Retire Early
Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler
In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
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We Were Derailed on the Way to Faeto, Italy!
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
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It was drizzling a bit when
we walked up to
the Naples
train station on this morning to ride the train to
Faeto, Italy.
Because the zippers on my
old trusty daypack had exploded in
Anzio, I had purchased a new $10Euro daypack
at the Naples day
market. This was just to get me back to
Chapala,
Mexico where I live so I could buy a decent one later.
Unfortunately, that cheapie
pack was already falling apart and I was sewing it together here and there to keep me
functioning while on the road.
Map of Italy showing where Faeto is
We arrived early at the station, not knowing
what our platform would be.
Continuously watching the electronic
signs to see which would light up, coincidentally, our platform ended up being
right in front of where we were standing.
We were taking a train/bus combination to get
us from Naples to
Faeto, marked on the map above.
The inside of the train we took
Fortunately we found seats on the train
quickly.
You can see how modern and clean
these Italian trains are.
Convenient baggage storage
The train was so new that these places behind
the seats were provided to store luggage, a GREAT space saving idea.
Here you see one of our new rollie bags that
we purchased in
Naples.
The green countryside from the train
window
So off we go to enjoy the countryside of the
Italian regions of Campania and into Puglia.
These areas are very fertile and lush.
Vineyards and other crops
From the train window, here you see grape
vineyards and other agricultural crops.
Having been in the large city of Naples -
where we saw no individual houses - it was wonderful to see these country homes
with space around them.
BusItalia
Because there is no direct train route to
Faeto, after a bit, we needed to transfer to BusItalia to finish our journey.
It is common in Italy to have trains and
buses work together for public transport, moving locals and tourists around the
country.
While I realize that
Americans love their
cars, I would like to have a choice of these terrific transport options in the
States.
Clean, safe, professional, convenient,
affordable and on time.
On board BusItalia
Inside the bus it is also very modern with
large windows to view the spectacular scenery.
At this point, we are waiting for the other passengers to
board.
Countryside of Puglia
Once more, it is green, green, green.
Houses dotted the hillsides and it all looked
so peace-filled.
Green countryside of Puglia, Italy
The gently sloping hillsides with olive
orchards and various rotating crops were mesmerizing.
But we didn't know what was coming next!
Sign for Savignano Irpino
After a few hours of winding roads we finally
arrive in Savignano
Irpino at the abandoned train station (!)
This place hadn't been used for years, and
weeds were overtaking the tracks and the building.
What was going on?
We quickly look around and we see a stream of
8 buffed-out young male migrants speaking a language that was not Italian.
They were walking down the hill towards us.
We felt a bit uncomfortable
since we were carrying everything we own on us and we were obviously seniors - An
easy target should they want it. Why were these men going down this
particular hill, as it was a dead end with nowhere else to go?
It was an odd feeling - not quite the
"raising of the hairs on the back of the neck" odd - but close.
We walk up the hill towards the main road and
just
as we crest the hill, a police car stops. The senior cop sternly asks us what we are
doing there. Our guess was that he thought we had something to do with the migrants.
Being respectful of police, we answer his
questions, but what was curious was that he spoke very fluent English with no accent.
Apparently he
trained with American forces which is why his language skills were so good. The
other policeman who was with him had no clue as to what was going on.
Unbeknownst to us... there were NO transport
options to get to Faeto from here, 20 kilometers away.
There must be some mistake. We checked our
ticket app and phones for options, but there was no way out. We were stuck.
Billy is explaining to the policeman that we have a house
rented in Faeto, but haven't been able to make contact with them to give us a
ride out of here.
"FAETO?!" he asked. "Why?
No
one goes there, there's nothing there!." Half serious, half joking
he says "the only way to get from here to there is on a sheep" We
were a bit confused, but went along with his joke.
I whipped out my phone and showed him the
photos of my Father's parents and said "This is my Family. They are from Faeto."
Knowingly, he nods his approval and says "OOOOHHHH...
After this, he determined that we were just lost tourists
and he relaxed a bit.
Dog on a bench at the bakery
Since we told the policeman our story, he asked for the number of the home rental
owner so he could try and make contact himself.
He then
pointed at a bakery 30 meters away and told us to buy a pastry and enjoy it while we waited.
Following orders we did just that
as he drove off.
We went inside this
bakery to use the facilities and to purchase individual
berry pies.
This town has no taxis or hotels so we
figured we would sleep in the bakery if necessary.
We were feeling somewhat
better about our options.
Moments later, the copper pulled up and told us that the
Father of the son with whom we had been communicating is on his way and will be
here in 20 minutes.
Just sit and wait.
Then once again he pulled away.
Angels in uniform.
Seriously.
His parting words to us were "Don't let
anyone take advantage of you up there."
(What did that mean?)
Road signs pointing to Faeto, Italy
Yup.
Right about 20 minutes later Giovanni, the
father of Antonio the home owner, comes to pick us up.
He looks a bit put off, as if he didn't want
to do this "pick up
thing" but he was there and he wanted to get it over with.
Not a conversationalist nor much of a smiler,
he has us put our own baggage into his trunk and off we go to Faeto.
Zippity.
Doo.
Dah.
Countryside from Savignano Irpino to Faeto
Billy makes attempts at conversation, but
Giovanni isn't having any of it.
He zooms through these winding roads (my
Dramamine has worn off by now, darn it) and I'm feeling the curves.
But it's beautiful.
Entrance to Faeto, Italy
It had been a cloudy, semi-rainy day, and we
were nonplussed with
our first entry into Faeto.
But hey, we were here for family heritage
purposes, and we were just going to suck it up.
It turns out that
this place was
gorgeous,
friendly and I was related to about half the town, population 500! Including
Giovanni, Mr. Smiley himself!
Can you believe it?
Stay tuned for more...
For more stories, photos and videos of
Italy, click
here
For more on
Retirement Topics,
click here and
here
About the Authors
Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
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