Pisa is many things but mostly level.

After the Treno and the Texan and the miracoli I needed a good nights rest. The authentic monkio monastics but restorede to moderno standarditonios" fossabanda di sante Croce". Was unforgetsobiale!

Very prettyBuildings in a monkish sort of way.

 



Our cell was the room below the campanille. I had hoped the windows were on the other side.....

Apparently monks wear hair shirts under their robes and for obvious reasons no underwear.

It was 42 degrees in English in the roomio.

 

Dawn finally cracked the hot night sky and I dragged myself to the breakfast ovens and allowed the body heati absorbed during the night to curdle the milk and prove the buns.

 

After a 45 minuti ice bath I was ready to get Pisa.

 

I like the funny foto

 

Then I went the of house of the shell in the orto botanico. The little stars shaped things you can see just above the ground floor piano look like the abalone shekels insides. Reminds me of home.

After the orto some more the leaning

 

And some more adjusting to leaning

 

and some more leaning Tigre and hidden bilglitiere.

 

then back along the majestico Arno promenade to the house the fossabando.

On the way i go in the giovanni domenici bici emporium. Giovanni is the 1961 Giro de Pisa roadrace champion. His a shop fantastico. He has his winning "limited editzione" colnago on the mura of his workshops. Is a bellasimo as a modern celeste.

He let me sit his bicycle. His daughter take photo with funny camera and rush back inside and start the giggling. She had bike riders legs.

He say to me " ride well marco, there be nothing like a bike".well that what I thought he said, his dialect was I think particular to that street in Pisa.

We, me and Giovanni, we know these things

 

 

The Fossabanda has the giant televions, I watched the Italiano version of sea patrol and then we beat gernania in the round ball.

I have the smelly cheese in the tv room. Not everybody like fromage de odouronio....

Lucky for me.

Talking of lucky, tomorrow the Lucca.

Sierra.

St. Mariangellina di Pisa

Italian Treno are fabulouso.

You can see Vesuvius from out the finestri

 

 

You can make Treno noises and no one gives a hoot.

You can meet all sorts people's. Some interestio, some not so....

You can also get from Napoli to Pisa via Rome e Firenze in less than Quattro oro or not.

If and when the Treno to Pisa stops at Empoli, because the vandals stole the handles this what happens maybe.

250 peoples try and get on the buso that arrivia to replace the Treno. Everyone knows what didn't happen, nobody knows what is going to happen and 45 people get the bus. Most of them are Senegalese trinket salesmen heading to Pisa with genuine fake plastic leaning things. 7 others get the only taxi. People running around like train less touristic's.

I went the railway station bar and had prosecco.

Siena started working the crowd.

This the crowd.


 

They a bit shook up.

In the bar I meet the girl. She speak Italiano just like me. She say " bloody italiano Treno!"

I say" oh well I just need an angel and and a miracoli"

She say " allora! Mio name is Mariamiracoliangellico and I have a friend in the taxi business. If you can get some more people's we could buy a taxi to Pisa and splits you differencio"

Just then Siena turns up with two Texan rangers in tow. Ramez and Ryan they called themselves. They were packing heat and looking for a fast ride to Livorno to get their steam packet down to Rome to see the Pope and find themselves in mysterious splendor of the San Pietro cupola.

Mariamiracoliangellico cell fono ringing ringing, the taxi driver on his way. We had to meet him two streets away from the stazione to avoid a scene with the other helplessly stranded souls.

We all left the stazione by different exits and regrouped next to the leaking pipe coming from the oespedale.

The taxi driver looked exactly like Billy Crystals young brother.

45 minutes and $102 euros later we were at the Pisa central railway station forecourt. That is eenglaysio for piazza.

We all had a group hug and went our separate ways to the next adventure. Saved by the miraculosio mariangellico and the company of charming strangers from Texas.

 

Yo, Texans ! This the way up....

 

 

When you get there, you see this...



 

I loaded up the wagon and am on my way to Houston with this.

If getting to Pisa was a piccolo miracoli, then being in the leaning is miraculosio.

I think I believe in miracles now, or I will if you will.

Amore e pace

Leaning Marco of Pisa.



Ciao

Ps. Ryan and Ramez.

A foto of the tower that one of you would have taken ...

 

 

 

 

 

Lunedi e Napoli = la mare e isola procido

Is gonna be a Caldi oggi.

The mission: swim the Mediterranean and catch the Cumana back.

Next time you are in Napoli, go to isola Procido. Is fantastico.

This how you do it.

