“Dodgy” Naples

In all our travels since moving to London, we’ve never met so many American retirees than we did during this trip to Southern Italy. There were New York advertising execs who have since retired to Arizona to golf full-time, San Diegans celebrating their 30th anniversary, and D.C. lawyers on their way to a biking holiday in Sicily who love Woody A movies (and enjoyed my anecdote of fruitlessly auditioning as an extra for one of his movies during the summer of ’97).

In what I call “Dodgy Naples”, we gamely explored the city by foot despite all the warning signs that we weren’t in Kansas anymore (I rank Naples with Marrakesh in terms of “high-risk” destinations). What’s impressive about Naples are the delicious cuisine (unsurprising in Italy) and the high density of grand churches (again, unsurprising in Italy). From the botanical gardens, we walked down Via Foria to the archaeological museum and from there explored the Centro Storico neighborhood including the Santa Maria del Purgatorio ad Arco and Castel Capuano.

Thanks to our “Time Out” travel guide (a brand which has never failed us in all our travel), we ate authentically homemade-style Italian meals that were as exceptional as Naples is dodgy. At Mimi alla Ferrovia, we dined on an assortment of grilled vegetables (spinach, aubergine, artichoke, courgette) and an assortment of fried fish (crayfish, squid, white fish). At La Locanda del Grifo, the kitchen staff cooked inbetween groans while watching a televised “football match”. The grilled seabass doused in salt and olive oil was simple yet divine, and the corn and tomato salad was served with the same green Puglian olives I frequently nibble on at my favourite London restaurant, Cecconi’s.

Sorrento

Some of our best meals were in Sorrento which is undergoing a Dali craze: the city is plastered with posters promoting the “The Dali Universe” exhibition, and life-sized Dali sculptures have been installed in the parks. The sudden onslaught of Dali reminded me of our summer trip to Figueres, the artist’s birthplace which we visited during my most recent Spain birthday trip. And whereas in literature, Sorrento is known as the home of the seductive singing Sirens who tempt Odysseus, we explored Sorrento to the overwhelming musical track of loud motor scooters.

For dinner at Il Panorama from which we could see Vesuvius in the distance, we dined on bruschetta, anchovies, squid, grilled veggies and salad. The next night, at Il Rifugio, we had an assortment of grilled veggies doused in olive oil, a pear with onion salad, grilled calamari and tuna steaks. As usual, it’s easy to eat fresh, healthy and delicious food in Italy.

Capri

“We wouldn’t be on holiday if we didn’t find ourselves climbing”, M noted; I nodded in agreement, practically out of breath trying to keep up with his pace. In Capri we filled a lifetime’s quota for hiking: from the Marina Grande port, we climbed to the Piazzetta. In stark contrast of the Roman ruins of Pompeii, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by very modern Italian designer clothing stores, gelaterias, and outdoor cafes.

As we distanced ourselves from the Piazza Umberto, Capri quickly quieted. Once occupied by the French, English and Spanish at different times throughout its history, it was easy to pick out the Spanish-influenced architectural design as we made our way past local churches and historic homes; the buildings that caught our attention had Moorish-inspired tiling and floral design.

Our first hike took us to the Belvedere Cannone, what was once a strategic military location and is now a quiet and scenic look-out point from which to see Capri’s cliffs, the Piazzetta down below, and the Mediterranean Sea beyond. As we made our way back to Piazza Umberto, we assured a group of fellow American tourists that the views are worth the hike. In fact, I decided that hiking in Capri was so strenuous and the most physically-exhausting of all the travel we’ve done together over the years, that I regretted short-changing myself a few extra scoops of Nutella that morning with our buffet breakfast (what is a European continental breakfast without Nutella?).

Our next walk took us to up Via Lo Capo, a residential neighborhood in Capri, followed by a touristy one to the Certosa di San Giacomo, a beautiful monastery, and the Giardini di Augusto which is a small terraced garden containing a sculpture collection and another set of look-out points from which to admire Capri’s natural beauty.
Our final (thankfully flat-land) walk was to Via Tragara for a final view from the Belvedere de Tragara before walking downhill back to the port from which we took a ferry to Sorrento. Capri is a lovely island, and we both agreed it puts Lake Como to shame. Once you leave the Piazza Umberto (and hike upwards and away from the crowds), Capri is quiet with lots of great points from which to admire the sea. Mountains, cliffs, and greenery, Capri is a welcome break from urban life – just make sure you’re wearing your best walking shoes.

Pompeii

We just returned from our last Roman history-theme European jaunt: Pompeii, the first stop on our visit to Southern Italy. As we approached the Roman ruins, Mount Vesuvius (the volcano which burried the Roman city in 79 AD) loomed in the distance. Upon entering Pompeii, I was surprised by how well-preserved the city is – we’ve seen our fair share of Roman ruins, but the city of Pompeii is so organised and easy to decipher from a city planning perspective that it’s easy to imagine Pompeii was a dynamic city. Large urns, colourful engravings, mosaics, and sculptures bring the place alive; from an infrastructure perspective, Pompeii even had its own stock exchange, theatre, take-away food shops, brothel, baths, public water fountains, and amphitheatre. The basilica, colonnades, baths and streets are all typically Roman in character but for me, what distinguished Pompeii from other Roman sites we’ve visited, are the well-preserved frescoes, engravings and sculptures. Ash has the miraculous quality of destroying a city yet keeping it entirely intact. Apart from viewing great art works in a wealthy family’s home, we came across the encased bodies of men and women who had succumbed under the ash.