It's Not Goodbye (My Love-Hate Relationship)

This morning I woke up and it was just like any other day, except I had just slept in Italy for the last time. I didn't really wanna get up, I just wanted to stay in bed, but I had the final inspection to do so I sucked it up. I stripped my bed and for the first time I thought "this is it". After the inspection which lasted all of 5 minutes, I watched a movie and then went online from the mall.

Right now I am sitting at the base air terminal (thank god for wifi), waiting for my 11:40 pm flight. It seems so silly they make you check in no later than 7:00 pm and then make you wait all those hours. At least there is an internet cafe and free wifi now.

When I first came to Italy over two years ago, I had all these things I was gonna do and places I was gonna see and just a million things in my head. I enjoyed my time here. I traveled quite a bit, but there are still so many places I didn't get to see. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sistine Chapel, Assisi, the Cinque Terre, Milan. I would have loved to have gone back to Venice at a better time of year, when it isn't cold and the water up to my knees. I would have loved to see the Venice Carnevale and the Palio in Siena. I never went to see the live Nativity scene at Christmas in downtown Naples. I never saw the Pantheon in Rome. All this saddens me because it makes me realize how much more I could have done, how much more I could have seen. I know that there was no way I could have seen all of Italy in two years but I also know that should have gotten out there more.

Even though Naples is a shithole and the driving is terrible and the people are rude and the roads are more potholes than asphalt and they are covered with trash everywhere and the air is dirty because of the burning garbage, I guess it sorta grew on me, and I didn't realize it till now. I suppose it's a case of "you don't know what you've got until you don't". I wouldn't like to live here all my life, but it's not such a bad place after all. The food is awesome, the wine is great, the pastries are amazing and the bread.....oh my god the bread! I love the bread here, and I am gonna miss it, no doubt about it. I haven't found bread like here anywhere else I've been. The cheese is not too shabby, especially mozzarella cheese, after all, Campania, and specifically the province of Caserta is THE mozzarella producing area. I am also a big fan of prosciutto crudo.

Right about now, I would give just about anything for one more rum soaked baba, for a cream filled cornetto, for a pizza margherita. They say that if you don't like Italy as far south as Naples, you shouldn't go further south because it gets worse, but the food gets better. I must agree with that statement. There is absolutely nothing like Neapolitan food. The seafood is so fresh it 's almost still looking at you, the pasta is incredible and there are more variety of sauces than I could ever list. They put all sorts of things in pasta, ham, peas, beans, squid. They even make dessert that are pasta based. Lovely. I had also never had pizza like Naples pizza. There is no comparison, none whatsoever. There is also an incredible variety of toppings, and not all pizza has tomato sauce. My favorite for instance, is "quatro formaggi", that means four cheeses, which include mozzarella and Parmesan, the other two usually vary.

I am gonna miss driving fast. There are speed limits here, but no one seems to know them or they don't seem to care. Nowhere else have I been able to zoom right past a police car without being pulled over. Red lights and stop signs don't mean anything, most of the time traffic lights don't even work. People expect you to drive like a madman so if you actually drive sanely you'll either cause an accident or get the high beams flashed at you incessantly. One time I saw a man driving a manual transmission car with a baby on his lap. I kid you not. Seat belts are overrated and kids just ride free in the car, with half their bodies hanging out the windows. But I must admit I like driving fast.

I have spent the last two years bitching about this place and now, as I am about to leave, I get all nostalgic about it. Sure, it's not perfect and it could definitely use some improvement, but it has been home for the past two years and I have gotten used to its good things as well as its craziness. I am gonna miss looking at Mount Vesuvio every morning when I step outside. I am gonna miss it, no doubt but I am still glad I'm leaving. I know that I am contradicting myself but as you can see, I have very mixed feelings. I won't say "goodbye" I will say "till next time" because I know I will come back here someday and have one more pizza, one more plate of pasta, one more slice of mozzarella and one more piece of bread.