Puglia Socks Down 1
- krolesh
- Aug 11, 2024
- 3 min read
We finally got to bed very late, and the morning came way too quickly. I walked Manu to her airport bus stop at 4.30am, while Dublin still partied.
We sadly parted, not expecting to see each other for at least twelve months.*
Manu and I had had an amazing time together in Brussels, Brighton and Ireland, we really enjoyed so many beautiful moments together, great conversations, laughs, walks, and of course, loads of great jams.
As usual, it was really hard to say goodbye.
This is a map of where we travelled together.
I walked back to our guest house and tearily returned to bed, and after sleeping for nowhere near long enough, I rose again, just like Jesus.
The lucky ones were asleep
Don't ever ask an Irishman to count.
No wonder people came up with jokes like these:
How do you confuse an Irishman?
Show him three shovels and tell him to take his pick.
Or
Put him in a round room and tell him to piss in the corner.
Leaving the island of Ireland, crossing the Irish Sea, and leaving the Irish jokes way behind.
I can see the phew from here.
I closed my eyes, and when they opened, we were flying above the backbone of Italy, over the Appenine Range, which stretches for about 1200km, lengthwise, along that stylish Italian boot, right down to its pointy southern toe, and then on to the stone it's about to trip up on, the island of Sicily.
Yeah I rotated it, didn't I.
Michael and I were flying in to Napoli, and were planning a trip along the stiletto, on the Adriatic coast.
*But there's to be a twist in that tale.
Benvenuto A Napoli!
Like a flash, we were in amongst it.
We jumped in a car that Michael had hired for the occasion, and took the back roads to get to a (relatively) cheap little apartment I'd rented, in a rundown and super interesting part of Naples, very near the coast, and southeast of the city centre.
It was hot, and the place was a bit messy.
It ain't Northern Europe mate. No way Pompeii.
Our cobblestone street.
The view towards the street from our courtyard.
Way way flashier on the inside than the outside.
And I'm not talking about our accomodation either.
We gutsed out for a bit, and then had a siesta, like every other person in the whole city.
The view from our balcony.
We went for a stroll to the beach.
Then we headed to the train station to take the metro in to the city. We didn't buy a ticket. There were no ticket machines, and no staff anywhere to be seen, not even at the city end.
Napoli's a grand old city. The outskirts are messy, with crumbling infrastructure wherever you look, overgrown or vacant land that's seen way better days, and suburb after suburb of three storey apartments that haven't been painted in an eternity.
But that just gives it loads of character.
Piazza Duomo
Fontana del Nettuno (Neptune's Fountain)
Piazza Municipio
Castel Nuovo (New Castle). Wonder what the old one looks like.
Part of the magnificent Galleria Umberto I
At Piazza del Plebiscito, looking onto the beautiful Basilica Reale Pontificia San Francesco da Paola. Try saying all that with a mouthful of spaghetti.
In case you were wondering, a basilica is a public building which predates Christianity, and was often used in some sort of royal capacity. Some basilicas later became churches or cathedrals.
We headed towards the coast again, and sat down for food. It was amazingly good. It felt so great to be in Italy again, it's really got an amazing vibe, especially in summer. And, of course, it's amazing to be here with Michaelio, mio caro caro amico.
It was a Saturday night, and the balmy streets were pumping with people of all shapes and sizes, not least by a million teenagers, all out catwalking with their friends.
Michael lookin' for action
The trains weren't running on the way back, for some unknown reason. And not because we'd missed the last one. Of course, there was no way of finding out what the hell was going on, so we cabbed it. It was surprisingly cheap.
Home sweet home.
The next morn Michael had a dip in the ocean, and as he walked back along the beach he noticed an old rusty pipe with black sludge pouring into the bay where he'd just been swimming.
Lucky him.
Local mussels and other seafood. Great if you're into heavy metals.
Go to Part 2
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