The Underbelly of Italy?

 

 

After spending our fourth night in Rome we woke early to be collected for a two-day tour. This was breakfast, courtesy of our hotel.

The big daddy suitcase and the little baby suitcase, all ready to go.

We had the obligatory rest stop along the way to Naples, and we decided to sample some ‘Gusto Pizza’ flavoured chips. They were interesting…

Eventually we arrived in Naples. These were some of the first views we got from the bus window.

Although the day was hazy, we could see across to the Isle of Capri.

And we seriously contemplated getting some lemonade from this guy.

It was a Sunday and the locals were out enjoying the beach (well, not really a beach by Australian standards, but good enough for sunbaking).

Yes, we’re wearing the goofy headsets again. We have actually decided we really like them, because when we’re feeling like the guide is moving too slowly for us or talking about something that doesn’t interest us, we can go exploring a little bit on our own, and as long as we still keep listening to the earpiece, we can find the guide again really easily.

Yes, we’re the naughty kids that refuse to stay part of the group.

Before we left the “beach”, we were treated to this sight. Ahh locals. He was even funnier front on.

We then got a relatively speedy tour of the main attractions of Naples (so we’re told).

More locals sunbaking with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

From all reports Naples is considerably less safe than any of the other cities we’re going to. Clearly the locals think so too, because their steering wheel locks are pretty intense!

This is the main square doubling up as both a tourist attraction and local childrens’ playground.

Guess what? Another bride! We can’t seem to escape them. This one was wearing the most ridiculously high shoes, and needed the support of two people to be able to negotiate (still not very gracefully) the cobblestones. Crazy, if you ask me.

Naples’ big shopping mall. We didn’t get to go inside, so I can’t say this from first hand experience, except from passing by it.

These advertisements were everywhere. Tom’s pretty sure he’s better looking than this guy.

Sorry about the quality of this picture. It was taken from the moving bus. This, I’m sorry to say, was our main impression of Naples. Rubbish EVERYWHERE. Maybe their garbage removal people were on strike while we were there??

Tom thinks there’s a sweet irony there, since apparently people in the mafia (who are reportedly very active in Naples) usually declare ‘waste management’ as their daytime job.

Moving on, we got a few more lovely glimpses of the Isle of Capri in the distance as we travelled on.

And Mount Vesuvius. Still very much looking like a volcano. It still is technically active, so there’s a chance there might be another eruption in the future.

That was our very brief visit to Naples. Probably not a place we’ll choose to visit again, since overall it felt dirty and unfriendly and just a little bit scary. Then again, we were only there for about an hour, so maybe we got the wrong impression!

Next stop, Pompeii!