Catch the cumararrraaario from montesanto but actually get on on the circumphlagelattio by accident. Get of the phlagealatto at piave. Wait for the Treno back to Montesanto but make sure it the morning peaks hours one. I spent what can only be described as an intimate yet awkward few moments with the 7 people that were pressed against me. Thank god i had a sarong on is all i can remember. I got off the train smothered in a plasma of hair produti, eye liner, garlic scented aftershave and an amnesty international wristband. God knows what happened to my undies i just pleasesd they were clean on that morning and not my favourite black mohair pair.

Siena was shaken but not stirred.

We regathered ourselves at Montesanto and getsio onboardio the next available carriage for the trip to the Pozzuoli.

Pozzuoli only 10 stops from Montesanto btw.

 

It takes about an hour and a half door to door and 16 euro for two. Anyway, enough about what you might do one day, back to me and now.

 

Pozzuoli has a some fuming holes and the third largest something else and is the childhood home of Sophia Loren.

This the door to her old house.

 

I called out " hey, Soph! You home?

Nothing .....

 

Back down the hill to more explorio the ancient citta de Pozzuoli.

This the temple di serapis. It is roman.

This us with the book of knowledgio in the shadows.

Across the promenadia is the ferry catchio stazione

There lives the traghetto to the isola's

you get on an shove offio.

Then the traghetto from Pozzuoli to Procido. It is fabulouso to be on a boat on the Mediterranean sea.

I love the Mediterranean.

I love a boatio ride

the first u see is not far out

It has the segredi di mare

Then the birds came to look for the edibiale flotsoms and jettisonio.

this took some taking

Now the Procido exploratio.

Uppa the lookout this is what you see

I like the soft pink more than the hot pink ( fuschiaio in italianio ) dont you ?

 

 

I had to have a go to the spiaggia afterwards.

 

I like a swimio in the gulphio di napoli

I like a mio new hat

I like a sarong too, (see why I a nervy on the Treno the peak hour crushio!)

Is A bit uncommon on the Mediterranean but I think I gets away with it.

Not now but one days I tell you about the man from the Porta marina grande Procido who walks the spiaggia relivio the memorios dreams about shooting the fascistios in the duo mondiale geurra, and the etruscarn glass remnants from the waters edge and the Pullman ride around the isola Pozzuoli. You can get on the Pullman any time you like......

I a bit sad the leaving the spiaggia. It a place of Marco .....

Anyway enough the sentimentitalia, tonight the margherita pizza in the pizzareia di Ernesto the magnific di montecalvario. He has the hands of a giant and the pizza dough is like the sete and the ovens is all a mosaiced on the outside with the picture story of the eruptions of the vesuvian gods of Eros and amore locked together in a intimissiano tryst. They look happy.

Ernesto brother Mauritzio is not right in the heads and cannot pound the dough but he can but plays the piano accordion. He plays left handed and it sounds like a violinio of Angelico singing. If you shut you eyes is ok because Mauritius is a little unusalio looking and he wear his belt very high the back and at the front, a little too low for my liking.

When he came to our table to fiddle with his a squeezing box.

Siena say " just look at the eyes"

I say" maybe we should a gotta the asporto"

 

Was a very Caldi oggi and we have noisy espanolios in the east wing of the Sui tette zefrano roomio.

Tomorrow is the not quite rights torre di Pisa

Salve

Mio

Museo de archeologiollica domenica

Domenica e Napoli. Do as the neoplolitano do and go the museo.

Glad I did.

It was a relaxed start to Sunday e Napoli. Up at half past allora, 10 sets of stair running and a six pack of cornetti de creme and a machismo macchiato.

First job the marina with the plans for mio boat. I hope Gianluca is ready to sail.

 

Gianluca went to work. No sailing today.

Then to the museo to see all the stuff they dig up from the eruptions.

This mosaics was found in 1756 at Ercolana. It was dug up by a boy looking for his dog. True story. The dog is called "lucky"

This another treasure from Ercolana. This one is called the winners story.

 

It is also called "and that my friends is how I slayeth the Goliath"




Time to shield you eyes for a few moments.

These next facsimiles come from out the bedroom and the garden and the kitchen bench and the anniversary night in old ercolano.

The caption" I think it is down there"

According to the museotress this statue of the dick is about fertility and warding off evil spirits.

 

I don't understand the shadow at all....

 

Leda and that swan.

 

Apparently, it started with a kiss....

And a gentle embrace...

 

 

 

And then it went like this

The flautist fluted his double flute, on the accompaniophonio lyre was the Nimph who plucked the lyre strings. Two other nimphs held the goat back.

 

 

In this one...

The hero (Zues) turned himself into a bull that somehow manages to get the hottie Europa to sit on him while her girlfireiendsio play kiss the bull on the cheeks. The Zuesio then carries Europa off to a meditteraynian isola called bournda and she has three kiddies by Zues...

 

 




In this next one Zues's mate Hercules gets it all wrong. I may have mentioned this earlier for those of you paying strict attentions.

