22 March 2008

Naples, Italy. Well, as you can tell, I am several days behind. I'll try to reconstruct the last few days for you.

I picked up the rental car on time, thanks to my wife, and was able to be on the road by 0730, 3/16. Got to Atlanta about 1245 same day and turned the car in. This is where the day fell apart!

Since I was lugging two suitcases totaling more than 60 pounds and a backpack the seemed to weigh just as much I went straight to the check-in. THAT'S WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD BROUGHT MY OLD, EXPIRED PASSPORT.

I was devastated to say the least. I had checked and double-checked everything and had carried the passport for three days to make sure it didn't get lost or misplaced or forgotten.
I mean, it had my picture and everthing, including two neat hold punched it the cover. Those punches should have tipped me off that something was amiss but I totally missed the clue.

There was no way to get back to Mobile and return to Atlanta and catch the 1820 flight. The attendant gave me some hope by suggesting I call World Perks and reschedule the flight for
3/17. Well, after four different phones and four different calls World Perks was about to reschedule me and I crashed again. They needed a pin number, which was my son's who, of course, was in Naples in a different time zone where it was the middle of the night (I thought).
So I called home to mama fully expecting to be jumped on for such a bonehead mistake. Fortunately for me mama was in an understanding mood and she calmed me down, took charge and through several phone calls was able to reach my son who took over and got the resk-ed fixed in just a few minutes.

Mamma and Jerry met me in Opelika that evening with my real, official and up-to-date passport. I had had to rent another car to get to Opelika and back to Atlanta the next day plus a stay over in a motel. All-in-all I figure the cost of this mistake would have allowed me to fly from Mobile to Atlanta. However, it would not have fixed the passport problem.

Anyway, thanks to some wonderful family, the mistake was fixed, I caught the same flight the next day and was in Rome for pick-up on time, just one day lost.

Got to Naples around 1530 due to the non-existent speed limits in Italy. Got mucho hugs from the William and Jasmine and the fun of picking Alexander up at the Child Development Center. He recognized my right off which was marvelous for me as I didn't think a four year old would have memory like that. He has been happy to see me, as have the other two, and that makes me feel great.

On 3/19 we just took care of some local stuff of no importance to this report.

Next day, 3/20, we went to the Museum Nazionale, the one that has the stuff from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Got some good pictures of fabulous art and the pleasure of seeing it for myself and touching some 2000 year old treasures. A very good day despite the cool and wet weather.

Drove over to Castel St. Elmo on 3/21. All the time I had been driven around Naples I complained that some of the best views were from the highway and that there was no place to pull off and take pictures. I think Castel St. Elmo is the reason. The view is spectacular in all directions. Looking out across the city you can immediately spot 15 to 20 church domes and, of course, the ever present and ominous Mt. Vesuvius. You can also see where brave souls have built homes up the side of Vesuvius. There are evacuation plans should Vesuvius grow active, but anyone left behind is probably doomed from ash, pyroplastic and earthquake. Neapolitans are fairly blase about it, which I find typical of their character.

We were supposed to on an Easter Egg Hunt today, 3/22, but its forecast to rain all day so we will probably just hang out at home. Charles wants to finish setting up his PC peripherals and today is a good day for that. Maybe if the weather breaks this afternoon we can get down to the waterfront. There's some parks and castles down there that I need to see.

More tomorrow, next day at latest.

end