Naples

Landing in Naples, we hopped on a bus to the rail station and found our hostel without much difficulty thanks to a fruit vendor still out and about late at night. I’m sure the many ladies of the night patrolling the area would have been just as helpful. Regardless, we got to our room, shrugged off our bags, and got to sleep in preparation of a blitz the following day.



Day 5 (6/11) marked our first day in Italy. It started off in a proper way with grabbing a cappuccino and croissant at a nearby cafe, gulping both down in a handful of minutes while standing at the bar. The idea was Italian even if the speed wasn’t. With that, guidebook in hand, we set off to get what we could out of our single day in Naples.

It took us a little bit of time to orient ourselves, but in the process managed to find an interesting church tucked away that also had a bathroom. Hurray!



We doubled back and found the duomo, which was hosting a wedding at the time.





From there, we set off to find a bevy of other churches. First was the Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime Purgatorio Ad Arco, which you could easily pass by without noticing. It was the center of a particular cult of purgatory in Naples that, although is officially banned, appears still to be practiced. Lots of skulls and other symbols of death.



In the Piazza San Domenico Maggiore area, there were several churches. We saw one baroque church that may have been San Paolo Maggiore. That was before successfully finding the Capella Sansevero, home of the Veiled Christ, famous for its verisimilitude.



The Piazza de Gesu Novo has two facing churches. First was the Basilica de Santa Chiara, whose interior decoration clearly has not survived as well as others.



Opposite that was the Chiesa de Gesu Novo with interesting pyramidal texturing on the facade.





It's really crazy how big these churches are, and the fact that they used to be filled with people. Nowadays, practically the only people in any of the churches that we saw over this month were tourists. Sometimes a church would still have a little chapel area cordoned off for services, but largely churches are museums. I imagine there is a good amount of argument over what to possibly do with all of these buildings that no longer are needed for their original purpose.



We had our first pizza for lunch that day. Let's say it lived up to expectations.



So, by the way, does Naples's reputation for trash collection.

From there, we wandered down toward the harbor to see the Castel Nuovo.



Like most fortifications, it's been rebuilt and redesigned several times. Excavations were under way to examine the Roman fort that originally stood there.



It started to rain, but that doesn't deter people like us. We hid here for a second, and thankfully the storm passed before too long.



We headed up the hill by funicular to Piazza Fuga and ate cherries. Nearby is the star-shaped Castel Sant'Elmo, which holds an art museum and is a great place for views of the entire city.



And looking toward the harbor (yes, that's an aircraft carrier).



Also up there is the Certosa di San Martino, formerly a monastery and home to some beautiful spaces and art.





This one felt particularly real because of the figures stepping out of the frame. There are complicated wooden mosaics and some incredible old dioramas made with intricate little figures too.



From there, daylight was fading, so there was nothing left to do but take a long walk back down to the town and find a pizza place.



That, and stop to look at a couple adorable strays being fed by a couple helpful people.



Mmmmm food time for all.