Naples - An Enigma!

Galleria Umberto

Old and dirty, crazy and chaotic. Corruption, social decay and disorder abound.  Italy’s second largest city and its most densely populated.  With just under 5 million people crammed into a small geographic area, Naples once the wealthiest of the Italian states and capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (before unification) might now be described as an urban jungle, a bordello where survival of the fittest rules the day.  Naples is all this yet so much more – an enigma that at once draws and repels (for me anyway).

Narrow 'streets' of Naples

Now for the disclaimer, my dad was born in Pozzuoli a town of just under 100k people right next to Naples so I have a naturally built in bias for the city notwithstanding all of it's warts and drawbacks.  While mom was born in Puglia my siblings and I always responded ‘Napoli’ when asked what part of Italy we were from.   My childhood memories of Italy were largely based on visits to the Naples area to visit my paternal grandmother and cousins.  We grew up with a healthy diet of Neapolitan music famous throughout the world and were exposed to the theatrical and comical brilliance of Antonio de Curtis, known throughout Italy simply by his stage name, Toto.

Chaos of Pignasecca

Last time I was in Naples was about 25 years ago for a one day visit by myself.  It was old and chaotic back then but without all the garbage. I have fond memories of meeting and hanging out with a group of similarly aged guys peddling dress shirts (who knows where they came from) along Via Toledo also known as Via Roma (think Yonge Street on steroids). With an acoustic guitar they kept 'O Canadese' entertained all day singing Pino Daniele jazz classics.

Eating raw mussels in Pignasecca - aghh

After 5 tiring days in Rome I wonder what my reaction will be to the city.  I wonder whether it might have been best to avoid Naples (not a chance!).  Never having been to the city, Nancy was curious to visit even though she had her reservations based on the city’s reputation.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear a friend describe how much fun he had in Naples two years ago.   Maybe its reputation was exaggerated?

Posing with Maradona

Regardless of whatever else we might experience, I knew that the comical, entertaining and free-spirited Neapolitans we would encounter would provide another perspective by which the city might be measured.  As well, we were all looking forward to enjoy real pizza which originated in Naples in the 1700s.  Neapolitans take their pizza and coffee very seriously (and Maradona continues to be revered in a godlike fashion with shrines scattered throughout).  In fact, like Champagne or DOC wines, Neapolitan pizza is being considered for UNESCO protection by the United Nations and I am looking forward to overdosing on both.   (Unfortunately we didn’t make it to Pizzeria Da Michele which stars in Julia Roberts', 'Eat, Pray, Love' and offers only 2 types of pizza, margherita and marinara.)

Train station in  Pozzuoli

I am also looking forward to this trip because we will spend a day in Pozzuoli with my dad playing tour guide on Easter Sunday.   Having visited Nancy’s mom’s and my mom’s hometowns a few years back, Simona and Maddy were eager to see where Nonno was born and meet some of my cousins who I haven’t seen since I was a few years older than them.  To say that my dad was excited to return ‘home’ with his grandchildren (my sister and her son joined us) is a bit of an understatement. 

Dad and his siblings

A city of extremes where the wealthy line up to get into Gucci, Ferragamo, Prada and Rolex along the well maintained streets in the Chiaia neighbourhood and a few blocks over on Via Pignasecca I wonder whether we’ve just entered a bazaar in Delhi or Mumbai (not that I’ve ever been to either), a narrow ‘street’ off of Via Roma where shopkeepers and street vendors seem to crawl over one another trying to outdo one another in peddling their wares.  Whereas I was drawn and enjoyed the chaos, Nancy was repelled and was happy to get back to the Chiaia district, if not right out of town!

Renato entertaining us

A visit to Naples would be incomplete without an encounter with the Neapolitan spirit as illustrated through Renato, a ‘tour guide’ we met by chance in Piazza Plebiscito.  For over an hour, Renato in true Neapolitan form had us laughing, crying (literally) and utterly entertained reciting poetry (Toto’s classic ‘A Livella’ which talks about death which ‘levels’ all the social differences that divide us in life), providing historical context to our surroundings, serenading us with Neapolitan music and telling us jokes as he ‘practiced’ the art of ‘arrangiarsi’ (the art of getting by), without ever asking us for money.

Group shot with cousins
at the port in Pozzuoli

As a last thought, while petty theft is undoubtedly rife in Naples, I suspect that it’s a bit exaggerated based on this experience and previous experiences.  Sure take precautions, leave the diamonds behind, but we walked freely and unhindered both day and night and never felt in danger.    Sal

Posing in front of where his
hairdressing career started at
age 14

Easter Sunday in Pozzuoli

Boardwalk of Pozzuoli