We just returned from a week in Rome and Naples. It was a great trip, and it is always interesting to leave France and see how the rest of Europe lives. Italy is especially interesting.
Just a little over two hours from our house is the Italian border. The biggest advantage of the new EU stuff, besides everywhere having the same currency, is that there is no check point at the border. However, if you miss the little sign, you still know that you are in Italy. Every building seems as if it might fall down at any second, and the further south you drive, the worse the drivers get. In France, there are two lanes, and two cars can drive side by side, one per lane with the occasionally passing scooter-type vehicle. As you move south in Italy, there are three lanes, apparently, these three lanes are to accommodate 5 vehicles across with the occasionally passing scooter. As you hit Naples, the chaos intensifies and some scooters carry more then the usual 2 people. Some carry whole families. It is quite a sight to see 5 cars in 3 lanes being passed by a scooter carrying 3 people. Thankfully the autoroute is in excellant condition given the fact that the tolls are hughly expensive. It cost us just under $75 (US) to travel most of the length of Italy.
After visiting Italy twice now, it is a common opinion in our family that the Italians thrive on chaos. This is especially true south of Rome, where they can only manage to get their trash picked up occasionally. Lucky for us, we were there in the winter, so the smell was not bad. However, there were piles of trash surrounding every dumpster. I will give a bit of benefit of the doubt as it was the Sunday after Christmas, and it is possible that no trash pick ups were scheduled until Monday. Our area in France however has trash pick up nearly every night. Apparently, we are a bit spoiled even though we have to hand carry our recyclables 2 blocks if we want to be good environmentalists.
In Italy, I was pretty impressed by the sense of community that existed everywhere. Small groups of people were gathered on nearly every street talking and laughing. Children played nearby and everyone just seemed pretty relaxed. And, everyone seemed to know their neighbors. There was much kissing, greeting and friendship. The Italians also treat children as a blessing. No matter where you go children and family are welcomed. We never entered a restaurant where the children were not smiled at and made to feel welcome. This is a contrast to France, where we rarely take our children out to eat, especially for dinner. I know I have said this before, but some restaurants here would rather have your dog at it then your children. Maybe the child aspect just adds to the chaos the Italians love so much.
Italy really was a lot of fun and a great place to visit. We were only in Naples a couple days, and if truth be told, we went there mostly so I could purchase a few, not available in France, necessities from the US Navy base located there. For some reason, black beans and dill pickles are not to be found in France. And, who are we kidding, we also had to by a few boxes of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese. No matter how many times/ways we make homemade mac-n-cheese, the girls like the boxed stuff best. They also really like the fact that base has a few American fast food favorites such as Taco Bell and A&W. There is a KFC and a Subway too, but they have those here if we are really desperate for a touch of home and that happens rarely. I think the ducklings favorite part of visiting the base, was that they have a movie theater that shows first run movies in everyones fave language...English. However fluent they are in French, some things are just more fun for them in English. Could Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 really translate to French well anyway?
Also, while we were there we decided to visit a few sites….mainly Herculaneum (In the photo above). The ducklings love history and especially ruins. Located in modern day Ercolano, just south of Naples, Herculaneum was perfect. Similar to Pompeii in that it was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, it is much smaller, much less commercialized and still absolutely incredible. It was the perfect half-day adventure for the family. We spent almost 4 hours exploring every nook and cranny. It was simply amazing, just as though you are walking through a pretty intact ghost town. You feel like you are actually in a working excavation site, and you are. Although no one was working the day we were there you could see where they did work, and although they did not have any pamphlets in English (why? Who knows), they did have French. Also, much of the, mostly well marked, signage was in both English and Italian. To end our really amazing visit, we had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant. It would have been prefect had the little blond duckling not left her raincoat there, where it remains to this day. Actually, you cannot really blame a 5 year old, but I will blame the Big Duck who you would think would have learned, after 4 ducklings, that you need to check the table when you leave a restaurant. I am thankfully in the clear as I was already in the car by that point.
All in all Naples was a fun couple days. Our next adventure took us to Rome, and that is where the fun really began. Until then...au revoir.
