We slept pretty well after our very large and excellent pizzas.
We were ready to start the day of sightseeing in Naples.
Down past the Murales depicting their hero Maradona
Under truckloads of washing hanging from the balconies above us
Past little local greengrocers with so much lush and cheap produce. Shame we couldn't get anything.
Then a different perspective on the majestic galleries
To the Castle in the main square, Piazza Municipio, where we started our hop on, hop off bus tour. An interesting piece of art there by a famous artist, Pizzoletto, who works a lot with different materials, his works depicting social themes.
The tour of the old town was not particularly brilliant. The next day en route to the airport by taxi I got a much better guided tour! However, it gave us a brief overview. One thing is for certain, Vespas are the best way to travel on these narrow, crowded and hectic streets.
The second tour we did was much more my cup of tea! Out of the centre, along the shore, with a pedestrian promenade stretching for several kilometres, and up into the hills to give spectacular views over the Gulf, the islands and Vesuvius. Peaceful now, but who knows in the future.
In the afternoon, Guni and I went separate ways, and I returned to this beautifully quiet and picturesque part of Naples. The Promenade was busy, with locals of all ages and many tourists. With three huge cruise ships in port, there was a deluge of people into this already crowded city of about 1 million people.
Up on the hills were very different houses from the Spanish quarter. Luxury villas and apartments, castles and museums.
As the bus wound its way around the pretty streets of Via Petraca, we had a wonderful view over the city and, as always, Vesuvius in the background. It's been a while since it awoke, but locals still are a little fearful of future eruptions and earthquakes.
As we were heading back to our rooms, we passed the Teatro Carlo, the oldest theatre in the world, I was just mentioning how sad I was not to have been inside, when we noticed a crowd of people going in, and Queues at the ticket office. Looking very scruffy, I asked what was on that evening and when, how much, etc, and seconds later we had booked two tickets for only 30 euros each for our very own box, high up on the fourth floor. Quite a climb - no lift. The concert was a very well known soprano, Nadine Sierra. The evening was fantastic, brilliant singing and piano accompaniment ,incredible environment and a phenomenally enthusiastic and appreciative audience. It was clear that performers and audience alike were thrilled.
What a way to end a stay in Naples!
Comments
Post a Comment