This is the second time this deployment I have had to endure a loved one passing away while I am trapped in this Godforsaken environment.

Lynn Scuttelaro was a good friend of mine and a fellow aviator. She had just finished her tour in Iraq and had gone back to normal life in Colorado. Not exactly the kind of news you like to receive when stepping of the Hummvee at 5 am after being up all night in transit from one hell hole to another. I will miss her dearly. May she rest in peace.

I promise the rest of this blog is a little more light hearted.
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Napoli

Under normal circumstances I like to go in some semblance of actual order when it comes to how I write. In this case I can no longer take it and I must comment on the city of what Americans call Naples. Dean Martin, a very prominent Italian, coined it “ol’Napoli”. Allow me to add to the list of names. I shall call it Italy’s Dump.

Yes, that sounds a little negative, but consider what I have seen. This blog is going to be a little passionate. It will sound as though I am putting down the city of Napoli. In actuality I will point out that they are slight victims of Rome. As in any case there are two sides to every story and while Rome may have got things started, the citizens of Napoli can no longer use that as an excuse as too much time has passed.

Along time ago it was the Kingdom of Napoli. It was rich with art and jewels and things that make a kingdom rich. When Italy became unified Rome took what it needed to help the industrial movement in the north flourish. This left Napoli in the dirt and in a personal, only scratching the surface view, opinion, it has never recovered. My biggest question is “WHY NOT!?”

My hotel is meters from the train station, a journey I dread when I have to make it. I must cross several lines of completely unorganized traffic to get to the station which seems only a few paces away, provided you don’t get hit by a scooter or a smart car. I’ll comment on those in a future blog. The UNA Hotel Napoli is a jewel in the rough. My room is on the 5th floor with twin balconies that foster a cool breeze in the evening and allow me to watch the markets and the traffic below. The hotel itself is wonderful but the location is horrible.

While in Napoli you can take day long excursions which I recommend. Get out of the city! My only excursion out of the city was to the ancient city of Pompeii. If you come to Italy and are of the archaeological mind you must see this! You must also make the journey to Herculaneum which is another little known city destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. I’ll get to Pompeii in another blog. Yes, I am going to be very busy, so keep your eyes peeled over the next several weeks for good reading.

My city excursion was very purposeful. After being in Napoli for 36 hours I had a horrible view of what Dean Martin was trying to get across. That “Ol’Napoli” was quickly becoming much worse so I decided to clear my mind and give Napoli a little more of a fair shake. After all, I had only seen what was visible from my room and what the train to Pompeii would show. So we set out to find the Napoli Archaeological Museum on foot. By the time I had reached the museum I was fighting the urge to go back to my original opinion that Napoli was Italy’s dump. I mean really fighting. I decided to reserve my opinion until I was back at the hotel room.

The museum only added to the original opinion. I do have to say that I was impressed with the exhibits at the museum, most of which were recovered from Pompeii. The also had the largest collection of sculptures in the likes of Marcus Aurelius, a new personal hero of mine. His name should sound familiar to those of you whom are fans of the movie “Gladiator”. The sculptures showed him going from a boy to an Emperor. Other exhibits were frescos and floor murals from Pompeii. This place is a must see if you visit Napoli. I must warn you though the museum does reflect the city’s inability to clean up after itself or do the little things necessary to make a good place great.

We continued around the city to the port. Each step taken would show me a cleaner and less crowded picture of Napoli. Our next stop was the Castle Nuovo. A most excellent example of a castle though the exhibit as a whole lacked and no one seemed to really care whether the castle was open or about the exhibits contained in side. It did offer us a view of the Port which was very wonderful. Aside from the usual massive cruise ships and ferries there were a few diner cruise ships and military boats that were impressive to view. The structures that supported the port were very old but restored and still gave the “ol’Napoli” feel. Not to mention the basic street trash was at its lowest point here.

As the excursion continued back around to the hotel it was back into the slums. At one point I had to fight the urge to vomit. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a citizen of Napoli would allow this city to become what is. I realize that there are many other factors that I am not privy to when it come to matters of the state of Napoli. For example, there are many other people here from different nations that are vendors within the city that contribute to its environment. Street vendors selling what I like to call “crap”. These people may not have the same pride in Napoli as a local, but after being accosted by an old business man in the train station in Rome about my slouching I would think that pride is an Italian thing not just a Roman thing. I would also like to venture that Napolitano pride is nearly non-existent since we witnessed several Napolites throw their trash on the ground when only inches, and I mean “inches”, from an empty trash can.

Regardless of money problems or any other political issues you may want to blame on the status of Napoli you cannot disagree with me when I say that cleaning up after yourself costs nothing, taking pride in your city cost nothing. It would appear that Napoli suffers from the lazy citizen and unless you are going to see Pompeii or Herculaneum I would not even bother with the trip.

If you do make it to the once Kingdom of Napoli, stay at the UNA Hotel Napoli. It’s within walking distance from the train station, even with three large bags and two carry-on's. There are a few good restaurants near buy and everything mentioned in this blog is well within walking distance to include a Mall for those of you interested in not wading through trash while you shop for Italian fashions.

Stay tuned! I still have Venice, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Kaiserslautern, Germany to go and then a special appearance by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Emperor of Rome in the movie Gladiator.