Saturday, November 11 – Another Mission Accomplished

Here’s another Forrest Gump day when we did what we have done before.  As mentioned Thursday, when we were here in 2009, Fabrizio showed us the Amalfi Coast.  In 2015, D scoured the city looking [successfully] for a BNP bank ATM to get euros.  Returning to the ship, he brought a pizza and local cannoli for our lunch.  However, the port lecturer on that trip spoke of getting pizza literally below the Naples cruise terminal, so last year we did just that.  If this were a hole in the wall, it would be a step up, but the pizza was good and we decided to return today.

First, however, was the Dance of the Free WiFi.  D ventured forth into the terminal after breakfast while MA worked on the crossword puzzle.  He was lucky for two reasons: most of the crew was still on board for a drill AND most of the passengers were on excursions.  There was plenty of room in the terminal and a good connection.  As he walked into a seating area, he saw another tourist obviously on line.  When he asked about the WiFi, she told him which one to sign in on and gave him the password.  Could it get any easier?

His main goal in the terminal was to finish downloading pictures from the Florence synagogue.  He had tried to share them via email directly from the camera, but only about half came through.  The phone said “failed” for 8 emails for two days.  At least it was still trying to send them.  While he was signed in to the internet on the phone, hoping the pictures would finally arrive in the inbox, he used the laptop to download the photos which had appeared to the memory card from the camera so all the pictures would be in one place.  Later he will copy them into a file on the laptop and onto another memory stick.  Better safe than you-know-what.

Those pesky pictures never did show up and the laptop battery was getting low, so he went back to the cabin and tackled the puzzle himself while the laptop recharged.  Much to MA’s frustration, he was able to complete the puzzle.  Then we packed our tablets in a bag and trotted over to the terminal so MA could catch up with her internet programs without fear of bankruptcy.  D played on his tablet, too, hoping to hear the chime of emailed pictures arriving.  It was not to be.

By now it was 1 pm and time for lunch.  We put everything back in the bag and took an elevator to street level.  The Naples terminal is shaped like an H with a roadway passing under the crossbar.  “Our” café was under the crossbar, literally on the roadway.  The smell of diesel fumes mingled with cigarette smoke, but we sat in a covered area out of the way of most of the fumes if not the noise.

We devoured a small pepperoni pizza and Diet Cokes and traded text messages with Emily.  The café has WiFi but the staff inputs the passcode instead of just giving it out.  We tried to Skype with Emily and Harper but, once again, we could not get synchronized so we had a video chat [sort of] using FB Messenger.  Road noise made it hard to hear, but the picture was clear.  Overall, it was a better connection and conversation than some we have tried on cruise ships.

Oh!  While we were there, the pictures all showed up in the inbox making today an unqualified success.  After the chat and the pizza, we returned to the Veendam where MA had a SCAN and D downloaded the last pictures and then updated the journal.

NOTE:  “The Other Marianne,” as she is known, responded to yesterday’s comment about paying to get into St. Peter’s.  She said that it was free when she was there last year but we think they let her in because she is so religious [and has put so much in the collection plate over the years].  We will probably never find out.

TOMORROW – A Sea Day before the Onslaught