The Italian Campaign

September 20, 2011

We take the ferry to Capri later this morning. Yesterday, we hired a private guide to take us around Pompei. That was staggering.

We walked through a house that was five times the size of the one we now live in. The public baths had steam heat, warm massages, and intricate piping. The ceiling was ribbed so that water trickled down to the walls and didn’t drip on the customers.

We visited a house of ill repute, where the erotic art work remained. “Were those instructions?” I wondered. “That was the menu,” said our guide.

I stood in an amphitheater, on the exact spot the guide indicated, and heard my voice amplified around the arena, an opportunity most professional speakers don’t have. It’s a miracle of engineering. “How did the Romans figure this out?” I asked. The guide whispered to me, as if committing heresy, “It was the Greeks!”

Do you know that no lava ever reached Pompei from Vesuvius? It was ash that buried the city and the inhabitants who did not flee in time.

We dined in Amalfi at Caravella last night. Restaurants don’t book until 8 pm, then expect you to linger for a couple of hours. There are no “turns” and second seatings as a rule. The restaurant, of course, is on the side of a hill, so the cab merely stops in the narrow street, while we get out and pay, holding our breath as traffic around us gathers.

The three-minute cab ride was ten Euros, which is about $12. In any restaurant on this trip, it’s impossible for two people to dine for less than $150, before wine. Cable car tickets in Stresa were $55 and admission to Pompei was $15. Even small cafes will charge $7 or more for coffee.

Carolyn, our guide, told us that there is too much unemployment but that tourism is only slightly down so far this year. That can be remedied. Everyone needs to see Italy at least once. As my wife said, out loud, walking down a crowded street in Milan, “I’m so glad I’m Italian!”