Experience Naples & Pompeii

Naples is extraordinary, and it is the Neapolitans who make it so. Is it a sense of doom from living in the shadow of Vesuvius that makes many Neapolitans so volatile, perhaps so seemingly blind to everything but the pain or pleasure of the moment? Poverty and overcrowding are the more likely causes. But whatever the reason, Naples remains the most vibrant city in Italy -- a steaming, bubbling, reverberating minestrone in which each block is a village, every street the setting for a Punch-and-Judy show, and everything seems to be a backdrop for an opera not yet composed. It is said that northern Italians vacation here to remind themselves of the time when Italy was molto italiano -- really Italian.