On Day 3, while the rest of the gang went to see Cumae, the amphitheater at Pozzuoli and Hadrian's Villa, Mr. Spearman took a side trip. You see, when we left on Sunday, one of our great bunch of guys was left behind due to not having the right visa. Thanks in large part to Linda Silva Thompson (who is a saint!), he obtained his visa (after a big hassle with the Italian consulate) and got on a flight last night. He flew into Rome today, but one of the conditions the consulate put on giving him a visa was that Mr. Spearman would meet him at the airport.
So after seeing the rest of the crew drive away, with Mariano the awesome bus driver behind the wheel once again, Mr. Spearman trudged to the train station in Sorrento and caught the 8:26 am train to Naples.
After a 50 minute train ride, Mr. Spearman arrived at Garibaldi Station in Naples and switched trains. He boarded the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) high speed train, shown here pulling into the station at Naples.
The Frecciarossa is a high speed train, similar to France's TGV. In addition to plush and comfortable surroundings, it also goes like a rocket. They post the speed occasionally on screens in the cars. The highest speed we reached was 298 kilometers per hour, which translates into 185 mph! The ride was smooth and it hardly seemed we were going that fast. We covered the distance from Naples to Rome in just over an hour.
Waiting for Mr. Spearman at the Termini Station in the heart of Rome was a driver, Silvano, who took him to the airport to wait for our lost comrade to arrive. After a relatively short wait, our last Winged Beaver emerged from customs, tired but happy to be here at last. Silvano drove us to the hotel in Rome, where we eagerly await the arrival of the rest of the crew from their busy day.
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