Making up for lost time...Trip to Naples

 Like everyone, we're all saying, "How can it be February already?" Crazy, huh? And all this time I've been meaning to give updates on where we've been and what we've been doing.

First up, was our trip to Naples in October. Michael and I took a weekend anniversary trip to make up for an earlier covid-related cancellation. Fully vaccinated and feeling fine, we decided to risk it and were so happy we did! It is an extremely interesting and vibrant city, and we wanted to stay longer. An easy train ride of a few hours, and we were right in the heart of the Naples.

Our bed and breakfast was a portion of a convent in the Spanish Quarters. This area of Naples, comprised of several different and distinct neighborhoods, has a very complicated history. It was an area outside of the city limits used in the mid-1500s to house Spanish soldiers brought to protect the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. One can imagine that the locals weren't best pleased to discover them in their midst, and presumably bored soldiers were possibly not the most salubrious company to townspeople just trying to go about their business.

Fast-forward to the 20th century, and it was truly a lethal place to be. Poverty and crime were rife, and our local tour guide said that there were killings in the piazza near his home to the extent that he wasn't allowed to play there in the streets. 

And now? It has been reclaimed and is starting to draw pride (and tourist dollars) from its edgy history and picturesque, narrow streets. A common living situation is a "basso" ("low"), a one-room street-level apartment. These bassi commonly have a half-glass door for light, along with an adjacent low window. As you walk by, you can see the whole space at a glance. The relatively high ceilings permit those who wish and can afford it the possibility of creating a loft, generally with a minute spiral staircase to access it.

The restaurants are welcoming, often full to overflowing, so reservations were definitely required to get into the places we wanted to eat. Ironically, one evening we happened to find a restaurant off the main drag that was empty except for ourselves, but we ate extremely well there, and were very much welcomed!

While we were there, we took a guided tour of the Spanish Quarters offered by the bed and breakfast. The guides are required to be locals since they understand the area and its influences and culture, and we found ours to be superb. 

We also did a tour called the "Miglio Sacro" ("Sacred Mile"), exploring a different poor section of the city. This particular tour was focused on the culture and handling of death, and included visits to catacombs, churches that were heavily funded by payments for burial rites, but also local buildings of historical or architectural interest. 

The wealthier parts of the city were easily visited on our own, but of course we only had a few days. We did visit the palace externally (it's an art gallery and we were out of time to go inside) and were surprised to find ourselves face to face with the Rosa Parks house! Go figure. It certainly provided a sense of scale for the palace, though: it was this Lilliputian home in the middle of a courtyard formed by this Brobdignagian structure!

I found this butcher's display case hilarious

An early shopping mall

One of the churches and convents was completely
bombed during WWII, but fortunately the gardens
remained virtually untouched. The courtyard 
was almost entirely filled with ceramic work
like that shown in this photo and the one below.

This presepe had figures that were 12" high, if
that helps you imagine the scale

The church also had a museum which had an amazing
display of textiles

This modern sculptor had a small exhibition, and 
his talent is incredible

There were fish markets everywhere. I was longing 
to have a place with a kitchen so I could take some of 
this back for dinner!

We happened to lunch across from the Banksy of Naples

I loved the corrugations in the base of this defensive tower

The palace, now a museum

See how small it looks! Up close, 
the Rosa Parks house is actually quite a large,
two-story home.

These were some rather fun street lights near our hotel

View from the hotel

This local pasta is a very thick ribbon. 
Our last night's dinner was so delicious,
we arranged to pick some up before heading back to Todi
by train. We got it home successfully
and were able to share it with the kids!

Love,

Alexandra