Viva Italia!

So here I am finally in Rome with enough internet connection and time to give you folks a little update. Why am I in Rome online and updating you ask? You'll see...

My mom and I left Tuesday evening on separate airlines, both delayed, hers with a layover, but arrived miraculously at the same time in Naples (Napoli). My luggage arrived, hers didn't, and off to our hotel, Hotel Rex, we went. If you've heard anything about Naples as of late, you have probably heard about the Mafia wars, the pickpocketing, and the large amounts of garbage piling up. Fortunately our stay was Mafia-free, pickpocketing-free, and pleasantly aromatic as we were close to the Bay of Naples. We enjoyed amazing pizza and wonderful people (Pepe, maybe in another life we could have been together). Saw the Castel Nouvo, Castel Dell'Ouvo, and Castel St. Elmo. The views from Castel St. Elmo are spectacular. Unfortunately, while walking back to the funicolare (cable car), my mom tripped, slipped, and hurt her foot. We managed to make it back to the hotel to finally have received notice that her luggage arrived (2 days later). That afternoon we managed to make it to the ferry to Sorrento.

In Sorrento we stayed at Il Nido, which was way above the town in the mountains. The view was really stunning with the town and the bay below and the mountains and Vesuvius in the background. The next morning we awoke, and unfortunately my mom's foot was worse. The hotel shuttle dropped us off at the "Pronto Soccorso" at the "Ospedale" (ER), and 3 euros and a couple hours later, my mom was fitted for her cast and I was off buying crutches. It's unfortunate she broke her foot (slight fracture below the toes), but hey, everything happens for a reason... and I'm beginning to think that this reason is to turn me into a bodybuilder so I can be on American Gladiators...

Anyway, Sorrento is best known for their Limoncello, which I happen to enjoy but only very, very cold. Mini-bar refrigerator luke-warm doesn't exactly suffice, but it'll do. We, umm, walked around a bit after the hospital buying things like limoncello and straw hats but pretty much spent our time relaxing in our hotel. We had planned to head to Pompeii, but after finding out just how difficult it was to maneuver and how hot it was, we decided it was best to go ahead to Capri.

I'm so glad we did because who knew transporting about 150 lbs of luggage would be so difficult? If there's one thing I am quickly learning about Italy, it's that it is perhaps one of the least accessible places for those who are on crutches, in a wheelchair, or accompanying those in crutches or on a wheelchair. Thank God for this amazing family who helped us out getting on and off the ferry. And hey, at the very least, it's a beautiful country.

Capri has what looks like covered El Dorados with seats in the back for taxis. It's great. And since we were staying in Anacapri, we had the most scenic drive possible. You wind your way up through the town of Capri, past the 1777 steps people used to walk down daily, curve around the narrow edges over the water, and finally up through Anacapri, which is quite a small village. Our hotel, Auberge Senaria, was unavoidably downstairs from Piazza Caprile and then upstairs to our room. It was super cute. The owners are so friendly and willing to help. We attempted walking around Via G. Orlandi, but what would take me 15 minutes normally, probably takes my mom about an hour on crutches. Our second day was spent relaxing, I finished my first book "Don't Get too Comfortable" by David Rakoff, begun "The Insanity Defense," the complete prose by Woody Allen, and we managed to make it out for dinner. Yesterday the owners found a friend to let us borrow their wheelchair, and we headed to Capri. We had an excellent lunch overlooking the Marina Grande and walked around. I've never pushed a wheelchair through crowds or up and down hills... but man, I have newfound respect for those who do on a regular basis. Hoping that Faro, a beach near Anacapri, was easily accessible, I grabbed my suit and we headed out. Absolutely not. I couldn't even push my mom back up the 1/10th of the hill we went down. I'm not even sure why there is a ramp there to begin with. Regardless, it was beautiful to see; there's a quaint lighthouse, and there's caves and rocks and cactus and blue, blue water.

So that brings us to today, why the hell would I be online, I just got to Rome, there's so much, I mean I passed the Roman Forum on the way here, I should be out at least getting my mom's chair for the next few days, etc etc etc. Because I don't want to complain and bitch about all the people who I legitimately was moments away from punching in the face, I will just say that while I am not expecting help from anyone in this situation, I am expecting people to not do the opposite of helping- that is to say, do not get in my way when one could just as easily step aside and be patient. That is all. Muscles aching, exhausted, annoyed, etc, a family of 3 entered into our train car of 4 (there are 6 seats). I left so they could sit, but they insisted it was okay because the little girl wanted to play. Come to find out through some rough French, the girl was 4 and they were on their way to Rome (and then maybe Paris?) for an operation. Not sure exactly what was wrong, but she had some serious tubes in her body that I haven't seen anyone have in years... much less a girl of only 4 years. I felt kind of stupid, whining about just how much all this was and how we'd have to do it 3 more times, when here was this girl in front of me decades younger and struggling more. Psh. Okay. I get it.

Soon we arrived at Roma Termini stazione, and now we are just relaxing at the hotel because basically lifting anything hurts. I'm glad we made it though. Tonight dinner somewhere close, a shower because I reek of sweat, and tomorrow hopefully the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican via wheelchair! Next month, Gladiators.

<3