The Many Faces of Napoli

So Lea and I have made it to Naples and have spent either two or three days here so far (after a while, the days blend, even before that, the days of the week have lost some of their meaning). Unlike most of the cities we have visited thus far, we did not have to go out and "find" Naples. From the moment we arrived in the train station, Napoli was literally in our face in the form of the swarms of people that traversed the dimly lit, somewhat dingy streets, to the zooming motor scooter drivers that clearly never took a course on defensive driving, to the overzealous sidewalk salesmen, looking for the next sucker tourist to purchase their faux handbags or squeeze toys. The minute we walked outside the station, we had Napoli in our laps. But unlike more sedate cities, Napoli didn't merely sit quietly and purr; instead, it pounced and ran off only to come back with something unseemly in its mouth. The place has pizazz and cannot be pinned down, there is no doubt.

Napoli breathes and morphs right in front of you. I could walk down a street corner on a Sunday evening and feel the dark (sometimes uneasy) calm of the day's end, and by the next corner see a world of activity: youngsters in the street playing football, their older neighbors playing just 200 feet away from them, teenagers hanging out by a square, folks promenading the streets until late into the night. By the next evening, what was quiet before is now alive, what was vibrant has fallen silent. The place breathes, it has an ebb and flow of its own unlike all the cities we have found thus far on our journey (in this sense, it shares something special with New York).


In sum, this place is very very Italian...in a big way. Venice was gorgeous and certainly belongs to Italy, but Napoli is Italian, Italian, Italian. Its citizens, with their flare for the bombastic and exclamatory, its food, the cheese, tomato, the pastry, gelato, etc.


We have been lucky enough to see Pompeii and its fascinating, eery ruins (the area and most of its inhabitants were covered in ash in 79 CE or so after Vesuvius, which is right by, erupted). Because of the ash, much of the over 2000 year-old city was preserved.

Today we ventured off to the island of Capri, by far one of the most gorgeous locations I have visited. I cannot wait until I can access wireless for my laptop to post a picture or two of this locale. The island is set atop an enormous hill that views the coast of the Golf of Napoli. The vegetation is lush and there are gargantuan rock formations embedded in the expanse of sea.

We have a great comunity in our hostel. It's run in a very relaxed fashion and is located on the third floor (fourth floor in our understanding of levels, oh Europeans) of a very old and somewhat gritty (like most of them are here) buidling in the center of town. There's a large living room and a kitchen, where most people congregate when they are not sleeping, so the place is a bit of a social scene, yet still retains a sense of relaxation, which is key. The place is groovy, most of the staff we interact with are our age or younger and there's usually music or a movie playing in the background in the evening time.

I knew I was in a good place when I made it up all the flights with my huge bag and guitar and the staff member noticed my guitar and said, "we have two house guitars if you want to try those out too." I actually managed to jam a bit with a significantly better guitar player our first night in town, always a good learning experience.

So, that's Naples. We have a bit more to explore tomorrow, perhaps another island off the mainland, perhaps a museum, and then to Rome. Italy!

Abridged: The place has got moxie, in a big way. Napoli is gritty but still has its looks, you just need to wipe off the grit to get a better look. Pompeii = quite the beauty. Capri = stunning to say the least. Food great, hostel quite chill, and we are doing just dandy.

Note: I realize this post is both a bit long and a bit diary-like. I hope, though, that it isn't excessively detailed or boring. I usually prefer the singular story type post, but I felt that this was the best way to go for this special city. I have learned that when you are on the road, it is a bit more difficult to tell stories in the way that I did while I was in Paris. But, perhaps a story will emerge in the near future. Best!