What an assault on your senses this city of Naples is….from the minute you drive in, three lanes of traffic are fighting for right of way on a one lane road, the tarmac is that potholed and lumpy, inside the car your kidneys are getting shaken about…hate to think what it is like on a scooter or pushbike, and there are plenty of those buzzing around too.
The Operator drives like a local, Rosie doesn’t know how he comes out the other side so calm and collected, Rosie is a mess after we have negotiated the streets of Naples for barely ten minutes. We turn up a one way street, its dim and narrow, buildings soar 5 stories above us, apparently our parking garage is here on this street, somewhere….we keep going slowly, scooters are buzzing around us, clipping the wing mirrors, there is a small blue P to the left…this must be it, wedged in between two buildings the entry door the size of a single garage door.
We drive in and down the ramp, a huge tan bull mastiff crossed with a rottweiler looking dog greats us ….a guy is in a booth and motions us to stop. He asks how long we are parking for and says get your things out of the car we will park it…wasn’t prepared for that, looking around, the garage was jammed packed with cars…all wedged in like sardines, no lanes of parking bays….so we left the car and keys, swapped them for a hand written receipt…. and forgot about whatever purpose for organised crime our wee fiat might be used for in the next two days.
Our apartment was 50 metres down the same road and it was just starting to rain. Through giant street doors (right) we went, believe me, Rosie stood there in front of the doors, in the rain and said ‘this cant be it’…into a mangy courtyard you walked, bikes are chained to pipes and anything non movable, dead pot plants are everywhere and rain is falling making the middle of the courtyard wet.
The company that is renting the apartment to us has 4 more on our floor, the third floor, up we go and meet Selene, She was waiting in the apartment. she took a photo of our passports, we paid in cash for our two nights and she gave us a bunch of keys, one for the door to the apartment, one for the door to access where the company flats are, a remote control for the lift, (not everyone in the building has access to this)…and a huge iron key in case the big outside door is closed to the courtyard.
Our tiny flat is one high ceilinged room, there is a kitchen, bathroom and sitting room with doors that open onto a balcony and look down into a riot of backyards, brooding Vesuvius is in the background and is, abit like our mountain, reluctant to show itself to just anyone, after a spell it does show its face…..a prefab metal staircase in the corner leads to a mezzanine floor where the bed is….what an oasis after all that chaos, and what a welcome to the Spanish Quarter of Naples.
It is dark and torrents are falling from the sky, it is raining so hard that rivers are running down either side of the road. washing still hangs from balconies over our head, the racks all have a large plastic tarp over the top of the washing. It is humid and warm, there is not a breath of wind anywhere, we head to a local small restaurant and have one of the best and cheapest meals we have had so far in Italy. That is the restaurant in the pic right, Don Macaronne, in the blue light.
Naples by day is actually worse looking than at night, the darkness softens the edges and you cant see all the debris, graffiti, dirt and grime. It is pretty post apocalyptic looking….the Euro version of Hong Kong is a kind comparison.
So many people living on top of one another. You cant even actually photograph it properly, its too tall, too narrow, too big. Life is lived on the street, a couple burst through the doors of an apartment screaming at one another as she storms off down the street, both still yelling and gesturing at each other 200 metres down the road.
Teenagers sit on scooters in groups looking cool, eyeing each other up. Old people sit in chairs on the roadside in a line chatting to one another, you couldn’t even say there is a footpath, as cars and scooters stream past. Some of the small flats open directly onto the street, (right) there is a half door that allows the top to open and Mama leans on it and looks out onto the street, you look straight into the door as you walk by and see a bed made in the back, a couch and a sink, there looks to be one room and a bathroom off to the side….this area is very poor looking. People dont smile at you as you pass by or acknowledge a greeting if given, they look hard, a reflection of the type of life lived.
We walked through the Spanish Quarter on Sunday morning, it was pretty quiet, wandered up Toledo which is the main shopping street and headed to the market area Via Pignasecca, the stalls were open selling fish, veges, fruit, cheese, stockings, shoes…you name it…
We kept strolling, passing through Piazza Bellini as we were heading towards the archaeological museum, which holds all of the treasures of Pompeii.
When Mt Vesuvius erupted in the summer of AD79 Pompeii lay covered in ash and rock, perfectly preserving it until it was rediscovered in 1748……the King of Naples, Charles of Bourbon declared,’ bring me the best finds’ , they did, Pompeii was stripped of it statues, mosaics and everyday items, if you travel through the physical siteof Pompeii you pretty much have to use your imagination as all of the trappings, decorations and adornments are here, in this museum.
On the ground floor, you start with the Farnese Collection, (not from Pompeii) a mammoth collection of giant marble statues that were acquired, seized and dug up from ancient sites by the future Pope, Alexander Farnese while he was looking for ancient sculptures to adorn his own Palazzo in the 16th century.
The size of these statues is astonishing and alot of them are copies from even more ancient Greek bronzes….The best one Rosie thinks is the statue of the Torre Farnese it is the largest and most complex statue ever recovered from antiquity, supposedly commissioned in the 2nd century BC, it is carved from a single block of marble. The story is pretty cool too for back in the day, it goes….The King of Thebes had a lover that bore twin boys….the lover was forced to flee and live in a cave and bring the boys up there…..The Kings wife was barren and mean, she plotted to kill the lover, the boys, when grown, captured the Queen, tied her to the horns of a raging bull, as you would, which trampled and smashed the Queens body against rocks….the boys mother watches silently on in the background…..rather melodramatic, but very cool.
The mosaics were stripped from the floors and walls of Pompeii and are now housed in the Naples Museum, they are amazing, the mosaic tiles are so small and the floors and walls so big, it would have taken forever to make. The degree of detail and shading in the mosaics are incredible…remember these Pompeii was covered in 79AD…these are ancient. Everyday kitchen and dining wear was also preserved and are on display as well, it is truly fascinating.
From the main shopping street Via Toledo we rode the funicular up the hill to get a squizz at the enormity of Naples….these pics dont even scratch the surface, the place is immense and so tightly packed together.
Naples is the third largest city in Italy, it has a population of 3.1 million and is the most densely populated city in Europe. The city is squalid, it is disappointing because it could be much more…there is a fiery spirit in the people, that borders on arrogance but also has a friendly, curiosity that isn’t allowed, or supposed to be seen.
Rosie thought the civic pride was gone in Rome…..well, in comparison to Naples, Naples rates a zero. For a proud seeming people, take some pride in your city, it is a rubbish dump, a giant ghetto. We carried on down to the harbor….
These photos make it look so quiet and peaceful….just to the left…. are millions of people. Naples is a place I can say I have been, the city is an experience to say you have been there, is a place that I would recommend you visit? Depends what you want to go there for…there are no pretty places to visit, it is raw, busy and throbbing, that in itself is an experience….is that enough? You decide. Oh, and they do make the best pizzas in the world here! They are delicious! That alone should be reason enough to visit, or briefly stop for lunch….
