napologetic Napoli, Uncompromising Capri, and Unassuming Amalfi
 

I will admit that, at first, I did not really want to go to Napoli. The city was allegedly dirty, noisy, utterly chaotic, and filled with petty thieves waiting to pounce on even the savviest tourist. According to the word of mouth on several travel boards, Napoli seemed to better fit the description for ‘Places to Avoid’. But I wanted to go to the Archaeological Museum. Really wanted to. Badly. And that is in Naples.

I started to do a little research for the most painless, quickest in-and-out way to get into the city; just visit the museum and escape unscathed. Perhaps as a daytrip from Rome? That seemed very doable as the high-speed train takes just over an hour. We had been to Pompeii and Herculaneum before, so there was no real need for more time in the area.

But when I really started reading, I found that there were a few adventuresome souls that claimed to have actually liked the city. Even -gasp!- loved it. Ha! Interesting…. So I thought that perhaps an overnight stay would be okay. After all, I was maneuvering the itinerary so that I could finally squeeze in a visit to Capri.

So the plan evolved: an early(ish) train in from Rome’s Termini to Napoli Centrale, drop stuff at hotel, visit Museum, have a pizza for dinner, sleep, and go to Capri on the first boat out. Very doable.

But then, the serious research began. Why hadn’t I heard before of the masterpieces in the Capodimonte Museum? The Catacombs of San Genaro? The Sansevero chapel? The Caravaggio magnum opus at S. Pio della Misercordia?…. And the list just kept getting longer and longer. That was how we ended staying in Naples for 3 nights at the end of April.

Did we like Naples? I’m sure you want to know right away. But you will have to read along to find out…

Looking forward to reading more! I enjoyed Naples and Capri (multiple nights in both) so am hoping you were a convert.

This is the link to the introduction from my blog Stella's Spoon with a few pictures.

http://wp.me/p7rOvK-qC

I also enjoyed Naples. And curious what you found unassuming about the Amalfi Coast.

Wonderful start - and look forward to more of your wonderful report and blog! I don't know when but Naples is definitely high up on the List, the one that grows larger after every trip report I read!

One more thing--that salumi plate looks delicious. Now I have a craving...

Exactly the places I'm hoping to visit next May.
Love your cliffhanger sentence. OK, I'll read along!! (-:

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

<b>Day 1: Friday, April 29th

<i>Mission Museum... Accomplished </i></b>


We left the apartment in Rome’s Trastevere where we had just spent two wonderful weeks roaming around and visiting many (MANY) of the city’s so-called ‘secondary sights’.

I was sad to leave Rome but I was also very excited about the next five weeks we would spend traveling around the ‘shin, heel and calf’ of Italy. But I was particularly excited about the plan for today: Get to Napoli and spend a few glorious hours in the Archaeological Museum.

I had pre-purchased online our tickets for the 10:00 am high speed train to Napoli Centrale months before (€68 for both of us in ‘Quiet’ business class). I had also printed out the boarding passes so we just had to wait for the ‘binario’ to be posted.

I’m sure I cannot be the only one that suffers from this, but the waiting for the posting of gates and tracks is always nerve wracking to me; and I consider myself a rather calm person. I rationally know that 15 minutes is more than enough time to get from the big display boards to wherever it is that you need to go, but still...

It was only about 10 minutes before the departure time when the ‘binario’ was finally posted. Even C was beginning to get nervous by then. Within 3 minutes of posting the track we were sitting in the very comfortable seats. A good thing because it was cold outside.


Besides a perfunctory glance at our printed tickets at the security checkpoint to access the tracks, no one checked our tickets. Not during the trip nor upon arrival.

The scenery during the trip was interesting, but not quite enough to keep us from nodding off. So this was literally one of those ‘in the blink of an eye’ trips.

We gathered our belongings, detrained (actual word; I looked it up) and had to push our way through all the drivers that were trying to ‘grab’ passengers before they go out into the ‘official’ taxi rank. This hawking for customers seems ridiculous at first but makes total sense the moment you actually see the taxi mob outside the station.

