Traveling to Italy. Part 1

PART 1 OF 2

Traveling to Naples, Italy.

Departed WV 22 Apr @6:15 am, Arrived in Italy 23 Apr @11:45 am

The morning I had to leave for Italy my first flight was super early. I barely slept that night and my husband and I had to wake up at 4:30 am to drive to the airport. I remember being in the car on the way there and thinking, can we just turn around and go back to bed. I don’t want to go anymore. I was nervous about being that far away from my family for 2 weeks. I have been away from them before, but I hadn’t been out of the country by myself, ever. I'd been once with family in 2007 and my deployments where they make you have a liberty buddy. Never by myself. I was worried that we wouldn’t have much communication as I’d like because my phone service didn’t have a Europe plan to purchase. We got to the airport and my first flight left at 6:15 am. I flew from WV to VA, had a 10 hour layover in VA, VA to Germany, Germany to Italy. The flights there were easy and I had the same seats I had chosen prior to flying. I was prepared for the evening/nighttime flight to Germany and the food on a Lufthansa flight was so delicious. But…. The flight home was a different experience. Also, there was an extra layover where I had to go through customs and recheck my bag in Boston . I knew at that point there was a 99% chance my luggage would get lost. And guess what…. It did. They thankfully delivered it to the house the next day. For some dumb reason, I thought the flight from Germany to Boston was going to be shorter. Until I read my ticket and my heart sunk and my head started pounding from realizing shit I’m on another almost 8 hour flight. Why did I think it was going to be shorter? I will never know…. Let me add that the seat I chose for Germany to Boston, wasn’t the same one on my ticket. I have the Itinerary to prove it. I was stuck in a middle seat, between a Nigerian women who was super sweet but knew zero English and an older German Man who had ear hairs as long as my hair. The food was still amazing though and I guess it could have been worse. At least they didn’t stink. Now, that’s the worst. So the flight there was great, but the flight back wasn’t. The Germany and Naples Airport both had excellent Wi-Fi, and the time zones lined up perfectly. When I would go to work, my husband would have just gone to bed. When I got off work, they were waking up and I could talk to them until I needed to go to bed. So the communication I was worried about ended up not being a problem. Thank you, Facebook! I didn’t have service or Wi-Fi outside of the airport and hotel, but my command let me take their duty phone in case of an emergency while I stayed there.

Arriving in Naples, Italy.

So I arrived just on time and I met with my sponsor who was in charge of getting me settled and checked in the hotel and command. Walking out of the airport, I was so relieved that I was there. It wasn’t a hot day, but it was warm enough to sweat if you were out in the sun long enough. The air looked foggy and polluted and there were cars honking and speeding by. Honestly, I was ready to hop in an air-conditioned car and head to my hotel. I was exhausted from the flights and having to walk through the airports. He proceeds to tell me we are going to take the city bus to my hotel. So here we go, walking so more. I quickly understand why he felt uncomfortable driving me there. The driving they do is overly aggressive and chaotic. I have been to countries where the driving is bad, but Naples topped all of them. The bus is probably the safest form of transportation besides the trains. The majority of this trip I walked everywhere, which, ended up not being to bad. I promise! We get on a bus that stops at three locations. The airport, the train station, and the port. Which is easy to understand once you do it. We hoped on, shoulder to shoulder with locals and other folks traveling. Most of them didn’t speak English, but they all stunk. As we are heading the train station, I’m trying my best to take in all the scenery and observe everything going on around me. The colors were beautiful. The buildings were old and dirty and had warm summer colors to all of them. I knew prior to coming here that Naples was known as one the dirtier parts of Italy, so it wasn’t a shock. I found it sweet that their traditions and customs that they carry through their culture show in their city. Almost every building had clothing that the families would hand dry. I heard that their washers and dryers suck and this might be the reasoning, but clothes hung everywhere. I never saw one badly dressed local. I honestly thought to myself, why are they wearing long sleeves and pants on this warm day. Eventually realizing it was their culture and some for religion. We got off the bus, and I immediately gagged. At first glance and smell, I had nostalgia of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It smelled like pee, puke, and garbage. There was trash everywhere and some streets had piles on piles of it. I learned that sometimes the trash company would go on strikes, and they wouldn’t pick up the garbage for days. We started looking for my hotel and It ended up being a 20-minute walk from the bus stop. I was so tired and my feet were killing me, but I trucked on. Blisters and all. We made it to the hotel. We took my stuff to the room and headed back out again to get checked in at the command. So we walked back to the bus stop and then walked to the command on base. And after all that, I had to take the bus by myself back to my hotel. You all… Just imagine your first day in a completely new country. It was almost more annoying at this point than anything. But I made it back in to the hotel in one piece and thankfully I only ended up staying there two days out of the entire two weeks, because I had to walk at 530 am to the bus stop those first two mornings. I was supposed to go back and stay 6 more nights after my stay at the hotel on base, but I was able to extend and not have to go back. So the walking lessened. Once I got back to the hotel is was around 5 pm and I was starving. I called room service and they told me they don't serve till 7:30 pm. I quickly found out they don't eat dinner till about 7 to 9 pm. That's crazy to me. But I waited and enjoyed my first authentic spaghetti.

