When you emerge from the train station, the hustle and bustle of Naples is evident as various street vendors and hustlers try to sell you anything they can for a few euro, mostly knock-off womens handbags such as Prada and D&G. As tempted as I was to buy the rip-offs, you can get the same thing on the streets of New York for less.
Naples has something else in common with New York: Pizza. New York has the world's most delicious pizza, while Naples is the place where (supposedly) it all started for pizza. There's plenty of good food in Naples (and VFC loves good food), but this quaint, little restaraunt named 'Brandi' is allegedly the place where the world's first margherita pizza was made in 1780.
The pizza was delicious, the wine was flowing and I had the best mozzarella and prosciutto that I've tasted in years in that little place.
Not far from the train station, the history trail begins. Among the highlights are various castles, monuments, landmarks and churches that date back centuries. Most amazing of all, in my opinion, is the Cathedral and Crypt of San Gennaro. Gennaro is the city's patron Saint.
This stunning Cathedral is located on one of the back streets of Naples and was actually built attatched to a smaller church that was there for centuries before the Cathedral was built. The inside of the Cathedral is lined with art, relics and treasure that add to the fantastic architectual beauty of the building.
The floors below the Cathedral house the Crypt of San Gennaro. Twice a year a vile of Saint Gennaros blood is removed from the crypt, and as legend has it, if the blood does not liquefy it means something bad will happen to Naples. Not to mix religious lore with current events, but you wonder if that has something to do with why the streets are lined with trash and water supply has become contaminated in some areas of the city. (Don't drink well water, and some say don't drink the city water either). Stick to the bottled stuff, just to be safe.
Another amazing sight is the Castle Nuovo located in the downtown section of the city. The Castle Nuovo is nearly 800 years old and is an amazing testament to the history of the city. I've visited a few castles in my day, but I have never seen such deeo moat around a castle like the one around the Castle Nuovo. That moat could have supported hundreds of alligators to eat up any intruders. The pictures don't do this one justice.
The Castel Capuano is another Napoli church built in the 1500s that is full of relics and riches. This one was also built on the grounds of a previously-built church, and the detail of the architecture and sculptures left me in awe, especially when you think that in America, people think something is old if is was built in the 1920s. Taking in these foreign sights really make you appreciate the history of the world and the relative youth of America.
It wasn't until I left this church that I realized I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures! But I've never been known as one to not bend the rules just a little bit!
Once I saw the 'Serra Di Cassano' on my tourist map, I was dead set on trekking to this landmark to get my picture taken next to the Cassano sign, but unfortunately, it didn't look like much from the outside and VFC was quite disappointed. You could see that the Cassano Palace was truly a work of art in the past. The insides of the rooms that you could see through the windows from the street looked spectacular, but the oustide did not do justice to what was surely quite a display on the inside.
One thing about Naples; you've always gotta be on watch for these crazy, ancient gods that can swoop down out of the sky and take your head off! These guys were guarding the Bank of Rome.
Alas, I made this trip without my family, so I had to find a couple of places to remind me of my beautiful wife....
The below arch is actually the entrance to the 'Galleria Principe di Napoli', a shopping district built over a hundred years ago that now houses some upscale shops and boutiqes that has VFC seeing huge dollar signs disappearing with the thought that my wife might actually be shopping here someday.
The other two photos are the streets lined with Christmas decoration.
I stayed on the 17th floor of the Holiday Inn in the business district of Naples, and I wouldn't necessarily reccommend it to anyone else. The place is extremely expensive for all things from food to mini-bar (not that VFC partakes in mini-bars) to internet service. The hotel website advertises 'Complimentary Internet', but when you get here you're quickly charged 15 euro for 24 hours of internet service. A scam, I tell ya. The view was nice enough, but I'd reccommend downtown to anyone coming to Naples.
All things said, Naples has it's highlights. There are some very nice shopping districts, the old-school European alleyways that I love, and exsquisite little coffee shops everywhere you look. I also love the European cities where you can't walk five feet without running into a castle or church that dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and Naples definitely does have its share of those. Most importantly, I don't think there is a bad restaraunt in the city. There's something to be said for that. (of course I wasn't there long enough to try them all)
It is a dirty city, however, and lacks the charms of Rome, Venice or most other Italian cities that I've visited. But the history in Naples, including the Archaelogical Museum that houses the ancient artificts from Pompei, cannot be denied. I wouldn't spend more than a couple of days here again, but Naples is definitely worthy of a visit and is a great place to catch a train to the smaller surrounding cities such as Pompei and Sorrento.
Other sites from around the city:
SHOP AT PERFUME WORLD BEFORE VISITING NAPLES SO THAT THE SMELL OF THE TRASH ON THE STREETS DOESN'T OUTSMELL YOU!
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