Italy, Campania, late summer

Back in Poland (since two weeks) from my fourth trip to Italy in my life (I visited the country in September 2017, October 2021, August / September 2022), this time spent with my girlfriend, her friends and their son. This was my first holiday foray longer than 10 days since spending nearly a fortnight in a sanatory in June 2019, however given what has been going on at work, the all-out logout was exactly what I needed.

For the first time in my life I flew somewhere from Modlin. Getting there and out of there is a nuisance, yet I at least departures and arrivals are more likely to be on time (no queues of aircrafts) and the luggage claim is reasonably quick. But next time I will think twice before saving on a distant airport (in this case opting for Modlin reduced the cost of the holidays by nearly PLN 1,000 per person).

Weather-wise, last week of September and first week of October is a perfect time for visiting the Italian province with capital in Naples. Just like in most parts of Europe, temperature in Italy wasabove long-term averages, hence we enjoyed over +25C in afternoons (up to +30C with staggeringly high air humidity), but evenings and nights gave relief from the heat. The sea temperature was around +24C, so swimming was in order on most days.

Our holiday mode was to spend one day sightseeing and then one day on a beach or wandering around. We stayed at Nerano, a relatively quite coastal village, not far from most attractions of the legendary Amalfi coast.

To the right - a view on beaches in Sorrento. Note the cliffs, the Italian architecture and azure skies. The venue has its charm, but you also need to have stamina to walk up and down.

The coast of Campania is rocky and altitude rises quickly as you move away from the sea. The view from the town of Ravello into another town Minori is a breathtaking illustration thereof.

The crater snapped is the inside the dormant Vesuvio. As long as the volcano does not wake up, it is open for tourists. Was definitely worthing climbing up there to see for the first time in my life a piece of nature which nearly 2,000 years ago sent doom on the nearby town of Pompei...

... the ruins of which are also a fascinating piece of heritage. The hot lava has presered well the brick walls, so most structure (except for roofs) survived the eruption and having not been destroyed thereafter, bear testimony to the disaster. Note the volcano in the background.

If you once visit the area, you will definitely want to take a ferry trip to Capri. Do so just not to regret, but keep in mind the posh island is overrated and infuriatingly crowded. Still, some sights are truly enchanting.

From Nerano, we could walk to a nearby town of Termini to watch the sun go down into the Tirrenian sea. The price to pay for such view was the ascent of one mile with slope above 10% (200 metres different in altitude). The island behind the satellite dish is Capri.

If you want to pop over to towns on Amalfi coast, do not think of reaching them by car. A boat is much more practical and offers splendid views of coastal areas. The price for a day-long trip was a reasonable EUR 50 per passenger. To town on the picture is Amalfi (overcrowded and expensive).

The other, much prettier town on the coast of Campania is Positano, also too popular with tourists and horrifcally expensive, but if you are fit enough to roam around the hilly area, eye-pleasing views will compensate your for sweating uphill.

When selecting one shot from Naples I deliberately picked the one taken outside the tourist area, but still less than two miles from the very centre. The photo could have been taken in a post-soviet town and only the lack of Lada cars parked outside hints the shot comes from a civilised world.

Now time for some hints for travellers...

Moving around Campania is most effective by car (buses run very rarely, railway tracks cannot be even built cheaply in such hilly areas), which takes a bit if a skill. Roads are narrow, winding at times steep and locals drive like lunatics. Ensure you buy a full insurance, since risk of returning a car with a scrape is material.

Those fond of eating will take delight in local cuisine. I am far from being a foodie, yet recommend going to local eateries or bars, being on the market for decades, if you want a tasty and decently priced meal.

Large differences in altitude mean you need to be quite healthy and fit to walk a lot there, but those forced to lead sedentary lifestyle, yet longing for exercising, will appreciate the undulating Campanian landscapes.

The area I holiday in has its charm and I would recommend it to be visited, yet... I would not come back, as there are definitely many more interesing places to be discovered.

Sardinia

Back from a week-long overseas holidays, quite different than previous trips abroad. For the first time since many years I ventured somewhere for a few days with a group of friends (there were 7 of us). In such crowd some conflicts were inevitable, yet most of the time we get on with one another well. Because the timing had to fit everyone, the journey coincided with the end of high season, which impacted the price and the weather. For many temperatures between +30C and +35C during afternoons and dawn-time low of +20C are ideal, for me it was far too hot. For the first time in my life I rented a car to drive around the island (we covered more than 650 kilometres during three days). This was also my most expensive holidaying (on account of end-of-August timing) – the week set me back around PLN 4,000, despite buying reasonably cheap plane tickets.

