First, please give a moment of silence for my ever so trusty Nikon camera which gave so much of itself over the past years, not to mention the past 51 days. Ever since Barcelona and the banana syrup incident, my camera has been on the fritz. The zoom would stick and for the past couple of days, the camera would just shut down at regular intervals despite new batteries. I was hoping to get 9 more days out of her, but alas, 'twas not to be. Goodbye old friend. It's been fun.
Second, say "hello" to my new Fuji Finepix 4400 digital camera, which cost me far more than I should be paying for a replacement camera. I do like my new toy and will make sure that I use it A LOT over the next few months in order to get my money's worth, before it gets willed to my brother for his usage. Tom, grubby mitts off until I'm pushing up daisies!
Today is my first full day in Naples and while I don't love Naples, I also don't dislike it. I actually feel kind of sorry for Naples. I get the feeling that once upon a time Naples was a shiny jewel in the crown of Italy and underneath all the scratches and dirt, there's a jewel waiting to be rediscovered, if only Naples could figure out how. It seems like Naples is still reeling from World War II and has yet to recover from it...70 years later. Mostly when I was walking around today, checking out the various sites, I felt like I was in NYC circa 1980. Naples is a old lady who has not aged very gracefully, but is undergoing some plastic surgery to help pretty her up.
Today, I did the "Slice of Neapolitan Life" walk from Rick Steves' travel guide, which took me all over the city. Most of the sites were not terribly interesting with one notable exception - Cappella Sansevero (The Sansevero Chapel). Built in the late 16th century, but reimagined by Raimondo di Sango (the seventh Prince of Sansevero) in the mid 1700s, this chapel houses the remains of the Sansevero family. The artwork within this chapel is some of the best artwork that I have ever seen. The central masterpiece in this chapel is the famous Veiled Christ (below) by Giuseppe ("Howdidhedothat") Sanmartino. Carved out of marble, the body of the crucified Christ lies on a 'soft' pillow under an incredibly realistic veil. It's one of the most amazing sculptures I've ever seen. I also was fascinated with the two sculptures which honor Raimondo's parents. Bizarrely, in the basement of the chapel are two skeletons - one male and one pregnant female (left photo). These two anatomical models were created to illustrate how the circulatory system works. Sadly, photography is not allowed in the chapel so I had to search online to find photos to show you.
I visited a few other places today, none of which were all that noteworthy: a museum which has the last painting Caravaggio ever painted, a few churches, a galleria, the port with views of a hazy Mount Vesuvius, and such. I returned to my hostel around 2pm to discover that Giovanni was "experimenting" with a new recipe and invited the few of us that were around to have a meal together. It was spaghetti with anchovies, garlic, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. I'm not certain what was the new experiment but it was delicious.
It's funny that Giovanni, the hostel owner, insists that you need 5 days in Naples. I barely needed one to see everything. Tomorrow is a bus tour of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. I'm really looking forward to seeing Pompeii.
Check out my very limited Day 52 photos on my GToE photo site.
2 comments:
As tempting the camera is, I'd rather have my sister. I read that the north doesn't give a crap about the south that's why places like Naples get minimal tourists and PR.
It's all about Rome, etc.
I don't know...it's a nice camera. Anyway, I'm not going anywhere yet.
It is true that the north doesn't really care about the south, but Naples could improve its image. Everyone thinks it's just a crime-filled, mafia-ridden, cesspool. And while it is gritty, it's actually not that bad. It needs some polishing. They should hire Giovanni as their PR person. He can really sell this city.
Post a Comment