Because I did not want to fill my holiday with too much program, I had to do some sorting out with the possibilities. I decided that I wanted at least see Naples and the treasures of its famous Archaeological museum. Still after my visit to island of Capri in the last day there are still plenty of places to see. Among there are Herculaneum, nearby fishing island of Procida, the Vesuvius and the coast north of Naples, where there are a lot of minor sites of interest.
I left to the Naples with an early morning ferry (around 6 o’clock), because the later ones would have been there only after noon and would have cut the available time in short. On the ferry I was rather sleepy and enjoyed of my early morning moments. I bought sandwiches and cappuccino from the cafe on the ferry. The fort and back on the ferry cost about 20 euros. After arrival to the city I looked for the tourist office and found out it would only open little later. So I walked on the nearby streets and visited the Bank of Naples historical exhibition on their lobby. After the opening up of the office I required better map, but in the end I think it would not been required.
On the way to the museum I rest my feet in one of the churches. Many of the churches have signs that prohibit photographing, but practically many tourists take photographs anyway. I think the main reason is that other wise the churches loose the income from the postcards. Also the very open photographing can disturb the people’s devotion.
The Museum
Cave Canem mosaic. The Barking dog was the symbol of writers, the watch dogs of the power.
About the archaeological museum there is first a warning. The museum itself is open through out the day, so it may be wise to place the visit in the time of siesta, when all the churches are closed. You must be aware though that parts of the museum are closed during the siesta, while some of the guardians are on their lunch break. This I know, because I was in the museum, when they started to close the wings. Also parts of the museum seem to be continuously under construction, so you cannot see everything. Yet on my opinion the 6 euros are not too much of everything you can see.
The museum itself was full of the ancient treasures. The main chambers were of the statues and mosaics found in the city itself as well as from the Herculeum and Pompeii. There were also plenty of minor artifacts. Some of the mosaics were known from books and other sources. I especially liked of the animal kingdom portrayed in mosaics. There was also large miniature of the Pompeii in the upper floor.
Yet something what was lacking mostly from these most magnificent parts of the museums were the ordinary life and how people lived it. The artifacts were beautiful, but they did not tell any stories. This is understandable as the many of them were acquired before the modern standards of recording the place of origin and circumstances of the founds. Yet it made them little less interesting that they could have been. The life of people was better explained in the minor wing that explained the history of the Gulf area and was one of those closed for the midday.
The City
Pulcinella is a comedic symbol of Naples.
After the touristic island of Ischia, how lovely it otherwise is, the city of the Naples gave me feeling of coming home. I’ve been living in the Italy before and there I felt I was again visiting the real Italy. It is little difficult to explained – the strange mixture of old elegance and chaos. Even if suffering of garbage problem the Naples is still a magical city. Its narrow medieval streets are like stepping back in time. When one sees little band playing the traditional songs in the street corner, the butcher peeking out of his door and the street vendors selling everything you could imagine from their small tables, you feel like your in the different place and time. The historical center of the Naples is itself on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The Naples have one of the highest density of the population in the First World. The larger City area contains up to 7 million people. According to the official records there are at least 8000 people living in every square kilometre of the city itself, while the amount in New York is around 10 000. But there are no skyscrapers in Naples and there are a lot of unofficial population like everywhere in Italy. So the actual density is probably much higher than the official record. And in the center of the city the density can be seen. There are plenty of people except during the siesta.
Of course when in Naples one has to taste the traditional pizza. If you are not a great fan of pizza you may try a plate of ragu. I like to choose a restaurant, where the locals are also dining, because they are always better than solely touristic pleases. The proper pizza should always be baked in firewood oven – “forno del legno”. The pizza I ate was delicious combination of baked bread dough, fresh tomato, soft mozzarella and proper Italian air-dried ham. The service was fast and the price was OK. The name of the pizzeria was Vesi and it was situated right in the historical center little walk away from the cathedral (duomo) along the Via dei Tribunali.
Along these street I found a black mask of Pulcinella, a comedic symbol of Naples. The city itself is ancient already found in 5th century BC as a greek colony. If you have extra time or if you have visited the city before, you can take a time and submerge under the modern streets to the catacomps and to the ancient city. I passed this to (hopefully) my next visit on the area. I had just a time to see the duomo and few other ancient churches. They were of course wonderfully harmonous and varied, but at the same time little too many church in such a short time. I was tired and happy to return back to the ferry and after the cross of the gulf – back to my hotel.
Few Words of Capri
View from the Villa San Michelle
While capri is beautiful island, it is far too busy for my taste and far too touristic (even more than Ischia). Everything is very expensive. We visited on the Villa of the famous swedish doctor Axel Munthe (Villa San Michelle), but while visit to the blue grotto was both difficult (only possible if the water is low and there are no big waves) and according to the others overrated, there was very little to actually see, except maybe the beautiful views. If you are a fan of hig-fashion, you may found plenty of expensive boutiques in this former oasis of rich and beautiful. The boat ride back from the island was obnoxious, because there was continous fumes of gasoline inside the boat on top of which the sea was rather pumby. Not very pleasent ride I assure you, but fortunately a russian lady sitting by the window was clever enought the open it.
December 26, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I enjoyed reading your visit to Napoli. It rekindled my ecperiences in this city during World War II. I was stationed in the Vomero area of Naples overlooking the bay and Santa Moria beachhead (I’m uncertain of the exact name). I l returned years later with my wife to show her the city and Sorrento, Capri and of course Pompeii. I have fond memories of Naples. Thanks for your tale Irvroth
January 7, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Thank you for your comment. While the city has changed, I think it has not changed so much than many other places in Europe.