Images: Claustrophobia!; Mt Vesuvius from our hotel today; Mt Vesuvius erupting in 1944
It is now 4:00 Italian time, and SL and I are relaxing at our beautiful hotel overlooking the Bay of Naples, with Vesuvius herself majestic in the background.
Our day did NOT start well.
First, K came into our room and the door to her room slammed shut with the key in the lock on the inside. Now, you would think that this kind of thing has happened before, or at least we were not the FIRST ones to do this, but it was a dilemna of Sherlock Holmesian dimension, and noone could unlock the door. Remember that K is scheduled to leave today, and her luggage, ticket, passport, EVERYTHING is inside that room.
Then we discover that my "pouch" is missing. No, JB not my paunch, (we would all be happy to see that GO!) - the leather pouch that has my money, house keys, car keys, epi-pen (I am allergic to bees), and other meds. We deduce that I left it at the restauranto last night, so I leave to track it down.
Va bene, I get the pouch back with absolutely everything intact, and return to the albergo to find that the mystery of the locked door has been solved.
We prepare to leave and I enter the tiny phone booth of an elevator with all of our luggage. It is far too small for anything but a couple of suitcases and one person. SL and K head down the stairs to meet me when I arrive with the luggage. The elevator is coin operated and I have five fifty cent coins. I put in a coin, and press 1. The elevator descends a distance and then stops.
Our day did NOT start well.
First, K came into our room and the door to her room slammed shut with the key in the lock on the inside. Now, you would think that this kind of thing has happened before, or at least we were not the FIRST ones to do this, but it was a dilemna of Sherlock Holmesian dimension, and noone could unlock the door. Remember that K is scheduled to leave today, and her luggage, ticket, passport, EVERYTHING is inside that room.
Then we discover that my "pouch" is missing. No, JB not my paunch, (we would all be happy to see that GO!) - the leather pouch that has my money, house keys, car keys, epi-pen (I am allergic to bees), and other meds. We deduce that I left it at the restauranto last night, so I leave to track it down.
Va bene, I get the pouch back with absolutely everything intact, and return to the albergo to find that the mystery of the locked door has been solved.
We prepare to leave and I enter the tiny phone booth of an elevator with all of our luggage. It is far too small for anything but a couple of suitcases and one person. SL and K head down the stairs to meet me when I arrive with the luggage. The elevator is coin operated and I have five fifty cent coins. I put in a coin, and press 1. The elevator descends a distance and then stops.
Nothing.
The elevator has glass inner doors which you open when you reach the metal outer doors on each floor, but there are no outer doors. I see only plaster walls. I wait. Do not panic. I wait. Nothing. The elevator is 2 feet wide by 3 feet long. Nothing. I press every button. Nothing. Five minutes go by. Nothing. The elevator is no longer 2 feet wide by 3 feet long.
Do not panic.
I decide to put in another coin. I press 1. The elevator moves, then stops. Plaster walls - no exit doors. I am in Napoli. I do not speak Italian well. K has to get to the aeroporto. I try shouting. Noone hears. Do not panic - panic can kill you. I am sorry to admit that I am now very, very concerned. I press the alarm button. Noone comes. There is no intercom.
Do not panic. I am pressing the alarm with the International Morse Code signal for help. 3 short, 3 long, 3 short, 3 long.... SOS SOS. Nothing. The people on the outside, if they can hear the alarm, cannot summon the elevator because it is in use - by me.
I decide to put in another precious coin, and the elevator starts with a jerk, then stops. Plaster walls - no exit doors. I try to open the inner doors, but they will not move, and if they did, I would be faced with a solid plaster wall. There is no hatch in the ceiling. 3 short - 3 long - 3 short SOS. I lean on the buzzer. Noone can hear me, or at least I can hear noone.
I have two coins left. I begin to suffer from real panic and it takes everything I have not to start yellling for help. Panic WILL kill you... I try visualization to calm me, I try deep breathing, but I am pretty sure that there was a lot more air in this little cubicle when I started. I am pretty sure it was a lot bigger. I am pretty sure that at LEAST three hours have gone by.
I have two coins left. They are the one thing left that is keeping me from a complete loss of hope and the abyss of panic. If I use them and they are both gone.......
I put the penultimate coin in and press 5 for the floor I left from. The elevator starts and jolts to a stop. I see outer doors and explode through them to the safety of the hallway. I had been in the elevator maybe twenty minutes - it seemed like hours.
If you had asked me if I were claustrophobic before this event, I would have scoffed it away. I can now appreciate in a small way the terror that people who suffer from this and other phobias must go through.
We dropped K off at the airport and then SL snd I had an uneventful drive to the Amalfi Coast, which is breathtaking in its beauty.
Our hotel is right on the water, and we went for a nice lunch and met some very engaging Irish folk.
Tomorrow. Brindisi and the ferry to Greece!
I have two coins left. They are the one thing left that is keeping me from a complete loss of hope and the abyss of panic. If I use them and they are both gone.......
I put the penultimate coin in and press 5 for the floor I left from. The elevator starts and jolts to a stop. I see outer doors and explode through them to the safety of the hallway. I had been in the elevator maybe twenty minutes - it seemed like hours.
If you had asked me if I were claustrophobic before this event, I would have scoffed it away. I can now appreciate in a small way the terror that people who suffer from this and other phobias must go through.
We dropped K off at the airport and then SL snd I had an uneventful drive to the Amalfi Coast, which is breathtaking in its beauty.
Our hotel is right on the water, and we went for a nice lunch and met some very engaging Irish folk.
Tomorrow. Brindisi and the ferry to Greece!
Oh the glamour of travel! Sorry to hear about all the drama. I'm starting to believe all Lubert air travel in 2010 is cursed. After our European business meetings resulted in 5 extra days due that Ash-hole in Iceland my latest endeavour wasn't much better - cancelled flights, re-directed to Philly via Newark and a rental car, 26 miles of hwy closed, another missed flight, etc. etc. All-in-all the good thing is we're safe. We're particularly glad to hear Nana (great-Nana) was able to fly home.
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