The Beitch is back....!
AlexandraCarlyle
Posts: 1,603 Member
Hi everyone! Back from a 10-day sojourn in sunny Naples, Italy! Well, as I haven't been back in that region for at least 40 years, it was a bit of an eye-opener!
First of all, the heat. While there*, we never went below 31 degrees C, although we missed the overwhelming heatwave (up to 42 degrees C) which hit Naples for a couple of weeks in July, before our arrival. Our friendly local Barman tells us it was the longest, uninterrupted period of heat & sunshine for over 200 years, so even for the locals, it was a bit out of the norm.
Here's the thing:
We booked our holiday 'blind'; that is, it was a last-minute booking via a company on the internet called 'airbnb'... turns out we stayed in the very poorest quarter of Naples, down a little alleyway just off the famous 'SpaccaNapoli.'
It is at least 2 miles long, (although the Wiki article states it's a mile long, it really isn't, because they haven't taken the portion beyond the Piazza Gesù Nuovo into account...) very straight and cuts the lowest quarter of Naples neatly into 2. There are bars, pizzerias pasticcerias, snack bars and a countless number of tacky, cheap souvenir shops all along its length. The shops selling 'serious' products ( clothes, jewellery, pharmacies, household décor, appliances, accessories) all re-opened after their Ferragosto break, around the 26th. So there is a lot of tat and crap interspersed with small oases of quality goods.
The downside was the sheer number of immigrant beggars constantly accosting the unwary tourist, but many wear clothing that is new, modern, and they are by and large well groomed and fresh out of a shower... Bizarre...
What's more, not a single square inch is spared from pointless, meaningless graffiti. If it at least had some political, social, humanitarian meaning, it would be understandable. But it's all just spray for the sake of spraying. Filling an unwilling gap with a 'scarabocchio' of mess. Sad. Naples is ancient. Its historic significance is matchless. I was originally founded in 7BC, and its domination of global commerce, trade and financial power makes for fascinating reading. And here it is, reduced to a drawing pad for the disillusioned teenager.
Talk about a mis-spent youth...
The food came as a bit of a shock, too... Because of the sheer poverty of the area (which contrasts strangely with the type of tourists there) Central Naples is drowning in a vast and monotonous sea of carbohydrates. Where is the so-called 'Mediterranean Diet' that is supposedly the corner-stone of vibrant gastronomic health? "Disparu". However, every eaterie you came across, advertised an abundance of Pizzas, Panini, Pastries and Pastas... The 4 'P's of the Culinary apocalypse. I can't wait to get back to my LCHF habits! Mind you, I'm dead chuffed - I only put on 3lbs!!
(*Bear in mind temperatures in the UK have been disastrous this summer, with nothing ever above 19 degrees C for any respectable period of time!)
First of all, the heat. While there*, we never went below 31 degrees C, although we missed the overwhelming heatwave (up to 42 degrees C) which hit Naples for a couple of weeks in July, before our arrival. Our friendly local Barman tells us it was the longest, uninterrupted period of heat & sunshine for over 200 years, so even for the locals, it was a bit out of the norm.
Here's the thing:
We booked our holiday 'blind'; that is, it was a last-minute booking via a company on the internet called 'airbnb'... turns out we stayed in the very poorest quarter of Naples, down a little alleyway just off the famous 'SpaccaNapoli.'
It is at least 2 miles long, (although the Wiki article states it's a mile long, it really isn't, because they haven't taken the portion beyond the Piazza Gesù Nuovo into account...) very straight and cuts the lowest quarter of Naples neatly into 2. There are bars, pizzerias pasticcerias, snack bars and a countless number of tacky, cheap souvenir shops all along its length. The shops selling 'serious' products ( clothes, jewellery, pharmacies, household décor, appliances, accessories) all re-opened after their Ferragosto break, around the 26th. So there is a lot of tat and crap interspersed with small oases of quality goods.
The downside was the sheer number of immigrant beggars constantly accosting the unwary tourist, but many wear clothing that is new, modern, and they are by and large well groomed and fresh out of a shower... Bizarre...
What's more, not a single square inch is spared from pointless, meaningless graffiti. If it at least had some political, social, humanitarian meaning, it would be understandable. But it's all just spray for the sake of spraying. Filling an unwilling gap with a 'scarabocchio' of mess. Sad. Naples is ancient. Its historic significance is matchless. I was originally founded in 7BC, and its domination of global commerce, trade and financial power makes for fascinating reading. And here it is, reduced to a drawing pad for the disillusioned teenager.
Talk about a mis-spent youth...
The food came as a bit of a shock, too... Because of the sheer poverty of the area (which contrasts strangely with the type of tourists there) Central Naples is drowning in a vast and monotonous sea of carbohydrates. Where is the so-called 'Mediterranean Diet' that is supposedly the corner-stone of vibrant gastronomic health? "Disparu". However, every eaterie you came across, advertised an abundance of Pizzas, Panini, Pastries and Pastas... The 4 'P's of the Culinary apocalypse. I can't wait to get back to my LCHF habits! Mind you, I'm dead chuffed - I only put on 3lbs!!
