Big Change of Plan

Ok so not huge, but from the previous blogs plan of visiting the, "ruins of Pompeii and if the weather is ok(ish) head up Vesuvius then catch a train to Rome!!" it change substantially. Ill explain. Well that night we met a really nice Aussie girl called Izzy and we then visited the next day ruins with her. The ruins... Well didn't quite expect them to be as large as they were. It's like a city in its own right and apparently there is a significant proportion under the current city of Pompeii that surrounds the ruins yet to be excavated. I mean we got lost in the place and had to take directions from some Frenchies (very surreal asking directions around a deserted city). We then decided to spend another day in Naples to hopefully go up Vesuvius as the previous day it had been overcast and were advised by a PhD grade geologist from Bristol (me in a few years hehe) not to bother going if it was overcast as we probably wouldn't see a few metres in front (let alone the spectacular views of the bay).That was fine though as it meant another chance to enjoy Gino's (aka Mr. €3 Pizza). Come 24 hours later, probably worse conditions than the day before with overcast and misty conditions. Truly gutted, we found out from the bartender that another attraction in Naples was the Subterranean tour visiting the maize of underground aqueducts built by the Greeks, expanded by the Romans, used as a rubbish dump in the 18^th century and then as bomb shelters in WW2. We heeded his advice and promptly made our way to the small Street in the old part of the town with Gino's and several old and beautiful churches. Finding the small entrance amongst the maze we promptly joined a tour and were led initially into the tiny house which used to part of a roman theatre. Not seriously impressed by "her word" that there used to be a Roman theatre were we stood and also the "recreation" of an old style Napolian (have I spelt this right?) house, she then threw a bed against a wall and proudly announced the second half of the tour was beginning as she lifted a trap door and lead us into the cellar. Well what a treat, for the next hour and half our small group were led around the tunnels and caverns in the underground, at one point being given candles to guide out way through a claustrophobic tunnel which only caving could match. Well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in this city. After this obviously headed to Gino's with a Brazilian who was on the tunnel tour with us.

Anyway as I said there was "big change of plan". Well this is the second part of it, the night of the ruins we looked at the map and train times and spotted that a visit to Sicily, in particular its largest city of Palermo , was a) extremely tempting as neither of us had ever been to Sicily and b) do-able !!!! So that night after saying goodbye to everyone in the hostel we boarded a train to Palermo taking 13 hours. Also a major first for us both was that the train boards a train. Very strange experience waking up at 2am to a loud bang and shudder (due to the train being locked in position) then looking out the window and seeing a sort of metal capsule surrounding your train and working out we must be on a boat!!

Anyway we rocked into Palermo at about 10 this morning and immediately started stripping layers!! Much hotter than Naples. Anyway what a beautiful city. Much cleaner than both Milan and Naples but just as interesting!! Really nice old quarter with every era of Architecture you could imagine. Another big plus is that whilst crossing the road is still 50/50 skill and luck (drivers in Italy have a major issue with Pedestrians and just tend to speed up towards you) there seem to be less cars in general but also more traffic jams easing the problems! Anyhow, we are staying at a fairly large hostel with few people in it. Meaning a fairly dull and empty atmosphere. However there was this one particular Aussie bloke, about 50 years old but looked more like 40. I sat down upstairs with George and initiated the conversation with the indisputable ice breaker of, "Travelled far?" or something along those cheesy lines. Anyway, the conversation was pretty boring and he spoke soft and quiet so George quickly turned his attention to some Germans who had just sat down and were mad about Dortmund Fc. However we too moved on to sport with the again age old, "scarred about the Ashes?". He replied ,"didn't know they were on, what the score?" Shocked, turned out he was the first Aussie I had met who severely disliked sport (turned out not a fan of music, the arts or general any other cultural activities). In fact it turned out his life was pretty much as simple as you could get. He fruit picked for the growing seasons and would travel the rest of the year preferring the quieter, less touristy seasons often visiting his brother in Germany. He never craved riches or fame, often finding comfort in his home brewing!! But anyway, we're off back up the coast of Italy to Rome and then arriving and hopefully catching a train to Sienna to visit our friend Sam Hobbs whose teaching English there.
On a final note anyone know a good simple curry recipe? Whilst pizza and pasta here are something else, damn Id settle for an Indian right now.

Ps, sorry for the delay in posting and subsequent essay, will try to keep em short, sweet and not so rambling!!