Departure day photos taken by Sharon and Barry.

Of particular interest to Adam and me is this link sent by Travis.

So, during our first dinner here we were seated next an english couple, who looked a bit overdressed in their silk clothing. The next night at dinner we were seated next to them again at a different restaurant. What a coincidence, so imagine our surprise when last night they showed up once again. It was a little too much for me to handle so i had to contemplate killing them for a while. It wasn’t just that it was the third night in a row, no that would have been enough, but it was a completely different kind of restaurant. Different food, much different price and somewhere far, far away. If they show up again tonight i have resolved that i will have to end it the only way a man can, by jumping into the ocean and drowning myself.

We are now off to the emerald grotto or something like that.

We shall speak again soon

Love matt and deb.

So last night, as usual, we picked a dinner restaurant at random. Although maybe it wasn’t at random because we noticed that it was the only place in Italy that had chicken on the menu which is something that debbie had apparently been craving, maybe just to shut up my statements that she doesn’t have a very varied eating pattern. Anyway, there is no way to tell which are the nice restaurants and which are the really nice ones… apparently this was one of the latter. It was definitely worth it though because the food was exquisite. I had some of the best steak and potatoes with a nice green salad and debbie had a chicken somethingorother. It was one of those meals that you see in cooking commercials that just look too well put together to be something you are supposed to eat. Don’t worry though, father, we took pictures so you will get to see it too. For dessert we had some chocolate cake with a white chocolate filling. At first it looked small but then we realized it was so rich that you could not eat one of these small loaves alone. After that we went into the main square to have coffee and drinks (along with peanuts which was one of the more exciting moments of my trip). There were two girls from California sitting next to us and I pointed out that the waiter was hitting on them, although he was being too subtle for debbie to notice. At some point they were approached by two Italian men, and this flirtation was noticed even by debbie. They were trying to get them to go to a night club in sorrento. At some point during this the waiter that had been hitting on them walked up and said to the girls “be careful of all the sharks in Amalfi”, for those of us who are males, we know that this is just not called for in any way. I mean what a blatant attempt to foil their plans. It was pretty funny all around and the two men ended up retreating, but promising they would be back at midnight. We however didn’t stick around to see what happened.

 Debbie wants to add:

First off, Matt left out the best part of that story, haha. The men, particularly one of them, who approached the two women from California, were the typical suave Italian men. One of them looked a bit older than the girls, and he was wearing a red polo with one too many buttons undone. They knew exactly what to say it seemed, even though their english wasn’t great. Anyway, Diane, the water is a teal blue and it is beautiful, to respond to your question. It was filled with a lot of salt a tiny bit cold, but nothing compared to the beaches at home. We swam for a while and are going back today. And, my parents have been very good about keeping in touch now haha thanks for the concerns though. I don’t think there were as many internet points in north carolina as there are here.

Anyways, much love

Matt and Deb

So, as Matt has said, we made it to Amalfi.  I must admit, the trek here was a little hair raising at times, but definitely worth it. We started taking a train from Naples to Sorrento, where Matt befriended four kids from Australia, but now living in Wales I think, who were planning on camping in Sorrento. They had even more luggage then we did, if you can believe it.  Then we hopped on a bus that took us through Positano and a few other towns before stopping in Amalfi. The bus ride gave us great views of the coast the whole ride, but was a little frightening.  The road was hardly even wide enough for the bus, so it was quite a fiasco when a car came from the other direction. And the roads were incredibly windy and right next to the cliffs the whole way. To my mom and dad, it definitely beats the drives we had on the Blue Ridge Parkway and on Mount Olympia by about 100 times. As you can imagine, the constant turning didn’t make Matt’s stomach feel great, but we made it after all.

Anyway, on the bus we began the ride standing, because a lack of seats, right next to an older couple who noticed rather quickly that we, like them, were speaking English. After talking, they told us they were from Ireland, and we could certainly tell by their accents. They were extremely nice and friendly and told us all about their journey and asked us about ours. They raved about Ireland, saying how much we would love it. The man asked Matt if he had any Irish in his family, and when Matt said yes he said “aha I had a feeling about you.” Later when we sat down Matt said, “I think it’s funny that he thought he could tell I was Irish.”  We realized it was no mystery; Matt was wearing a green shirt and a green hat with a clover on it.

