Nettuno

Nettuno was almost worth getting so sick to get there.  It was a really cool little city and my first taste of real Italy.  This is very much like a suburb of Rome.  It is about a 45 minute train ride from Rome and the next big port on the map. 

Dad, Mow, and I in front of the Neptune statue in the center of town.

Once we got the boat secured at the dock and the gang plank down (yes we have a gang plank… it’s how you get off the back of the boat when you back into a spot at the dock… I am sure in the right situation it could also be used to make someone ‘walk the plank’ if necessary) our stomachs decided to come back and let us know that we hadn’t had anything but crackers all day.  So we went in search of food.

We found a restaurant right off of the marina, but once we sat down and heard “solo pesche” (only fish) Dad and I decided that we would continue our search and let John and Jenny enjoy their meal.

By the way John and Jenny Burwell are friends of my parents that are spending about 2 weeks on the boat with us.  John and my Dad have known each other for 30 years or something like that and actually taught my Dad to sail.  They are from Minnesota and when Dad sailed the boat to the Bahamas 15 years ago or something like that, the Burwell family joined us over there and we had a nice vacation with them.  John helped Dad launch the boat originally and was on the first real sail of the Pipedream where he told Dad to turn off the engine and let the boat do what it was built to do.  So they are with us until the 15^th or so and then will be spending a couple days exploring Rome on their own.

Dad spent a week at Nettuno on his last tour of Southern Italy and knew that there was a really good Chinese restaurant located in town just up a flight of stairs, and they served beer so I said sure and we decided to eat Chinese food in Italy.  Best food ever. 

This is what a Chinese restaurant looks like in Nettuno... you know it's good if it's in a castle right?

There is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial located in Nettuno and that is the one main site we were on a quest to see because one of Dad’s friends had a student who’s Dad or grandfather or someone was buried there.  Plus is always fun to get a little taste of home when you are in a foreign country so we walked to the cemetery.  During WWII when America was trying to help the Italians regain Sicily and push the Germans out there was a big invasion and a lot of casualties.  I am not sure of the politics involved or how it actually went down, but what I gathered from the brochure given out in the visitors center, the Italian government made a deal with America and granted 77 acres of land free of charge as a burial ground.  The soldiers buried there are either the soldiers that were identified and not brought back to the states, or the unidentified soldiers that fought and lost their lives.  As any memorial or military cemetery goes, it was very humbling and incredibly well taken care of.  We found the particular soldier we were looking for and also met a really nice American that actually ran the cemetery and some nice Italians who gave us a terrific recommendation for lunch.

This is the entrance to the cemetery.

This is the one we were looking for.  Hubert Miller.  Like I said... pristine.

This is the main memorial statue.  I want to say it's called fallen comrades or something along those lines, but I'd have to consult the pamphlet to be sure and I am not sure where it is...

During “nap time” on the boat I took the computer and camera and was in search of a café or someplace to hang out, but got lost instead.  I began walking along the water and before I knew it I was in a very residential area and the water was nowhere to be found.  What I did find though was an old church!  They have them on pretty much every street corner here and it’s always fun to go inside and compare.   This was – Pontifico Santuario Basilica Madonna delle Grazie e S. Maria Goretti.  Now I’m not sure if that was the entire name or how that worked.  Most everything inside was in Italian (which is to be expected) and I could figure out some things but a lot was lost to me.

The church is right on the water and it actually too close.  It has been damaged many times by storms or floods and so what was there was a pretty sound and sturdy exterior with a modern and basic interior.  There were photos of the church in the 1950s and it was so elaborate.  They still had a few of the altar pieces and stuff that they could salvage, but for the most part it was plain wood beams and disjointed decorations.  It seemed like 3 or 4 people had gone shopping to furnish the interior and all came back with completely different things but put it all up anyway.  It was almost distracting.  That was the main area of the chapel and then you went down a set of stairs and there was a crypt.  This is where I got somewhat lost.  There are walls of mosaics and they were all depicting something, but I couldn’t quite decipher what.  Then at the front of the crypt was a… waxed figure? In a glass case laid on her back like she was resting of Saint Maria Goretti.  Apparently this is where the young body of Saint Maria Goretti lays.  It was a little eerie.  What I gathered from the blurb of English in the pamphlet was that Maria Goretti died at age 11 and was canonized in 1950.  It says her young body rests peacefully in the basilica and it’s a place of pilgrimage for many Catholics.  There have been two Popes at the basilica and like I said it’s on some sort of pilgrimage tour.  I was a little bit confused, but glad I saw it.

This is the exterior view of the basilica.  It was huge and you could see it from the water.  At night there are lights that make it glow.  I didn't take any photos inside because there were nuns and a priest inside and I didn't want to be disrespectful.  

This was a statue in the middle of a traffic circle of Maria Goretti.  She was apparently a big deal in Nettuno.

We ate dinner at, what I thought, was a great restaurant recommended by an Irish couple we met at the marina.  Trattoria Romolo which after around 8pm was packed with people.  The restaurant was cozy and my food was excellent… as was the wine.  I didn’t get the name written down, but it was good.

I could see spending a lot of time in Nettuno.  The marina staff were a little… nonexistent, but that worked out in our favor and the marina was so close to the center of the town that it was encouraging to leave the boat… that and the fact that we all got so sick getting there.

This is the interior of the restaurant.  

Dad and I at dinner.