A Little Slice of Naples

I took a tour yesterday through the base of an area called Vomero, located on a hill over the center of downtown Naples. The tour was led by Aldo, a fantastic guide who has put together several, wonderful tours of the area. Our bus dropped us off in Vomero, which was once a wealthy playground for the elite, a hilltop paradise of villas and gardens looking over the sea. The gardens have been razed and Vomero, while still an exclusive area, is now made up of large apartment buildings, several stories high, built on those former green spaces and on top of the fancy villas.

A castle sits up there, Castel Sant' Elmo, the star castle, so called because of it's star shape - the points helped keep out invaders. The view is supposed to be spectacular. I wouldn't know because the terraces were closed due to high winds. I don't believe I've ever lived in a place as windy as this one. We're constantly having sustained high winds. We were able to enjoy a beautiful view over Naples with Vesuvius in the background. You can clearly see that Naples really is the most densely populated city in Europe.

Since the castle didn't work out, we visited a cameo factory next door for a little shop around (the center of the world) for cameos carved out of shell is here in Naples, in a little area at the base of Mount Vesuvius) while Aldo checked into getting us tickets for Chiesa di San Martino. In hindsight, I am so grateful the castle was closed or we would never have visited this amazing church and museum. The church is just a confection of inlaid marble covering the floors and walls, with a vibrant, frescoed ceiling. In the rear of the church, behind the altar, is the choir area where the monks sang - they could not have contact with the public, so they were hidden. Something I'd never seen before is the choir echo chamber - underneath the choir's singing area is a large, specially shaped room, and in the choir area is a huge grate. As the monks sang their chants, the echo chamber would allow the music to fill the church. Attached to the church is a museum with a variety of exhibits...

Old Carriage

Royal Barge

A peaceful cloister

And a huge presepe - I love the flying angels above this one.

 Following our quick peek into this gem, we walked down over 400 steps to the Spanish Quarter (Quartieri Spagnoli) in centro. This area was built to house Spanish troops in the 1500s and is now an area where the working class live. It's vibrant and busy and a slice of real life. Streets are narrow, about 10 feet wide at the most), and apartments open directly onto the street - no sidewalks. I read that this area now has some of Europe's highest rates of youth crime, unemployment, and respiratory disease (from Wikipedia). This area, very near to where my language school was last October, is full of things to see.

We're preparing right now for our spring visitors, who begin arriving this weekend, and I'm having a hard time developing a tour plan between the incredible museums (three major ones, and at least one "don't miss" minor one), the castles, the glass-roofed mall, the churches with their incredible art and marble works, Christmas alley...the list goes on. Balance that with the pure, overwhelming chaos of traffic and people and trash that is downtown Naples and you can get a small idea of this city. I wonder if, over the three years we live here, I'll get to a point where I think I've seen "enough" or "everything" there is to see in Centro.

Fishy Friday

Our final day of briefs was a City Tour. One of the great services on base is an "Intercultural Relations" office staffed by three Italians. They do tours around the region, language classes, cooking classes, etc. So on Friday, we boarded a bus and took it to the Joint Forces Command (JFC), the NATO base here in Napoli. JFC is right downtown with a Metro Stop only a couple of blocks away. From there, our leader, Giuseppe, showed us how and where to buy the proper, public transit ticket, and off we went on the Metro. We wandered through a very nice little area in downtown that included a market.

We also visited Galleria Umberto again (aka, "the mall"), wandered down to the sea, then took a funicular up the hill to the area of Vomero. Vomero is lovely! A two block pedestrian zone that is lined with trees, breezy and cool compared to being down in the city, and unfortunately, full of apartment living only (and expensive apartments at that).  After a fun stroll through this area, back to the 2nd funicular line and down to the Naples seafront. While there is a nice, wide boardwalk here, it was hot, hot, hot! We did, however, get to stop and watch these fisherman clean their catch:

If you can't make out what he's cleaning, click on the photo to enlarge it. Then you should be able to see the tentacles wrapped around his arm.

We had a nice day out, which was a good ending to long days of sitting in the base theater listening to briefs. I'm so glad we had such a thorough orientation, and I really did enjoy most of it, but I'm exhausted! As someone described it, we got a "firehose" of information.

We've spent the weekend house-hunting, and I'll do an update on our search later today or tomorrow.

by Nathan

This is the first entry of a public log to chronicle my first trip to Italy. I may or may not be all that disciplined as to write every day, and I may or may not resume once we have moved here for good. But that seems to fall into perfect line with the Italian way of life - a way in which nothing is linear for that matter. So Andiamo!

After arriving yesterday (19th June), I checked in and did the typical routine with rental car, hotel, etc. After a short party at the home of a prospective coworker, I set about the task of defeating jetlag. I dare say that I was successful in the first day thanks to the cafe and ... well, more cafe.

Today, was all the more productive for those efforts. After a short run this AM (and some cafe), I hit the road in my little car to see the towns of Vomero, Posillipo, and Pozzuoli. Vomero was nice but a bit too urban. Posilipo was exactly what we want if not a bit hard to access. In Pozzuoli, we have a winner. the town is surreal and the people are incredible. the sea is everywhere (and everything) in this little enclave with its cobbled alleys, cafetterias, seafood, and pizza.

Drama was unavoidable as the predictably unthinkable happened - I hit a pothole and blew a tire. Whilst changing the tire in the rain, I thought about this little metaphor: the best Italian phrase in the language is "Va bene." "It's fine." You can say anything you want in basic Italian, but chances are you will get something else. Knowing you are struggling, they try to please and hand you their best guess as to what you want and ask, "Va bene?" Just say, "Va bene!" Enjoy whatever it is, learn your lesson, and move on.

Va bene.

(If you know me, then you recognize that this is a life-changing epiphany. Feel free to applaud now.)

After returning my "guide" (i.e. the guy whose position I will assume in Sept) to his car, I went back to my room, exhausted and unmotivated, to head out into a rainy if not otherwise peaceful Neapolitan Sunday afternoon. Italians typically "roll up the streets" on Sundays - days for church and for family. Most of the businesses are closed everyday at mid-afternoon, and on Sunday, it's hard to find any sign of activity. But this is not just any Sunday. Italy is playing New Zealand in the soccer World Cup. I just can't bring myself to stay in, so I drive back to Pozzuoli for the match.

I make it to Pozzuoli in time for the second half whereupon a passing thunderstorm interrupts the TV signal. No worry however, as the Italians are as much fun to watch as the game. In fact, when Italy are playing badly (as was the case in this match) it was just as well to turn my attention to the fans. During the frequent TV outages, the fans kept me entertained all the same.

After the match, a 1-1 draw to otherwise hapless New Zealand, I set out on foot to see the parts of Pozzuoli I missed in the car. Though there are no car-free zones anywhere (including sidewalks), it's easier to take it in on foot. If you come to visit, be prepared to walk.

The Pozzuoli harbor is my favorite so far. The rain kept many away, but I was joined in the streets by quite a few locals looking for a distraction from the memory of an underwhelming performance on the soccer pitch. I chatted in 4- to 5-syllable Italian phrases (my limit) with a few people at a coffee bar. The staff there knew no English, but I imagine that if Bon Jovi were to come up, then they'd learn - they accompanied him flawlessly as he sang "Always" on the radio. A dopio (double) cafe went down wonderfully, and I bid arrivaderci to my new friends.

The trip was a total success in teaching me that there are a great many beautiful things about this place that too many are reticent to share amidst all the bad-news stories of crime, drugs, and burglary. The Neapolitans enjoy life. They love to smile, and I think they really love it when you smile back at them.

Va bene!

Ciao, Nathan