Anyways, Amalfi is gorgeous. I love it despite its touristy-ness which doesn’t bother me at all. We’re going to go swimming now, which I’ve been dying to do the whole time in Italy!

Much love

Debbie

We arrived in Amalfi yesterday after a long bus and train ride – although nothing compared to the one from Venice – to find a very small and very touristy little city. It does have a lot of charm so I guess i will be able to forgive it. Our new hotel is very nice indeed, and we are on the fourth floor with a view of the garden and the mountians behind the city. I think that we are finally going to get the rest that I have been looking for since our room seems to be far away from everyone elses. Last night we went out to dinne, and for the first time since entering Italy, I was asked how I liked my meat. While this is only a little thing, I was glad not to have to watch the blood pour out of my steak as I ate it. That and it was absolutely delicious. Debbie again had some form of pasta and I am begining to see this as a re-occuring theme.(Although as I write this now she makes the good point that she has also had pizza a few times.)

After a very good meal and some very good sleep, minus a few bad dreams (speaking of which how are the Sullo’s dogs doing?), we woke up at about one and started our day. So far all we have done is eat, and read about how much everyone hates my grammar. Yes, i am aware that i don’t know how to spell or write very well, and I would just like to thank everyone for pointing it out on the internet. lol, I’m kidding, but seriously is this something you were all unaware of? I think not.

We are about to go to the beach, which should be very nice, and up to this point we have only seen the water. I must say though I’m looking forward to it as the water looks crystal clear and a nice shade of blue.

Being here is just once again another example of stepping out of real life and into a pop-up book. I mean how often can you sip coffee and see things that you thought were only available in your imagination.

Anyway, i think debbie wants to do some writing so i will sign off for now.

Love always

me

Dear Diane, Matthew and Brian,

Well, here I sit in the Detroit airport waiting for my connecting flight to Evansville. Somehow I made it all the way here – on my own – which is an achievement, given how long ago I gave up all my travel responsibilites. So much easier to simply take directions from Diane and follow behind Matthew.

It’s funny, but I heard the woman next to me on the flight out of Manchester exclaim to the guy next to her, “This beats driving.” That was after they both exchanged fearful glances upon hearing assorted clangs and scrapes and bings and bangs. I have to disagree. I’ll get there faster, sure, but it’s really not half the adventure or half the fun.

Nor do I have half the control. When I drive I know just what I’m eating. Here, I ordered a small decafe and watched the friendly coffee lady fill my cup from the light roast spout. It’s a piffle but maybe it speaks to this unrecognized need I have to control my situation. Suppose that comes from spending an evening with Pesky Godson’s mom?

They’re calling my name and while I will wait until the last guy has boarded before leaving my seat (lines, I don’t like them), I should close Matt’s amazing computer.
Love

Me

Goose’s graduation party except all the photos are of the volleyball game in the John McSweeney’s front yard. His mom has more. I hope she posts them.

****************

A video for Matt and Debbie

Best Wishes
Crystal clear quicktime format (3.5MB).

Crappy, pixelated, frustrating, head-exploding youtube version.
youtube version.

And it did end in a tie, if you don’t know what im talking about you are clearly not a soccer fan. However, you may not be, but everyone here is. Last night was the America-Italy game, and we became a bit nervous as the Americans spent most of the time beating up on the italians. It wasn’t as if they were playing better soccer, they were just playing a bit rougher. Vincent didn’t want to make us uncomfortable but it was clear that he did not even think America should be playing. We went back to the hotel a bit early for the fear that we might not make it home if the US were to win. Lol, it was supposed to be a gift that the Italians were going to get to play America, and as it turned out it was a bittersweet gift. At least it was a tie is all i know.