The line of people waiting for cabs was orderly and calm, but the jumble of taxis outside, jockeying to get into position was… interesting. There seemed to be two ‘bosses’ directing who got into which taxi; I’m sure there was a system / pecking order to the assignment of rides but I could not figure it out in the 3 minutes we were standing there.

We get into our cab, tell the driver where to go, he –of course- says ‘Ok’, we take off and then he proceeds to ask every other cab driver how to get to the hotel. I show him the map and he mumbles something. Eventually I realize that the hotel is in a semi-pedestrian area and he does not really know (or want) to get to it.

About ten minutes later we are close enough (according to the driver) and we (almost have to) agree to be dropped us off at another taxi stand so that we could walk the rest of the way. Hummm… Ok. ‘Not far’ he said ‘just around the corner…’ pointing into a massive throng of people being herded around. Take a deep breath and go. Ok.

Our initiation to Napoli was walking straight into the Spaccanapoli, the city's main pedestrianized 'tourist avenue'. Yes, it was chaotic. Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it was not fun pulling our luggage through the crowd. But it was true, we were not far from the hotel so it was not that bad.


BTW, we did indeed get picked up by a taxi in the hotel when we left….but THEN we saw what a nightmare it was to drive through those mazelike not-quite-one-way streets. So I’ll be kindhearted and forgive the first driver.

The address given by the hotel, for reasons that I will never understand and did not care enough to inquire, is for the back entrance. You open a small door cut into a humongous wooden door and step into a residential courtyard –sheets and underwear hanging out to dry, neighbors squawking at each other…. It was kind of funny. Well, the kind of funny that you know is going to be funny in the future but not quite yet.

So first impression was certainly FAR from good.


<i><b>To Continue Reading:</i></b> http://wp.me/p7rOvK-rA

And this the link to the Rome Trip Report, in case anyone is interested:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...wanderings.cfm

Marigross: I am so happy you are posting a trip report for the rest of your vacation! I was following along on Facebook :)

BTW, I loved Naples, but people were generally appalled that I would consider doing the trip on my own as an unaccompanied woman. I combine Paestum, Herculaneum and Pompeii. When I was there, the Capidemonte had the largest Caravaggio exhibition ever assembled. I lined up in the freezing cold (it was January) to see it, and it was worth every chilblain. I saw the exhibition twice again - in Toronto and London.

I visited Naples as a solo female, too. No problems.

@marigross - does that link mean you are not going to continue posting here? I don't usually click links I can't read.

thursdaysd: I have read and enjoyed all your India trips reports when preparing for my aborted India trip. ... you are a tad more adventurous than most :)

I should add though that a week after I was there, two Canadian tourists were caught in the cross-fire between two rival gangs! however, I walked through the streets in the (early) evenings and had no problems. Scariest thing in Naples was trying to cross the road - they are insane drivers!

@OReilly - thanks. I don't often do late evenings these days. Gang warfare in Naples, terrorism in London, Paris, Orlando... I'm still going by Keep Calm and Travel On.

I know where you are coming from! Had my niece and I not been in Dublin for a family event on Saturday, we would likely have been right there. My niece had been in the pub on Thursday evening ....

Admittedly, I don't do many late nights anymore when I travel - I like to be in my PJs by 9pm .

We loved Naples too. Stayed three days in the old town section and always felt safe.

thursdaysd et al, I too avoid the links and completely ignore TRs where the OP just posts a link to a website or blog. This is why I'm providing text here as well.

Having said that, it is much easier to format, write and combine with pictures without going into verbose descriptions. This is why I went to the blog format. It also facilitates the fixing of the inevitable errors.

I have a blog in WordPress, Stella's Spoon. I keep a Facebook page also named Stella's Spoon where I post the links to the blog posts.


I understand, and share, the hesitance to click on weird links. I need to find out if there is a more descriptive link I can use. Maybe this works:

https://wordpress.com/post/stellasspoon.com/1710

Hi! I'm hoping to head to Sicily in about 2.5 weeks, woman traveling alone, and um er, what cross-fire. Can't bear the news anymore so have been ignoring it.

Considering skipping Naples and going to Catania then Palermo, then tiny, tiny towns before heading to Sardinia.

