To see Naples and die

Marleyne was really curious about Naples, the city, Heiner about Pompei..so we went for a short stunt of 2 nights in this city, which after Rome and Milan, is the third municipality in Italy! Between 3 and 3.7 millions of people live there...And Naples ((Neapel=neapolis=new city)is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world...Bronze Age settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium before Christ. And, another record for the books, Naples was the most bombed Italian city in WW2...Naples is all that and more.

Coming from Florence, a shock awaits us...Florence was a "lady", Naples a girl, a bit of a tramp really. She is dirty, noisy, bold and brash but has a great heart! Welcome!

Arriving at the Napoli Garibaldi train station gave us a feel for what the city life would be ...lots of traffic, aggressive drivers, honking cars, graffitis everywhere, and no clean streets (the garbage strike is finished though!!!!)....But we had read about it so not too much surprise there! Here below is the street leading to our hotel on via Mezzocannone.  The hotel was located in the Spaccanapoli area and we were thrilled to see these small narrow streets - the way we imagined Naples -  just around the corner. Gelato shops, pizzeria, cafés, full of life!!! and the prices! half of those in Florence!

 

  Of course, Marleyne's ultimate goal that day was to have a taste of Naploli's pizza! As soon as we sat on the restaurant patio, a brash napolitan waiter "guessed" our order..and brought 2 pizza margherita and 2 beers!

 

Because we did not have so much time in Naples, we sampled some of its treasures..for example, the Galleria Umberto 1 (inspired by the galleria Vittorio Emmanele II of Milano).

And the Palazzo Reale's construction began in 1600 for the Spanish viceroys by Domenico Fontana and was embellished and enlarged by the following inhabitants.... today it is where the national library is located..

 

 And there is the Teatro San Carlo...the largest opera hall of Italy! Build in 1737 by Charles de Bourbon, it has one room decorated with gold and silver which used to be the envy of European courts!  Unfortunately, no opera was staged for the dates we were there.