Good, Bad, Historical - Naples

It has been an interesting few days. Our graduation dinner was fabulous and sad to see the week end but I learned a few new things, tried new dishes and would do it all over again. The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous and I spent a lot of time day dreaming about how I could possibly earn a living and the language and stay there.

On Saturday I arrived in Naples – you either love it or hate it. I’m not sure I hate it but it’s filthy (huge piles of trash line the streets), there is graffiti and graffiti art everywhere and on everything and am told there is no effort to remove it, ever! Riding on the train or the bus, it is routinely stopped so a “checker” can board to ensure each passenger has a paid ticket for the ride. It’s a 36 euro (54 USD) fine if you don’t have one – this does not deter people from boarding with out a paid fare. The neighborhood around the Via Duomo was interesting and I took the picture of the fish monger who was quite funny. Unfortunately, for the most part, I found most people I encountered here to be rude and unfriendly. For example, “which way is the bus” is met with a hand gesture and “over there” and even in my limited Italian, it is clear that they do not want to give you any more info than they have to. This is not a city that I loved and would not be in a hurry to visit again.

Here’s some historical information on my hikes to Mt. Vesuvius, touring Pompei and Capri. Mt Vesuvius is the best known volcano on earth. It is still an active volcano and monitored carefully and if it were to have a major eruption, the Napoli coast which lies directly at its base would be destroyed. It was an interesting and steep hike up with hut like structures along the way selling water, souvenirs, etc. At the last hut, they offered red or white wine for fortification for the downhill back -- you gotta love that. While it was sunny on the mountain, there was a lot of overcast. On a very clear day, I understand that you can see the coast down to Sorrento and a far as the Island of Capri.

Pompei was founded in the 6th century B.C. by the Osci and when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, the town had some 20,000 inhabitants and as I walked around the ruins, it was easy to see the way they lived. There were things like wine jars, inscriptions such as “welcome” and “money,” a swimming pool, aqueducts that provided water for street fountains and public baths and marble counters that looked like they had been part of their kitchens. It was incredible to see the well preserved frescos (see photo) and touring the Villa of the Mysteries which were used for rituals. Some of the rituals were depicted in the huge frescos on the walls. After being in Pompei, I feel like I need to take another European history lesson on this era.

Caesar Augustus built the first villa on Capri in 29 B.C. and it wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries that the island came back into fashion, in unison with Naples’ period of great political and artistic pride, thanks to an active diocese and the privileges conferred on it by the Spanish and later by the Bourbons (not the drink). The architecture is amazing and there are a number of monasteries that pay tribute to this period. Walking around I came upon all these cows and I’m only posting one of them but took pictures of most all them. It is a similar project to the painted hearts in San Francisco but they call this the CowParade which is an international movement uses innovative forms and languages and diffuses the art with the immediacy in the heart of every city they are paraded in. Each cow has a theme and is sponsored by either a local, national or global business. At the end of the parade in July, they will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s.

Okay, now some of you are probably reading my trials and tribulations of public transit and thinking – she’s on public transportation, the one who had so many issues with BART? The answer is yes. Other than a taxi from the Naples train station to my hotel, I have only used public transportation and am now so familiar with the workings of the bus and metro systems in Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast (from Salerno to Sorrento) that I have been stopped by tourists looking for information.

I am off to Agerola which is south and is situated in the hills above Amalfi for another few days of hiking and daydreaming.

Ciao