Crazy Naples

Took the train to Naples this morning (about an hour and a half trip). The train ride was uneventful, the ride to the hotel in the taxi was, well, exhilarating is putting it nicely. I've not seen driving, walking, and scooting like this (not even in Hanoi rush hour). I would say that it is organic, except that it doesn't seem to have any order or form to it. What was a two lane street only seconds ago is now a one way highway. And scooters, as much as I love them, are insane here...they never stop, and barely hesitate...it is scoot or die for these people. So if the traffic in the road stops for seconds, the scooters jump the curb and take to the sidewalks. To cross the street on foot requires a literal leap of faith, and once you cross, you'd better commit to the process and continue or they will kill you. Leslie is sweating having to drive the rental car tomorrow...I'm tossing all cares to the wind. Remember, if I pass that my sister Jill gets my shoes.

Naples is unlike Rome in many ways, in addition to the driving. It is dirtier, somehow more dense, louder, but also livelier. A walk at dusk through the ancient part of the city, and you're bombarded by people, shouting, smells of dinner cooking, etc. Great stuff. Until you look for a restaurant. We began encountering this problem in Rome...and now here. After a drink in the early evening, we search for eats. We walk, we ask directions to where the restaurants are, and we walk. Blocks go by and all we find are gelato stands (you can eat only so much ice cream), or snack bars. The restaurants that feed the people of Naples seem to be in hiding. We've asked for the password, or the secret passage, without much success. Finally, tonight, a woman whose dog I was admiring offered (incidentally the dogs here do not understand English) to help. She suggested a restaurant nearby that was incredibly well hidden. We found it however, and it was delightful (inside was a tree covered garden...with lemons in the trees). We've marked in on our map so we can find it again. Damn you Naples! We will not be defeated!

Made our way in the afternoon by subway to the Archeological Museum. It is a big and grand building, but the collection is a little hit and miss. Some of the signs are in English, but most not, and there does not seem to be much order to the situation. So the professor and I did our best to translate. The great thing about this museum is that they've taken some of the good stuff found at Pompeii and removed it for safekeeping and easy viewing. Incredible wall and floor mosaics recovered from the volcanic ruins, including one of Alexander doing some conquering that Leslie had seen prints of all of his life. Lots of pottery and stuff, and in one corner they've set off a section of erotic finds from Pompeii including some fairly disquieting phalluses and such (is that the plural of phallus or is it phalli?). Anyway, Leslie gives the museum two stars!

Oh and another thing I've noticed: the public soundtrack of Naples (music you hear in taxis and restaurants) is pretty much stuck in the 80s. We heard Groove is in the Heart several times tonight, along with lots of Donna Summer and the Pointer Sisters if you can imagine. Also, the pigeons are very forward here. We were sitting in a cafe today when a gang of street pigeons suddenly descended on a nearby table, attacking the snacks and chasing off the two customers. They didn't care that people were swatting at them...they were having those potato chips if they had to die for them. I live in a pigeon burdened city, but lord they ain't fighters like these.

Tomorrow we try to find the car that Leslie rented (apparently we have to retrieve it from B.F.E.). Then onto to Herculaneum and Pompeii to see what was left from Vesuvio's big blow. Oh, my other goal is to eat a fried rice ball tomorrow, too. So there.