Pozzuoli. The City On The Volcano

The first Greek settling was there on the left

Yesterday I passed afternoon by one of the members of our Bon-group, Lia. She lives in Pozzuoli in province of Naples. In this period she is preparing a ritrit with Geshe Gelek Jimpa, and I wanted to take the test that we will study with him. So I went to Lia in Pozzuoli.

Pozzuoli is a very interesting place, I have to say you.
The Romans used it as a recreational place. There are many healing springs there. From other side, it's the place where the first Greeks were landed to create their colony. So where you will look there, your eyes have to see the historically priceless things.

Not only historicaly. Because there is a VERY-VERY nice place here: a half-sleeping volcano (and you have to know that there are many different sleeping craters there). Solfatara it's name.

Just before I married and came in Italy, about 15 years ago, it was difficult time for the residents. There were about 400 shocks, Lia said, they slept all clothed to be ready to run away if necessary (Where???). She had 2 little children at that time. So, after that the earth raised 1,90 m. There are columns of a Greek temple there where the residents can see how changes the hight of their earth. They, columns, were under the water of the sea after Greek period -about 2-4 meters in depth, I think, now they are abow sea level. But the main part of the Greek town is under the water today, and you can see it from the boat in summer.

I have to go there for ritrit and I'll make more and best photos next week.

Baia, the half-insel there was the preferite recreational place for Romans

How Have You Imagin A Man

In our museum in Salerno I've seen an other interesting thing when I read books about history of art.
Statue of Hermes Kriophoros that is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This statue was made in 520-510 BC. I wanted to find it in Internet and here it is. I found it in this site.

The photo is made not from the side I wanted to show you, but I could not find other. Look at the sheep in the hand of Hermes. It is so interesting! Why? Look at it's relaxed position. It seems to be a cat, not a rem.
Are you agree with me?

So, I loved this God, the god of flocks and herds. Soooo much I loved him, that I wanted to show to you, how much he loves animals...

But when I opened the page I found other pictures that represent the same god.
And I thought, it's an interesting mode to see the most important parts of the person. Look at these statues.

By the way. (I saw now the central person on the picture on the bottom here.)
There is a National Archeological Museum in Naples. And there is a "Hidden Gabinett" there. It is a place where there are all most incredble sorts of representations of this theme there. The kings collected them and had them hidden that women could not see them.
If you'll visit Naples, don't forget about it, you will discover manythings, you could never imagin in your life. I Bet.

To see the big pictures visit the site where I found them.

Is it for you travel alone?

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I read now an interesting article where a male-traveller tells about so many good things that is possible to learn if travelling alown. Between these things are responsability, self-reliance, indipendence, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual growth, care for their own self, learns how to love itself...

Maybe I'm not right and my friends-males that read this blog will not agree with me, but I think it can be written only by a male, this list. Because female have to learn all this without travelling. Maybe I'm not right.

I had to travel alown all my life and do it mostly alown today too. Because my husband has not interest for this. So from my experience traveling alown is sad. First. A partner can give you necessary help in some cases (one goes to ask for information, other remains with a car in a place where it's unpossible to leave a car, for example). Finally, for a woman it can be dangerous (in some cases a simple presence of a man nearby can protect from bad conseguences).

Travelling alone is good too. You can do what you want, plan your trip without problems related on other person. ecc ecc
But if you do it always, it's sad.
My opinion.

Tip's And Tipping Tips

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I was surprized to red this article in CNN.com/travel.

The story begins with you sitting in a cafe in Tokio and preparing to "leaving a healthy 20 percent tip".
I did not know a right word for this practice but it's interesting to understand this other rule to know if you visit other countries. Here are some qoters from the article:

Tipping in Japan and many other Asian countries is simply not a way of life. In fact, it's usually regarded as a vulgar display of wealth and a disregard for the culture. The same can be true in Europe and Latin America ... though not always. And in the United States, of course, tipping is expected (and sometimes demanded).

The expectation is to tip not only big but also often, from the kid handing you a Venti coffee at Starbucks to the multiple hotel hands that rush to open doors, carry bags, and offer an escort to the hotel room. (in US)

If you're taking a taxi in Chile or New Zealand, for example, the driver won't give you the evil eye if you don't tip -- it's not expected

In many European countries, this charge averages 10 percent, but it's usually included in the price of a meal. If it is, then do as the European do, and leave a few extra coins or round up the bill... And if you're heading to Fiji, Malaysia, or South Korea, be aware that no tip is required in restaurants.

I don't know about the high cost places in Italy, but in the normal life I rarely see that somebody wants a tip.
In bar you can lieve coins to the barist or put them in a special piggy bank -you can, but it's not obligatory and nobody will say you anything if you did not do it.
In some restaurants you can find 1 euro for service in the bill, but not in all of them.
There are sooooo many bars and different pizzerias and similar now, that they are happy if they have somebody that comes to eat there.