(*Bear in mind temperatures in the UK have been disastrous this summer, with nothing ever above 19 degrees C for any respectable period of time!)
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Replies
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I dunno... Naples area has a history of graffiti. Pompeii has some interesting ancient graffiti. Who knows if today's will be culturally significant in a thousand years or so, lol. Sounds like you were not in a good spot for restaurants, I hope at least you got along fine with your AirBnB host.3
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Oh yes, Naples has definitely got a history of Graffiti... but the very root-word means 'scratch', and ancient graffiti were scraped into the stone surface - often tufa, volcanic rock; quite light but insulating, and very tough in composition.
This is all just car-spray cans... a lot of it meaningless, some vulgar but none of it lasting or meaningful. Nothing for Posterity there, nothing actually worth keeping. No Banksy quality to be seen.....
Our B&BHost was not to be seen. She consigned us the keys, a few salutary notes on what we might need to know and then she was gone.
we received a text from her at around 2am (the morning of our departure) asking us if we had had a good time - but that was it!1 -
AlexandraCarlyle wrote: »Oh yes, Naples has definitely got a history of Graffiti... but the very root-word means 'scratch', and ancient graffiti were scraped into the stone surface - often tufa, volcanic rock; quite light but insulating, and very tough in composition.
This is all just car-spray cans... a lot of it meaningless, some vulgar but none of it lasting or meaningful. Nothing for Posterity there, nothing actually worth keeping. No Banksy quality to be seen.....
Our B&BHost was not to be seen. She consigned us the keys, a few salutary notes on what we might need to know and then she was gone.
we received a text from her at around 2am (the morning of our departure) asking us if we had had a good time - but that was it!
Pics?0 -
Very few. I'm a sexagenarian. I am not attached to my phone at the hip, and am no good photo-taker. To compound the issue, my phone conveniently decided to throw a hissy-fit and now malfunctions. But I have a few, so will download them ASAP....
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SpaccaNapoli West....
...And East....
Piazza del Plebiscito
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View from the steps and colonade in the Piazza del Plebiscito (Looking at the Palazzo Reale):
View of Vesuvius from the Piazza above:
(My H with the yellow/stripe backpack...)
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This is the Madonna right at the top of the Gulia Obelsik in Piazza Gesu Nuovo. It was constructed as an offering to Her in return for being saved from the suffering of the Plague.
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...'obelsik'...?! Aaargh, damn you, limited edit time!
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Sounds awesome even with the unexpected things.
Glad you're back!1 -
Thanks, @Sunny_Bunny_ , nice to be back!1
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Wow! Nice trip.
Sounds like it was great adventure. 0 -
I think that's a fair way of putting it...
If my H and I had in fact driven down, and we'd had a longer period of holiday there, I think things may have been different; as it was, we had to rely on public transport which was a whole different chapter on its own (!) and the time involved, the expense and the logistics really made it an unrealistic option....
The really nice guys we met at the Bar all want us to return. We may well do so, but it will be a whole new ball-game, based on this year's learning curve...!1 -
Welcome back! Very interesting field report. Europe is becoming a bit of a shlthole, unfortunately. Still, there's obviously things to see and fun to be had!0
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You're right about the SchIthole bit. I think two things are important: One, research; two, try at least to pick up some of the local language if you can. It saves time, bother and often, a lot of frustration.
At least I was lucky enough to be fluent in Italian - imagine what a chaotic disaster it might have been if I hadn't been - ! Oh my, it don't bear thinking about!1 -
It looks like you had a wonderful time. I hope you came back feeling relaxed and happy.0
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Yes, but I have to admit I became even more relaxed and happiER once back on familiar soil, because I knew I could finally get back to eating decent food! Yesterday I had two chicken thighs with a creamy mayo sauce and fried courgetti-spaghetti, and today I made 90-second bread and made sandwich with sausages and creamy brie! BLISS!! Have already lost a couple of the excess pounds I was carrying - obviously carb-bloat - so am back on track!
It's lovely to be back among like-minded buddies!
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AlexandraCarlyle wrote: »At least I was lucky enough to be fluent in Italian - imagine what a chaotic disaster it might have been if I hadn't been - ! Oh my, it don't bear thinking about!
That's awesome!
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Welcome home!!1
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Thank you, @Karlottap! 1
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Southern Italy is a third world country lol. You should have ventured north of Roma, preferably all the way up to the Dolomiti
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You're right, the diversity between any two regions of Italy is startling. Funnily enough, we were discussing it over dinner tonight, and my mum, being the full-blooded Italian she is, said that any other nation had a sense of solidarity, identity and Unity. In times of trouble, or when things get tough, whole communities gather together in a move of mutual support.
If so required, Italy would fail dismally. Every Region, every Province is singularly proud of its own inherent character and strength, but no two regions - not even neighbours - could link arms and stand together. Heck, with regard to Dialects, a Neapolitan couldn't understand Milanese, or vice-versa! I know - I tried it in Naples!
My family live in Piemonte, on Lago Maggiore.
Next year, we're going there!1
This discussion has been closed.