The old saying goes: “See Naples and Die”. I instead say, “But why”?
Why would anyone want to die with SO much to
see in a city that (so they say) has MORE churches than Rome, that has an
amazing museum---the one at Capodimonte (with Goyas, Caravaggios, Titians, Raphaels and also Warhols), which also has other Caravaggios hidden around the town, which is
engulfed by a lot of decay and chaos (the scooters and motorcycles come at you
from EVERY direction, even up one way streets!) but which is all surrounded by
some amazing architecture, churches and a multitude of saints, which has
GREAT food, including the Brandi restaurant which (they say) gave the world its
very first pizza, the Pizza Margherita, which has some rather friendly and open
people (ok, perhaps not all Neapolitans are that open but at least the ones we bumped
into certainly were), which is STILL to this day adorned with t-shirts, photos and
murals of the “Pibe de Oro”, aka Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest
players in the history of soccer (or football for our British friends who had a
taste of his incredible skills at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico!), which only 20
minutes away by train has Herculaneum that, along with
Pompeii, had been engulfed by the eruption of nearby Vesuvius in 79 AD (Vesuvius is only 25 km away from Herculaneum) and which is also not too far away by boat from everyone’s
favorite island, Capri?
Small yet impressive Herculaneum!
The splendid Capodimonte Museum!
Robert Mapplethorpe (Patti Smith's good friend), Andy Warhol and Michelangelo Pistoletto
Magnifico Caravaggio!!
Chaotic and (very) colourful Naples!
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