Getting There: Naples via Lajes, Azores

So I'm not one to be highly critical of another pilot, but I think we almost died landing in the Azores. From the back of the plane it felt like we were approaching at 250 mph, after descending from 30,000 feet in a matter of seconds. There was so much turbulence, we were sure the wings were going to fall off. The next thing you, we were slamming down in to the runway, and I'm pretty sure one of the wings touched the ground. Anyway, the plane stopped, and we waited for 2 hours in Lajes while the plane was refueled. We leave out of there with an uneventful flight to Naples.


Arriving in Naples, we met up with our friend Keebler, who is stationed in Naples with his family. First impression of Naples was a great view of Mt. Vesuvius still snow covered. However, following it turned into one of the most disgusting cities I have ever seen. The trash was piled on the side of the road as tall as David and to describe the area we stayed as seedy is a compliment. Probably not the best choice to stay so close to the train station but luckily we left early after a night of men next door listening to "football"/soccer and yelling at the TV. But 45 euros for one night was just the price, and luckily it didn't seem that they sold rooms by the hour. Thank God. See below for pictures of the "view" out of our window. The funniest part of the 20 hour Naples experience was the cabbie asking if we liked art, and I responded with a "yes," and he said Naples was just the place. However, I can only assume the man equated "art" to piles of trash, prostitutes and graffiti all over the place.
It gets so much better, Trust me!