NAPLES: LIVELY, HISTORIC GATEWAY TO AMALFI, SORRENTO, ANCIENT VESUVIUS RUINS
Cigarettes and cell phones on a colorful Naples street. This lively, ancient city is a gateway to Pompeii, Amalfi and more. |
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER
OLD MEETS NEW, noise collides with calm, clutter meets elegance in one of southern Europe's great, enduring cities.
In Naples and this diverse corner of Italy are courtyards and grand staircases, elegant halls and busy streets, buses, scooters, smokers, tourists, busts, dust, great museums, majestic cathedrals and irreverent youth.
Bruce Keller waits in Naples at the Napoli Garibaldi train station. He is framed by a billboard for Strega, an orange flavored Italian liquer popular in Naples. |
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Just steps from the sea, Naples rises up, with antiquity and grace. |
Both Pompeii and Herculaneum have interesting museums with sculptures, displays and interesting background. |
Equally fascinating is nearby Herculaneum, also destroyed by the vengeful Vesuvius. Unlike Pompeii, though, the smaller, wealthier city was encased in a pyroclastic material that covered and carbonized the town. This preserved wood in objects -- roofs, beds and doors -- and organic-based materials such as food for us to study.
Most but not all of the residents evacuated the city in advance, the first well-preserved skeletons of 400 people who perished near the seawall were discovered in 1980.
Italy's train stations will get you from Naples to the historic cities destroyed by Vesuvius. (Plus shopping, ask Cookie!) |
Each takes about 30-40 minutes and there are many of these friendly "regional" trains.
WE LIKE the trains but if you prefer a shuttle, that's a possibility, too. We recommend CBS Tours (Can't Be Missed) for a personalized day tour up the Amalfi Coast to Positano. Terrific commentary, small vehicle.
Back in Naples, a pizza maker sings Verdi while he works his dough. You're in the birthplace of pizza, so enjoy. Young boys approach the tourist with smiles and Neapolitan gestures. Couples lounge in wicker seats drinking champagne at outdoor cafe tables -- as early as 10:30 a.m.
Life is lived large in the streets. Strollers enter a mix of students, housewives, children with music everywhere: a mix of opera, hard-rock and Italian folk songs. Music is in the Neapolitan soul.
Keller and Cookie admire the view of Amalfi. |
Naples rises up from the bay, separating the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Salerno, which includes the stunning Amalfi Coast.... |
THE RAVAGES of World War II are mostly repaired, as are the results of centuries of earthquakes and volcanic activity. The traditional Christmas trees are up for a few more days!
Celebrated for its paintings, mosaics and music, Naples is breathtakingly beautiful approached from the sea. But don't miss a few days "up the road" to Sorrento, those two ruined cities and Amalfi's enchanting coastline. Can't Be Missed Tours is our favorite: cantbemissedtours.com; And for general information on the area: visitnaples.eu/enNick, left, and Nora, were four months old in this photo, taken early in 2006. |
www.whereiscookie.com
Fun time with you on the road. As always, enjoy the spirited commentary and kovely photos.
ReplyDeleteExciting options for neophytes such as ourselves....we are just beginning our travel life together, aspiring to follow in your adventuresome footsteps.
ReplyDeleteWe always enjoy these travel posts. Gives us ideas and an experienced slant.
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