Mrs Hercules is out with the kids in the chariot. It runs out of fire down near the creek. Good old Nessus who has the hot hot hots for the Deianeira offers assistance.

Hercules turns up just as the wife is being fondled in appropriate places and goes beserkio.

He pulls the Nessus hair and give him a foot up the arse.

Nessus says" it's because I am half a beast isn't it? "

Herc says" fuck off four legs"

Diana says" not in front the children please Herculio, let's just let the nice beastman help me and the children of a god cross this three foot deep creek"

The wife fell for the " it's a this big" line and it was all down hill from there.

 



And it all ended in tears.

In the room of the rude pictures at the museo Siena was very interested in the frescoes and accidently slipped one into her bag.

It was this one.

 

 

unfortunately an americano touristico squealed to the galleria heat and they took her away.

 

 

And then they had a huge punch up.

 

The security goon will be off work for 6 weeks and Siena should be out in time for the Napoli Pisa Treno on Martedi.

 

On the way home from the carabinieri we funicolari to Castellio st. Elmo.

 

I love the funicolari

 



And a Castillo view

 

And an evening twirl.

 

And an evening look out

Time to go the men's bar and watch the poms got flogged by gianluigi the goalie.

 

Grazie e arreviderci

Mio

The Circumvesuviana e dolce vita

I love napoli

It is just 35 minutes from 24 augusto 79 AD by Circumvesuviana linea Sorento and just only the $4.50 euro riturnirino eachio persona.

Napoli is loud. It is louder than the Melbourne Moombas or the sidenee mardi gay.

It is a magnificent chaotic orchestratio of sounds, smells, senses and stuff about things.

Every one is giving every one the eye. Every one is just in or or just out of love, or just looking....

No one is perfect, everyone is.

No one has the best hairdo, everyone does.

Everyone airs everyone's washing and

you can punto panicorama the sea from nearly everywhere, and if you can't you can smell something like it.

And the Treno

I love the Napoli Treno, they are the carriers of life.

The Metro ( all tre different ones ), The Cumana, The Circumvesuviana, (it goes around Vesuvius in a circle, I think it is an allegory of neoplolitano ) The circumflegrei ( it goes I dunno where) and the funicolari ( it goes straight the hill not even a bicycle could go up) ....

A trip in any one of them is like going to the movies.

You go in and watch life cavort before your eyes and ears. You come out and you are the same but you are in different place and changed for ever better.

This is a set of stills from the short film I am making of la adventurino. The working title is yet to be resolved but this vignette is called " nodding nippons- the 18.14 Circumvesuvia from Ercolana to Garibaldi".

scene uno.

The happy couple nod off.

 

scene duo

The Deep nodding

 

scenario tre

The REM nodding.

 

 

scenario quatt

The very Asleep nodding.

 

It is a silent movie. Well no talkies anyway jusy a lot of traino noisio crescedios and still they sleeping. I wake them up at garibaldi.

anyway more about the fillum later, back to the diggings.

The Pompeii scavi is immensio. Is nearly as big the hole they dug for the woolworths car park in Bega a few years ago but a bit more old.

 

 

When the ash comes down everything get covered and Some of the people got plastered

 

The heads are in the museo back in Napoli, I hope.

At the pompeii We went places the scavi no persons go before.

They dug ups some old roots

which they used to make exacto replicato of the olden daze viniagro wine grape trees. Is called villa di misteri.

The vino a bit like paint stripper but very spencio.

This the drawing of The sales senorita i meet there. Bit of masculine face but, hey, that can happen to anyone these days...

 

 

 

 

She/he say essascooze mi a lot. I thought she said squeeze me is what I said the guardia. He say, that's ok it can happen to anybody these days. He had excellentio eenglayse. I hardly understandio him.

I then go get the map.

It look like this;

Then I go up the walls.

 

All you gotta do is keep the sun over the right shoulder and an eye on the terra cotta bricks between the cobbles.

I find some lovely fresh paintings covered with wax and made colors of flowers seeds all Grinding upio.

Is a beautiful.

 

Then I do a building inspectio. I a google this one. I think it a kitchen bench. Just the right height to chop and slice a things on.

I wonder what they put in them pots?

Stuff lying around everywhere....

 

 

Btw, Ercolano kills Pompeii. Better stuff, less big crowds, nicer granitios at the top of the hill and a sea breeze.

this thr remains of neptunes house.

this a tentacle.

From the octopus I told you I would buy.

This is just wonderfulio.

the ercolana cattle duffer.

 

And so it goes e napoli e Pompeii e Ercolana....

 

Modern life still far away in Big silver bird in a big blue Napoli sky

 

va bene

Prego

Ciao

Marco