Exploring Naples

When I first entered the cacophony that is Naples I felt right at home. The noise, the jostling, the trash could easily be Manhattan but that almost overwhelming breed of boisterous chaos, well, Naples has its own distinct character, that much is certain.

Naples has a darker reputation that prevents it from taking its rightful place amongst the most beautiful cities in Europe, but its streets may be only more magnetic and striking for it. Neapolitan culture explodes, unrepentant and untamed by typical social niceties, like crosswalks for instance. Pedestrians need and heed no sign, they just start to walk and cars will stop, hopefully. Motorcycles weave erratically between traffic up and down narrow and steep streets.

I took a day to explore Naples a bit on foot, setting out from the Old-Town neighborhood by the University, winding through the Spanish Quarter, and taking the Funicular up to Vomero then back. A surprising number of people would stop me to ask me to take their picture. If I got lost in an obscure corner of a neighborhood, women would somehow appear from the shaded windows and doorways of surrounding buildings and, using gestures, try to discern where I was going and tell me how to get there. On a corner, a young man selling ties at a street stand broke into opera, with surprisingly excellent execution, followed by a beaming smile and a wink. The local onlookers burst into applause and he went on plying his trade.

I was drawn to Via d’Alba, a street in the old town lined with bookshops, and made a few purchases that my already overfull suitcase would regret, before winding my way uphill. From the funicular, the colors and textures of Naples's inner neighborhoods hung off the steep hills, as impressive as Rio’s infamous favellas.

After riding the funicular to the heights above the Spanish quarter, I wandered aimlessly in Vomero, captured by the view of the cobalt Mediterranean, pastel-colored buildings, and an eclectic mishmash of architecture, enjoying the relative tameness of the neighborhood before descending again into the maze below.

Again in the narrow steep streets of the Spanish Quarter, I stopped for a bite. The cafe owners sat at the adjacent table and chatted with me, taking guesses at where I was from. Two cocktails, bottled water, and a tray of food cost me only 8 euros. Afterward, I wandered through a nearby wet market that could hold its own against any other in terrifying and tasty offerings. 

After midnight the city exploded from the sidewalks onto the streets. Young people mingled in great ruckus herds migrating from one location to another, many of the most popular places that locals would coordinate to meet up are various views and lookouts, packed with couples making out and rowdy groups lighting fireworks. Loud, cheap, brash and without any pretension, the Naples night scene reminded me of one huge teenage party. Young men reeking of testosterone showboat possessively over young women who are apparently flattered to be “possessions”, glitzed out like hundreds of discount Kardashians.

The culture is a hard one to peg. Friendly and exuberant young Neapolitans pass along some poison in blatant racial slurs, rampant sexism, and homophobic rhetoric, laughing mischievously at anyone calling it out. I was told some people are close-minded, and change can’t happen in Italy, certainly not in Naples. Yet after it all and despite the BS, I was surprised by how fun, kind, and artless people were. How genuinely they want to be good hosts to visitors to the city. 

I’d been a little worried after several people had warned me about Naples but after roaming the streets for two days I can’t personally give any credence to the rampant tales of thieves and pickpockets that Naples is known for. NYC has made me a bit city savvy perhaps, but I never so much as felt threatened, followed, or worried. That being said I don’t ever carry an obvious camera bag or expensive purse while traveling. In Naples there are not enough street lights anywhere, so be careful after dark. The one thing I’d say, if you have reason to be closer to the area around the train station at night it’s not ideal if you’re alone. 

I stopped for almost no sleep and enjoyed every minute I was in the city. I made fast friends with both locals and tourists and I still made time to explore the incredible surrounding offerings like Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Amalfi coast. In the end, Naples was a blur, an impressionist painting full of lights and pizza and laughter and secret local hideouts and very, very tired walking legs. I can’t help but smile everytime I think of it.