We don't normally take short overseas vacations because of the travel time, cost of tickets and most importantly; jet leg. Our very good friend Al, an Army friend that Tim has known since he has been in the military, dropped us a line out of the blue. He is posted to Naples Italy and time keeps rollin by; three years into his 4 year adventure. He was actually looking for travel buddies for a different trip; but we had leave to burn from Tim being on tour; “we will see you in a month!”. After a couple $1k tickets we were set for this 9 day adventure!
We woke up about regular time; Friday morning; noon departure. We finished some laundry, packed our seemingly excessive luggage, said our good-byes to our pets and set out for the Winnipeg Airport. It was a balmy -19, -27 with the wind.
Sitting in the Richardson Airport, we received some excellent news from Tim's Chain of Command; another year in Winnipeg. Awesome; love our house and get to live in it together for a summer (tours). Boarded the first flight uneventfully, but a bit late. Not feeling good because we had a very short connection in Toronto.
Flight was fine; enjoyed a couple Gunner classics, 2 glasses of ice, 1 rye, 1 diet soda, $7; I'll take what he is having, please! After being vectored around Ontario by what seemed to either be a drunk or crossed-eye air traffic controller, we were sequenced for about a 30 mile final for the aerodrome; quite long. We arrived in Toronto, delayed about 40 minutes into our 1 hour layover; no big deal, YYZ isn't big, right?
We made the 20 minute journey from domestic to international in what seemed to be record time; 7 minutes. “Final call for Air Canada Passengers for ACA872 with service to Frankfurt; you should now be all boarded”. Made it, or so we thought, they actually delayed the flight for the people on our flight from Winnipeg.
The flight was good, and we even enjoyed the layover in Frankfurt; mmmmm, beer and bread; not something we have been having on our keto diet.
Incredibly, our luggage arrived with us at the Naples Airport and we were whisked away by Al in his sporty European car; driving here is pretty crazy. We were treated to the spectacular views of the Mediterranean and after about 45 minutes we had arrived to Allan's beautiful little villa, nestled on the side of a large hill.
The views were incredible, lemon and other citrus trees everywhere as far as the eye can see; hillsides used to their fullest! We enjoyed a couple beers before setting out on our first Naples adventure; rail station recce. Just a couple kilometres, right Al?
We walked up the hill on a pretty treacherous street; barely American standard for 1 car; let alone both directions AND pedestrians. The hill must be a good 800-1200 feet in elevation; no big deal, its nice out, we can walk. Starting basically at the top, we climbed to the little village at the top and made the 20 or so minute decent to the Mediterranean coast; wow!
Tim and Al enjoyed macchiato coffees (couple shots of espresso and a bit of frothed milk); .70 cents a shot. They would need the energy to climb back up the hill.
We stopped at Tim's favourite pass-time, groceries. He bought an assortment of cheese, olives and some weird pork cheek cured meat; guanciale. I never heard of it, but apparently he has wanted to make it for some time; marginally good.
We settled in for the evening and I could barely keep my eyes open. Tim made me a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with smoked cheese and fresh pesto sauce; sadly I was too tired to fully enjoy it. Tim and Al toured the impressive, well stocked liquor cabinet, and we surprisingly loved 21 year old Glenfiddich (who would have known, just 120 euros a bottle). We tucked in for an early night; it is 2 AM, let the jet leg begin!
