Napoli Snapshots

We left Dubrovnik, Croatia via overnight ferry to Bari, Italy on 3-October and then caught a train to Napoli to begin our exploration of Italy. Napoli is a very real city. It is loud, grungy, filled with constant traffic and people everywhere–just what you’d want out of an Italian city. While Napoli has a bit of an edge, it doesn’t care, and residents just go about their business, giving you a snapshot of common Italian life in the big city. It was a very nice welcome into the country.

Historians will do a better job of telling the story of Napoli’s transition from a rich and influential port city of nobles to one that lost its wealth and power. Basically, when Italy was united and Rome was made the capital, all the rich people moved out and the city treasury was looted by the new government. The grand past combined with city residents just getting on with life make a unique combination that was fun to explore. What you’ll find is a conglomeration of stately palace buildings from 1500-1800, now repurposed into apartments, hotels, and businesses.

Our hotel was in the Centro Storico, an easy walk from many popular sites. The Galleria was just around the block from where we stayed, across the street from the Archeology Museum. It has a grand archway leading into a glass-ceilinged interior that makes you think you’re about to enter a ritzy shopping district. What you find is empty shops and oddly missing crowds. We mentioned that Napoli feels real, and this area was just to fantastical to take off with the locals and failed. However, it is still an amazing building.

It isn’t surprising this space sits empty, because you only have to spend a short time here to realize that locals live outside. If you want real shopping, you head to the outdoor markets of the Spanish Quarter.

For a more real entrance to a shopping area, residents of Napoli head through the medieval gate of Port’Alba into a street of booksellers and then out into Dante Square that leads to the main shopping district.

Dante Square is yet another example of grand architectural buildings from a richer past repurposed for daily life. This huge facade in Dante Square topped with statues suggest something important or governmental. Look below the statues, and you’ll find it is home to a pharmacy, cafes, and other everyday shops. It is simply something that is there from another time now used for what locals need it to be.

We only had a short time in Napoli, and this collection of snapshots from our walk around the city barely scratches the surface. What we do hope is that it portrays a vibrant city that has a charm beneath the gritty surface. It was fun to be there and just get a small taste of what the rest of Italy may have in store for us. We’ll see.