Cantina del Vesuvio in Trecase 4 - 9 October 2022

With four campers here, waited up until 11pm just to get another load of washing in.

Slept ok, despite us both feeling irritated by many mosquito bites each - despite using the repellent which makes it hard for us to breathe when applied! So how do they cope?!

It’s been an assault on all our senses today - went into Napoli.

Courtesy mini bus took us to the train station at 11am. Only 12 minutes drive from the Agricamper. We bought return tickets for both of us - €12. We whizzed off to the platform 3 with a couple of minutes to spare - then realized we hadn’t validated our tickets - and witch in the ticket office hadn't said anything. Managed to whizz back, validate ticket, run back to the platform, just as train was approaching! On our graffiti train today! I’d written down some instructions from Rick Steves’ website and luckily we were on the right train line. From there we needed the Metro Line 2 towards Pozzuoli, for only one stop at Cavour. A helpful man said it would be about 30 minutes walk, so decided to pay €2.80 for the Metro. It’s different here, trains run by different companies, so can’t use the same ticket like we did in Rome.

It was all going well - except, at our stop, we couldn’t open the doors in time, a lady tried to help too. Never mind, got off at next stop, then went back to where we should have been!

Then a quick walk to the archaeological museum where the 90 minute Naples audio tour with Rick Steves began. We use Tintin’s AirPods, just each of us with one ear piece - works really well.

Our driver had said 5pm would be his latest pickup, not 4pm - so we were delighted to have a little more time.

As Naples main attraction is just the way of life, markets, people - decided Rick’s walk would cover all that, as we wouldn’t have time for museums, churches or the catacombs.

We’re warned that Naples has a reputation for crime, not violent, mainly pick-pocketing, purse-snatching and phone-grabbing - so we were very aware of our possessions!

So, Rome has a population of 4,298,000, whereas Naples is about 2,180,000. Think we saw, smelt and heard lots of them today!

Walked through a big arch into the 19th century Galleria Principe di Napoli mall, with glass skylights overhead, and marble floors beneath.

The shops were mainly empty! High expectations in mid 1800s, by late 1800s economic stagnation set in. With the unification of Italy, Naples was eclipsed by Rome as Italy’s first city.

There were homeless trying to sleep - and the smell! What I imagine gents urinals smell like!

With it’s safe harbour in the centre of the Mediterranean, Naples was always connected to the wider world. Naples was born 2,500 years ago as a Greek colony. Even when the Latin speaking Romans took over, Naples remained Greek speaking, highly cultured, and a busy trading centre. After Rome fell, around the year 500, the city powered on as an independent kingdom. Around 1500 Naples became the crown jewel in a huge Spanish Kingdom that stretched across Europe.

The 17th century Church of the Sapienza has a statue of the pope up on the façade.

From there into Bellini’s square - apparently an oasis - with just the sound of people!

You can see a sunken area below the street level, showing origins of the city from 2,500 years ago. The blocks of local volcanic stone, are called tufa.

Through Port’Alba Gate - into a pedestrian alley, lined with bookstores.

Naples is the third largest city in Italy, but one of Europe’s most densely populated.

We walked down the most famous street in Naples, called Spaccanapoli - it’s a long, long straight and narrow street. It’s name translates as split Naples, as it bisects the city.

At the Via Pignasecca market we saw the fish markets, tripe mongers, butchers and produce stands. There’s stores selling cheap clothes, there’s street-food vendors…

We only saw one fountain (no water) - whilst common in Rome - they are rare in Naples.

We were now in the Piazza Gesù Nuovo - and time for the most famous pizza!

We, of course, had to have an Aperol Spritzer. Tintin had the 4 seasons, and I had the Neapolitan. So very different. The base is soft and chewy, but so tasty. €33.50 - very good value we thought.

On top of the big statue stands Mary - she is the protector of Naples. In 1656 the bubonic plague clobbered Naples and more than a million people died in and around the city.

Spaccanapoli is what you might call bustling! Absolutely packed - shops selling snack foods, coffee, gifts, souvenirs - nothing functional!

We bought some sfogliatella, (€3) which is one of Naples’s unique pastries. It like a croissant, cut in half and filled with cream (ours was lemon) - the name means tiny leaves, the crust is made up of extremely thin, leaf-like layers of dough. Just reminded me to take a photo, and to eat them - carried them back to Dave for ‘tea’. Really crispy, and quite good!

We’d been through the Spanish quarter, and then we went through the Egyptian quarter - where the statue of the reclining man is, the Statue of the Nile - this is considered the centre of Old Naples.

A popular Naples souvenir is the corno - a skinny, twisted red horn that resembles a chilli pepper. It represents abundance and fertility. It comes from two ancient symbols of fertility, it’s a cornucopia - a horn of plenty. And it’s also a phallic symbol turned upside down. In ancient Pompeii people put phallic symbols in their homes as good luck charms!

There’s also a little street where it’s Christmas all year around - lots of touristy shops!

We bought a gelato - the shop was recommended on the audio guide - The Polo Nord Gelateria - the oldest in Naples, opened in 1931, and made fresh daily. Tintin had Cassatta and I had cherry €4 - good, but was 3.30pm by then, and we were in a bit of a rush to finish the tour to catch a train!

Also in that street is Antica Pizzeria da Michele - some say this is where pizza was born - there were queues of people waiting - so they must be doing something right! It only serves two varieties, Marinara or Margherita.

From here it was a short walk to the train station. We were wondering where to validate our tickets, and a man came up to us, and took them out my hands, in an attempt to ‘help’. We took them back, and walked off, as we already knew which platform we needed, and the time of the train. Maybe he wanted paying for ‘assisting’ us - don’t know.

The train took about 35 minutes, and our driver collected us about 16.45. Seemed another dubious area, cars abandoned anywhere, a man peeing in the street, and going back to his bed further down the street…

We’ve seen lots of well rounded cars today, really not surprised having seen the way they drive, mopeds are the worst, whizzing through little gaps…

I’m glad we’ve seen a little bit of Naples, however, I’d be in no rush to go back - despite enjoying our day. We’re hoping that the graffitied buildings open up into nice sanctuaries for people inside. There is rubbish absolutely everywhere - although the trains were clean! Must take a special type of person who would want to live in that chaos!

So, we’re finally moving on tomorrow. It’s taken lots of research, as we’re getting closer to a very popular area. Sadly the next Agricamper we wanted to use seems to be closed - all future dates in October have been greyed out on the booking form. Slim pickings for safe places to park, or even accessible for Dave. So for second time ever, we’re booked into a campsite to enable us to see Sorrento and along the Amalfi coast - well - that’s the plan!