The only place where you will be forced to give tip is the toilet. Specially those in autostrada, McDonalds and similar. If you have not coins, don't go there. In autostrada look for t in filling station, not in Autogril. And be careful, there are persons that want money for parking.

Most parkings in the cities have illegal persons that want money. It's better to pay. For you, for your car and sometimes for your life. If you have not 2-3 euro to give him for place (sometimes less) it's better if you look for other parking.

Traditional Italian Meal

If you visit my blog "Animals as Friends" you read my reports from agricultural show in Bastia Umbra ( A Mann And A Bull, Italian Cattle Breeds and will come others)

Now, here I wanted to tell you about one traditional Italian course.

Italians from North and Sud can love one other as Kosovo and Serbia, but there is a thing that unites all parts of Italy better as Garibaldi. And it's "Pan'ino". One of the best it's ingredients is "Porch'etta". What mean these words you can see on my photos and you'll not need explanations.

"Panino" you can buy in many little shops every day. Workers eat them during their morning-break. There are special shops that sell only "panino" and there are auto-shops that come in the squares only on Sundays. Here, in our zone, people go very often in these places after or during Sunday-evening family-walk. It's a part of this walk.

You can choose what you want in your "panino". Normally it means a piece of meat, fried on the grill, and vegetables. Hamburger, sausage or "porchetta" as meat. The vendor prepares panino for your eyes: warms bread, fries meat, adds vegetables and sauce, wraps it in the paper -and your meal is redy. You need only to ad a drink.

The best "porchetta" I've ever ate was always in this show. I think they prepare it once a year and when this show takes part, "porchetta" is very fresh. When you eat it in other months, it's more dry. But I like it fresh, with "juise". Practically it's boiled pork meat. Made in a special way.

There were not much other food manufacturers (hope it's the right word) this year. Here you see cheese, cooked meats and sausages.

Train-traveller

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Some days ago I found an interesting site "The Man In Seat Sixty-one" where there is great quantity of intersting information. And among all it, tips how to travel in Europe with train.

I like train travelling. More. I like trains from my childhood. That special "tac-tac", odour -and pictures that fly for the eyes.

Today I try to come from place A to place B in less time as possible for headaches and prefere airlines if can, but I like trains.

With Internet the life of a traveller in Europe became very simple.
If you have to travel in Italy, you can and HAVE to visit the railway-site first. And there - promotions and offers. Because sometimes there are very interesting promotions like tickets of the last minute ot 10 -19 euro-tickets. So, you can spend not 60 but 10 euro for a ticket, for example, and with 50 euro go in an interesting place next day.

Than, you can buy your ticket online and avoid many problems in the railwaystation when you have not time to look for the pay desk or to wait your turn. It's very important, you know. You are quiet and think only where you can sit to relax a little. So open Michelin maps, find where is the next to your aim railway-station and turn to railway site and book your ticket.

It seems simple, but you do not think about these possibilities when you plan your trip.

A Whistle as Security Weapon

I wanted to finish this internet-day this evening, but suddenly found an incredibly article in Mail.ru. It's a little but very significant notice. I laugh else after I read it. So, decided to share it -to know if it's true too, because I have some friends-bloggers from Thailand.

Yes, it's about Thailand.

They say, the very popular beaches and places of interest in Thailand are dangerous for tourists, specially if they, tourists, are women, and more if they are women that travel alown. Not only because criminal situation in these places is not good, but all types of criminal organizations and their bosses like to relax there too. Mail.ru writes about too many tragic incidents with tourists in the last period (about a year).

After the next case on the island Phuket (Map from Wikipedia) when a Swede woman was killed, authorities decided to adopt resolute solution. Now every tourist-women visiting the Island Phuket will receive a whistle. The notice has to come from Thailand Tourist Ministry. I don't know to say you precisely when begins this security action. You have to inform before you leave.

Read what say about it
PK from Thailand: Phuket Advice in the comment to this post and here:

Hello! Not sure if the site could deliver message in russian. It's true about Sweden woman killed on beach recently. Anyway Phuket is one of the safest places on Earth because it's about 1 from a million chance to die there for tourist (4 deaths in this season: this poor woman + 3 men).

Thank you, Pavel for your collaboration!

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Enter Time Machine in Salerno

The possibility to plunge in past millenniums is most interesting in Salerno, when you visit it. I think, there are not so many towns that not only have millenniums of history but allow you to look into them. Here I present you one of these itineraries that we will walk together with Archaeological Group of Salerno .

Turn up your imagination and follow me.