REALLY want to do a cooking class if you know of any. Thursdays! Was wondering where you were.

Would also like advice on where to fit in Capri. It will be my only "elegance" of the trip -- the rest on a shoe string and as a deliberate escape, so I'd like to do it either right after Florence/Bologna and before SIcily, or at the end as I get ready to head back to rome 3 days, paris 3 days, then back to a semi normal life in Norcal, which will be very, very hard to do (much as i love it)

Marigross - loved your Rome TR (and photos on your blog), and looking forward to this one covering Naples! Last year I spent a week in Matera and the Puglia area before visiting Sicily (highly recommended!). Hopefully more TRs coming on those areas! I've been to Rome six times (once for a six month work assignment), and thought I had pretty much 'covered' it. Nope! From your report I now have a list with a few more churches to visit, plus the Catacombs of Priscilla. Checking google maps, the Catacombs seem somewhat close to the early 20thC neighborhood Quartiere Coppede with the whimsical/mish-mash architectural styles. Always wanted to wander that area, but since it was off the beaten path, never made it there. Now with two sites, a reason to explore that area!

I'm thinking if I revisit Rome, I need to add some days in Naples, so hoping for some inspiration from this TR! However, traveling solo, Naples reputation has always given me pause. I did do a 2-3 hour visit to the city to go to the Archaeological Museum (then moved on to the AC). So it's doable, but I know there is much more to see.

Also, I love your planning spreadsheet! I'm now inspired to attempt that software. I usually have sites categorized A/B/C, and try best to see the A ranked site or those with a 'pausa', then fill in others nearby. But lots of paper ... your spreadsheet seems much more efficient. Thanks for the time and effort you have taken with these interesting, informative, and entertaining TRs!

@marigross - thanks for understanding but no, that made me log into wordpress and then didn't work. Looks like just stellasspoon.com works fine. I have a wordpress blog too, and I either post the main URL, or the URL of the post I'm referencing.

@27again - alas, I've been at home all year dealing with assorted health problems. Still there. Am progressing veeery slowly with the Uzbekistan TR from last year, still have South Korea and Japan after that!

I might opt for Capri on the way south and then take the ferry to Sicily. There is a ferry from Rome, but only to Palermo, while from Naples you can go to Catania or Trapani as well, plus the ferry port should be more central. Then fly to Rome after Sicily.

27 again, going to Capri from Naples is easy with the ferries. But it is a budget crusher! A daytrip could be a good option.

Janetd5, a kindred spirit! The Spreadsheet is everything.

Having now been to Naples I will say that I would be perfectly fine with going solo. The only thing which would have given me pause would be the way google maps directed us to go to that first restaurant. 'But that could have been avoided sticking to the main streets.

If I'm honest, I would have turned around, not because I <i>felt</i> unsafe, but because the way we went was narrow and solitary. It would not have been a smart choice to proceed by myself.

You have to pay attention, just as in any big city.

<b>Day 2: Saturday, April 30th

<i>A (Very Long) Walk Around Old Napoli</i></b>


I will start with a disclaimer: I know that this kind of ‘walkabout’ is not for everyone. I tend to plan ‘aggressive’ sightseeing schedules and this day certainly met that criteria. I adore visiting churches and the only thing I love even more are cloisters. I subscribe to the ‘leave no cloister unseen’ travel philosophy. The Spreadsheet (obviously) reflects these preferences.

Having said that, our day started out by seeking out a place to have breakfast as we had opted out of having it at the hotel. There were plenty of coffee bars around so we just walked into the first one. ‘Un cappuccino, un caffé e one of those pastries in the window that I can never remember the name of per piacere’. A Sfogliatelle of course.

I neglected to take a picture but you can google this shell-shaped typical sweet that is made of pastry dough (mille feuille) filled with cream. It makes for a very messy and rich snack or Italian-style breakfast.

I do not have a very big sweet tooth so the one I had was almost too heavy for me and I did not even finish it (and there is also the fact that I try to save as many calories as I can for wine). I know, sacrilege! I’m supposed to wax poetically about this quintessential Neapolitan pastry, but it is what it is. The texture, with a slightly crunchy bite, was very satisfying. I thought I would give it another try but never really got around to it.

