Sunday, September 25, 2011

Not Pompeii




So, me and my girls Kristen and Sarah booked a room at a fantastic convent in Rome for the night, and had grand plans of making a day trip to Pompeii.

Well, the funny thing about plans...

We sort of had a weird feeling about Pompeii, which we chalked up to being tired/not excited to travel after seeing so much in Rome. We sort of had a weird feeling about the train schedule, and were dismissed by a Trenitalia worker when we wanted to make sure our tickets were right. We sort of had a weird feeling about the train we were on, like maybe it wasn't the right one. An hour in and we get excited to see the glittering Mediterranean from the window.

Then, quote of all quotes, Sarah crinkles her nose and begs the question:

"Wait. Shouldn't the ocean be on the other side of the train?"


We immediately slip into denial. We turn our maps around ("well, maybe we went this way?"). Nope. We're irrefutably, undeniably not traveling south to Pompeii but rather, north to God-knows-where.

The last stop dumps us out at a little town called Civitavecchia. We are frustrated, confused, and have a great "conversation" involving Google translate with a train worker who says there is nothing he can do to refund our money.

At this point, it is only good, adaptable attitudes that turn this into one of my favorite excursions. We take a breath, walk around, drink espresso, wade in the beautifully clear & cold waters on the rocky beach, eat the BEST seafood (and maybe even meal) I have had (besides those of my Cajun momma's), and soak in a few hours of peace away from the Roman rush.

Seafood risotto, white wine, gnocchietti doused in olive oil, fried shrimp & calamari.







I think the angels rocked us to sleep that night, or maybe it was our full bellies. We ate breakfast with the beautiful nuns, and visited Santa Maria Maggiore before saying "arrivederci" to Roma.

1 comment:

  1. This is my favorite writing that I am just now seeing. Only two months later and I'm still half bitter/half in love with this trip! :)

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