Treitman Travel Testimonial

I love visitors and I love them even more when they agree to my request of writing a guest blog post! My most recent guests and I hadn't seen each other in over 3 years, but like with all great friendships we picked it up right where we left of...just thousands of more miles traveled! Although they were taken on the Standard Katie O. Tour I was amazed how that "Naples factor" kicked up the surprise factor making the tour even more memorable. Thank you both for heading to southern Italy to see me and getting a feel for my life here in Bella Napoli, I hope you loved it as much as I do.

Hello Readers,

I’m Tyler, and recently my wife Lexie and I stayed at the Oropeza B&B just outside of Naples. Our train from Rome arrived mid morning on Saturday and the Katie, the proprietor of said B&B was gracious enough to provide a shuttle service from the train station in Naples to her establishment in Monte di Procida. I highly recommend this service as navigating the Italian freeway system requires a higher level of understanding than this tourist has.

The B&B was located in a lovely neighborhood that is close to the coast but also on the highest point of the point at Monte di Procida. Accommodations were more spacious than we had imagined and very tidy. The other guests were nice folks as well. They were always quiet and reserved, tip toeing around like cats as to not disturb the serenity that come from time spent enjoying the view. That view alone is worth the visit, rooftop terrace has 360 degree views of Monte di Procida, Naples and the surrounding isles. You could really while away the hours there with a bottle or two of your favorite libation, as you soak in ancient vista, and contemplate the “bigger picture” or what ever that may mean to you.

What followed our tour of the accommodations was what I would call “hands on traveling”. We found ourselves slicing, mashing, roasting and frying. Indeed this was work on our vacation, how perverse! At least it was work till our task master provided us with wine to drink. At that moment perspective shifted as I realized I was in a cooking class that was hosted by a top local chef. We were taught how to shop for the right ingredients to make some delicious local meals. I do not recall how many courses we made as I may have eaten myself into a euphoric state between the 2^rd and 3^rd courses, or maybe I became overwhelmed and slept through a course somewhere…I can’t quite recall. We made a lemon and muscle pasta, eggplant parmesan, and a pear and ricotta tort. Learning can be delicious. 

Day two was a busy one. We started the morning at Vietri Sul Mare which features a beach that is often covered with broken and wave tossed colored ceramics from the local craftsmen. This sounds like it might be an awful form of pollution but it actually makes for a dynamically colorful painted pebble beach. We filled our pockets with potential mosaic components before hitting the road. The spaghetti noodle that is the road linking the cities along the Amalfi coast brought us to our second course of the day. An aromatic dish Sorrento was. Famous for its production of lemoncello, Sorrento is a city that is best understood once you have walked through the lemon orchard in the middle of downtown. Once you see some of the lemons that are the size of [American] footballs you can understand why the shops and restaurants are so proud of their relationship to the acidic fruit.

The last scheduled stop on our journey, was Herculaneum (and I mean “scheduled” as I don’t count the coastal bicycle race that closed the freeway down for about half an hour). Herculaneum was very important to me being that I have a degree in Archaeology.  Herculaneum, if you don’t know, is the other Roman city to be covered/preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii is the city that everyone knows of as it was discovered many years ago. My last trip to Italy was regretfully lacking due to the fact that Herculaneum was not open to the public at the time.  Herculaneum was by many accounts a more aristocratic community than Pompeii. The tour starts at what is called the ancient beach which is where the shore line used to be prior to the volcanic eruption. The first thing you notice is how many stories down and inland this beach is. I’ve seen many ancient monuments and so far in my travels but Herculaneum has been the most exciting.

 

As you make your way up from the beach you see alcoves built into the dock typically used to store seafaring items and cargo. From there you walk up a long ramp as the city appears to rise up out of the sea for several stories. Once at the top you find your self flanked by rows of multi level buildings on each side. A quick peak into a few of the buildings generally rewards you with clues as to its intended function. To the left there was a building that had a long table with giant amphora pots embedded in it, this was a restaurant. Down the road was a bath house with changing rooms and robe cubbies and hot cold rooms. Around the corner is a lavish house with several rooms and fountain next to a temple, a wealthy priest’s house. A large two story building with several rooms, this was an apartment building. Another large multi roomed building with common areas, this was a hotel. A building with a mill and a giant brick oven, this was a bakery. There was even a building with a large press at floor level, this was a laundromat. Togas apparently needed pressing too. Actually the typical roman laundromat would wash clothes with ammonia derived from human urine. There you have it, next time some one pisses themselves you are equipped with some fun facts which might lift their spirits, no guarantees.

