Leaving France for Naples

Monday - July 5, 2010

I spent 3 nights in Ciboure/St. Jean de Luc. My time there was spent mainly taking it easy. I felt excessively tired for the first two days after my fall and didn’t do much but walk around a little and sit in a plaza. The adjoining French Basque communities are lovely seaside fishing villages with nice beaches but the constant overcast skies added to my already gloomy mood. However, I slept really well and allowed my body to get the healing process started.

I had originally thought that after hiking in the Pyrenees I’d head to Naples, Italy to visit my Aunt and Uncle, Frank and Anna. My uncle Frank met Anna while serving in the Navy back in the 1960’s. They now have a place outside of Naples and have enthusiastically invited me to stay with them. Immediately after my accident Frank insisted I come for a visit right now. The timing is really good for a number of reasons so I’m on my way.

How to get from Ciboure/St. Jean de Luc? Originally I looked at the train. The train was quite roundabout and expensive. Buses? Couldn’t figure it out and know it would be a lengthy process. It was Sunday evening and I wanted to be rolling by Tuesday at the latest. Ideally I thought it would be nice to be on my way the next day, Monday. I was having language difficulties in trying to get good info and it being Sunday wasn’t helping so I got to work on the web. As always, last minute generally doesn’t afford good prices.

This time I found good success with Orbitz, a popular U.S. travel site. I was able to book two separate plane tickets for a total cost less than $250 USD. That along with $20 USD in bus fares and I’d be in Naples by 9 am Tuesday morning. Also, by booking through a US travel site I avoided overseas transaction fees. Not bad at all considering Naples is not a cheap place to get to. The train was actually more expensive and would have taken more time. The route I’m taking is a Bus from St Jean de Luc to Bilbao, Spain. From the bus station in Bilbao it’s another bus to the airport. From the airport it’s an hour flight to Barcelona. As I write this I’m sitting in the Barcelona airport. The only hitch is that my flight out of Barcelona to Naples is at 7 am. I arrived in Barcelona at 7 pm. The question is whether to take an hour bus ride into the city and stay at a hostel until 4 or 5 am and fiddle with getting back to the airport or just stay at the airport until my next flight. There is a 3rd option and that’s to pay for an expensive airport hotel but that’s not really an option in my book. From Barcelona it’s a 2 hour flight over the Mediterranean to Naples. I chose to stay at the airport.

I stashed my pack in a locker and have walked all over the very nice modern Barcelona airport. I now know where you can by the cheapest bottled water and where the quietest areas are. At some point I’ll doze off in a corner for awhile. If I wasn’t currently on antibiotics I’d probably have a couple of beers. I’ve withstood long layovers at the airport in the past and they’re generally aren’t as bad as anticipated. Needless to say I’ll be tired when I arrive in Italy but then it can be all about rest.

As far as my injuries go I seem to be healing quickly and my eye doesn’t appear infected. I don’t know how long it will be before right eye looks normal but the stitches should come out next Monday. I’m looking forward to visiting Frank and Anna. I really think it’s going to be a great and a good chance to experience some of real Italy. I intend to stay at least a week if not longer.