Salerno Mob Squad
This is continued from Nate and my journey to Catania, sorry for jumping around with my entries...
We were in Salerno for a few hours before our train was to depart. We got some dinner then headed to the train station waiting room. The room itself was large, square in shape with lots of seats. We noticed some “regulars” there and it wasn't long before they started pulling out cardboard boxes from behind the chairs and laying them down to go to bed.
One by the one the crazies walked in, making noise, arguing over the boxes among other things. There was one guy with a really long beard who was constantly twitching and muttering to himself. Then this cute black dog came in, looking for attention, eventually sleeping on some cardboard next to us. After a little while, the Godfather of the transients came in, dressed slightly better than the rest, pushing around some of the other regulars, yelling God knows what. He comes in drinking coffee with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, goes to the window, opens it for 2 minutes, then closes it, pets the dog, makes this other guy take his sweater off (don't know what that was all about), offers his drink to the others, then sits down and watches the room. There was an older woman who I think wanted to sleep where the dog was, so she asked the Godfather to move the dog, then after the dog (Nero was his name, Italian for Blackey) moves, she doesn't lay down. She started pushing the rows of seats away from the corner to make more room, waking up another sleeping guy on the row she was pushing. He was annoyed. Instead she just went back to where she was sitting on the other side of the room.
Then the regulars started giving gifts to the Godfather: a small bottle of Champagne, some cigarettes, coffee. They were busy chatting it up when the Monk walks in. Yes, there was a Monk. He was with what looked like a volunteer program from a church, young kids who didn't know what they were doing there. They start going around the room offering hot drinks and some crackers to the regulars, talking with them along with the Monk. Later on the Godfather got upset about something and started throwing this one guy's cardboard out the door. Then they talked and made amends and he brought it back in.
I almost didn't believe that I was watching this. It looked like it could be a play of sorts because of all the action taking place in just one room. There were a few others in the room also waiting for trains. This one family was very amused by what was going on. It was a cold night otherwise we probably wouldn't have stayed in there the whole time. But we made it on our train just fine and I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the sleeper trains were. There was another couple in our room who were already asleep when we arrived. And since Nate was sick, I was glad he would be able to finally get some rest for the day.
And that is how our trip ended. Overall I found it very easy to travel within Europe. The only place where my passport was checked and examined was in London on arrival and departure. Now with the EU in effect, they hardly check it and they don't stamp it.
Highlights of the trip: being with Nate for 2 weeks for sure!, seeing the Eiffel Tower, David, the Leaning Tower, and the Sistine Chapel.
Lowlights: The fiasco with British Airways, the freezing cold weather, and Nate getting sick.
We were in Salerno for a few hours before our train was to depart. We got some dinner then headed to the train station waiting room. The room itself was large, square in shape with lots of seats. We noticed some “regulars” there and it wasn't long before they started pulling out cardboard boxes from behind the chairs and laying them down to go to bed.
One by the one the crazies walked in, making noise, arguing over the boxes among other things. There was one guy with a really long beard who was constantly twitching and muttering to himself. Then this cute black dog came in, looking for attention, eventually sleeping on some cardboard next to us. After a little while, the Godfather of the transients came in, dressed slightly better than the rest, pushing around some of the other regulars, yelling God knows what. He comes in drinking coffee with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, goes to the window, opens it for 2 minutes, then closes it, pets the dog, makes this other guy take his sweater off (don't know what that was all about), offers his drink to the others, then sits down and watches the room. There was an older woman who I think wanted to sleep where the dog was, so she asked the Godfather to move the dog, then after the dog (Nero was his name, Italian for Blackey) moves, she doesn't lay down. She started pushing the rows of seats away from the corner to make more room, waking up another sleeping guy on the row she was pushing. He was annoyed. Instead she just went back to where she was sitting on the other side of the room.
Then the regulars started giving gifts to the Godfather: a small bottle of Champagne, some cigarettes, coffee. They were busy chatting it up when the Monk walks in. Yes, there was a Monk. He was with what looked like a volunteer program from a church, young kids who didn't know what they were doing there. They start going around the room offering hot drinks and some crackers to the regulars, talking with them along with the Monk. Later on the Godfather got upset about something and started throwing this one guy's cardboard out the door. Then they talked and made amends and he brought it back in.
I almost didn't believe that I was watching this. It looked like it could be a play of sorts because of all the action taking place in just one room. There were a few others in the room also waiting for trains. This one family was very amused by what was going on. It was a cold night otherwise we probably wouldn't have stayed in there the whole time. But we made it on our train just fine and I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the sleeper trains were. There was another couple in our room who were already asleep when we arrived. And since Nate was sick, I was glad he would be able to finally get some rest for the day.
And that is how our trip ended. Overall I found it very easy to travel within Europe. The only place where my passport was checked and examined was in London on arrival and departure. Now with the EU in effect, they hardly check it and they don't stamp it.
Highlights of the trip: being with Nate for 2 weeks for sure!, seeing the Eiffel Tower, David, the Leaning Tower, and the Sistine Chapel.
Lowlights: The fiasco with British Airways, the freezing cold weather, and Nate getting sick.
posted by Karen @ 9:21 AM
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