Alghero, on the western coast of the island was the first city we visited. It has been dubbed “a small Barcelona”, but in my opinion it does not deserve such reputation. To the right, a typical Italian narrow street on the city’s old town. Note the absence of people in early afternoon heat.

On the same day we dropped in on Sassari, which is more picturesque. Here, one of many climatic backyards, with eateries, during evenings lit by lamps hanging overhead. Such places best give off the charm of Italy.

The next day was spent on a cruise boat which sailed us around La Maddalena islands. The very excursion was a kind of pricey, but the sights of rocks and celadon water were worth it.

The entire north-eastern coast of Sardinia is called Costa Smeralda, after the colour of water in shore-side bays. To the right – one of most eye-pleasing lidos I spotted there.

On our way home from the boat excursion, we took a stopover at Golfo Aranci, which is a typical holiday resort, with promenades and beaches. Had it not been for poor access to the airport, this could have been a good place to stay (we rented a house in Pittulongu via Airbnb).

The riviera to the right is located close to Cala Gonone, on the mid-east of the island. The steep, narrow and winding road to the town and back was a challenge to me as a driver to our Fiat Pandas, yet we have made it and I feel a kind of pride. Given how Italian drivers behave on the roads and how unfriendly some junctions are, I feel a more seasoned driver after travelling behind the wheel in Sardinia.

San Teodoro is also a holiday resort which, except for typically Italian architecture, much resembles towns on the Polish seaside. Note how few people roam around. On the day the photo was taken temperature topped +35C, well above my thermal comfort.

Having dropped off the rented cars near the airport in Olbia, we had to return to Pittulongu by bus. Sadly, the public transport in Sardinia is not beyond reproach (except for its cheapness). As we had to wait for over an hour for the bus, we took shelter from the heat on a typical Sardinian cemetery.

And a bonus shot, as our plane was approaching the airport from the west (which meant I could not snap my house from the air) – this is section B of the S7 expressway, somewhere north of Tarczyn. My faith is to weak to put it in promises that the road would be passable by the end of 2022. But for the record, my father drove me through the recently opened section between Warszawa Południe and Lesznowola junctions. Once going my bicycle to my parents will not be an alternative, I shall probably take S2 and S7 to get to Nowa Wola and then to Nowa Iwiczna, bypassing several traffic lights and currently marked out bus lane on ul. Puławska.

Rome – some snaps from the eternal city

Time to share a part of the photo coverage of the recent foray to Rome.

Starting out with hints for travellers planning to visit the capital of Italy:
1. Buy (cheap = WizzAir) airline tickets for weekdays rather than extend the weekend – we flew there on Sunday and came back on Thursday and the cost was some 50% in comparison to an extended weekend. Another advantage of such slot is the lower number of tourists during the working week.
2. Four days are an ideal duration of your stay in Rome, unless you are a museum freak; this also lets you take hand luggage only and save on baggage charges.
3. Take SitBus shuttle from and to the airport – maybe the fastest, but the cheapest way to get to the centre of Rome (a return ticket for an adult for mere 13 Euro).
4. Unless you are a museum freak, do not buy Roma Pass – cost-wise it makes no sense.
5. Do not even dare to hire a car! Italians drive like lunatics. Plus cost-wise and convenience-wise it also makes no sense.
6. Buy bus tickets and museum entry tickets online and have QR codes in your phone to avoid wasting time queuing up.
7. AirBnB offers a wide range of affordable dwellings in cosy neighbourhoods in which you can feel the climate of Rome.

Before setting off, I weighed up whether to take my nine-year-old Olympus camera, or to just take shots with my smartphone. I compared photo quality from the two devices and eventually picked the camera. However once I get upgraded to a new Samsung S20FE (due to be delivered by a courier by the end of October), the photo quality is likely to be comparable.

First snap, taken from the Palatine hill shows the panorama of a part of Rome and underscores the undulating sites on which the city was built. It does take some fitness to walk uphill and downhill while wandering around the city. As the pic was taken, temperature topped +28C.

The Victor Emmanuel Monument is said to be the blot on the landscape of the capital of Rome as it totally does not fit the surrounding buildings. Note the lack of lanes marked out at Piazza Venezia – here law of the jungle is in force, yet Italian drivers find themselves well in such traffic chaos.

The Roman Forum looks best if you watch it from the distance and slightly from above. The ruins are constantly restored, but one feels the scent of the past at the scene. Note the yawning (or screaming) lad at the right edge!

A typical street in central Rome is narrow, laid with cobblestone, has restaurant gardens over most of the year and… has cars parked on it and brazenly disrupting pedestrian traffic. I have no idea why residents of Rome are so car-ridden. Cars occupy far too much space on the streets, mostly those parked everywhere.