When there is beauty in the weirdest of situations.

The entire trip I tried to stay open-minded about the area, the culture, and just everything that came along with Naples. And honestly, the two mornings and evenings I had to walk to and from my hotel from the bus stop, I would catch myself laughing. It’s a normal reaction to be nervous and anxious. I, myself, get overly paranoid. I’m constantly observing my surroundings and it’s not a bad thing. There was literally no one around the mornings I walked through downtown Naples heading to the bus stop, except for the saddest and weirdest of people. The first morning I witnessed prostitution. I actually got a little nervous at the situation. I was walking around the corner of the street. I walked the same way both days, so I wouldn’t get lost. As I came around, a car was driving and randomly stopped on the side of the street and honked once and flashed his lights. I immediately walk to the other side of the road and at a faster pace. Pull out my phone to pretend I’m looking it at and as I’m getting ready to pass I see the woman dressed provocatively walk over and talk to the person through the window on the passenger side and then proceed to get in. I’m not stupid and that was literally a scene from grand theft auto. That’s how it happens and I mean really my first morning. I literally laughed out loud as I continued to walk. I also had a black guy walk in front of me to a very public and open corner beside the train station and start peeing. Like, okay. Just stop and pee where everyone can see. And then passed the homeless man I saw the evening before, living on a bench, and he was sleeping with a cardboard box as a blanket. This was sad. I realize there are places, people, and all things like this all over the world. The second morning there wasn’t so much of the weird stuff around and I felt more at ease walking. There was beauty in this walk. The sunrise was just barely peaking through with a mixture of summer tones in the colors. The air was cool, but not cold. I could see Mount Vesuvius the whole way to the base. The cobblestone roads and sidewalks were uneven and irregular, but the pattern they made was beautiful. Every time I pulled a Euro dollar out it would sparkle. I wish our money looked this pretty. Hearing the locals say, “Grazie” and literally any word I knew was Italian was refreshing, which, wasn’t many. I would constantly get “Si” and, “Ciao” mixed up. I don’t know how, because they are two different words. So it would be like “Hello” and I would respond with “Yes”. I would be the weird American woman staring at the locals and other travelers while they chatted in awe of all the languages being spoken. Sometimes they would say a word I heard before. Both evenings I walked to the hotel, there were kids playing soccer on the park way station near my hotel. Their were couples and families playing with their dogs. You all, this is just what I was feeling the first day. The first couples of days I was anxious because it was a new experience, but I promise it gets better. I end up venturing out and experience 2 of MANY BEAUTIFUL places in Italy. Stay tuned for Part 2! Hopefully it’s out sooner than later. I’m about 3 weeks behind on this one. BUT…LIFE...

My first Italian dish. Also, those bread rolls you see in the left hand corner, they gave me like 5 different types. I ATE THEM ALL. (insert hand on face emoji) They were delicious. The whole thing was delicious. Also, what time do these people go to bed if they are up eating past 9? (Taken with Nikon, edited with VSCO)

This was the first image I took as the sun starting going down the first evening I was there. My hotel (Holiday Inn Naples) was located on this older park way station. There was buildings surrounding it, kids playing soccer, dogs, graffiti walls, pizza and espresso cafes. (Taken with Nikon, edited with VSCO)

Mount Vesuvius. This was taken from the hotel on base. You can see this everywhere you go in Naples. I wanted to go to the top, but didn't have the opportunity. This view is even more beautiful in person. This does have a blue toned filter. but THE VIEW. (Taken with Nikon, edited with VSCO)