The next day Stef and I took a boat to see the Palace of one King Ludwig, who Stef accurately described as the Michael Jackson of Royalty. Said Ludwig drained most of the family heir, building no less than 3 castles, until he was cut on grounds of ridiculousness, I imagine. He mysteriously drowned about a year (or two) later, and no details are known about his death. The castle we visited was a tribute to Versai, slightly bigger, but aspired to be a copy of it. As we walked in, the guide explained that the marble we see is actually fake, a combo of glass and stucco, that was more expensive at the time than real marble (weirdo!!). We walked through some rooms, none of which seem to capacitate any sort of living-in (it's more of a walk-through palace. Psycho Ludwig!). When we got to the bedroom (where the king spent an astonishing 10 nights), the guide pointed out secret doors leading downstairs and showed us a weird orb-shaped night lamp that, when lit, cast a blue light in the entire room. We also saw a cool dining table contraption that was meant to be lowered to the kitchens, laden with food and elevated back up into the dining room. Unfortunately the kitchen was never completed and the table would have taken six servants to operate. The king also took a bath once in his bathtub, the size of a pool, and as we exited a room going downstairs the weirdest thing happened. The elaborate, tacky, over-the-top decorations disappeared, the furniture was gone, and before our eyes lay a bare castle hall. All there was, were brick walls, wood enforcements and a concrete staircase. This is due to the draining of the funds and apparently 50 out of the 70 rooms in the castle remained bare, only 20 were completed. That's all from wackoville, folks. Let's get back to reality.
We had dinner at an alehouse (thanks to Stefan, I got a lovely meal with AMAZING mushrooms - my mouth is watering just thinking about them. Oh lordy) and ice cream in the rain, and were contemplating what to do with the rest of our night, when a spontaneous concert was born in the living room of Stefan's parents. I brought my ukulele, Stefan played guitar and piano, Stefan's dad played the accordion and trumpet and his mom rocked the trumpet and flute, and Stefanie played this weird harp-like instrument. It was really great and went on for about an hour until mom and pop retired and I started looking up trains for the following day.
Munich
Munich was cool. We started off at Stefan's friend's exhibition at the art academy of the university that left me quite nauseous. Someone did a display and smeared the walls with pig's blood while leaving blood stained sheepskin in the middle of it all. I was appalled and had to retire to a chair nearby but on our way out we saw a cool musical display. An artist set up a glass table with five long metal bars going across it, horizontally. There were plastic cups that people could move around on top of the glass, and a man playing an electrical string instrument was watching small tv screens of the movement of the cups. It took me a few seconds to realize the display was a big sheet of music, and the cups were notes in different lengths. When people moved the cups around, the man played different notes. It was cooler than pig's blood.
We had lunch outside and moved inside due to pouring rain. The pasta sauce had a yummy, fresh taste that comes from the mix of quality tomatoes with quality olive oil (I also had gazpacho and was too full to move by the time we left). As we were walking, our shoes got soaked from the rain, and by the time we stopped for coffee to flee it, the sun was out again, smiling innocently as though it had always been there. We took the subway to the city center and went to a gorgeous market. It was beautiful, fresh, charming, and there was an olive bar that smelled divine (that's right folks, the olive bar had an amazing aroma that drew me to it despite my full belly). From there we found our way to a huge bookstore, through a protest of people demanding to change the situation in Iran, and hung out there for over an hour. We got out and found ourselves in front of an orchestra performance on the street (there was a piano there. How did they get a piano into the middle of the street?) and made our way to the train station. I bought my grandma a collectible spoon, said goodbye to Stef and Stef, whom I wish know the extent of my gratitude, and boarded the night liner to Rome. This time I got a bed on the train, and it was worth the night's sleep as well as the experience.
