US becoming a lot less Euros.  He went for his Excel, and I pulled out my PDA (Sony Clié) and ran my Currency Application that had been updated about 10 days previously.  As we both entered data in our electric abaci, I converted and discounted and turned the display to him as he turned his monitor to me.   We were roughly a quarter of a Euro apart in our bottom line and Marsha heard us both laughing from her position on the side walk.  There was a local gent in the store/office and he was no doubt curious about a French Language transaction of US currency that was so comical.  It was such a clean business transaction, and we shook hands and parted.  He made about $25 for carrying a large wad of Euro with him, and doing a lot of different business services.

After our great meal that I described Monday 6-6-05 entry and a pleasant last look around town, we retired for the night.  When we cashed out in the am, after Amleto's nice breakfast, we ordered a cab.  Once again, we were going to try the Circumvesuvia Train which meant ONCE AGAIN dealing with changing stations in Napoli.  Our cab driver asked a very direct question in English.  Boccia Guiseppe cut to the chase.  "Where are you going?"  "CIrcumvesuvia to Napoli to Napoli Centre and then to Toscana.  We discussed price and €50 was settled on, all the while I knew this part of the trip and what was a value.

Boccia Guiseppe can talk.  He can describe everything we passed.  He understood that we were in no hurry so he pulled over to the side of a busy highway, got us separated from our luggage by getting us to leave the cab, Yes I EVEN LEFT THE LAPTOP in the cab.  He then got pictures of us in front of Vesuvious.  He and Marsha discussed her grandparents, and he pulled out his various letters and pictures that his fares had sent over the years.   People that had hired him for the entire day or days at a time.  He knew the area, he spoke English, and got us to the train station.  He even got some of the "helpful" porters to go away as we were saying our goodbyes at the station.  He then got a bag out of the trunk to give Marsha the thing that I have yet to give her, besides an STD.  A ROCK.  He gave her volcanic rocks as souvenirs and picked through his bag, his private stash to get her the special ones.

Pompeii had given us nothing but the best of southern Italy.  It started with our first cabbie in Napoli, which was DUMB LUCK, and ending with Boccia Guiseppe.  Yes, I have written a letter and printed some of the pictures with him (I will post it soon).  Pompeii is a town worth seeing, on so many levels.  Eat, drink, walk, drink, eat, talk to the dogs (they understand Fritanglish), the old women, the Young Ladies, the kids playing, the nuns shepherding the Novitiates to evening mass, the Old Dons, the shops of all kinds.  How can you top a town like that?

Get on a train and head to Montisi in Tuscana.

We were changing trains and had a layover in Chiusi that fit into our drink and munch schedule. We bought  Cappucini at the bar and went to the sidewalk part of the café to consume and relax.  After all was consumed and we decided to head back to the waiting area, we stopped at the counter to buy a couple of sodas.  The woman behind the counter pointed to a line item on the wall menu about half a euro fee for sidewalk seating, that I obviously hadn't paid when I picked up the order at the counter.  I paid it, but wondered if I should go grab the tip that I left on the table for the waiter to redo it after we left.  I am pretty sure that we even bussed the cups ourselves.  Oh well!

Next stop, Sinalunga, where we could get a car service to Montisi.  The driver that we had tried to get, sent his partner, as he was on another run.  He asked where we were staying in Montisi.  When I told him we were going to La Romita, there was a look on his face that puzzled me.  I was later told that the Foreign-born citizens have a certain opinion of the owner of La Romita's approach to making the most of the local economy.  I figured after the first meal there, that it was a simple matter of economics.   

La Romita caters to people looking for the best of Tuscany.  If you are looking for economy, this is not the place.  Value is another story.  I believe that ANY price tag is reasonable if the quality of the deal is favorable.  

We met our host, Alberto Bindi, as he was showing a cycling group the video about his Olive Olio Fattoria, his Ferrari.  He got us up to our first floor (above ground level) room.  Marsha was a tad shy about the steps.  We got all the luggage up there and started to settle in.  We napped and hit the pavement to explore the town.  It was Dead, but reviving...slowly coming back after the noon break.  We decided to start drinking at Il Rondo, the bar owned by the Bindi family and run by Riccardo (son of Alberto and Giovanna- the Chef).  As we were drinking, Elizabeth Etherington, our Balloon pilot's wife and partner drove up with her dog.   I was working the dog connections...Mishka was her name.  We talked about all kinds of things and her affection for the Bindi family and their standards were obvious.  We walked down to the local grocer to get some of that aerosol balcony cleaner.  Attributes gather a lot of attention, especially looking like a bruscheta. 

When we walked back up the hill, Elizabeth had her husband Robert and several women on terrace of Il Rondo.  We had reservations for 8:00 at La Romita as we started to sit for chemical balance adjustments.  He asked if we had reserved a table for the evening and we told him 8:00.  It was 7:55.  He said that the master of the house likes punctuality, something that I greatly appreciated being informed of.  We went and were seated in the dining room.

It is truly a Dining Room in an old home  It had four 4-tops.  Two of these were occupied by British folks...2 couples...on a bicycling holiday.  Great Folks.   Alberto had already hit a point in describing the "specials" on the menu that stumped him in English, he beamed "Go get Robert".  Dave. the British Bobby cringed "Oh, no, he's gone to get Robert."  It didn't truly dawn on me that Robert was our balloon pilot across the lane drinking a "stiff gin".  Rushing back in, Alberto exclaimed "Snails!"  Hot damn....Snails.  I ordered it when I understood their preparation.  I had never had snails any other way than in garlic butter.  Amazing thing.  It was like a great stew in the back ground on toasted pumpernickel.  And starring on this was a snail.  This was the second plate and just sinful. All the veggies in the stew were just the way they should be, and the snail shared a little of the same seasoning, it was a snail, a taste/texture treat to the tongue.  Some people think snails are nasty...  MAYBE good nasty... but certainly not UNDESIRABLE.

We discussed the balloon trip at 6:00am the next day.  After dinner was over, Alberto confirmed breakfast in the morning at 9:00am.  We told him that we would be with Robert eating after the balloon ride.  He looked out at the gathering storm, and repeated..."Breakfast at 9:00"

As the diners headed out, Alberto asked if we were going to the bar or upstairs to our room.  We indicated upstairs and he led us through the kitchen to a door that got us there a little drier as the sky let loose with a beautiful Tuscan rain storm.  We left the large doors to the balcony open to enjoy the storm, knowing it was not a good thing to ensure our Hot Air Balloon Launch and LANDING in the morning.  Landing would become a major issue in a few hours.

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craig@alldoubtrodgerson.com