Two sides

Some people in Naples live in grand imposing villas...


Whilst others live in run down, neglected apartments...


Others live in a bit of both...


Notice it's the same house. I wonder...Did the money run out during the renovation project? Was it one of those DIY jobs which ONE DAY they'll get round to finishing. Or do they think that people will only look at the front of the house and won't notice the sides? Chissà.

Buona Pasqua a tutti!

This package came from my parents for Easter. Thank you thank you!


A Green and Black's egg for me and a Dr Who one for OH (don't ask). Plus lots of Walkers cheese and onion. Hoorah!

I miss the choice of Easter eggs. It's pretty much Lindt or Kinder here. Expensive too. No three for a fiver options :)

It's been pouring down since this morning and shows no sign of stopping. Not very nice for an Easter Sunday :(

Prego?

Once again I find myself trawling the web in search of the ideal hotel. Destination: Procida. HIGH SEASON. Not for myself but for family who are coming over and will stay on Procida for a while.

This is from one site I came across; Quite funny:

"About rooms:
The hotel possess 20 beds in 10 rooms, 10 bathrooms, 10 showers In this tranquil rooms you can sleep refreshing slumbers There are many beds build in wood slats, in accord with the most modern salutiste rules”

Alrighty.

The hotel:
"..is recommended from major papery guides”

“The 4 star hotel is situated in PROCIDA, a marine destination positioned within CAMPANIA Region in NAPOLI Province Hotel located in historical palace”

Eh? This must mean it’s in an historical building as “palace” often gets confused with the Italian “palazzo” meaning building. But of course palace and building are two very different types of dwelling. I imagine person would be quite disappointed if they thought they were going to stay in a palace and found out that wasn’t the case.

"Hotel Contour:
The prices of this hotel generally comprehend the breakfast Hotel comfortable and well equipped for persons needing accurate attention”

Accurate attention like J-Lo, Mariah Carey in their dressing rooms? No green m&ms, etc.

"Hotel services:
The prices of this hotel generally comprehend the breakfast The staff speaks this languages: English French German The hotel accepts credit card as payment Shopping corners in the structure”

Shopping comers. Am none the wiser.

I’ve got a feeling the site committed the terrible crime of using an online language translator.

Private

Privacy laws are big in Italy. Basically, no one can monitor anything you do because it would be a violation of your privacy.

In the news yesterday was a case where a music label identified thousands of people who had downloaded their music (without permission). The record company got its lawyer to send a letter to every person who had downloaded their tracks asking for payments of 300 euro for the files in order to avoid a lawsuit being brought against them. In response the Italian downloaders got their own lawyer and retaliated saying that their privacy had been violated. The outcome was that the downloaders won the case as a private company like the record label does not have the right to monitor P2P users and all the personal data obtained regarding the users must be now cancelled.

Interesting.

Here's the story (Italian).

A bank closed sign in Naples

Ever noticed the opening times of Italian banks? They go something like 8.25 to 1.40. Then they open again after lunch from 2:45 to 3:35. V precise...

Happy Festa delle Donne

Happy Women's Day for all of those wishing to celebrate!

Here's a photo of a Mimosa tree from nearby. I took the (not very good) photo a few weeks ago when the tree was in full bloom.

Temptation

One of my favourite stores has a big sale on...But I'm in Italy and they don't deliver here.

Good point:
Save money

Bad point:
I'm pining over what could be mine :S

... Should I make a purchase and have it delivered to England and then forwarded on, or just leave it...

Al Volante

I got myself a car - my first car! (Gasp!).

Whilst car hunting I considered getting an automatic as I thought it would be "easier", but in the end I went for a manual one mainly because there's much more choice here for manuals. Now after a week of driving I know that changing gears is the least of my problems whilst driving in Naples. More important is how to cope with people over taking me on both sides, people cutting in front of me so they can leave the tangenziale at a seconds notice, and most irritatingly, parking!! At the moment, to park in a field is a chore, but I’m sure with practice I’ll master it.

I have good driving days and bad driving days but hopefully soon I'll be as good as the rest of 'em.

One tale - I have many: The other day I arrived at a big STOP sign on the road but I only slowed down as there was no one around at all. I pointed this out to OH as to the reason why I hadn’t stopped completely, but OH said to never stop there because if you do you’ll cause problems as no one ever stops there. How drivers from out of Naples cope with these in-house rules, I'll never know.

Update

Last Thursday the money (see previous post) was credited back on to my account!

Might need to to reconsider my views on Italian banks and customer service.