On to other things,

Today is our last in Naples, and we are not to sad about that. It is not what we would call the most beautiful city in the world, but it does have its charm and some very very good food. Not only that but it is nice not having to spend a fortune to go out and eat. It is literally about half the price of Venice, for everything. Which is kind of amazing. A meal that is ten euro here, would easily be twenty or more in Venice. I’m no longer having to look for an ATM every five mins and i bet my parents are resting a bit easier now knowing this.

Today we are going to get some food, then book our ticket back to Venice so that we will be sure to have a seat after Amalfi. Then we will look into the train for tomorrow which should only be an hour ride. Then what is said to be a beautiful bus ride along the coast until we make it to Amalfi.

All in all the trip is going very well so far, and yes mom, we are not fighting as you suggested. Lol, although when it is only the two of us who really speak all that much English fighting would mean very little English and I don’t think that is something either of us would handle all that well.

Anyway, i bet you guys are getting a little sick of all our posting, but it is one of the more enjoyable things to do here in Naples, aside from looking at all the cool stuff people are trying to sell on the street… cool and what i would suspect as stolen.

Oh, and debbie is feeling a little unloved, considering how much she has been hearing from her parents. Of course they are in Asheville with no internet connection, but she thought they should be home by now. If anyone has anything relevant to say on the subject I’m sure she would appreciate it.

Love always

matt

**************

(click)

So we have finally arrived in Naples after a 10 hour train ride, which we thought was supposed to be around 7 or 8 hours.  We were in a couch car which means six people in a little room and not very much space to sleep.  However, me and Matt found out that if we ever need to fit in a child-size coffin together it won’t be a problem.  While Matt stayed up for the entire ride, I was able to catch a few hours here and there.  Meaning Matt was up for over twenty-four hours total, and if our hotel hadn’t been within a five minute walk of the train station we wouldn’t have made it at all.  In our slightly larger than a child-sized coffin space, it was me Matt and four other people.  We started sitting across from an Italian couple who spoke not a word of English and apparently didn’t even have tickets, which led to them being kicked out before we even made it to Rome, their destination.  In their place was a new Italian couple with a one year child. They too spoke no english.  Their baby girl was one of the cutest we had ever seen and extremely well behaved.  And their father, who started out looking like a very scary person, decided that he would stand for the entire ride so that his wife and baby could sleep in his seat.  The two others were an African couple who spoke a small amount of English and were traveling around Italy after she had finished being a professor at the World University in Venice.  After their time in Italy they are heading back to Africa. After they all got off in Rome, Matt and I had the place to ourselves and I fell back asleep while Matt feared that if he closed his eyes, I would never be able to get him back up.  After a few more hours and many extremely long tunnels, we made it to Naples, and only knew which stop to get off at thanks to the help of one of Matt’s new friends, an Italian man who again spoke no english but was not a fan of Bush( To my father who was asking if we had to defend his policies, i talked to him a little about how he thought that the war was unfair and mainly for their oil, now back to Debbie).  He directed us to our hotel where we collapsed for a long nap before dinner.

Well, believe it or not but our new hostel in Naples is not at all a hostel. In fact it is a three star hotel with a breakfast room and a bar and everything. Our room is awesome and clean and more then we could have asked for considering we are paying sixty a night for a hotel that should be one-fifty. Anyway, this isn’t really the point if you can tell from the name of the post. After we finished dinner last night we were hanging out around the hotel and got into a conversation with the receptionist behind the counter. A sixty-nine year old man who has been working in hotels for something like twenty years. Again, this is not the point. We were talking to him about his life as a kid and how he traveled around the US. He was talking about how he was in a choir that traveled from the east to the west coast of the United States when he was sixteen. He said that it was some of the most exciting times of his life and that he remembers them as if they were yesterday. He also studied at a conservatorium at Berklee, and spent most of his young life refining his voice for opera. Anyway, while traveling around the country singing in his choir he made a appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. I just thought that this conversation should be shared and it was pretty cool to hear him speak of all this. How often do we meet receptionists who speak four languages, survived World War II and was on the Ed Sullivan show. Just more things in life that are amazing… Debbies turn.