The temple of Pantheon is one of entrance-free tourist attractions, hence a long and winding queue of tourists waiting up to get in. We decided not to queue there, but returned two days later in the evening, when the line turned out to be shorter and the wait lasted mere 20 minutes.

For some fans of classic automobiles, an original Fiat 126 (not confuse for Fiat 126p manufactured in Poland) on old, black number plates, sitting the in the downpour near Borghese gardens.

The Spanish stairs and the entire Piazza de Spagna are less breath-taking than on photos. Also the weather (it just ceased to rain) and the season of the year (in spring the stairs are adorned with flowers) probably have taken some gloss off it.

Di Trevi fountain, though magnificent, is squeezed between other buildings, hence the crampy site also spoils the atmosphere. I advise to pop over here around sunset, when the fountain is lit up. For some an ideal spot to pop the question.

When planning your trip, choose some uncanny places seldom visited by tourist. We ventured to the southern outskirts of Rome to see the remnants of an aqueduct which carried water to Rome two centuries ago.

A Polish accent in the Vatican Museum – the battle of Vienna, painted by Jan Matejko and handed as a gift to a pope in 1860s. The painting commemorates fending off Muslims at the gates of Europe and defending Christianity. Today it brings off ambiguous associations.

St Peter’s square in turn looks smaller than on photographs. To the left – St Peter’s basilique (entrance also for free, queuing lasted around 20 minutes), to the right – a building from which the Pope speaks every Sunday at noon. I had to use to search engine to learn he appears on the second-right window on the top floor.

A typical picture of squalid Rome. Rubbish scattered everywhere spoil the character of the city. One reason for this is the inadequate number of rubbish bins, the other are long-lasting problems with waste collection which plague several Italian cities.

Trastevere, the essential Rome and the most climatic part of the city is a must-see district. Here, a classic view of it – a narrow, cobblestone-laid street, scooters parked, laundry hung out to dry on strings above the street, flowerpots. The place I long to return to!

Unlike in Berlin, Paris or in Warsaw, the river banks are not the a popular hangout nor a nightlife spot. River banks have been laid with concrete, one can see few walkers, runners or cyclists (a bicycle is not a popular vehicle in Rome) there. Maybe the threat of flooding is the answer why the river banks remain undeveloped…

Rome – travelling in COVID times

I hereby reported I have returned from a foreign trip. My two recent holidays were in spent in homeland, either at the seaside or into the mountains. It was my first flight since the onset of the pandemic; I crossed the border of Poland for the first time since June 2019 and spent a few days abroad for the first time since May 2018 (which was a memorable journey).

The pandemic at first was associatied with a stay-at-home order and absolute ban on travels. Nineteen months into it, travelling has been tamed. It involves some limitations, but is utterly doable.

Some more hassle is necessary before you set out. Provided you have been fully vaccinated and can download the Green Pass, the only other formality which needs to be handled is filling in Passenger Locator Forms (PLFs) for everyone crossing borders on board of an aircraft. The one necessary to enter Italy is bothersome, the one filled before returning to Poland, less complex.

At the airport in Warsaw nobody bothered to check neither the Green Pass nor the Italian PLF. Consequently it seems anybody can enter Italy. At the Fiumicino airport in Rome also nobody took the trouble to inspect anything.

While in Rome, Green Passes came in useful five times – to enter Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, The Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. Besides, I have seen no single eatery / restaurant where Green Passes were checked. The other story is that we always dined outdoor and walked in only to use toilets.

In terms of wearing masks indoors, the Italians exhibit exemplary discipline. In the underground less than 1% of passengers had their mouth and nose not properly covered, same in shops. In crowded outdoor places more than 50% wore masks. It seems the trauma of spring 2020 is still alive, although except for face-covering obligations and limits on number of people in various places, no other restrictions are in place in Italy. The locals live it up as before the pandemic, respecting the social distancing and masking rules. For such reason Italy has seen new infections dwindling from late August by over 50%, while in Poland they soared since then.

Back at the airport in Rome our Green Passes were controlled twice (once before going through security, then before boarding) and then, to my surprise the staff at the Warsaw airport checked them again.

The biggest nuisance is having to wear a mask for several hours (airport, flight, transport to and from the airport), besides I see no major drawbacks of travelling during the pandemic. We have no choice, but to learn to live with the virus, trusting in science (get the jab!) and hoping it does not mutate to escape the vaccine-induced immunity.

A photo round-up is due next week.

