We set an alarm for 7am, but were up before that time. Once again, the sun shining in our window was the culprit, but we love it. First, it means a nice day is in store, and it’s also a very mellow way to start the day. G said today that we’re getting quite spoiled by this ocean view cabin. A balcony cabin really doesn’t do anything for us, but that large window is nice. More importantly, it gives us cellular internet access from our cabin, which is a very addictive treat indeed.
I didn’t want to eat anything before my dental appointment, not knowing what was in store. At 8am we arrived in Naples, and I was at the Guest Services Desk awaiting information about where to go. It was after 8:20 when I finally received an address and Google Maps walking instructions…in Italian. G joined me and we ditched the paper map, put the address in Google Maps on my iPhone and we set out. Instead of the 5 minute walk I’d been expecting, it was a half mile walk, crossing numerous streets, in Naples, where crossing streets in crosswalks is a death defying exercise.
We crossed streets with the locals (who do it with attitude instead of trepidation), we walked on the one foot wide shoulder on a street against traffic when we encountered a construction zone, and we wove our way through irregularly (and illegally) parked cars and scooters until we finally reached the street Via Medina. Finding number 17 was a bit problematic. The street was filled with one after another very old buildings with very, very high and wide double doors…but no addresses. Finally, G popped into a tiny store and the lady inside actually led us back three doors to the correct building.
Walking to the office of Dentist Paola Papa
We thought this was an alley and passed by it
Looking up once inside
I’m not surprised we passed it; we thought it was the opening to another alley, but, no, it opened into a small courtyard in the middle of a several story high building. There was one small, extremely old cage elevator like those that exist in so many of these buildings in Europe, but it was problematic for two reasons: first, we had no idea what floor the dentist’s office was on; and second, it required a 10 cent (€) coin to operate. I kid you not.
Looking at the elevator cage on the sixth floor
So, instead, we started climbing the worn stone stairs, lots of them, in a U shape around the elevator cage. Up we went, checking the couple of doors on each floor, until we reached the top floor, which was the 6th floor. There we saw a door with the name of the dentist on it, but it was locked and no one answered our knock. It was nearly 8:45am by then, and we had been rushing thinking we were late for my appointment, but no. Apparently the only ones who would be waiting were us.
It became quite comical then; we’d see the huge elevator weight start to move up or down as the elevator was used, and every time we heard the elevator raise up to an upper floor, we watched expectantly, waiting for a dentist to emerge. At 9am, the elevator came to the 6th floor, and a young woman emerged, and she stood waiting also. But she gave us hope that perhaps sometime, someone who could fix my tooth might appear.
Around 9:15am, the elevator rattled itself up to our floor again, the doors opened and a young lady stepped out and unlocked the office door. Progress! She looked at G and I and asked, “Ship?” And we nodded stupidly, because all we can say in Italian is bonguorno, arrivederci, ciao and grazie. And we waited some more, absolutely mesmerized by this whole experience. The waiting room looked like a living room, the doors inside the office were no more than 20” wide and when I looked out a window that had apparently been left open overnight, I saw another small courtyard far below with two tables at which two couples were having breakfast.
In the corner of the waiting room was what I can only assume was a foot impression machine use to make custom orthotics, leading G to joke about this being a medical office treating hoof and mouth disease. In the other corner was an antique treadle dental drill. We waited on one of two ornate loveseats; the other patient sat on another one. She was taken back, and still we waited.
Finally, I was motioned back into an office, and I was relieved to finally see something that looked familiar: a dental chair, a light, the usual dental tools and a spit sink. A man in his 40s wearing scrubs shook my hand. I held up the crown in a small plastic pill bag, he looked at it and asked, “It fall down?” When I nodded, he said “All good”.
He spent quite awhile cleaning the old glue off the crown, offering me coffee while I was waiting. He started mixing something he said was “Good Japanese cement”, put some foul tasting stuff in my mouth for which he apologized over and over, pressed the crown into place and I was fixed. I was feeling rather warm-hearted about his kind demeanor until I was presented with the bill. €100 to glue a crown into place was ridiculous. But, in the end, it will be paid by insurance so I really don’t care.
The good part of all this was that the dental office had the fastest WiFi we’ve seen since we left home (60G download speed), and we were able to update all of our apps on our iPhones (and I uploaded photos to my Lisbon post) while I was waiting for the cement to harden. We went to leave the office and couldn’t figure out how to open the door (the simplest things were suddenly confusing). We had to be shown how to press a red button and simultaneously push in a lever simply to open a door.
Meanwhile, we had gotten change to take the elevator down, not that we couldn’t have walked down six flights of stairs but because G wasn’t leaving without riding in that elevator. What an experience (Mom, it was a lot like the doctor’s elevator in Paris only moreso)! Open a cage door, open two inside doors, put in a coin and press a floor button. Never have I ever…
Getting ready to ride it down
The first door is opened
Paying our fare ;-)
Once we were back out on the street, I was giddy with relief and suddenly looked more fondly at the busy streets of Naples. We had originally planned to take a train to Herculaneum, but I hadn’t eaten and time was getting tight. Instead we slowly make our way back to the ship, popping into a “plain Italian church” (instead of a cathedral) along the way. I needed to brush that awful taste out of my mouth, and we then sat on the sunny Panorama Deck while I had a soft lunch and we enjoyed the warm temperatures.
Church of Santa Maria Incoranatella
Stairs to the choir loft
The choir loft
Eventually we walked back off the ship again and did some more exploring of the area close to the port. We decided to pay €18 for a small suitcase that will allow us to take liquid toiletries as far as Singapore. It will have to be left behind before we fly Air China, but to replace the toiletries in Dubai or Singapore would cost more than €18.
We ate dinner very quickly, and just two courses, because we had signed up for the Escape Room activity at 6:30pm. I can’t say much about it other than it was like a big game of Clue, and it was enormous fun.
We had time for cappuccinos from the Panorama Buffet before the evening entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge, Danielle Grace Williams and Jo Little doing a variety show. And now we’re tucked into bed. It was memorable day and we have a great story to tell in the future.
Life is crazy. :-)
