First day in Naples. Trash!

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Naples, our first roadie. We just made the train out, long story short, never trust women when they tell you they're almost ready. "Almost" means 45 minutes, which makes a stroppy Jason.

Anyhoozle, we caught the train, and made it to Naples before noon. Apparently, the trip was full of spoiled Italian kids, the bulk of which I missed due to an amazing ability to sleep through both screaming and a girlfriend trying to alert me to screaming. I know she was annoyed, but why wake me up to tell me how horrible it is to be awake?

We survive to Naples, and board the bus to find a city crammed to the brim with trash. The first thought through my sleep addled brain was "how the f (expletive deleted) do people live in this disgusting, trash filled, traffic snarled, people crammed, disgusting, dirtier than Rome (which is no picnic, trash-wise, itself), and just overall nasty, town? Then we got off the bus, and started to explore. You know when people take a particular stance on something, so you have to take the other side, the devil's advocacy of which actually changes your way of thinking a bit? Lucy decided that she hated Naples, never wanted to come here in the first place, and that it was dirty and disgusting and worse than Rome. So of course, I decided she was wrong and just being a negative nelly, and putting that mental positive spin on things really helped me to see the better bits.

We checked into our hostel (I almost wrote hotel; what a different an "s" makes!) and immediately walked out again. Time to explore! And escape the smell of our ho"s"tel! Our abode being right on the port, it was awhile before we were able to escape the tourists and disgusting parts. The weather helped, alternating between monsoon and sunny. Anyway, we walked randomly for a bit, ending up on a wharf that turned into a pretty sweet castle. Castel de Ovo; literally, castle of the egg. Built about 1500 years ago (although there was something there before, and it's been rebuilt and renovated several times since), the egg castle is currently home to a public art gallery and office buildings. The art was good but not great; modern, with a smattering of landscapes and portraiture. A couple of the artists were interesting, in sort of way that local talented artists often are. The castle itself was extensive, with many great panoramic views of the Napolean bay. Really, this was the first glimpse of Naples not seen through the haze generally portrayed by Charles Schultz as following Pig-Pen (mainly due to the trash problem in the city. Apparently, the Mafia does all the trash collection for the area, and they got a wild hair up their collective ass and decided to stop).

Post egg, we headed out and about. Lucy was feeling generally better (as was I, although I claimed the whole time that I loved the place and that Lucy was "just being stroppy") so we got our first taste of Napolean pizza. Excellent. Really, quite good. I mean really good. Really, really good. Afterwards, we found a beautiful piazza. The dominant feature was a church clearly modelled after the Pantheon, in that it was basically a circular structire topped by a dome and fronted by columns. I believe it was San Paolo Maggiore, but don't quote me. It was a bit weird, in that there were wings out from the dome, filled with rather eclectic businesses, and topped by a series of neon lights in different languages, all stating "love difference". This seemed a bit out of character for a Catholic building, as no religion has been more active in stampng out differences.

In front of the church was a large square, offering a beautiful view of several other (probably architecturally important) beautiful buildings, as well as a view down the slope of Naples out to the bay. Quite amazing, and not to be missed if you're in the area (like anyone's actually reading this!!). Right out front, there's a to-scale representation of Europe, big enugh to be walked on. In fact, it wasn't just Europe, it had bits of northern Africa, as well. All the which made it more insulting to the tiny Brit, as England and the UK were excluded. "'ow the 'eck d'ya 'ave Libya and not England? I mean Libya, for Chrissakes. Libya. Really, 'ave you eva even 'eard of Libya? Libya? Really, Libya? Libya? And not England? It was clearly a model of Europe, and no England? They 'ad a monarchy, for petesake." Most of this was a direct quote. Really, it went on for awhile. I can see the outrage, but why she had to diminsh the status of Libya as a sovereign nation is beyond me.

After wandering, we decided to head back to our place and get some aperitivo. In some bars in Rome, you can have a drink and make a meal out of the happy hour appetizers; not so in Naples. We ended up paying way too much for gnocchi, sausage and fish. Should have stuck with pizza. No worries, tommorow it's off to Pompeii!

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Comments

[Gandhizzle]

still reading...
"So of course, I decided she was wrong and just being a negative nelly, and putting that mental positive spin on things really helped me to see the better bits." that's why you rock. good times.