Amo Napoli

As we sat and waited for our ferry to leave Naples, there was this guy sitting opposite us with a cap 'Amo Napoli' (I love Naples). We understood why he would wear that cap, even though he looked as if he didnt love anything very much in that moment! Naples is very misunderstood - it's had a lot of bad press over the years.

There's a lot more to write about, but as I


leave Naples I am left with two lasting impressions:
1. The warmth of the Neapolitan people that I covered in my last blog entry and

2. The history oozing out of every crack of the city.

The finger prints of past generations that are all over Naples (and other parts of Italy) fascinate me. These people have shaped our modern western world in so many ways and I feel privileged to walk in the same streets and see the same things that people did over 2000 years ago.

The old city of Naples is itself a living museum of history. You walk streets like Spaccanapoli that were in existence before the rise of the Roman Empire. People are still living in similar houses, but with the internet! Not that the internet seems to have the grip here that it does on us on the other side of the world.

I know that we only scratched the surface with what Naples has to offer and therefore, I have many reasons to return. However, the few things that I did see I experienced as outstanding.

One place that has been marinated in history for hundreds of years is the Castel Nuovo, which dominates the port area of Naples, with its five castellated towers. It exceeded my expectations when I walked in to see ancient doors on display with a cannon ball still embedded in them! This place was full of employees of the castle sitting on chairs doing absolutely nothing. We guessed they were required to be there in case someone went berserk and started damaging the huge number of priceless pieces of art on display, but actually, many of the guards were asleep in their chairs! One part of the castle has a glass floor so you can see the excavations they have made showing what the castle was like in much earlier periods. As I wandered across this floor, the depth below seemed to vary wildly, which was a bit disconcerting, but suddenly I discovered i was walking over the actual skeletons of people who had died many many years before. Even more disconcerting.

The second place that was fascinating to me to visit, was the Archaelogical Museum. If you have been to Pompeii, this museum has more artefacts from Pompeii than are actually still in Pompeii. When the Pompeii excavations were discovered in the 1800's the then king of Naples instructed that the best artefacts should be brought to Naples. It is so sad one of the largest and most amazing mozaics was badly damaged in this process. The

remaining mozaic battle scene is still pretty impressive. However, the statues in the Farnese collection are some of the most compelling. The sheer size of the pieces, some of which are carved from a single piece of marble are amazing to see. The other quite interesting thing here is the Meridiana Calendar. If you go into one of the great halls, there is a line going across the floor with Zodiac symbols every now and again. At exactly mid day, there is a pin hole of light from high up in the ceiling that shines down onto this line and indicates the exact day of the month. It still works! No batteries required.

I have always loved the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele in Milan. It is an amazing place, but I did not know until I stumbled upon it that Naples had its own Galleria too and it is also an amazing place. We were fortunate enough to see it from both a tourist perspective and also from the first floor, where one of our suppliers has a fantastic showroom of their handcrafted cameos in this stately structure. It is well worth a visit. Its interior finishing is an indication of the earlier wealth and prosperity that Naples once enjoyed.

The last place I will mention here is the Piazza del Plebiscito. It is a vast piazza, bordered on one side with the absolutely huge Royal Palace, which has been the home of Spanish, French and Italian Royalty and at the other end with a monument and huge church with a dome based on the design of the Pantheon in Rome.

So much more to see and do in Naples....

P.S. The cameo specialists on the first floor of the Galleria entertain the rich and famous in their stately premises in the Galleria (by invitation only) and supply their products to Heads of State....and Dream of Italy NZ!