Actually werkin today. Wots that all about. The Netaxis mob have gone en masse on a tour to Naples but I have lots of prep to do. Got a meeting with the hotel at 2pm to do some AV testing in the Tritone Auditorium. Then put up some rollup banners and lay out the badges for tomorrow.
The Bay of Naples is full (ish) of yachts this pm. Yachts of the variety with sails. Not the modern motorised versions. Tis a beautiful afternoon for it. There is wind enough to make me don my floral linen jacket. The wind yesterday evening coming around the western side of Capri certainly made for a dramatic trip back. I sat at the prow together with two other blokes. Got soaked. It was too late to change our minds and sit at the back with the sheilas. Too rough to risk the walk down the side of the boat. We stuck it out manfully.
The yachts seem to be towing dinghies of some sort. Can’t quite make out at this distance whether the dinghies have anyone on board or what is their purpose. Presumably to ferry people ashore? I’d a thought the yachts would be mooring up in a marina.
Anyway Capri was an interesting experience. Notionally the playground of the rich there were certainly more luxury designer shops per square metre than I’ve ever seen but the place was also rammed with tourists and really there was very little to see. Had the tourists not been there it would probably have been quite quaint and why it became popular in the first place. Even Roman Emperors used to holiday there. Particularly Tiberius apaz.
According to our guides, Bob and Paolo, some of the real estate was up to 25k euros a squ metre. I could perhaps understand that the incredibly wealthy might have boltholes there but can’t imagine they would be doing much more than staying poolside in their own places with the occasional jaunt to a posh shop or a Michelin starred restaurant. Or a bit of a sail down the Amalfi coast which is very much worth doing.
With perhaps and hour or more to go before the boat was due to pick us up we settled into a bar down by the harbour and had a couple of beers. Wasn’t particularly warm due to the sea breeze. A group of four American kids rocked up and somewhat annoyed the waiter by orderign one glass of water and one margarita cocktail. Then another American couple sat at the next table and, realising they were from the same continent, started up a conversation. The kids got lucky as the necomers offered to buy them drinks. The waiter cheered up. A customer with money! Those kids were probably not old enough to drimnk alcohol back home. Anyway the group was irritatingly noisy so we settled up and moved to the actual bit of rock where our boat would meet us.
We made it back and hit the lounge at around 7.30pm. Just before the end of happy hour which is actually a happy two hours. THG went up to the room to recover and I grabbed a simple steak and chips with some primitivo before joining her.
Back in the room there was big news. My suitcase had arrived. Only 4 days late. The BA website still says it is being prepared for shipping. Anyway at least it is here now. I had visions of it arriving on Thursday just after we had left.
This lunchtime is the last bit of relaxation before the conference. THG and I had a light lunch on the terrace looking out across the bay. Caesar salad and club sandwich with a couple of bottles of water. The Netaxis sales guys would already appear to be hitting the pop on the ferry back from Naples. They will be napping during the meeting this afternoon 🙂