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

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

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.

So we have all had them, realizations that this huge world may not be as large as we think. The first one that i can remember that really blew my mind was when i was visiting France with my parents. We are walking along a string of outdoor cafes when my dad asks my mom if she would like to talk to “so and so”. My mom with a confused look on her face says “You mean call them?” These being people that they had not seen or heard from for many years and the idea of calling them made my mom a bit confused. This, being the exact response that my dad was looking for said, “No, they are sitting right there. Although he said it in a kind of are you stupid way that he loves to do. And sure enough, these people that they had once known and had moved to another country, were sitting about five feet away. What a surprise for everyone, and my dad once again got to feel smug. (You know im just picking on you once again father.) Anyway, I had one of these surreal experiences at the train station waiting to go to Naples. We are sitting there, me reading “High Fidelity,” when an Indian kid sitting next to me asks in English if the book is any good. I reply that it is and he should definitely give it a shot at some point, he says that he will…. wait for it cause that is not the crazy part. We get to talking and about his travels to the US, when he announces that he is going to go to Temple a year from now. I sit there and then ask “Temple University?…. as in the college…. as in Philly?” and sure enough he is studying at their satellite campus in India and will be going to Temple as a junior. WHAT? I mean, what are the chances of meeting an indian kid who can speak English and happens to be going to the same college as me in a train station in italy? Im not really sure cause im not good with math but you better believe that they’re not good. Anyway, things are still going well and im about to write another post after this.

Well, things are actually working out as planned. So far the only problems have been that Debbie was sick(Completely better now, sorry for scaring you Barry and Sharon) and the fact that we were not sleeping at night and were tired in the day. I think that our schedules have now gotten used to the new time zone so everything is A-okay. We are leaving for Naples on a train tonight at midnight for an eight hour ride. I think that it should really just be a blast. Then we spend three nights there before going on to Amalfi where we will be spending four nights. Then we are going to get on a bus, then a train, and then hopefully end up back in Venice for our last three nights. When i say it like that it doesnt really sound like we are going to be here for long enough. Anyway, we thought that we were not going to have a place to stay once we were back in Venice, but hostelbookers.com has saved us again and we will be staying at a budget hotel, Hotel Giovanni or spelled something like that. We have been eating really well. I may have mentioned this before, but our hostel in Venice so far was not just a room but a small apartment. When i asked if they had something available in a week she laughed at me and said everything was booked for a month. Anyway, we are just killing time before our long ass train ride. So off for some shopping (makes debbie happy).

Anyway, mUch love of course from both of us.

Seeya later

MAtt and deb

Hey,

As usual following your exact instructions has not worked, in other words following your login key only came up with something that said wrong username. Whatever, see what you can do about it and then get back to me. In the mean time you can post this.

Sorry that we were not able to email sooner, but finding a good internet cafe is not as easy as one might think, not only that but the prices seem a bit exuberant to me. Anyway, all went very well. Neither me nor debbie slept a wink on either of our two flights and arrived in venice a bit tired. We got on the water taxi and were able to make it to a stop close to the one we were aiming for. After which we followed the instructions from the hostel, which remarkable got us to where we wanted to go. I hope that my dad will post it, because the instructions initially looked as if they made no sense. What we ended up with though is a great room, with like three beds, our own shower a stove and a fridge. Much more then we asked for and certainly much more then we expected. After which we went to sleep. Good times, we woke up and went out to get some food but decided to call it an early night because debbie was not feeling all that well. We went to sleep and at three in the morning realized that we had both woken up and there was very little chance of getting back to bed soon. Deb fell asleep at around five and i around six thirty… at which point we slept till five. Whoops. The next day was fairly uneventful except debbie threw up in front of a very beautiful building. We went out for a very nice dinner and after i forced her to have some veggie soup she felt a lot better. At around twelve we called it a night and went back to the hostel. where we slept for two hours before waking up again. Stupid jet lag. Anyway, i am running on about three hours of sleep and debbie not much more. All in all though it is going very well and venice is a beautiful city. Amazing to look at and a very weird concept once you think about it. We will write again soon, much love

The two of us