Technically my first trip to Naples was over a decade ago, but my grandmother refused to let us get out of the bus – too dangerous. My second visit was similarly brief, although it involved a little more foot-to-pavement time. So this time, my third visit, I was ready to soak it all in. Surely all those rumors about crime in Naples were exaggerated?
We were welcomed by a taxi driver who tried to charge us double for our trip to the hotel, and I wondered if all this fear of crime might actually be founded. But my doubts quickly faded as we eased our way into life in this fascinating city.
Naples is a wonderful walking city, with so much life and vibrancy. It also has a galleria so similar to Milan’s that I could look up and be confused as to where I was.
Via Toledo is the main shopping street, and over the course of three days we wandered up and down it many times. A network of narrow walking streets was lined with shops selling nativity scene figurines and Pulcinellas. I’m guessing they sell other tourist trinkets the rest of the year.
There were nativity scenes and Christmas decorations everywhere you looked, including inside this giant wheel of parmigiano:
We spent most of our time in Naples walking or eating, but we did squeeze in a couple of sites, too. The Archeological Museum contains more Roman statues than you can shake a fig leaf at. Other highlights include various plunder from Pompeii and the mildly pornographic ‘forbidden room,’ which is more titillating to anticipate than to actually view.
We also loved the Castel dell’Ovo, an imposing structure which juts out into the water and houses the odd free art exhibit. I must have taken hundreds of photos of the interesting architectural spaces that we wandered through.
In Naples we found the locals to be friendly and the prices low. And the food, well, it deserves a post all its own.
We went to Naples to see Pompeii and everyone told is the city was dirty & crime-ridden, but we loved the city (and Pompeii) and are going back in September to see more of the city!
We never felt in danger there, although we did see some Mafia Interactions, which I recognized after having lived around the corner from a Gambino Family hang out in Queens, NYC. Remarkably similar behavior, actually. And we have had a Taxi Incident at least once in every Italian city we’ve visited, so we just accept it as part of traveling in Italy! (Side Note: we use the GPS on Fred’s Blackberry to help us figure out when we are being taken on the scenic route. I bet taxi drivers hate GPS phones!)
I was sent to Naples for work a few years ago. First thing you usually do is take a taxi, and yeah – he way overcharged me. I wish I’d have had more time to stroll around. As it was I only had time on the last day before leaving to go to the same museum and check out its forbidden room… whoa, ancient soft-core in 3D…
Were there mountains of trash lying around when you were there?
sounds cool, naples. but then i think you went to….
@Global Librarian – We’ve used our TomTom to make sure we were on the right bus in a strange city before, but never tried to track a taxi. Maybe we should start.
@Ian – Luckily no flaming mountains of trash now. Although it was still plenty dirty there – I don’t want to imagine what that garbage collector strike must have been like.
@Em – almost there!
I experienced the garbage collector strike. They still cleared out the tourist areas and historic center. Outside of that it wasn’t pretty. Mounds of garbage stacked on side streets and the outskirts of town. Some mounds as high as the 2nd story of the buildings. Fortunately it was unusually cool weather, otherwise I imagine the smell would have been horrific.
I also found Napoli very safe, we spent most of our time walking on the streets or eating food 🙂 Walking all the way from the beach (not sure what’s the area called) to the Railway station was most adventurous, and thankfully no one mugged us 🙂