Naples Favorites

Favorite thing: Help us, tourists.
Don’t come in Naples !
Summer 2009 : All days and all nights Camorra BURNS TOXIC TRASH in country between Naples and Caserta.
The air is unbreathable and food is poisoned.
Our children die for cancer !
If tourists don’t come in Naples, maybe somebody will make something.
Help us…………. don’t come in Naples and Caserta……

www.laterradeifuochi.it

Fondest memory: Help us, tourists.
Don’t come in Naples !
Summer 2009 : All days and all nights Camorra BURNS TOXIC TRASH in country between Naples and Caserta.
The air is unbreathable and food is poisoned.
Our children die for cancer !
If tourists don’t come in Naples, maybe somebody will make something.
Help us…………. don’t come in Naples and Caserta……

www.laterradeifuochi.it

Favorite thing: One thing that's good exercise to do is just to "get lost" and explore the tons of cluttered side streets that Naples offers. Naples is a city with a lot of slopes so it's best to take public transport if you don't care for this, especially during summer when it's boiling hot and muggy here. But take it from me, walking is much better and you can reach a lot of places that vehicles normally can't take you. A lot of Naples is very pedestrian friendly as well. Just be careful when crossing streets. The lights serve as accessories and cross with groups of people. From a hidden gem of a pizzeria to a trendy store with summer sales, you never know what you can find when walking about. One would expect members of the Italian mafia to come around the corner with their fancy suits and their Aviator shades with a cigar in their mouth! And who knows, I might have passed them and not known!

Fondest memory: That's one thing I miss about Naples was the stores and the people watching. I also miss the alleyways full of flags and laundry. My true image of Italy has been implanted in my mind after visiting Naples.

Favorite thing: hi guys, i am back from my trip in italy. just want to thank everyone for all your trip advice. we ended hiring a cab for 2 hours touring around naples. i wouldn't recommend it. the driver was nice, but he barely speaks english, so it was hard to communicate with him.

i would recommend driving or take a train or take the excursion tour if you only have 1 day in naples.

why would i recommend driving? well, because our cruise ship also made a stop in livorno and we rented a car there. we drove to florence and pisa. the driving wasn't bad at all. we got lost twice, but manage to find my way back :-)

anyway, driving in italy in my opinion is still easier than driving in downtown san francisco or LA during rush hour. we rented a very small car, it was a nissan micra. i really enjoyed driving through the tiny streets of florence, the car can maneuver very easily. i also like the scenic between livorno and florence, we saw a few wineries.

in pisa, we were able to park really close to the tower, again because it's such a small car and we can squeeze and parallel park in between cars. if you take the excursion tour bus or train, you have to park further away from the tower.

Favorite thing: For me, the bay of Naples is a magical place. The deep blue of the sea, the islands of Ischia, Procida and Capri (of course...), all this set against the backdrop of Vesuve is unforgettable and makes the charm of Naples and surroundings. No wonder ancient Romans built villas and residences mainly in the bay of Naples.

One of the first to go there on vacation was Scipio Africanus (the one who vanquished Hannibal, so you could say the reward was well earned). Dictator Sulla came to this region in 79 BC to retire. And of course Julius Caesar, his rival Pompei (sorry, nothing to do with the town) and Ciceron.

And Vergilius, the poet. All roman emperors, Tiberius even ruled the known world from his villa on Capri. Nero appeared the first time as a musician on stage in Napoli. And it is also in this region that the roman culture got the most influenced by the greek one from former colonies.

Fondest memory: Watching the sun setting behind Ischia or Capri, from Naples or Sorrento peninsula is a sight that was here during the Romans and will remain, but is an unforgettable moment...

Favorite thing: A great way to spend the late afternoon or the evening, is to go from Piazza del Plebiscito (the square of the Royal Palace) to the sea and then by via N. Sauro and Via Partenope, going by the luxury hotels overlooking the bay of Naples and then continuing your walk up to Piazza della Republica.

You can come back the same way or go back through the Villa Comunale - a nice elongated park that runs along the seafront.

Great views of bay of Naples, Castel dell Uovo and Vesuve.

4 more images

Favorite thing: One of my interests is lighthouses, so I have these pictures from my day in Naples. As we were leaving the Port of Naples, I saw the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater.

This station at the end of the mile long Mole di San Vincenzo, the main breakwater for the harbor of Naples was established in the early 1900s, but this actual lighthouse was built after WWII. A taller tower was destroyed during the war. It was inactive for a time in the 70s because it was damaged by a storm, but has been reactivated. It is a striking red painted round masonry tower with lantern and gallery, painted red with white trim. The lantern dome is gray metallic. It does not appear that one can walk the mole. Site and tower closed. The statue in the first and third pictures of this lighthouse is of of San Gennaro.

Also as we drove down the Amalfi Drive, I saw a lighthouse which according to the signs on the fence was in a Zona Militare/Divento di accesso which I interpreted to mean - no trespassing.

I think this is the Castellammare di Stabia (photo 2) which is at the southeast corner of the Golfo di Napoli only three or four miles south of Pompeii. When I first saw it, I didn't have a chance to take a picture, so on the way back, I was keeping a lookout for it. The lighthouse is located on the Via Panoramica overlooking the town and harbor.

Fondest memory: When we got down to Amalfi, I took a picture (photo 4) of the aid to navigation at the end of the breakwater. I also took some pictures (photo 5) of the various towers where lookouts were posted to warn of attack by the Turks.

Favorite thing: The churches are everywhere in Naples, demonstrating the everpresent importance of the church and religion. You will encounter them in squares, small streets, back alleys, crammed between two houses. While many are open, still more are closed, fenced or barred and being overtaken by weeds growing in the windows or the roof.

Or the wall and the door just serving as a practice target for another passion of Naples, football...

1 more image

Favorite thing: Everyone has heard about how the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 destroyed the town of Pompeii, but Vesuvius isn’t just a story from history – it’s a live volcano that broods over the city of Naples and the surrounding region today. You’ll see it from many parts of the city, especially down by the bay. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, and is still regarded as an active volcano although it is currently dormant. However, it has erupted many times since the famous destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, most recently in 1944, and is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3 million people who live close to it and its tendency towards explosive eruptions.

When you look carefully at the mountain, especially from the side by the sea (e.g. if passing on the Circumvesuvio train as we did several times) you can see that it is in fact a cone within a cone. The central cone is known as Gran Cono, and this is partially encircled by the steep rim of a caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier, and originally much higher structure called Monte Somma. The Gran Cono was produced during the eruption of 79. Its has been constantly changed by eruptions but is currently 1,281 m (4,202 ft).

I love mountains generally but there was something a little disconcerting looking up at this brooding presence and remembering just what power is locked inside it. I found myself wondering if the people of Naples ever think about the time-bomb waiting to explode just a few miles from their homes, or if they’re so used to it that they don’t give it a second thought as they go about their lives. Maybe though it is precisely this life lived on the edge that gives these people their energy and passion?