If you are thinking about a visit

Several family and friends are either planning or considering coming to visit us while we are here at Naples. We are excited about this. Those of you coming likely have many of the same questions I have had. This is a place to share tidbits we have been figuring out.

Resources

Before I got here, Mike S. who is a friend from VP-69 turned me onto Rick Steve's travel books. At my long layover in San Francisco I picked up Rick Steve's Italy 2008 and Best of Europe 2009. These were excellent investments. Originally I had planned to post FAQs and lessons learned, but realized it would sound very much like what is written in the Italy 2008 book. As internet access is still a problem for me, I do not know this for sure, but suspect much of the same general information is available at his website.

My most valuable resource has been a phrase book: Barron's, Italian at a Glance. It has basic phrases broken down by section (i.e. air travel, eating out, getting directions) and a tiny english to itialian and italian to english dictionary.

About the Euro

With my limited experience, it seems to me to have approximately the same or slightly less purchasing power as what a $1.00 U.S. has back home. However, the dollar is pretty weak. So it costs about $1.50 to buy a Ä1.00. For example, a Ä2.00 soda costs me $3.00. So, here is everything I spent for my outing to Sorrento:
Ä2.90 Round trip ticket to Naples
Ä3.30 Ticket to Sorrento from Naples
Ä3.30 Ticket to Naples from Sorrento
Ä1.50 Cappuccino at Piazza Garibaldi
Ä10.25 Lunch in Sorrento
Ä1.75 Coperto (which I think means cover charge for the table)
Ä2.50 water. This came in a 1 liter bottle, and was sparkling, which I am not yet used to.
Ä5.00 Marquerita (similar to Mozarella) pizza
Ä1.00 my tip. I understand 10% to 15% is customary
Ä2.00 1 liter bottle of water purchased from a store at the town I ran to. Again, it was sparkling because my attempt to ask for still water got lost in the translation.
Ä1.50 100ml can of coke (small canóIím guessing 8oz)
Ä3.00 small ice cream

So the whole day cost Ä27.75, or about $40. Note that I had an ice cream in lieu of dinner, and there were no souveniers involved. This should give you an idea of what you will need for spending money.

I had an awful lot of fun for the money.