Originally posted February 4, 2004
Fresh off the plane from Italy, I can’t help but be torn between feelings of love and hate for the country. There’s so much beauty there: the art, landscape, architecture, sometimes people, etc. That puts it much in my favor. I visited the Island of Capri this weekend and it has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. But on the other hand, Naples, like everyone warned me, is very dirty, overrun with stray dogs, cats, pick-pockets and pollution, has unbelievable traffic (almost worse than Rome and the drivers are just as willing to kill you if you’re in their way) and seediness as you can hardly believe exists when you’re staring at a Caravaggio in a world famous art gallery or looking out into the crystal blue Tyrrhenian Sea from the top of a white cliff amidst the dense perfume of lemon trees and tropical flora. Keeping my belongings under strict control and never going down any streets that weren’t very well lit and well-populated was hardly enough to ward off the feeling of people lurking waiting to accost you or rob you the minute you let down your guard. I don’t want to give the impression that I had a bad weekend. On the contrary, it was an enjoyable weekend. I just noticed that there really is no middle ground in my feelings for Italy.
We left on Friday morning and it was FREEZING cold in Paris. Everyone had been saying how it was unusually cold and how the three days in a row of snow and freezing rain were unthinkable for Paris, usually one at MOST. None of it ever stuck, just turned the city into a muddy, cold mess. Some friends had been talking about going to Amsterdam for the weekend but I couldn’t fathom going anywhere colder by choice. I was looking online for fun for flights to Sicily and southern Italy when I found one to Naples that was pretty cheap. I bought it on the spot and convinced my friend Nicole to come with me. Our flight over wasn’t too bad. It seemed to take forever as we were itching to get out and explore. Nicole is a purebred Italian and had never been before so she was very excited.
We disembarked and tried to take the bus to our hostel, only to find that there was a strike that day, so we had to take a cab. The adventure begins. We get to the big central square in Naples after the cab driver takes his sweet time and a roundabout way to get there. He also talked the whole time in Italian and started to scold us for not knowing the language. We got a little lost trying to get to our hostel, but after we got checked in and settled, we set out to see the Archeological museum with all the remains from Pompeii and the Alexander Mosaic. It was very interesting, though everything was in Italian so we didn’t get very much information. We then went to see the Duomo where they have the bones of San Gennaro and two vials of his dried blood that supposedly liquefy every year to signal the continued good fortune of the city. We got a personal tour of the treasury by a guide who spoke only French and Italian, so we got in a little bit of practice while we were away. She was very nice and she told us everything we should see in the city. We then decided to take the metro up the hill to see the Spanish quarter and the castle on the hill which we never made it to because we were famished. It was about 7:30 when we found Pizzeria Gino Sarbillo on Via Tribunali in the center of Naples’ historic district. Gino supposedly invented the calzone, but also had 21 children who continued on in his tradition of pizza-making and still run the shop. Needless to say, the birthplace of pizza is definitely the best place to get it. I had one with mozzarella marinara and artichokes. Nicole had one with sausage and corn. They were phenomenal. Then we had gelato which just added to the success. By this time we had done two full loops around the city and were so tired we couldn’t think. We went back to the hostel and sacked out.
The next morning we began meeting the very international crowd of people staying there. At breakfast alone we met two Australian guys, an American living in Beirut, a Spanish girl and 2 people from Belgium. Some people were headed to Capri as well. We took the ferry with them, but split up with them as soon as we got off. We got a little lost in Capri without a good map and a lot of things were closed, it being low tourist season and a Saturday (Italians like to work even less than the French do and seem to create reasons to avoid it). We were feeling a little helpless when we took a bus to the center of town and managed to find a tourist office that was open. We bought a map and proceeded to get lost again in the backstreets, but that was fun. We ran across designer shops: Gucci, Miu Miu, D&G, Louis Vuitton, all nestled together. They were all closed, presumably because the people who shop there are at their ski villas right now. Then one block over there is a family run bakery, and a closet of a grocery store with fresh produce from the owner’s garden.
We finally found the trail we wanted to hike and had a fantastic afternoon with almost no one else around and in some of the most beautiful natural settings I have ever laid eyes on: transparent blue water against the sharp rise of the cliffs with lush vegetation and birds chirping everywhere. The boat to the famous Blue Grotto was closed due to rough seas. We contemplated swimming out there, but the water was freezing and we weren’t properly equipped. We just walked around enjoying the sun and the breathtaking panoramas around us. We were very fortunate to arrive when we did. It had rained for a week straight in Naples before we got there and then Friday it turned sunny and warm and stayed that was throughout the weekend. It got cold at night, but nothing compared to what we left in Paris.