Our route begins in one of the largest squares of the old town, I think. I post this photo only to make you easier the confront with the place we are going to see than. So we pass it and enter in the one-car-street on the left of the church on the photo here:

Every step you make here remembers past times. Like this Roman column built in the wall of the house. There are many of them here in the town. Probably, persons in the Middle Ages loved splendor of the life in Roman Empire. :))

Maybe you will say: that houses look not very good here. It's right. All streets have new pavements, but it's really difficult to repair all houses in the short time. But municipality makes it's best in this sense.

And our group gets going in the street you see in front of you on the right.

Finally we reach the little square where the church of our interest is. The old town is situated on the mountainside, that is why many streets have steps here.
An other interesting thing you can see on this photo. The population of the town was growing with time, but persons were afraid of bandits and military troups and prefered to live inside the town wall. So, dwellings were built were residents could find some place and old towns are similar on the vespiaries.

Sincerely, I don't know to say you precisely, but I think, the ascendant steps of this church are an other prove that it was very important at the time of it's splendor. I know that other front staircases of this type were built to create "ascendant in the sky" impression to the visitors of the churches. Everything was aimed to create this feeling. Because the faith is the connection with God existing over the everyday life.
And here we can begin to speak about time machine we are entering in.

Do you like those documentaries where scientist tell you everything about a person that lived 5 000 years ago? Or something like this? This is the same.
The plant of the church tells us that it is not a simple church but basilica, and it was not catholic but orthodox. Here we are in the XV century.

You need only to go down the steps to return some centuries back in time. The crypt presents pictures of different Saints here. And some of them come from XIII century, others from IX-XI cent. Today the crypt is under ground-level but in that period it was a normal building and was used as private chapel. Floods changed the foot-level of the city that is 7 meters higer as in Roman time today.

Here on the right is the first part of wall-paintings, those from IX-XI cent.

But the story is not finished here. The wall, that Director of the Archaeological Group, Felice Pastore, is showing to us (photo down here), was built by Romans. And it was not a private house but public building in the time of Empire and precisely in II century.

After the Roman Empire was destructed by Babar's and the town was many times buried by floods and eruptions, persons cleaned the rests of the Roman town and built in and over them their houses and churches... and live in them till today! Incredibly.

With this post I wanted only to show you how is it interesting to know what is situating under your feet. And how archeologists discover the truth about the life of our ancestries. That is why there are not stories here. The place of a post is not enough for great article. It could be an other post, the stories of these persons.

Narrow Streets of Salerno

Last time I was in Salerno I made some photos of the streets of the old city.

Once I read a post about the only very narrow street in a native city of the blogger and it made me laugh. Really narrow are the medieval streets in Italy and France. Streets, where one person can pass with great problems (S.Paul in France) and if a car could pass there, it was an enormous avenue.

All those were normal rules of city building in Europe in that time to protect residents from the bandits of all sorts. The life was too dangerous. Every family had more than 10 children and when they were big, the family has not possibilities to give them to eat, to give them a house ecc. So all those man without earth and money made their fortune in the way they could. Mostly killing others to take their goods and soil.

In the times before Christ, when there were places without population, Greeks, Italics, Sannits could send those youngs all together in far countries, where they could find free soil, but in Middle Ages it was not possible more. So Vikings or Normans and European guys (remember crusades) went in southern countries to kill residents and to become residents themselves. Logically they killed only men (normally).

20-30 years later (or 5-10 too) the other wave of "disherid" youngs came in the same places. But the residents were ready to accieve them...
This is the reason of the narrow streets.

Photos below I made more bright.
The last photo has naturally light.
Imagin ventilation of the streets and how they are wet...




And this is a really narrow street: one-man large (look down)


Read More:
Visiting Medieval Salerno

Expressive hand gestures

Italian language is reach on expressive hand gestures, they are different from region to region and the most popular is this way of communication in Naples, I think. First of all, because historical origins of this language is different as in other parts of Italy. For different centuries kings of the region had roots in Catalonia, so the dialect of Naples is more easily comprehensive for Catalonians as for Italians -and the gestures dialect too.

The best example is "yes".
What do you do, when you say "yes"? Probably you bend your head forward down-up.
If you are Bulgarian, you rock it left-right.
Neapolitan click with the tongue and bend the head up-back.

Nothing terrible, if you don't understand it.

Sometimes gestures language is not so innocent as we think about it. When you plan a trip in a place that you did not visit before, you have to control the most popular and offensive gestures common for that place. To understand where they've sent you, at least.

An other popular gesture is "ok"
Something like in this photo.
Very well -if you are American or Russian
Great job -the hand moves from right to left "closing a zip" -in Italy

but......
it has indecent sense in Brazil
offensive -you are zero -if you show it to a person in France or Germany
money -in Japan
I'll kill you -in Tunisia
Go to devil -in Siria

Do you understand? Take your hands well bended, when you travel!

Different sources. Maybe not very attendible (my opinion). Correct me, if you find errors.