Rome to Naples
In Rome, I left my big, horrendously heavy backpack in storage and tried to find an internet point to find a hostel, but there were none around the station. I gave up and boarded the slow train to Naples (the ticket machine swallowed 2 extra euro that the man at the ticket booth would not refund, claiming I should know that the "gypsies stick paper in the machines and you should never use them"). Three hot hours later, I found myself passing the dirty surroundings of yet another Piazza Garibaldi, full of people selling fake purses and leather belts, and boarded a bus towards downtown Naples, close to the water and away from the historical center, which I never saw. One odd bus ride later (you can't buy tickets on the bus, only at tabaccherias or special machines that don't seem to exist), I made my way up to the wrong hostel and crossed the street to the right one. I decided a stay in Naples would be nice with fellow travelers, so I could see the sights with like-minded folk versus couchsurfers who grew up there. Shedding most of my stuff at the train station in Rome felt pretty darn great. After settling in, I went out for lunch and walked around with fellow traveler Doug, law student from Boston. We saw the outside of the beautiful Spanish castle (it looked like a castle, what you imagine when you hear the word castle, pictures soon to come), and walked along the water (nothing fancy, polluted roads, crazyyyy drivers) with the backdrop of beautiful and almighty Vesuvius, the very volcano that doomed Pompeii. On our way back we witnessed the funniest thing; three Italian guys on a small motorboat arguing in the distance. They were so animated in their argument, they looked like the three stooges. One yelled something, then made a series of hand movements and slightly pushed the second, which in return yelled something, made a series of accusatory hand gestures and pushed the third, and so on. It was a sight that will stay with me for a long time.
We made our way back to the hostel, while consuming Lupini beans and chill Granita (yum), where we met two sisters from Indiana and made a plan to travel to the island of Capri the next day. I wasn't even planning on it, and seeing how it's so expensive to go there, it wouldn't have crossed my mind. Unfortunately, nobody warned me how much of a tourist trap the blue grotto is (a beautiful sea cave in which, with some odd trick of the light and the reflection of the sand, the walls and water appear to be a shocking blue), and I felt like I had to go.
I imagine that had I stayed in Naples, I would have regretted it, and I indeed felt rested when I got back that day, having spent it in the sea (the beach was consisted of sunbleached rocks and is nothing to talk about), on a boat and walking swiftly around the town of Capri, eating a huge thing of sorbetto and riding a cable car. But I dare not write how much I spent on taking a boat around the island, to reach the blue grotto, and yet another admission fee to get into it in a rowboat. I will also fail to mention the horribly long wait on the rocking boat, waiting for everyone to enter and exit the blue grotto. So let's not talk about it :)
When we got back I moved to the hostel across the street, to find myself in the presence of AC and a girl from Florida doing the same route as me (Athens and Santorini). I went to sleep as early as I could, as I woke up at 6:45 and headed towards the ancient ruins of Pompeii.
One improvised breakfast and a bus ride later placed me at the entrance to Pompeii with travel companion Doug. We walked around, saw the ruins and dead bodies and endured the heat. It was interesting, especially how well preserved everything is. I mostly wanted to see the bodies of the people. Apparently lava never made it to the city, only layers of volcanic ash, which covered and preserved many things astonishingly well. The amphitheater wasn't really mindblowing, but considering what happened in the city, it's crazy to think these structures prevailed. The baths and their chambers were really impressive.
I was on a timed schedule and would not leave Naples before properly eating pizza. So we made our way back to the train station and walked to the famous, best, awesomest pizzeria in Napoli, called Da Michele. It's been around from sometime in the 1800's and they only serve two kinds of pizza: Marinara (vegan) and Margharita (with cheese). Yum. YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM! The crust is thin but gooey, the tomato sauce laden with olive oil and flecked with garlic. So simple, yet insanely divine. We sat in the shade of a building entrance next to the pizzeria (I didn't have time to wait to be seated) and after taking some pictures of the action (both eating pizza and the dudes making it), Doug and I parted ways and I made my way to the train station once again, Roma bound.
This is where I am now. Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes again and updating a whole lotta blog. My belly is full of the best of Neopolitan pizza, and my couchsurfer is at the gym. We're going to a couchsurfing meetup tonight, and I'm hoping to squeeze in a veg restaurant and as much gelato as I can before my flight to Greece tomorrow. I can't wait to go to Greece! I can't wait for Santorini! But I will also be happy to return to my lovely Bay Area people. Baby update: I've been seeking them out and making faces at them a bunch. I made friends with a toddler with a beautiful laugh on the train today, and played shy with a little girl in Capri yesterday. Can you tell I miss work? Someone hug me :P
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