Just being a chatty people in general, all the natives we met getting directions told us that we needed to come back in the summer. I was so glad to be there when we were. It was warm but not too warm. There were still a few tourists, but I can only imagine what the crowds must be like in the summer. I feel like we got to see the real Capri, stripped of its veneer and we got to meet people because they had nothing better to do than talk to us. This was pretty much the story of the whole weekend. We met very few people outside the hostel who spoke English and there were no lines. granted, a few things are closed, and the schedules are a little different, but it was worth it to experience a little of what native life is like on Capri. *
Anyway, after the hike we spent a little more time taking in the beauty of the island and loving the fact that it was dead low season. Then we caught the ferry back to Naples and went to the castle on the port and looked at some catacombs with bones still being excavated, some Italian medieval art, and some nice panoramas from the ramparts. Then we took a tour of the Teatro San Carlo right next door. We found out from the guide that there was to be a concert held that night. I asked if she knew if there were tickets left and she said the box office opens at eight and I could buy them then if there were. We decided to go back to the hostel and rest for an hour, then go back to see. We returned and met up with our Australian friend Adrian from that morning who decided to accompany us to the theater.
One little anecdote: we were riding the elevator up to the hostel after our visit to the theater when we crossed paths with an Italian woman who lives in the building. She kept talking to us in Italian all I could gather from what she was saying is something about the door being tricky. Then she asked us if we spoke Italian. We said no, we’re American, then she started talking really fast making broad hand gestures and she said “Americano” a bunch of times then she ended with “Capice?” We shook our heads. Then she actually yelled “I LOVE AMERICA, rest of countries no good. Italy and America …molto bene.” Pretty contrasting viewpoint from that jerk we encountered in the bar last weekend. We bought tickets for the symphony at a super reduced price (normally 120 euro tickets in the orchestra section for 15 euros) and sat down to hear Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5, and Gustave Holst’s The Planets” no. 32. The theater is older than the Scala in Milan and rivals it acoustically, it is said. It was as richly decorated and ornate on the inside as I imagined the Scala would be, just smaller. I had a wonderful evening listening to the music and taking in my lovely surroundings. It was a nice change from the dirty streets and the outrageous noise of the traffic and constant sirens that awaited us when we exited.
The next day, we got up early and caught the train to Pompeii where we explored for a few hours. The ruins were incredible and the books that they sell there show what the original constructions used to look like and overlay them on top of what you see right before you. It’s amazing to think of what happened to this city. All life was stopped in two days, frozen in molten rock until its discovery so many years later. The mosaics and the structures still intact are awesome.
We then went to Herculaneum which I enjoyed more. The archeologists have not yet removed everything and it seems more preserved, less stripped and operated on than Pompeii. You can also walk through more of the rooms and little passageways. I love visiting these historical places that I learned about in fifth and ninth grade. It’s making it all come alive and I want to learn it over again because I forgot so much.
After exploring those sites we didn’t have time to take the train up the volcano before we had to go back to Naples to catch our flight. Now I’m back in Paris with all my original possessions and lots of new memories. The weather is warmer in the city now, not so bitterly cold. Just one more month until spring will start to blossom here. That will be something special. I am remembering images of Williamsburg in the spring and getting a little homesick. It’s been too long since I walked those uneven brick paths. However, Paris decided to warm up after I followed through with my threat of leaving if the weather didn't get better. It's been unseasonably warm and sunny since I got back. Let me know how you all are doing. Until next time.
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| Mount Vesuvius |
We left on Friday morning and it was FREEZING cold in Paris. Everyone had been saying how it was unusually cold and how the three days in a row of snow and freezing rain were unthinkable for Paris, usually one at MOST. None of it ever stuck, just turned the city into a muddy, cold mess. Some friends had been talking about going to Amsterdam for the weekend but I couldn’t fathom going anywhere colder by choice. I was looking online for fun for flights to Sicily and southern Italy when I found one to Naples that was pretty cheap. I bought it on the spot and convinced my friend Nicole to come with me. Our flight over wasn’t too bad. It seemed to take forever as we were itching to get out and explore. Nicole is a purebred Italian and had never been before so she was very excited.
