Day 41 - (Travelling to) [N]aples

More fast train excitement, then overwhelming history

I set out for Naples very early. I had to be on a train at SML at 7:12am to ride for 3 minutes to next door Rapallo, where I would get a train to Rome. Then change at Rome for Naples. Overall, a very straightforward journey that started too early. I did have the fun of travelling at nearly 300 km/h on the last leg into Rome, and well over 250 km/h for a lot of the rest of the journey.

Snap of the train info at 295 km/h, which I thought was the top speed we would do

But then we touched 299 km/h

A short video of what it looks like flying through Italy at ~300 km/h

I got to Naples about 15 minutes later than originally scheduled, but all that time was added waiting in Rome Central for permission to depart on the last leg. I have to say, the walk through Naples to the AirBNB that I am staying at was a little disconcerting. Unlike other city centres that I’ve visited on this trip, many of the buildings were dirty, more than a few in disrepair, there was lots of rubbish/litter on the streets and sidewalks, and everything was tagged with graffitti. And the streets were very busy and the pedestrian traffic was enormous. It was Saturday afternoon and Naples was heaving. Unike other, more Northern European cities I’ve visited so far, the evidence of significant African immigration/refugee flight is everywhere. There were as many street stalls along the narrow roads that looked like grifters hawking their wares as legitimate small shops selling goods. All interspersed with bar/cafes, patisserias, and restaurants.

Street scenes of Napoli, setting first impressions

By the time I found the street (lane, actually) that my AirBNB was on, I was frankly a bit concerned to enter it. It was giving the sort of vibes that you’d expect some big dude to step out of a dark doorway with a knife and offer to remove my wallet or my kidney, my choice. Of course, that didn’t happen, but each time I turn into the lane I still get that frisson of concern.

Vico Maiorani	The Yellow Room in Flat 33
Looking back to the ‘main’ road	Looking up Vico Maiorani, from the French balcony

The weather app has been preparing me for rain while I’m in Naples so I dropped stuff, settled in a bit, then grabbed my stuff and headed out again to get some sight-seeing in while it wasn’t raining and before it was expected to. I’d found two attractions to spend some time in initially on the train trip down. The Capella Sansevero looked like a must for the marble scultures and art work in the chapel. And the Museo Archaeologica de Nationale of Naples was also a must see. Off I went following Google Maps to the Capella.

Saturday afternoon is a busy time in central Naples. Very busy. The combination of narrow streets, all the shops and street vendors spilling into the narrow street, and the press of people out and about, well, it was bedlam. And, of course, noisy; more on that later.

Naples is like most of the other European cities I’ve visited that has a long history. The old town is made up of tall buildings closely packed along narrow, often cobbled streets. Naples was exactly this, only more so. More ancient, taller buildings narrower lanes, and cobbled streets that were either Roman, or mimicked Roman roads. Combined with the dirty, dilapidated state of so many of the buildings, the dark day because of the heavy overcast, and the noisy bustle and press of people and it wasn’t really feeling very welcoming. Also like many other old towns, almost every turn revealed another church. And like Thessaloniki (equally ancient city), the churches are all crowded in by more modern buildings, so getting to revel in their exterior wonder is very difficult.

Random church that I walked past	The nave of that church (the door was open)	Another church
Then I stumbled into a piazza	There were ancient Roman artifacts there, the explanatory board was covered in graffitti and unreadable	Bellini, who the piazza may well be named for

The Capella Sansevero was open, but had sold out of tickets days ago. I discovered all this and bought a ticket for Monday afternoon. It’s obviously a small building and is a very popular tourist attraction. I probably should have realised that just walking up was unlikely to be the best approach. Undaunted, I set off for my second stop, the archaeological museum. This is a really impressive building at the top (North) end of the old city. I bought a ticket (€20) for entry and set off for a long leisurely visit to the museum. I cannot tell you how overwhelming this visit was. The museum itself is enormous and gorgeous as impressive a structure as most of the churches and cathedrals that I’ve visited recently (though not as ornately decorated). But within this astonishing museum space is a jaw-dropping collection of ancient Roman antiquities. They have gallery after gallery of statues, and friezes, partial porticos, and jewelry, all collected from the local environment (and a huge amount of it from Pompeii and Herculaneum, of course). There’s just so much stuff that it’s difficult to scaffold some sort of story about what you’re seeing. I gave up that idea pretty quickly and just focused on trying to find the most impressive examples of the different things that they had. I took too many photos, as usual in such a visual feast. I’ve tried to select my absolute favourites to show here.

These bronzes were astonishing, and in the third room I visited!	All the statues were fantastic, so I’ve shown this set as representative	Frescos, retrieved (mostly) from Herculaneum
Roman sarcophagus in fantastic condition	The main staircase to upper floors	Several of these two-toned marble busts are constructed from different pieces The head may have been from a statue and has been fixed into the bust
Hercules This statue is huge!	Some precious, ancient objet d’art	A genuinely two-toned marble statue of an African slave

When I got up to the top floor, you enter into this extraordinary hall, which is an architectural and artistic marvel all of itself. Quite literally took my breath away. And, when I did start to look around at the exhibits in this main hall, I had the disconcerting experience of seeing some bronze statues with glass/porcelain eyes. It is so unexpected to have a bronze statue so clearly looking back at you.

Trying to capture the feel of the whole place	The main part of the ceiling fresco	This was the first bust that I saw with eyes
Statues of gods and nobles	A god in recline, with fawns	Bronzes of dancers

By this time I was starting to get footsore and tired. I had also decided that the quantity and quality of material on display here really needed several long visits to fully appreciate what was kept here. I was later told that this museum is one of the most important collections in the world. I wandered into a Pompeii exhibition from that extraordinary hall. That was timely as tomorrow I visit Pompeii, so I was getting a bit of and edge on that tour. The way I approached the exhibits led to me watching an 8 minute video on what happened in Pompeii after seeing all the other bits. That was probably quite serendipitous.

Frescoes retrieved for preservation from towns buried by Vesuvius (mostly Herculaneum)
A model of Pompeii, after Vesuvius	Another view of the model	A model reconstruction of the Temple of Isis, adjacent to Pompeii’s amphitheatre

View from dinner

I’d been in the museum for about two hours by now and as I said above, was foot sore and tired. Time to head for home, via dinner. The AirBNB had recommended several restaurants. The one I most want to try only opened at 7 pm and I didn’t want to wait that long. So, I went to the next recommendation on the list, Tandem Ragu. I had their signature dish, which was very good, though I was more excited by the tempura eggplant and zucchini chips that I ordered as an appetiser.

After I’d finished eating but had not finished my wine, it started to rain lightly. I moved inside to finish my wine. In due course, I set of for my AirBNB, which was half-a-block uphill, then one kilometre along Via San Biagio Dei Librai, off which Vico Maiorani runs. Couldn’t be easier! And it was easy navigationally, but the place was even more crowded than before, and now wet and slippery after the rain shower. I got home without any trouble, of course, but then had hours of listening to the street noises while Naples enjoyed its Saturday night. The rain really came down late in the evening, which dampened the party outside quite a bit. However, all through the night there were loud noises as motorbikes roared off, or something heavy and metal was dropped on the cobbles. Needless to say, another unsatisfactory sleep lay in my future, and I had to be up early to get to my tour tomorrow.

Daily facts: Location: (Travelling to) [N]aples Temp: 18 Weather: Overcast, rain in the evening