Naples - city of contrast

Well, after 4 nights spent in Rome it was time for us to leave for South. Everything we heard about Southern Italy was that it is the Italian Mob's nest, the weather is hot, the people are poor and the only way they make money is from agriculture. Partly all of these proved to be true but the South has it's own parfume and rythm of life...and that is slowly and pleasantly. We drove about 250 km to Naples from Rome, but our destination was Maria del Cantone a small village near the sea in the Sorrento Penninsula about 70-80 km from Naples (not 50 as they were saying in the travelling guide). And the road between the big city and our accomodation was straight up the hill and then down to the sea...narrow, only curves to the right and then to the left but with spectacular views.
We reeached Villagio Nettuno where we booked our two night sleep at 9:00 pm a little tired and stresed by the road and the fact that we had already been wandering around on the streets without finding any clear road signs to our destination. Now that is Italians' major problem: They have plenty of roads: one near the sea, one 10 m above the sea level and one 20 m above sea level and a highway - all with the same destination, but they have very bad road signs, so if you travel by car get a local map, take an extratime and be relaxed...you'll sure get lost! The nice thing is though the Italians are very friendly and they explain to you where to go to and what is the easy way to get there. Phew! We were a bit tense that night.

Anyway everything got better in the morning when we woke up with this view.



We rented a chalet with two bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen. It had a terrace too. Simply but incredible nice. Because it was not yet in the top season, there was peace and serenity everywhere!





The first day we planned to be lazy so we spent it on the beach sunbathing and doing nothing. Unfortunately the water was a bit too cold for swim, but as we were fascinated by the sea (which is actually very very ink-blue and clear - now I really understand the Italian "azzuro") we did it. Our swimming session was short though.



The relaxation continued with a special Italian pizza at the local restaurant. Well yes! it was on me as I was celebrating my birthday the day before. The pissa it's really good...they put all sorts of special mediteranean ingredients, unknown vegetables :) but very tasty. Anyway they say that Napoli is the birthplace of pizza. The services in the restaurants are very nice! The Italian know how to serve you and surely they know how to eat! (taking into consideration the time they spend eating and the courses they have - about 4 or 5 at noon).

Next day we were back on the road, amazed by the lemon and orange trees near the road full of fresh yellow and orange fruits. We looked but didn't touch! The trees were very well protected against greedy tourist like us! We headed for Naples. Vesuvio - the vulcano rises straight from the sea and protects the big city of Naples. In our way to Napoli, as they call it, we visited the riuns of Pompei, an old Roman flourishing city completely burried by the Vezuvio's lava in year 79 AD. Today is like a city with temples, sanctuaries, amphitheatre, roads, market places, big houses - well a interesting journey back in Roman history which wil ltake you about 6-7 hours. We resisted for 5 hours - and we walked like crazy.



It's a nice piece of history still in reconstruction and worth visiting.





Then, we drove to Napoli (I like the Italian name better than Naples:) and got a quick "image" of the city. It's really a city of contrasts. You walk down the wide crowded streets where you can see all the posh expensive magazines like Armani, Zara, Dolce&Gabbana and if you look to the right or to the left you see these narrow streets filled with strage unfriendly faces, with clothes hanging over your head.



Then you see great piece of art, like The National Museum or churches (great churches here too) and just across the street you see young people begging. They beg for a penny but for their dogs (they have 2,3 or 4 dogs)not for themselves (sic!). This image stroke me! I have never seen it! 20-25years old young people, living on the streets, probably taking drugs and drinking. And they were every 10 m. SHOCKING!

I have no comment about the bags (real mountains) of dirt on the streets. Every 50m!



They say nowadays Napoli is the home of the Black Camora (Black Mob) which is much stronger than the Sicilian one. Well don't know...couldn't recognize no Al Capone on the streets...heheheh.

In conclusion, we were not very much impressed by Napoli, maybe because we didn't have the time to visit its lovely parts and were exausted after visiting Pompei. Here our Napoli guide finding...hardly the right way back to our car.



We've heard that the National Museum it's worth visiting...we couldn't make it! But the Pennisula Sorrentina and the Italian coast it's simply superb! I'll tell you more about famous Amalfitana Coast in the next episode.


PS: I know the pictures are little (I've written this post from the office...ups! and coppied the pics from my album) but you can see them enlarged on my picasa web album.