Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Naploi

Just so you know, I had a complete Naploi post and then all of a sudden, POOF, it disappeared.  So I'm trying my damnedest not to be frustrated, and just start over :).  Easy enough...because I am writing to you pool side from my new location in Sorrento.  Nothing should ruffle my feathers!


Anyways, onwards and upwards.  I took the metro and an hour long train today out of the bustling city of Naples (Napoli, as it's properly referred to) to Sorrento and scaled back a few notches on the speedometer.  Just my speed, obviously (enter the photo above).  Can you believe that's my view from my hostel?  More like a hotel...because it is!  With basement rooms where they added bunks, knocked down the price a few dozen euros, and called it a hostel.  Simply lovely.  I'm happy as a clam.

But I don't want to get ahead of myself here, because I have so much to tell you about Naploi (yay, Wes! I know you love to read!).  I had so many expectations about Napoli, but really I don't think anyone can describe it as it is (at least in my outsiders perspective).  How could you, I think the place is simply beyond description because it's a city of contradictions.  Here is what it knew about Naploi before I went:  it's considered one of the most dangerous places in Italy.  It has a storied Mafia history (look up the movie Gomorrah. Or don't, as it's incredibly disturbing), and the warnings of thievery and pick pocketing are a constant chorus.  "You should probably leave your purse locked in your room," "you probably don't want to take your wallet with you," "you should probably not have more Euros on you than you can afford to loose," as the signs across the websites on Naples went (mom, aren't you glad I'm telling you this after the fact?)   

I also knew that Naples is, historically, the most important port city in Italy due to its proximity to Rome, and it's supposed to be charismatic, vivacious, and the heart of modern day Sothern Itailian culture.  Don't quote me on that, because I don't remember where I heard it, but I'm sure I did.  And it's were pizza was invented, so the story goes. And let's be honest, that was the main reason I hopped on a bus and headed into the Bay of Naples.  The most famous pizzerias in Italy lie in the Spanish Quarter, which is also the historic district of the city, and the streets most known for crime. 


Lucky for me, the wonderful hostel I was calling home organizes a regular walking tour of the Spanish Quarter with a local body-building Naploi.  I can't say this casting was intentional, I'm just describing the scene. So we walked, and we explore, and Naples serenaded me into a deep appreciation for stepping outside of my comfort zone and following my own sense of direction.  I loved it.  It was busy, chaotic, fast paced (I almost got hit by a bus, but that story is for another time), and incredibly loveable and entertaining. Kids were perched on their parents laps and babies were tied to people backs as they jetted through the streets on scooters.  I wish I got a photo.  It was crazy, and so fun.  All you can hear is people shouting Italian, accordion music, and boughts of laughter. If I thought Rome was alive, Naples is truly living. 

And the pizza.   Worth all the hassle to get to Naples, for sure.  So incredibly worth it.  I also didn't get a photo of that both because I was too chicken to take my camera waking and risk it being jacked, and because I was too distracted experiencing everything that I even forgot about the camera on my phone.  You'll have to trust me- it was delectable.  After experiencing the streets at night in relative safety (except the bus incident), I tucked in early and got to know my hostel roommates.

The next day I ventured to Pompei, and I was joined by a 19 year old recent high school grad from Canada, who woke up spiritedly and motivated, exclaiming "if anyone is going to Pompeii, I'm coming!"  How could I get out of that one?  So he came along like a super happy little puppy. Only he was probably a foot taller than me and 100 pounds heavier, so not so puppy like in stature.  Anyways, my new friend Adrian and I spent four hours exploring the ancient city streets.


That, heartbreakingly, is a dog.


 I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of a human cast, as it felt incredibly intrusive.  Seeing these people frozen in their final moments felt voyeristic, as it's something you were never, are never, really intended to see.  When I was walking around the Coliseum, I had tried to imagine the emotional stages a gladiator maybe went through-the terror, courage and imemse pride it took to step on the battle stage.  It was simply unfathomable, though.  The lack of life experience to relate to emotions like that was also something I encountered in Pompei.  We walked along these ancient cobblestones, and I tried to envision the scene back in AD 79, as people went about their daily business.  Sure, some we're prepared and got out of the city before the ash because too sufficatingly thick. Plenty of people didn't. And now, we walk those same paths and try to comprehend the ancient emotions that, once again, I couldn't imagine.  Not for lack of trying.  But the scene is so human, and the similarities to modern life are fascinating, and haunting.  

One thing I couldn't get out of my head as I walked out of Pompei and boarded the hour long train back to Naples was man's romance with fatalism.  Pompei stands on a hill, almost intentionally symbolic of the dangers of encroaching on natures power, and is surrounded by a city.  Houses, vineyards, and other structures adorn the sides of Vesuvias, still considered an active volcano.  Mt. Vesuvias had another major eruption in 1944, during WWII, and while it didn't have nearly the cataclysmic affect of AD 79, it was still destructive. But people rebuild and continue to creep up on the volcano's slopes.  I overheard a girl on the train talking to a friend, telling her it was due time for the volcano to erupt again, according to seismic reports and monitorings.  Who knows if that's true, but our willingness and enthusiasm, maybe resilience, to keep building lives in places we readily know can easily be destroyed is just fascinating. I could go on and on, but this doesn't seem the space and I don't have the energy. 

Over on this side of the Bay of Naples, one has a beautiful view of Vesuvius. 


Sorrento is a lovely town, and is refreshing after the chaotic energy in Naples.  


I walked around for the afternoon after I arrived, and could see spending quite a bit more time here.  There is never enough time, eh? 

Tomorrow I'm headed to Amalfi and Positano, so the journey continues.  With so much love... Ciao!


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