 

 After an hour or so of walking the ancient roads the city will start to transform. At some point it transcends its condition, it ceases to be ruins and becomes a community. Herculaneum is so exciting to me because it is infinitely relatable in the way the Roman Coliseum or medieval castles are not. It takes no effort to imagine the people who lived there, no effort to see the city as they did, and no effort to sympathize with their fate. 

On August 24th 79 AD Mount Vesuvius began to quake and fume intensely. Some may have tried to evacuate through the ash raining down across the Bay of Naples, but several remained in what they through might be a safe place. Remember the alcoves at the docks I spoke about earlier? Some 300 of the inhabitants of the town hid inside these niches built into the rock. Young and old, rich, and poor, baker, blacksmith, and priest were likely praying to their gods for safety. On August 25^th around 1:00 the mountain erupted and Herculaneum would be hit by the pyroclastic flow, a wall of hot gasses burning at 932 degrees blasted the town at 100 mph. Our huddling townsfolk’s blood instantly boiled and their teeth popped like popcorn kernels in their heads. This happened 6 times before the ash settled and entombed the skeletons in the docks. I hesitate to call them “skeletons” because the word is too hollow, at the end of the day they became neighbors with lives and stories to me.

I can’t finish this letter on a somber note, let’s pick it up a bit... 

We got back to the Oropeza B&B and rested our weary feet from our long day. Soon though, our stomachs had a craving that can only be alleviated by pizza. “When in Naples, eat pizza,” I just quoted myself. Katie had a great idea to host a pizza tasting competition, which is a challenge I’ve never turned down. We ordered 4 pizza’s for the 3 of us and started eating like it was August 23, 79 AD (too soon?). There was one margherita pizza, one prosciutto pizza, an eggplant pizza and a weird non traditional one with arugula and corn. We all lost count of how many slices we ate for science.   In the end the margherita pizza from our host’s favorite place was the clear winner. I’d like to think the Herculanean baker would have agreed. 

Jammed Packed 48 Hours

In the past several months I've discovered many things about how I travel.

I travel light.
I travel cheaply.
I'll sacrifice a meal if that means I can fit another site in and a gelato stand is located.
And if I'm traveling- I'm definitely a go getter. I'm going to climb the towers, check out the churches, visit shops, spend time in a museum...well, you get the point.

Turns out my cousin is very similar with her methodology so when I picked Tink up with one of her friends early on a Saturday morning at Port of Bari telling them our itinerary, she didn't even bat an eye.

Maybe that's because she was being too entertained as I talked back to the GPS  to get to our first destination of Alberello as I heard all about their Croatia travels in the week prior. We finally found the part of the town we were looking for, hit up my favorite trullo for some fabulous liquor samples, and explored the church. The trulli neighborhood isn't all that large, so once our arms were full of shopping bags we found a place to grab lunch.

They were healthy.
I wasn't.
They ordered salads.
I ordered fries.
They got a huge bowl of green lettuce.
I got fries.

We then proceeded to cut across to my side of Italy. Our route looked something like this and let Ravi explore a bunch of new roads. I can only say something like that too because whenever I thought I was going the right direction, somehow it turned out being incorrect. Oh well. It's all part of the adventures and the girls got to experience first hand drivers in Southern Italy. We stopped in Positano for a break in driving, a touch of shopping, and gelati. When in doubt, gelato is the correct answer.

After ending up in downtown Naples on a Saturday evening, Ravi kissing the bumper of a car in front of us, and fighting a ton of traffic...we finally made it home to Nico. He was a little wary of the extra two people walking in with me, but a peace offering was given and all was well with the world. From that point on he was a goof and decided he could hang out with us as we enjoyed 4 pizzas prepared for us (by Joe of course) over hearing about the latest neighborhood drama.

A few short hours later, rested, showered, we trekked back out to Ercolano, another community destroyed by Mt. Vesuvio. It was a treat to have someone else telling me about what we were looking at, even if a lot of the Italian was Spanish sounding. Once we explored every nook and cranny within the escacvation site it was time to head back to Naples for the speedy tour around the Old Town.

We may have sat and ate for some time, but so much of the Italian culture is built around the tradition of eating and sharing meals, it seemed appropriate. As far as specific reactions and some of the crazy experiences, well I'm going to let Tink share those with you. Why? Well, at this point I think I'm immune to some of the craziness of Naples so it's more fun to read about a first timer's reaction than mine.