Day 6 - July 3 - Naples drama - Pompeii - Sorrento & Capri
Today was another typical Brad and Jen Serious Touring day
-- with a unique twist. Serious Touring in the sense that we crammed in
a very full day of sightseeing -- and barely made it back to the ship.
Actually, we didn't make it back to the ship. (near disaster!)
You see, the shore excursion advisors told us all the great places to
see but then said that you could only pick two. We said, "Nonsense! We
can do it all!"
As it turns out, we were both right. Here is a picture of the harbor police giving us a ride out to our ship, which had already left the port when we got back to the dock!
So today, we got even more exercise than usual. Not only did we jog down from the top of the Island of Capri in order to make it the jetfoil boat to get back to Naples.
But we also had to sprint about a quarter of a mile from where the taxi dropped us off in traffic. As we were running across the huge parking lots in the port, we saw our ship leaving the dock. (!!) Now that's an interesting feeling. You're running as fast as you can, oblivious the fact that you feel like you're about to die of a heart attack, and your intended target, is already pulling away from the dock. I didn't really think it was going to turn around, but I kept running anyway. (Later, I would be thankful for two things: one, that we had not purchased a couple bottles of wine as planned, and two, that I had worn my running shoes and not my boat shoes.)
As we arrived at the check-in point, the police there pegged us right away. (Actually, they pegged me right away, as I had left Jen in the dust and she would not show up for several minutes. Interestingly, she is the jogger in the family. I think I was motivated by an extra sense of guilt in that I was the one who bought the tickets from Capri back to Naples and assured her that we'd have plenty of time. Oh, and she was wearing high heeled sandals.)
Anyway, the police captain called the ship on his cell phone and spoke heatedly in Italian for several minutes while they apparently decided what to do with the "Americanos." (Jen said he was yelling at them, but I said no that's just how Italians talk.) After a short, persuasive, conversation, they motioned us to go with two of the cops. We sprinted through an under-construction part of the Marina, down to the water, where we jumped onto the dock pilings and down into a small harbor patrol boat.
Apparently, they talked the ship into stopping and waiting for us. Now that was a relief! Plan B, apparently, was to take a train to Rome and catch a flight to somewhere in Greece -- about 900 kilometers away. This was a particulary bad day to miss the ship because the next day was a traveling all day at sea day. We would have spent the 4th of July as American wandering around Europe trying to hook back up with the tour.
We had to pay the Police boat driver $50 in cash. (I think that had actually been arranged ahead of time because the police guy in charge back at the Marina had forewarned us about that.) At any rate, that was the best $50 we've spent on the trip so far!
When we got out to the ship, the guys were waiting for us in a hole in the side of the ship where the gangplank goes. They had a rope ladder with big wooden rungs thrown down for us to climb up. It was actually all pretty exciting -- it was a little wavy in the harbor and the boat driver had quite a time trying to keep the small boat lined up against the stationary ship. He had to make half a dozen tries and re-tries before both of us (and packages) would get on board. At one point, Jen had ahold of the laddder but then had to let go as the boat was separating from the ship. (Although I have no personal experience, it reminded me of a "breakaway" that sometimes occurs when you're trying to refuel a B-52 in midair.)
The guys in the ship did make us put on a life jacket before jumping onto the ladder. By the time we had circled in several times, quite a large crowd had gathered to watch from the upper decks. I was the last grab ahold of the ladder and climb up, and as we finally made it, we got a nice round of applause from the spectators. :-)
So that was our extreme drama for today. Rather than scrounging through the Rome Airport, we made it back in time for dinner (with the new dress from Capri.)
Click here to see our first stop in the ancient city of Pompeii, a city whose 2000 year old ruins were preserved by a volcanic eruption that killed 4000 habitants and buried the city in ten feet of ash until it was discovered and excavated in the 1800's.
