Meira’s world

The 8th to the 15th of May was spent in Napoli (Naples), most of that time with Tal. We used the city as a base to explore the isle of Capri, Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. The weather had improved a lot since Rome and Sicily, and was generally sunny and warm.

Napoli is many things: noisy, frenetic, chaotic, lively, graffiti-covered… But the one thing which stood out for Tal and me is that it’s full of LOCALS. Naples felt like authentic Italy. In many other cities, such as Rome (obviously), Taormina and Venice, the places swarm with tourists. Now I know this is a bit rich coming from, ahem, a tourist herself, but that doesn’t mean I want to be surrounded by fellow tourists, especially busloads of Germans and French. This is why Naples felt so refreshing. And the people are very friendly too.

Not only are the local Neapolitans friendly, but they’re also very helpful and even look out for you. All the guidebooks warn you about pickpockets and bag-snatchers on bikes. But it’s very touching when the local residents show their concern by pointing to that wallet bulging in your pocket, or that bag slung over your shoulder, telling you to take care. Which happened to us numerous times. That state of vigilance reminds me of sweet ol’ Joburg . Fortunately, we survived our many public travels with wallets and bags intact. But I did often have to remind Tal to lock his wallet away in his backpack – years of living in London can make one go soft

Here are some photo highlights from the city of Naples only:

Above is the view from the rooftop guest apartment where I stayed with Alexander and Sara of Chabad of Napoli. From there I could see this Neapolitan sunning himself…

I was very much taken with the Galleria Umberto I shopping centre, not by the shops themselves, but by the beautiful building itself:

Napoli is a very crowded city, full of tall buildings, draped with washing, bounding narrow lanes. Here’s my attempt to convey this:

One thing that strikes you about Napoli are the whizzing bikes and Vespas – they are everywhere! Zooting around corners – watch out! Men, women, children, usually 2 to a bike. We even watched people making deliveries on motorbikes – one the driver, the other holding the item above his head. Come the end of the work day and it’s noisy chaos as people return from work or go out for the evening. It can be quite a shellshock to be caught in the middle. What was particularly mindblowing were seeing families on bikes. Yes, mom, dad and child. I snapped one below. At least the parents had helmets. That’s something, right? Poor kid…

Gelato (ice-cream) is as much a delight in Napoli as it is all over Italy:

Tourist trinkets…

I snapped these 2 men arguing, or was it just animated talking? I couldn’t tell!

Yikes! Did I just snap some mafiosi?

I just love the way this old man’s legs dangle as he reads the paper!

The inside of the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) is beautiful and sumptious:

Tal returned to London from Naples. On that Sunday I accompanied him on the Alibus to the airport. We had such a cute, friendly bus driver (pictured below). I told him I was coming back to Naples after the airport. He said that if I’m on his bus on the way back, then he’ll let me travel free of charge (maybe he saw how miserable I was since Tal was leaving!). At the airport, I waited with Tal until he boarded, for at least an hour. And lo and behold, on my return to Napoli I had the same bus driver. And he kept his word

And finally, a stunning view of Napoli and the Bay of Naples from Castel Sant’Elmo on top of Vomero hill. That is Mount Vesuvius in the distance. Yup, the famous volcano which erupted in 79 CE and buried the aristocratic town of Pompeii in lapilli, small volcanic rock fragments. As you can see, it pretty much dominates the area.

There are literally hundreds more photos in my online Naples photo album.

Enjoy!