Monte Cassino, and our apartment at Torre del Greco

Approaching Naples, I was more than somewhat disconcerted to see a number of cars apparently held together by sellotape!  (well that's a bit of an exaggeration but not by much... oh well ok...there were 4).  If your car is unblemished you probably bought it yesterday!

it's there..just a bit hard to see on this pix

Either I was tired or perhaps getting closer to a big metropolis on a Saturday there was just more traffic on the road, but I did NOT enjoy driving into the Naples area.

The 4 hour drive from Anghiari would bring us to our accommodation in Torre del Greco about 2 hours early , so we stopped at Cassino to visit the Abbey there which was the object of a major WW2 bombardment .  As we drove up, the abbey looked so elegant and modern, I wondered aloud if we were in the wrong place. We weren't but I had to buy a postcard showing the effect of the bombardment and it's  current state to be convinced.

Then it was on on on getting more fraught as we neared our destination....on a rather grotty looking street. A quick response to our phone call and we were ushered in to our 2 ROOMED apartment. Kitchen, Dining table and TV were all in with the double bed and with the bathroom off it. The 2 single beds are in the entry room!  Choice of bedrooms is turn and turn about so it was Alex's turn to get the better room...dammit!

TV just above the photographer, kitchen stove and sink behind and to the left  bathroom to the extreme left

We made an instant decision to leave early...so Tuesday not Friday.

However it's  moments and places like this that live on in our memories when other normal places do not. They might challenge us at the time but we look back on them with a variety of emotions.

Amusing moments started immediately:
1.  with Alex being unable to get out of the bathroom. Took him a good increasingly panicky 10 minutes and we now don't  lock the door.
2. The shower hose/rose connection leaks so much very little water actually gets to the shower head..so water sprays everywhere = flood!

3. Lucky we weren't  ravenous as the pasta water took  30 mins at least to boil on the highest setting.
4. OK so I'm  short and Alex isn't  exactly tall but the plate shelves are so high I can't   and Alex can only just reach them!

 at full stretch my hand reaches halfway to the top shelf

 ALL is not doom and gloom though..there is AC in both rooms, free internet, a Smart TV and the water is hot..when we can direct it onto our bodies! It is also well placed being  on the road to both Vesuvius and Herculaneum.

We went out for a pizza at a local pizzeria and look who was at the next table..hard to tell I guess..but it was a baby rabbit.