Friday 14th July 2000

Richard: "It's Friday morning and we are away! Martin didn't sleep, Karen did in fits and starts, while I slept like a baby (as I always do). Karen got the boot in, and we made the flight - just! I saw the Seine way below, Martin played with the latest of his "toys for the boys" (a Minidisc player) before being told that a Minidisc player fell into the same category as a CD player and therefore he had to keep it switched off for the entire duration, while Karen read a romance (Karen: "actually a sci-fi"). Milano airport was nice, transfer done but unfortunately no time to hit the Duty Free. On arrival in Napoli, it was the usual fiddle to hire a car; this done we headed off down the coast - or tried to.

It's summer and yet it's hot and sunny: we're obviously not in England any more!

We wiggled our way through Napoli until we found an excellent port, Portici, where we explored a little and had our first Italian meal - Cheers! Mostly fish was had, Karen abstaining for some reason - oh, a dislike of fish could have something to do with it :) Martin gave a man 10,000 Lire gratis, just for opening his mouth, something about a parking fee. Anyway that's the last we saw of the 10,000 Lire, although we did try unsuccessfully to bargain it back.

Fit and fine after lunch, we headed off again along the coast, stopped for ice cream and directions and found ourselves in Castellammare (Castle by the Sea) di Stabia. Finally at the sea, we started off with a stroll along the boulevard and plaza. Then we saw a cable car high above and did that thing - it took us up the mountain with a glorious view over Naples, the bay, Vesuvius and Pompeii. Glorious! The "cable guy" took a couple of group photos for us as the cloud cleared.

Back in Castellammare we set off for Pompeii, made enquires on entrance times for Monday and decided to take the alternative route to Bari - taking in the countryside. We travelled south to Salerno by motorway then onto Potenza, through fantastic scenery and feats of road engineering. It's quite mountainous round here. Once in Potenza we took a breather, had some good food in an English pub, then proceeded on, or at least tried to! Richard drove, Karen navigated and Martin tried to sleep. Well that was the plan, but after several false starts, a few minor detours and a small argument with a crash barrier, Richard lost it and passed the driving to Martin."

Karen: "With Martin's racing driving tactics and my navigation (although not before going the wrong way up the motorway - Martin's fault, not mine!), we eventually arrived in Bari and found our way to the Hotel Majesty, the location of the tournament and our home for the weekend" Richard: "We arrived at the hotel to find our friends waiting for us. Hail fellow, well met! Karen and Martin partook of a bit of the dinner that had been left for us, and socialised a bit with our hosts; I just crashed."

Richard with Jack and Cristiano of Nettuno Bologna

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