Pic of the week 17/4/22
Napoli – what a brilliant, bonkers city!
Last Tuesday we flew to Naples for 5 days (returning on the Saturday evening) and it was a total assault on the senses.
The sky was blue, the sun was warm and – despite many warnings to the contrary before we left – the city was safe, but it was mad, manic and life was lived at 100 miles an hour. The constant stream of traffic from every direction, the sound of car horns blaring through the air, scooters swarming past you from any and every direction like a plague of angry wasps buzzing their way through the crowds: it took some getting used to but by the end of our trip I was coming to terms with the chaos and will be my overriding memory of the trip.
But it wasn’t all crowds and blaring horns; the visit was interspersed with adventure and tranquillity. On day two we climbed Mount Vesuvius and by the time we summited and saw the crater all was calm against the brilliant backdrop of the sprawling city and shimmering sea. But the journey to the jumping off point was an adventure in itself. First we had to take the Circumvesuviana to Ercelano (or Herculaneum*) which meant getting a train at the Napoli-Garibaldi station. The first train was rammed – no way were we going to be able to squeeze onto that, so we waited for next, which wasn’t much less crowded. Then a queue to buy tickets for the Vesuvius Express and wait for our coach, driven by Nicola – a god of the road who gave no way and laughed in face of the precipitous drop to the side of the bus as we snaked our way up the volcano. It was fun – in a roller coaster scary type way!
*I don’t know why we translate the names of cities/towns (Ercelano) into English (Herculaneum)
The next day was a more more chilled visit to the island of Procida, a one hour ferry trip from Napoli. A picture postcard pretty island of painted house and tumbledown streets. After an ascent to the Terra Murata, and gazing down on the beautiful Marina Corricela, we slowly ambled our way down to the marina and enjoyed an ice cream in the ferocious April sunshine (we had lovely weather all trip – wall to wall sunshine and slightly above average temperatures in the low twenties). A world away from busy, blaring city across the water.
Friday saw us explore the public transport, including taking a funicular railway to Sant Elmo, but didn’t go into the castle, choosing instead to enter Certosa di san martino, Before going in, we enjoyed magnificent views across the city from our elevated position, and the walked around the building and gardens. The gardens were a little neglected – one could see they were once beautiful and have the potential to be restored as such, but currently the weeds are winning. We the walked down the Pedamentia a San Martino – a zig zag of steps leading down into the Spanish quarter, I enjoyed this (perhaps because it was downhill not up!) and then into the mayhem and madness of the Quateria Spagnoli, a maze of closely crammed buildings.
Saturday we went underground taking the La Neapolis Sotterrata tour. Of course, this was not straight forward – some delightful confusion about queues and entry in true Napolean style, and even underground there was a certain controlled chaos and confusion as different tour groups arrived at the same spot at the same time, but this was all part of the charm of Napoli.
It was a great few days; not a “beginners” city, but a city that I came to love once I began to understand that there were no rules, but everything still seemed to work. A bit of a culture shock for the patient, rule based individual that I am, but that is part of the beauty of travelling – to experience and embrace different cultures from those we live every day.
Of course, I took no photos and Becky took hundreds – to see some of those pics, see her blog: http://dotsandspotsdesign.blogspot.com/2022/04/napoli-x.html