Revisit? These two are way down the least of places that I’d like to Revisit.

Perhaps I’m a bit unfair with my reasoning but, with all the places I haven’t been that I want to visit and all the places that I do want to revisit….these two aren’t priorities.

They may really be worth a revisit just because of the reason they weren’t the most fun. Meaning that first of all the weather wasn’t the most endearing and secondly (and highly likely) is the location in which we stayed.

Valencia doesn’t get a revisit

I had to sit sideways on the toilet here! I don’t like to sit on a toilet sideways!!!

Maybe that’s not reason enough because I can always find better living quarters where the bathroom is large enough for the toilet seating to be a bit more comfortable. Maybe. I’ve had more than one toilet experience that was odd and uncomfortable.

The first thing I noticed on the cab drive to the airbnb Apartment was all the orange trees bearing oranges down the boulevards!! Awesome!!

Getting to the apartment was a bit awkward for the driver…..it couldn’t be accessed from the main boulevard because of a one way exit and the surrounding one way streets weren’t in our favor.

One of the glaring things that stood out on this drive was that the area was all apartment buildings. Very little stores and sights.

There was a historical landmark about 1 and a half miles from the apartment but……it’s rainy and cold for all the 3 days here and on the second day, I’m not feeling well.

Then I have troubles finding a drugstore. And the drugstores in Europe don’t have their cough and cold medicines on the floor….nope, that’s behind the counter. Understand, the floor space for shopping is rather small and mostly utility health items and some makeup. Behind the counter is a different thing, as they have back rooms full of all the goodies that are displayed normally on the shelves available to the customers in the U.S.

The apartment was nice and roomy except for the bathroom. Oh, another thing about this bathroom and that toilet. Above the toilet was a window peering into the adjacent apartment. Go figure!!!

The second day I was awakened to a troubadour with his keyboard four stories down along with a fellow who was his ambitious collector and thought I was due payment for the wake up entertainment. Nope, not gonna be bullied into this, besides the apartment building is gated. That freak best not find his way up here.

On the fourth day we leave by train for Barcelona. The Train Station isn’t a very far walk, but I’m ill and it’s cold rain….yet I have one more day to stay before departure.

On my final full day in Valencia, all the sights I’m seeing are the tops of apartment buildings.

Naples gets an outside chance of an unlikely revisit…

I’m thinking this was all about location. At least I’m hoping what this experience was, just location. It was walking distance from the train station which we arrived at from Rome. By the way, the train station in Barcelona is probably the most extravagant place I’ve visited that’s designed around a transportation hub. It was encased by a ‘huge’ mall. On a side note….McDonald’s is a big deal there. I’ve not seen a McDonald’s that LARGE in the U.S., plus the lines were at least a half hour long!!! Ridiculous.

https://johngaudet.picfair.com

But, more about Naples.

By now, we’re aiming at hotels to stay in and we’re in Naples for just 3 days.

So, we make our way to the hotel from the train station (not to be confused with the train station in Barcelona, not even close) in a rather dingy area of town…..and the sights on the walk didn’t improve.

The hotel really wasn’t that far, but it was a bit difficult to locate as the marque for the hotel was about 3 stories up and the size of a kitchen sink.

One of the main things I was looking for in anywhere we stayed was a lift (elevator). The drudgery of toting luggage was old (the 1st stay was 5 stories with no lift!!!) and wearing me out!!

Not expecting to revisit Naples….

This hotel announce proudly it had a lift. Yet, in what is normally the lobby (this lobby was on the 3rd floor) there was no lift to be found.

So, there I am dragging luggage up these old stairs and actually having to stop to take breaks (long steep stairs!). On one rest this elderly gentleman was urging me to stop in Italian, pointing downstairs with me trying to explain there’s nothing down there. Since he didn’t speak English, and I ‘zilch’ Italian he got his son who spoke English. His son took my luggage and admonished me for not taking the lift!!!

Comes to be that the lift is down there, but on a different side of the building and it cost 20 cents to use.

The 20 cents to use wasn’t a problem, but finding it over the next 3 days was a problem…..never found it!

Although the son did bring us to it on our way as we were leaving. Never would have found it. A very precarious piece of equipment that lead down to a dungeon like area about 40 feet from the street leading to the train station.

If the elevator experience and finding it is a bit confusing…..it was.

Naples

The thing I did like about the visit to Naples was the surrounding shops with foods, breads, and pastries. The most popular beer (at least in this area) is Heineken.

The creepy thing arriving to the cross street to the hotel was the street vendors hawking their goods….made me real uncomfortable. Seem like a lot of shady characters but I’m assured by my hotel/hostel concierge that the area is safe (that’s right ‘hostel’….it’s seems it was half hotel and half hostel, very nice room and a very clean place).

Besides the great shops that surrounded the hotel, the morning would bring a bazaar in most of the streets. You name, it was there!!!

My favorite by now is finding what the local beer is to sample (not just a taste, at least 2) along with a wine with breads and cheeses. My life seems to revolve around breads, cheeses, and pastry. Even with all the walking I’m doing, the breads, cheeses, and pastry are have a profound effect on my size!! It gets worse in Marseille, France!!! Good gosh!!

I must say, I did have the ‘Best’ pizza in Naples.

Great Pizza, not great enough to revisit….

What gives this place the possibility of a revisit is that I’ve seen photos of celebrities visiting and it didn’t look quite as run down and ragged as my area.

I was completely astounded by the way they parked!

From here it was on to one of the highlight visits….a bus ride to Pompeii!!!

Peace, love, and beaches,

John

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