Turin

Ventured to North Italy in business earlier this week. The very decision of the senior management to fork out money and command me to take this (truth be told) useless business trip has taken aback many in my department, as our budget for travels to clients is rather tight. But then out of the blue it transpired splurging nearly five thousand zloty for a three-day foray was absolutely doable and coming by all sign-off despite strict cost savings turned out achievable.

The total cost was quite absurdly high (for five thousand PLN you could arrange two-week holidays in Italy for one person, provided they travel with a companion and share accommodation) because flights and the hotel had been booked less than a week in advance. Hence… Failing to plan is planning to… pay over the odds. But who cares if no one’s money is spent (if the travel budget is not fully spent, someone will cut it next year, so it is better to expend money foolishly than to pursue savings). If you can get a foray for free (or actually earn on it as you receive foreign travel allowance) who would not seize an opportunity to some nooks and crannies of a distant country?

Since there are no direct flights to Turin from Poland, one option to get there is to take a flight from Warsaw to Milan and then take a fast train which runs between the cities, or, arguably more conveniently, buy tickets from Lufthansa and catch a connecting flight in Frankfurt or Munich – we opted for the latter. “Catch” is the apposite word, since on the itinerary my imprudent workmates from sales department booked, the transfer time between connecting flights in Munich was 40 minutes.

Needless to say, after a delay in take-off from Okęcie airport on our way to Munich, we were late for a flight to Turin. Lufthansa kindly rebooked us for a flight three and a half hours later and equipped us with a snack voucher for 7 EUR (try to buy something reasonable to eat on the airport for such amount of money!!!). We ended up then flying with a cheap airline one hour later than planned (in total four and half hours later), missed a dinner with a client and checked in to hotel at 10 p.m. On our way back the first flight from Turin to Munich was delayed, but to our luck, the flight from Munich to Warsaw was even more delayed, therefore we landed in Warsaw mere 45 minutes later than scheduled.

The agenda of the visit was stuffed with meetings morning-till-evening and I only managed to take one brisk, long (15-kilometre) walk around the city in the evening the day before flight home. I need to confess for the first time since many years I ventured somewhere abroad without getting familiar with stuff such as local transport, local sights to be seen and other knowledge coming in useful while travelling (logistics was taken care of by the workmates).

Forgive me the quality of photos. I did not take the camera with me, all pictures snapped with a smartphone. To the right, Piazza Statuto, one of more famous squares in Turin, but I have no idea why (pardon my glaring ignorance).

I stroll (no, I rush) towards Pad river (with hindsight I have learnt it is Pad, not “some river”) and pass by a building which resembles a town hall. In fact, this is Madama Palace, now playing host to senate of Italy. So inconspicuous…

Less than half a mile closer to Pad, I stop by at Veneto Victory square. Should look like a life-bustling place on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m., but few tourists roam around, some local teenagers hang out, besides the place is quiet.

The day I turned up to Turin, a friend advised me to climb up the hill on the other side of the river to take delight in panorama of the city. Here, having ascended the viewing terrace outside Santa Maria del Monte church. It’s before 7 p.m., nearly one hour before sun goes down. Splendid.

Then I scrambled even further up the hill, to Villa del Regina (my sneakers from Lidl, bargain purchase for 27 PLN did not withstand the two-kilometre steep ascent) to stare at the sunset. The smartphone definitely proved inferior to even a compact camera which would have rendered far better how marvellous sight it was. I grabbed the moment, made it perfect, immortalised it, but with an imperfect device.

On my way back to the hotel (one night per 115 EUR, cheapie, but who cares if your employer pays) I cross the river again. Boulevards are anything but full of people. Conversely, nightlife does not seem to exist in Turin during the working week. On the other hand, I have not spotted any potentially dangerous immigrants, yet saw many homeless sleeping on the street, a disturbingly frequent sight, just as in Madrid.

While moving between meeting across the city and beyond we took taxis (too little time to use public transport). Driving in Italian cities proves to be governed by the law of the jungle, but Italian drivers have got accustomed to chaos well and excel in avoiding accidents (if inexperienced in driving in such traffic conditions Poles were behind wheels, prangs would happen all the way).

Price-wise, I was surprised basic goods in local discount stores were more expensive than in Madrid and Berlin which I visited this year, although I can boast about running across a restaurant where we ate medium-sized pizza and washed it down with mineral water for mere 7 EUR.

Finally, a foregone conclusion that Italy has seen its better days. Every time I travel abroad I appreciate how Poland has moved on and how in many aspects it has not just caught up with Western Europe, but often outshines the “old EU” countries.

Flying to Malta for eight days on Tuesday, next post in a fortnight.

By the way, any gee-up from readers after a few months without a single comment and seepage of inspiration since getting busy with more interesting stuff than blogging?