Walking the city

For the past 3 days I've been starting my day off with a morning power walk. My route is the same each day, offering as much insulation from the morning traffic as possible. I leave the hotel, walk the main drag for about 10 minutes to the entrance to a park on Riviera di Chiaia (see pics..the bottom pic is my walk to the park..you can see the trees in the distance), and then do 2 up and back laps within the park. I guess the park is as much of an in city 'oasis' as you can get, at least within the Chiaia neighborhood which borders my hotel area. The park is essentially a narrow strip between 2 main thoroughfares. I walked on Monday and my effort to escape some of Naples' noise was futile. I felt like I was on candid camera or something, since my walk (which is intended to relieve stress..you know, with that rush of endorphins I'm supposed to get) was littered w/ every loud noise you could imagine--here's a snapshot: at the park entrance I was greeted by jackhammers as workers were digging up some cobblestone, within the park, every landscaper seemed to perfectly time the pulling of the lawn mower starter cord to right when I was walking by w/ the stroller (nothing like startling the baby!), every dog seemed to have a beef with me and barked as we walked by, 3 screaming ambulance sirens, incessant beeping as the owners of cars who get double parked/blocked in just continually beep until the owner of the other car comes to move it, slamming doors of the buildings I passed, 2cranes starting on some type of construction at the far end of the park..etc...etc. Sounds like a nice, relaxing walk, right? I think I returned to the hotel looking so stressed and frazzled that they must have called up to the waitstaff to put extra champagne out for the breakfast buffet, because here was coming a girl who needed a mimosa or two to calm down from her relaxing walk! ugh!

Thankfully, my walk today was a bit more peaceful. The jackhammers were gone, the dogs maybe recognized me, and the lawn was already mowed, so I did get a bit of a relaxing walk in, which seems to make all the difference in how the rest of my day goes. A good work out in the morning, time to clear my head, a cooperative/sleeping baby in the stroller, and then a quick breakfast and time to study my Italian book while I sip capuccino, is definitely,what I call, a successful morning. Hopefully, this morning is the beginning of a successful streak with my a.m routine!