Rick Steves sums up the city well:
Quote:
Take time to explore Naples. This living medieval city is its own best sight. Couples artfully canoodle on Vespas, while surrounded by more fights and smiles per cobblestone here than anywhere else in Italy. Paint a picture with these thoughts: Naples has the most intact ancient Roman street plan anywhere. Imagine life here in the days of Caesar (retain these images as you visit Pompeii) with streetside shop fronts that close up to form private homes after dark. Today is just one more page in a 2,000-year-old story of city activity: all kinds of meetings, beatings, and cheatings; kisses, near misses, and little-boy pisses.
The only thing predictable about this Neapolitan tide pool is the friendliness of its shopkeepers and the boldness of its mopeds. Concerned locals will tug on their lower eyelid, warning you to be wary. Pop into a grocery shop and ask the man to make you his best ham-and-mozzarella sandwich.
You name it, it occurs right on the streets today, as it has since ancient times. People ooze from crusty corners. Black-and-white death announcements add to the clutter on the walls. Widows sell cigarettes from buckets. For a peek behind the scenes in the shade of wet laundry, venture down a few side streets. Buy two carrots as a gift for the woman on the fifth floor if she'll lower her bucket to pick them up. The neighborhood action seems best around 18:00.
The pulse of Italy throbs in Naples. This tangled mess — the closest thing to "reality travel" you'll find in western Europe — still somehow manages to breathe, laugh, and sing...with a captivating Italian accent.
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i went to Naples with my wife for valentine's day weekend to escape the cold here and visit Pompeii (a lifelong dream for both of us). of course, the typical american tourist reviews are nearly all along the line of "crime-ridden and filthy." other than a punk kid throwing an egg at the city tour bus and some shady cabbies, i didn't see any crime. not even any of the "organized pickpocketing" reported on the trains to Pompeii.
the city was great but very intense (which i loved); in parts it reminded me of Iraq, in parts Manhattan, in parts London/Paris/Barcelona. it was very surreal, somewhat like living various locales of Star Wars. i'm relieved there's not a ton of motor vehicle fatalities here every day.
and we only covered 1/4 of Pompeii despite half a day of being there, so we'll go back.
enough with the rambling, on with the pics
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