The day had been loosely planned around a combination of Rick Steves’ ‘A Slice of Neapolitan Pizza’ walk and the Michelin Green Guide suggested itinerary. Mr Steves suggests three hours for this walk. Maybe he just refers to the actual walking part at warp speed, but it took us the entire day and we did not even cover anything south of Piazza Caritá.

Our first stop was at the Gesú Nuovo church. This 15th century palazzo of the Sanseverinos was sold to the Jesuits and transformed into a church. The façade is probably one of the most unusual church exteriors. It looks so modern it could be the work of Gaudí, Aldo Rossi or Louis Khan. Utterly unexpected. The interior is classic Neapolitan Baroque.

The interior is completely baroque. Somewhat separate from the main church there is a small museum combined with a large chapel dedicated to St. Giuseppe Moscati, a biochemistry teacher at the University of Naples and head physician at a local hospital who was canonized in 1987. The walls are covered with ex votos. There is a small chapel inside the church where his remains are located. He seems to be very popular with the Neapolitans and there was a short but constant queue to touch his statue’s hand.

Two things I noticed right away in this church and they both remained true throughout our road trip of southern Italy...

<b><i>To continue reading:</i></b> https://wordpress.com/post/stellasspoon.com/1838

Keywords for the search function: Gesú Nuovo, Church and Convent of Santa Chiara, Church and Convent of San Gregorio Armenio, Pio Monte della Misericordia, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Cattedrale di San Gennaro, Sansevero Chapel

@marigross - I did the RS walk too, and it took me a long time because of all the very worthwhile stops.

@27again - Capri doesn't have to be a budget buster if you are willing to sleep in somewhat spartan conditions. I stayed here:

http://www.latoscahotel.com/

I have an old south Italy TR on Fodors or for Capri with photos see: https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ivating-capri/

This might work better as the link for Day 2:

https://stellasspoon.com/2017/06/05/...gh-old-napoli/

just found this marigross, and fortunately your links do work for me, though I've not had time to read them yet.

Great start though - I've only been to Naples for 2 half days, about 40 years apart, but it strikes me as a place where everything is slightly off kilter - like the past, they do things differently there.

I'll be back for more soon.

27again: I spent a week driving trough Sicily on my own. I got pinched, grabbed and chased a lot (once by a man who was easily in his late 80s!) and twice men tried to get into the car :)

OReilly, the one time I got butt-pinched in Italy was 19 years ago in the town of Pompeii during the evening 'passagiata' and it was by an elderly man. DH was walking about 10 steps behind me. He thought it was hilarious. Me? Not so much at the time.

OReilly - you are clearly a lot more attractive, and probably a lot younger, than I am, lol. No difficulties of that kind, and I have done several trips to Italy on my own, including part of my time in Sicily. Some older guy did show some interest one time, but I had no trouble freezing him off.

<b>Day 3: Sunday, April 30th

<i>Up and Down (and Down and Up) Old Napoli </i></b>


Technically today’s agenda was not as aggressive (ambitious?) as yesterday’s, but there was a big caveat: a lot of terrain needed to be covered as almost everything we (I) wanted to see was far apart. A lot of thought (read potential overthinking) had gone into setting things up in The Spreadsheet.

Though it was not the #1 To Do for the day (normally the first thing I tackle), we started by taking a taxi up to the Catacombe di San Gennaro. Visits are only allowed by guided tour and opening hours are reduced on Sunday to mornings only.

English tours depart every hour on the half hour and on this particular mid-morning Sunday in late April, the tours were packed. I’m not sure which is the limit on the amount of people allowed, but it might be a good idea to pre-book higher in the season. The French tour had a big group as well and there were even more people on the Italian tour.

The opening hours were the reason we started the day there, otherwise I would have gone first to the Capodimonte Museum with the taxi and then walked down to the Catacombs.

This was only our second experience with the underground cemeteries, a few weeks before we had been to the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome – highly recommended!- and from what I had read, the Catacombe di San Gennaro would be very different. And they were...

