Day Seven: Monday, June 6 -- Flight to Naples

Got up about 5 a.m., called the base terminal, and were told "showtime" for the military flight to Naples was about 7 a.m.  So we checked out of the Navy Lodge, and caught a shuttle to the terminal.
They called us to the terminal desk, checked our luggage, and we boarded a C-17 military aircraft.  Bob and I were the only passengers, on a plane that could hold about 50!  The seats were nylon, not webbing, so fairly comfortable, and they were lined up along both sides of the plane.  The flight was about one hour.
We arrived at Naples Naval Support Activity, and thanked the crew for the "hop."
Here, we got to see Mount Vesuvius.  Unlike Mount Etna, which is regularly letting off steam, Mount Vesuvius is just "spitting" a little lava regulary from small fissures inside its crater.  And its crater is not as defined as Mount Etna's so it does not make quite as cool a photo!  See it below:

Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy

We had breakfast, then waited for a shuttle to the Navy Lodge.  Before it came, a young woman offered us a ride.  She was in the Navy, came to the U.S. from Romania at the age of ten.  She offered to drive us around Naples tomorrow, but we declined, saying that was asking too much.  Anyway, she was a pretty crazy driver!  She drove like Naples residents do!
Went shopping, and checked into trips arranged by an ITT travel agency on base.  Ate dinner at the Bambusa restaurant next to the Navy Lodge, and again enjoyed some delightful Italian pasta.
We made reservations for a trip tomorrow to Sorrento, just up the coast in Italy.  The Navy Lodge had no rooms available tomorrow, so we reserved a room at the Millennium Hotel, off base.  We are finding that a lot of hotels at bases in Italy -- which are cheaper than those off base -- are filled, due to the military activity around Libya.
Read all about our trip to Sorrento in tomorrow's post.