Cassino to Naples

Tuesday 2nd February
Cassino to Naples.
We awoke (very early) to hear the Abbey bells summoning the monks to morning prayer, a very pleasant experience especially since there was no way we down in the town could ever get there in time.
The Museum was closed until March (unless you have a prearranged party of at least 20) and no amount of wheedling and pleading would get us in, which was a major blow as there were so many questions we wanted answered. We set off for Naples feeling fed up, via Caserta where the there is the Reggia de Caserta – a Royal palace and the Italian equivalent of Versailles. The trouble with Italy is that the traffic moves so fast and in such an unstoppable stream that it’s very hard to pull up and just look at something. Also car parking for important sites is either nonexistent or miles away. So we shot past the place twice and are ashamed to say – kept going. Vivi said we will just have to do Versailles and try and imagine Caserta at the same time.The adrenaline really flows driving in Naples but once used to the fact that traffic lights, pedestrian crossings are only there to be used by foreigners, it becomes quite easy. Eye contact and use of the horn is all important and it seems to flow quite well. We stayed in a b and b in a flat which is part of the most beautiful old palace on the Riviera, so the view from our attic bedroom was glorious.
A very handsome lion in Napoli.



View from our B&B
bedroom window.







The entrance to the Palazzo.

The Palazzo had been home to 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the writer and poet, and he had loved it so much his heart is buried in the garden. Our hosts looked after us beautifully and gave lots of advice on where we should go and what to see. We managed to find a secure car park which was a relief too. The first question everyone asks is “have you parked the car somewhere secure.” So the rental people probably weren’t over reacting. The car park was up the narrowest of alleys and probably was once a house or store and some very ingenious Italians now used it to park literally hundreds of cars by pushing then into position as no one could open the doors once they are stacked! We spent rather longer there than we’d expected because there was an old man with a plastic bag full of what I’d expected to be goldfish – the sort you win at a fair, but this was the Italian variation and it was full of sea horses – very sweet but we don’t think they were going back into the sea.! The area was pure artisan and the alleyway was lined with furniture restorers, upholsterers, toy makers, framers electrical repairers and a baker. Most of the inhabitants on this stretch of coast have been very helpful and friendly. One lady led us all the way out of the city to the Autostrada, another man on a motorbike showed us how to get to another hotel as his was shut (we didn’t like to tell him that 5* were not quite in our budget so had to wait until he had gone) once inside the 5* they rang around other hotels to see which were open, all so kind. The only one we weren’t so fond of managed to add an extra 20% to our supper bill through ‘cover, service and tax charges’ and there was no arguing with him. We wanted to ring Olivia so went to the British Bar where we could Skype from. It is difficult to have a private conversation on a computer using speaker phone so everyone around probably knew that Olivia and Simon had decided against visiting Naples last summer! Sitting in the pub was rather nostalgic as there were lots of posters of Bass Ireland to remind me of my father, and Alec sank 2 pints of Guinness, declared them marvelous and remembered how much he loves the Dewlish Oak.