<i><b>To Continue Reading:</i></b>
https://stellasspoon.com/2017/06/06/...up-old-napoli/

thursday ... I am blond and blue-eyed and apparently that is all that counts. It was January and they had not seen a blond since September :)

Thank you for coming back and finishing this report @marigross!! I am re-reading your other topics on your stellasspoon.com blog. Once again I love the way you write. I do await that novel!! I don't write but I paint and cook and many,many of my paintings of our markets from our travels nothing better....
question, did you create your own spreadsheet or use a template ? I like your format much better than most I have seen. I am obsessed with starting this for my own troops. Not sure DH will be pleased !!

Hi Heart!!! Thank you.

I just started an Excel spreadsheet eons ago. Over the years it has gotten the way I like it. I have no problem sharing it but I have not written instructions to go along with it.

you could market it! I would love it if you shared. Not an excel expert but I am sure I can figure it out.....
Kim

<b>Day 4: Monday, 1st of April

<i>Uncompromising Capri</b></i>

There is just something about Mediterranean Blue. A sense of depth and wisdom so very different from the colors of my native Caribbean. Their intense sapphire and lapis lazuli contrasting against our sparkling turquoise and topaz.

Until the moment we headed out to take the ferry from Naples to Capri we had only seen the sea in the distance. It beckoned. We were ready to answer its call.

We had inquired about transportation to the dock in Naples at the La Terrazza di Napoli B&B reception but had not really made arrangements, so we were rather surprised when we found a taxi driver waiting for us in the courtyard when came back from getting our coffees to check out. Allrightythen…

The driver spoke a ‘tourist-proof’ Italian, slow and clear enough that we could converse perfectly with our Spanish/English/Pidgin Italian mix. Maybe the running commentary was intended to distract us from the eyebrow-raising, breath-quickening driving required to navigate the narrow, maze-like streets of the Centro Storico and the madness of the traffic around the harbor. But it was very enjoyable, we made it in one piece and the price was not far from the €20 we expected on the 1st of May ‘festivo’ day.

I must say that level of confusion outside the ferry terminal and the ticket offices was not, by far, the worse I have seen. Matter of fact, the transport and purchasing of the tickets went so smoothly that we made it to the 10:35am ferry instead of the later one we had targeted.

Since we had barely made it into the boat, we had to sit inside for the ride. The hydrofoil was so smooth you could hardly feel the rolling waves. There was ‘official’ drink service, souvenir bag sellers, trinket peddlers and several tour sales people trying to capture their clients before disembarking.

To see these professional sellers hawking their tours is fascinating. First, they all speak at least 4 different languages, and very well. Then they come up with maps and pictures, and talk so pretty! Offering to buy the return boat tickets for a small additional fee so that the potential customers did not have to worry about a thing. I’ll give it them, they filled about 6 different tour buses and that was only within my hearing distance.

The one thing I noticed was that no one, not a single one, mentioned the Blue Grotto. But I still did not make the connection….


<b><i>To Continue Reading: </b></i>

http://stellasspoon.com/2017/06/07/u...omising-capri/

oh marigross, how you bring back memories of Capri to me, but it was the Capri of 40 years ago, when DH & I visited spent a week in Sorrento [even before he was my DH, hope my mum's not reading this!]. Like you we were there in May, and we did a day trip to Capri. So far as I remember, there were no crowds at all.

[i do however remember throwing up in the harbour when we had landed, so upset was my stomach by the very short ferry ride].

Despite that I think that we did a tour of the Blue Grotto, but that is a very vague recollection. I do remember a lot of walking and a pizza.

The views are indeed wonderful [terrific photos BTW] but I think that our days of walking up and down those hills are probably over.

Enjoying this marigross.

I've been a bit intellectually handicapped since my accident in April, and although I keep looking for your spreadsheet, I can't find it. Is it linked here? Is there a picture? Am I irretrievably dense? Help please!

No Tuscan, you are good! Hope you are feeling better and back home.

The Spreadsheet got a photo in the Rome Report and since then my hidden OCD travel-planning methods got revealed to the world.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...bstory_index=0

Great writing!!!!