May 26, 2023

May 26, 2023

After seeing all the Pompeii artifacts yesterday, we wanted to visit the site, but the Italians scheduled a nationwide general strike today. So we have to punt and stick local. Strikes in Italy are as common as Mt Etna erupting and both play havoc with life.

From our hotel on the main drag of Corso Umberto, we walk southwest toward the port and Historic Center of Naples, a World Heritage Site. Once there we see two cruise ships anchored, one of which, owned by Royal Caribbean, was the largest in the world until eclipsed this year.

Also at the port is Castel Nuovo, a squat medieval stone fortress. When Alfonso of Aragon added Naples and Southern Italy in 1443 to his dominions he had a marble triumphal arch added to the otherwise ugly castle.

A block away we visit the Galleria Umberto I. This beautiful old Victorian-era shopping mall is almost an identical twin to the Vittorio Emanuele Galleria we visited in Milan a few years ago. Except this one has Zodiac signs in the central floor. Aimee is not too enthused as it has none of the upscale stores Milan did.

Instead we walked to Piazza del Plebescito. This large public space is dedicated to the 1860 vote that added Naples and Sicily to the new united Italian Kingdom. Unfortunately most of the plaza is set up for a temporary open-air concert. The piazza is flanked on the west side by a Pantheon-like church. On the opposite is the Royal Palace. The palace facade has a series of eight statues representing Naples' royal dynasties starting with Roger of Normandy and ending with Victor Emmanuel, the first Italian king.

We walked north along Via Toledo window-shopping, but there is a throng of humanity; probably from the two big cruise ships. We were very lucky there were no ships in port the day we toured tiny Valletta. Also Naples is a dirty city. While Neapolitans, like Indians, are clean and well-dressed, they care less about their living environment. Almost every surface is filled with graffiti.

We ran into one of the funiculars. Despite the strike, it is running, so we take it to the top of Vomero Hill. We walked with some Australians who, seeing a sign for Floridiana, mentioned Ron DeSantis. I am always amazed that foreigners know far more about the US than we do about them.

We buy tickets to walk the ramparts of Castel Sant’Elmo on the hilltop. It is a huge, very tall castle with many long ramps to finally reach the top. From this lofty perch we get great views of Naples and its harbor, with Vesuvius looming in the background.

Back at sea level we continue up Via Toledo, before veering back into the historic center. We try to visit Chiesa Gesu Nuovo, but it is closed till this evening. It has the strangest church facade we have ever seen.

We continue on Spaccanapoli St. past one tall plague obelisk to another one in Piazza Domenico. We have been looking for something small to eat but there is little besides pizza. Here we stopped and ordered Taralli, a southern Italian snack that looks like a flavored pretzel. This time the cover charge also came with some snacks.

We had a pasta dinner near our hotel and then returned to finish off the Marzipan I bought in Palermo at the beginning of the trip. It is so rich I can only eat a little at a time. Sicilian Marzipan or Frutta Martorana is a sugary almond snack that is glazed and dyed to look like a real fruit. According to legend the Martorana nuns made these fake fruits to beautify their monastery for an off-season papal visit.