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| Castle Sant'Elmo, Naples |
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| Piazza del Plebiscito |
The next morning we began meeting the very international crowd of people staying there. At breakfast alone we met two Australian guys, an American living in Beirut, a Spanish girl and 2 people from Belgium. Some people were headed to Capri as well. We took the ferry with them, but split up with them as soon as we got off. We got a little lost in Capri without a good map and a lot of things were closed, it being low tourist season and a Saturday (Italians like to work even less than the French do and seem to create reasons to avoid it). We were feeling a little helpless when we took a bus to the center of town and managed to find a tourist office that was open. We bought a map and proceeded to get lost again in the backstreets, but that was fun. We ran across designer shops: Gucci, Miu Miu, D&G, Louis Vuitton, all nestled together. They were all closed, presumably because the people who shop there are at their ski villas right now. Then one block over there is a family run bakery, and a closet of a grocery store with fresh produce from the owner’s garden.
We finally found the trail we wanted to hike and had a fantastic afternoon with almost no one else around and in some of the most beautiful natural settings I have ever laid eyes on: transparent blue water against the sharp rise of the cliffs with lush vegetation and birds chirping everywhere. The boat to the famous Blue Grotto was closed due to rough seas. We contemplated swimming out there, but the water was freezing and we weren’t properly equipped. We just walked around enjoying the sun and the breathtaking panoramas around us. We were very fortunate to arrive when we did. It had rained for a week straight in Naples before we got there and then Friday it turned sunny and warm and stayed that was throughout the weekend. It got cold at night, but nothing compared to what we left in Paris.
Just being a chatty people in general, all the natives we met getting directions told us that we needed to come back in the summer. I was so glad to be there when we were. It was warm but not too warm. There were still a few tourists, but I can only imagine what the crowds must be like in the summer. I feel like we got to see the real Capri, stripped of its veneer and we got to meet people because they had nothing better to do than talk to us. This was pretty much the story of the whole weekend. We met very few people outside the hostel who spoke English and there were no lines. granted, a few things are closed, and the schedules are a little different, but it was worth it to experience a little of what native life is like on Capri. *
Anyway, after the hike we spent a little more time taking in the beauty of the island and loving the fact that it was dead low season. Then we caught the ferry back to Naples and went to the castle on the port and looked at some catacombs with bones still being excavated, some Italian medieval art, and some nice panoramas from the ramparts. Then we took a tour of the Teatro San Carlo right next door. We found out from the guide that there was to be a concert held that night. I asked if she knew if there were tickets left and she said the box office opens at eight and I could buy them then if there were. We decided to go back to the hostel and rest for an hour, then go back to see. We returned and met up with our Australian friend Adrian from that morning who decided to accompany us to the theater.
One little anecdote: we were riding the elevator up to the hostel after our visit to the theater when we crossed paths with an Italian woman who lives in the building. She kept talking to us in Italian all I could gather from what she was saying is something about the door being tricky. Then she asked us if we spoke Italian. We said no, we’re American, then she started talking really fast making broad hand gestures and she said “Americano” a bunch of times then she ended with “Capice?” We shook our heads. Then she actually yelled “I LOVE AMERICA, rest of countries no good. Italy and America …molto bene.” Pretty contrasting viewpoint from that jerk we encountered in the bar last weekend. We bought tickets for the symphony at a super reduced price (normally 120 euro tickets in the orchestra section for 15 euros) and sat down to hear Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5, and Gustave Holst’s The Planets” no. 32. The theater is older than the Scala in Milan and rivals it acoustically, it is said. It was as richly decorated and ornate on the inside as I imagined the Scala would be, just smaller. I had a wonderful evening listening to the music and taking in my lovely surroundings. It was a nice change from the dirty streets and the outrageous noise of the traffic and constant sirens that awaited us when we exited.
The next day, we got up early and caught the train to Pompeii where we explored for a few hours. The ruins were incredible and the books that they sell there show what the original constructions used to look like and overlay them on top of what you see right before you. It’s amazing to think of what happened to this city. All life was stopped in two days, frozen in molten rock until its discovery so many years later. The mosaics and the structures still intact are awesome.
After exploring those sites we didn’t have time to take the train up the volcano before we had to go back to Naples to catch our flight. Now I’m back in Paris with all my original possessions and lots of new memories. The weather is warmer in the city now, not so bitterly cold. Just one more month until spring will start to blossom here. That will be something special. I am remembering images of Williamsburg in the spring and getting a little homesick. It’s been too long since I walked those uneven brick paths. However, Paris decided to warm up after I followed through with my threat of leaving if the weather didn't get better. It's been unseasonably warm and sunny since I got back. Let me know how you all are doing. Until next time.
