Cuentos de la Casa y el Campo

The company I worked for sent me to Naples, Italy, with a team of four or five inspectors to help with the preparation of several used airplanes for sale to Italy's Air Force. Time Line: I have only the vaguest idea of when. I've discarded all my notes. Sometime in the 1980's I'd guess. If you've been there you know Naples has a rather shady reputation, which to me only makes it more attractive. I used any free time I had mainly on weekends to explore the twisting streets and back alleys and negotiate the wild traffic of autos, scooters and pedestrians. Perched on top of the cliff on which Naples is built is an old castle/palace which had been converted into a sumptuous museum. I drove up to the museum, but I couldn't find a parking place so I had to park my rental car in a back alley. It happened to be an open air sea food market, where one of the vendors entertained me by playing with an octopus (calamari) curling around his arm. Rather creepy entertainment. After I had toured the museum a bit, I headed back to my parked auto to discover that the trunk and one of the windows had been jimmied by some thief, but I hadn't left any valuables in the locked car. I learned a lesson. Never lock your car in Naples. Of course, I traded for another car at the rental place. As for Naples I accept it for what it is and I still love it. Insurance took care of the rest.