October 5th 2014.
It has been too long since my last entry and I know that I won't remember half of what I have seen in the meantime. Well, here goes an attempt to do some catching up.
Naples continued to amaze and confound me. With its teeming mass of humanity, this place has been a hub since who-knows-when? Well, I'm certain that historians know when the Greeks established Neapolis, and likely there were already folks there long before the Greeks. They might well be a little alarmed if they could step into the city now, with its decayed infrastructure, heinous traffic, and garbage EVERYWHERE. But there is something endearing about Naples, and so I had a very memorable visit there, for about 5 days.
One of the most interesting areas of the city is the Quartieri Spagnoli, the Spanish Quarters. Val and I happened to end up there at the end of a long day of walking and visiting museums. We had been at the Museo di San Martino, on the highest point in Naples, and decided to walk back down, down, down, kind of, sort of knowing where we would end up. Turned out to be a bit of good luck being there on a Saturday evening, when everyone seemed to be out on the streets, for the weekly passagiata, Saturday stroll, visiting, shopping, eating, drinking, hanging out with one another. The streets are very narrow here, averaging about 3 metres, but that doesn't stop anyone from driving down them - pedestrians just have to step aside. It was so lively and colourful that we both decided it would be worth a return visit on our walk-about the next day. Well, it sure felt different, and we were warned by an Indian Neopolitan not to walk around those streets. I really don't think it was unsafe or risky, but we did decide that it just wasn't as interesting on a Sunday or Monday during the day, as it had been on Saturday evening. Unfortunately for me, my camera had run out of juice by the time we got to the Spanish Quarters, so I only have pictures from the second venture into this interesting neighbourhood.
Down, down, down, to Quartieri Spagnoli
It has been too long since my last entry and I know that I won't remember half of what I have seen in the meantime. Well, here goes an attempt to do some catching up.
Naples continued to amaze and confound me. With its teeming mass of humanity, this place has been a hub since who-knows-when? Well, I'm certain that historians know when the Greeks established Neapolis, and likely there were already folks there long before the Greeks. They might well be a little alarmed if they could step into the city now, with its decayed infrastructure, heinous traffic, and garbage EVERYWHERE. But there is something endearing about Naples, and so I had a very memorable visit there, for about 5 days.
One of the most interesting areas of the city is the Quartieri Spagnoli, the Spanish Quarters. Val and I happened to end up there at the end of a long day of walking and visiting museums. We had been at the Museo di San Martino, on the highest point in Naples, and decided to walk back down, down, down, kind of, sort of knowing where we would end up. Turned out to be a bit of good luck being there on a Saturday evening, when everyone seemed to be out on the streets, for the weekly passagiata, Saturday stroll, visiting, shopping, eating, drinking, hanging out with one another. The streets are very narrow here, averaging about 3 metres, but that doesn't stop anyone from driving down them - pedestrians just have to step aside. It was so lively and colourful that we both decided it would be worth a return visit on our walk-about the next day. Well, it sure felt different, and we were warned by an Indian Neopolitan not to walk around those streets. I really don't think it was unsafe or risky, but we did decide that it just wasn't as interesting on a Sunday or Monday during the day, as it had been on Saturday evening. Unfortunately for me, my camera had run out of juice by the time we got to the Spanish Quarters, so I only have pictures from the second venture into this interesting neighbourhood.
Pescatore
Street in Quartieri Spangnoli with Chiesa San Martino 'way 'way up there.
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