Napoli
IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT VESUVIUS
I have been to Italy many, many times. Along with Spain and Greece, it's one of the most visited countries by British people on holiday. Before visiting Napoli, I had been to Italy, but only for a few hours at a time on the way somewhere else. I also find that Italy is one of those countries, like France, that many people are familiar with even if they've never been. I had that feeling when I first landed in Napoli.
The year was 2009 and we picked Napoli over Florence as the city to visit. It looked good on the travel website, plus it was very close to some awesome spots I'd always wanted to visit. We didn't do enough research, like any good noobie, and picked a hotel based on the price only.
The taxi driver was a little puzzled why we picked that neighbourhood. He asked us "why? Is it really cheap?" In the usual blunt Italian manner, using the appropriate gesticulations. I asked him what was wrong with the place and he answered "ah, it's not the best". We arrived after dark, which added to the mystery of the place. It was a little odd to see an armed security guard at the entrance of the hotel. That coupled with the taxi driver's urgent departure after dropping us got me a little worried.
It turned out we were in a very rough neighbourhood. Very very rough. It was a district known to be a strong hold of the feared "Camorra". It also was way too far from the marina and coastline for mosts tourists' liking. Besides, the sides of the roads were full of litter everywhere you looked. When we got to walk around in the morning, we could smell faeces and urine under the bridges - like any good run-down part of town, complete with the smashed windows and abundant graffiti.
The hotel was very large, but nearly empty. I think it's main clientele was the corporate world for conferences and the like. Once in the compound of the hotel, it was about a 4 star establishment with quality rooms. The best part of the hotel was the roof top which had a swimming pool. Because of the height of the building - one of the tallest in the city, it provided stunning panoramic views of Napoli.
The view from outside my window wasn't as spectacular, but was very interesting between 3-4am. I noticed a group of men queueing up for what looked like large bags of stuff. Someone was passing the bags to them from inside what looked like a warehouse/large garage.
Of course it could have just been totally normal, legal stuff going on, but at that point I had read up a bit about the local mafia-style syndicates, so everything i saw kind of looked dodgy to me after a while. Particularly a few days down the line after having had my pockets very skilfully picked on public transport.
Other awesome things I experienced in Napoli include;
☑️ Eating some of the best food I've ever tasted.
☑️ Having a waiter start talking to his friend that rode up on a motorcycle, instead of serving me.
☑️ Being prevented from taking photos of a beautiful view of the marina by young men on a speed boat, and realising after the fact that the group of old men sitting on a nearby boat may have been 'Capos' [Mafia bosses].
☑️ Discovering that we were staying in the very worst part of town compared to the marina and rest of Napoli, which were awesome!
☑️ Realising that Napolitans drive like Egyptians in Cairo with little regard for pedestrian life.
☑️ Realising that zebra crossings on roads were mere suggestions and were there for decoration purposes only.
☑️ Being "ciao bello'd" by transexual street prostitutes.
☑️ Visiting Sorento, one of the most beautiful towns I've ever been to.
☑️ Visiting Pompeii and witnessing Roman life as it was two thousand years ago.
Pompeii/
One of the must-see places in and around Naples, of course, is Pompeii. It is an ancient city that was buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupted in AD 79.
Because of the suddenness of the eruption, leaving little time for people to prepare/leave, there were people literally caught in certain poses that can still be observed. More importantly, the ash preserved a lot of the intricate detail that may have been lost had the city not been buried under ash. You can still see the internal decor of homes, as well as actual utensils and devices of the time. It's a lovely snapshot of Roman life about two thousand years ago.
What I found most fascinating about Pompeii, is how little has actually changed in that length of time regarding living quarters of the middle classes. They lived in what looked like apartment blocks with much the same partitions we have now - living room, bed room, and some kind of kitchen/food processing area. The main difference is the absence of a toilet in the home - those were communal. Considering toilets in homes in Britain is quite a recent phenomenon, that's not taking much away from the ancient Romans.
There was also a segregation of the classes in that the upper-class or elite lived away from the apartment blocks in their own areas, in full-sized, detached houses featuring lovely quadrangles and gardens.
They had a high street with amenities like a bakery shop, inns, and a butcher's shop. Not too dissimilar to modern times. It is interesting to note that at this point in history, most people lived in small tribes, in huts, in most parts of Northern Europe, including Britain.
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The Roman way of life impacted most parts of Europe and their effects can still be felt today. The script we write in English, is Roman. Many of the cities here were either kick-started, or expanded by the Romans. Many of the major roads linking large cities were first mapped out by Romans. In fact, it is said that Romans never really left Britain and many parts of Europe after the empire fell. They simply mixed into the populations.
Peace & Love,
Adé