Training Log Archive: Charlie

I went to see the esteemed Dr Beebe this morning, a man who knows well the inner workings of my shoulders and knee. This time I was there to hash over the results of an MRI on my spine. Nasty enough in the L3-L4 region that he is packing me off to visit with a spine surgeon. So that explains, perhaps, why things have been so uncomfortable there, although the prospect of back surgery is not a jolly one.

C • Dr. Beebe 5

Neighborhood walk with Rhonda. She is even a bit more jet lagged than I, so we did the shorter loop. It still did me a bit of good, but I really need to do the long one.

Event: 2016 NEOC Troll Cup: High Rock
 

Pleasant cab ride to the airport at Napoli, chatting up the driver in Italian. I think is is the first trip I have had where I have felt absolutely confident to have a detailed conversation with pretty much anyone. I do well when I am talking with someone, but I have not yet mastered the ability to overhear a conversation between native speakers. He was an enthusiast for going up Vesuvius, which we had thought we might do, but never got around to, and for the comic actor Totò. He pointed out the cemetery where Totò is buried, and I remarked that he had been dead for quite a long time (nigh on 50 years now). He said yes, but his films live on. I suppose they do, but I can't say I have seen more than about one of them. Rhonda was remarkably patient with the whole episode.

The airport at Napoli is very new seeming, and one of the nicest and most efficient I have seen. Very impressed. However, we are now cooling our heels as our flight is delayed, hoping to make our connection.

Flight was delayed enough in Naples that we missed the connection, and now we are guests of Aer Lingus overnight in Dublin. Could be worse, or so I thought. There were quite a few of us getting shuttled over to the hotel, and a fellow of about 75 remarked to me that this was the worst thing that ever happened to him. I was a bit stunned. "Really, this is the worst? Well, you are quite a lucky man then, if nothing worse than this has ever happened to you." Seems that is not what he wanted to hear.

C • Dublin 5

Train to Sorrento, and then a boat ride fro Massa Lupense around and to Capri. We spent about two hours on the small boat (driver and 9 passengers) getting there, seeing various grottoes, the excellent rock formations known as I Faraglioni and the renowned Faro Punto Carena, a place apparently well known to J-J. Then we had 4 hours on the island before the return trip. Of the many thousands of tourists who descended on the island from a parade of ferries, I estimate that approximately two had come with the express purpose of hiking up to the ruins of Villa di Iovis, the Villa of the Emperor Tiberius. It could have been 4, but G&L had been there before and instead went to see the Villa of Nero's wife at Oplontis.

Capri is remarkably steep. We walked up to the main square, then started on the path to the Villa, only to be confronted with a sign saying it was closed for security reasons. That is, they don't seem to think it is worth the trouble to hire someone to admonish tourists not to break off souvenirs, so easier to just put up a fence. I doubt that anyone else on the island noticed. Then we regrouped and started on the path to the natural arch, a stunning feature, but currently undergoing repairs to forestall a fate like that of the old man of the mountains. We then reformed again, and set off on a path to a viewpoint over the arch. All these paths are paved walkways, but after a bit we saw a sort of hiking trail off to the side, disappearing up into some scrubby woods, and off we went.

After a bit we encountered a couple of older gents walking their dogs and chatted them up in a mixture of tongues. They thought it would be good for us to take a different trail that led to I Faraglioni, and then rejoined one of the paved paths and eventually led us back to the center from the other side. A very nice excursion. Some of our other shipmates had taken a chair lift up to the high point on the opposite side of the island, which would also have made a good excursion, but I think having been once is absolutely adequate, and I don't expect to return.

Round 2 of looking for the beach. I had looked on google satellite view and found what looked like a small park with some beach access, and not far from where we had been a few days ago. When we got there, it turned out not to be much of a park. All fenced off and completely unmaintained, just a tangle of vegetation. There was a path along the western side and we went down to the beach. 200 meters offshore was a lovely outcrop island, looked like castle ruins. The beach is all black sand, but absolutely covered with trash. We were about to head back the way we came when we ran into a man with a little cart filled with scuba gear. He seemed to be preparing to go out to the island to dive, and he encouraged us to head NW along the beach where it was cleaner, so we did. It was cleaner in relative terms, but not so much on an absolute level. After a bit we came to a huge parking area, separated from the road on the inland side by a fence, and a handful of walkers and joggers. We pressed on and came to a large abandoned warehouse sort of building, and it looked like there might be an exit there, but we were chased back by a couple of fairly aggressive dogs. So back along the fence to where we found a couple of jersey barriers that we could go between, and back toward home. Near the apartment the bell started ringing when we crossed the tracks, so we looked back to see the gate come down and watch the man who operates the crossing. Strange that it is not more operated. Just then a fellow on a motorino coming downhill tried to make an abrupt stop and lost control, the motorino going one way and him another. He was a bit shaken, but after checking himself over he declare to us that he was ok. Meanwhile the crossing operator was pointing at him and yelling something. Not very helpful.

To lunch in town with G, L and R, excellent grilled whole bream and sea bass.

Back by a slightly different route, stopping at the store for supplies. This seems to be the worst day of the trip for general back flexibility and comfort, so kicking back on the floor for a while this afternoon.

We thought we were going to the Archaeological Museum in Naples this morning, but it was a bit of a fiasco. We took the train in and a cab to the museum, only to find that it is closed on Tuesdays. After thinking not very long about it, we just turned around and went back.

After lunch Rhonda and I went back to the excavations in Pompeii to see the northwestern part that we had missed before. Now we have a better idea of why the guide didn't take us there. This area contains many of the most famous and well preserved houses, but it was almost all fenced off because of restorations, or for generally unknown reasons. We did visit the House of the Faun and the Villa of the Mysteries, both of which were quite fine. Then we walked back through the excavations to the eastern end and out to the Piazza of the Sanctuary in town.