We set off for Italy on May 22nd. Flying from Phoenix you cross the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. It is remarkable looking down from the plane how devoid of color it all is. There are no reds, blues or greens to se seen anywhere. It is almost like looking at a the negative of a color photograph (for those of you who know or remember what that is!) You look at odd tones and hues that don’t relate in any obvious way to colors that you normally see.
But as you travel east into Texas, green is the first color that comes back with trees and grasslands becoming more prevalent. But it was remarkable when we flew into Dallas that the blue roofs of a small industrial complex stood out so vividly - it was the first blue we had seen for hours.
Blues are definitely present in Italy. We arrived in Rome in the early morning with the sun just coming up. The Mediterranean was as blue as you could wish for.
We rented a car in Rome so that we could drive down to Brindisi and also spend a few days getting over our jet lag. Early in the morning, jet lag, manual transmission, Rome rush hour and Italian drivers - welcome to your vacation Colin! It wasn’t too bad actually but the one thing you really notice is how fast Italian drivers drive. You look in your rear-view mirror and an approaching car seems (to American senses) to be a long way off and then it hurtles past you a startlingly few moments later. Couple this with the common habit of cars wishing to pass coming right up behind you (less than a cars’ length) and sitting there until you move over into the slower lanes.
On the trip south the reds in our color palette came back with a flourish -fields of wild poppies were everywhere! A full palette restored.
Our first stop was a hill town called Campagna in the region of Campania. I know they’re spelled differently but they sound the same to us. But when you say “Campagna” to Italians they look confused and say “Oh you mean “Campania”” or vice-versa.
Campagna is an old town with nothing remarkable in its history apparently. Its wikipedia entry is almost non-existent but it has a ducal palace and some interesting buildings - so something must have happened here surely. Our biggest challenge is finding our hotel.
In old Italian towns the streets are narrow - by “narrow” I mean they are alleyways that were just wide enough for a farm cart to pass along in the old days and now they have cars! Most towns have a one-way system (because there is n room for another car). But this is not really a solution because there are cars parked and people walking where you want to go. You just have to be patient and urge the car to breathe in and squeeze past all of life that is going on around you.
Another problem is the lack of street signs at the times that you really need them. We drove through Campagna once and failed to find the hotel. We started again and this time asked someone. Not a lot of English is spoken and we don't have a lot of Italian, but the hotel is easy to find just off the piazza, just keep going straight ahead. We keep going straight ahead and get to the other side of the town without seeing a piazza. We try again and ask again. Same answer - just keep going straight ahead and the hotel is in the piazza. It even has a sign. We keep going straight ahead and get to the other side of the town without seeing the sign, the hotel or even the damn piazza again.
Once more with feeling and a very slow pace and we spot the piazza. By “piazza” they mean a space for parking six cars next to a coffee bar. Over in the corner is a sign that relates to the hotel but the hotel is tucked away out of sight. Success!
Our victory is short-lived The hope has no parking and the six slots are full. The hotel concierge says we must park in the parking garage on the edge of the town - we know where this is (we’ve passed it three times already today). I drop Lori and the luggage, drive to the garage, park the car and make my way back on foot to the hotel.
It has been a long day - but someone is maintaining a positive attitude Perhaps it's the prospect of a local Italian dinner...