Naples:
Traffic, traffic everywhere… they aren’t joking when they say lanes and signals are merely a suggestion. People driver wherever they can fit their car! At this moment, an emergency vehicle was attempting to get through, but of course no one could move. It was complete gridlock!
Instead of battling the traffic, we decided to do a Hop on Hop off bus (HoHo) tour of the area. Obviously tourists, the locals tried to get our attention to sell us an umbrella. Quite an offer… but we declined.
Two views of the Angevin Fortress… Such a stark contrast. In a city crowded with buildings, this relatively simple fortress sits on the waters edge. Basically a stand alone piece of architecture guarding the port area.
One of my favorite parts of European cities… the colorful markets and fruit stands. As our bus took us through neighborhood streets, mostly bland in color, out bursts a pop of color! In addition to the brightness… is the personal connections that happen in these little markets. When visiting these little locations, people seem to know each other well… the owner knows what the customer likes. Hopefully one day, we will be shopping in an open air market, selecting fresh ingredients for our daily meals.
In addition to fruit stands… I am intrigued by laundry whimsically dancing in the breeze…. It’s funny, you can grab a little insight to the residents of the flats by looking at the clothing out to dry in the fresh air.
As the bus turned a corner, this was our view! A beautiful dome stood out in the skyline. If you notice, the dominant color is an off white/beige with many red tiled roofs. The dome was unique with it’s blue/green color.
Another charming aspect of European cities… is that they don’t rely on Walmart or KMart. Streets are lined with specialty stores. We joked about this one being our future business. If you need a toilet… come see us!
Flowing in the breeze, the Italian and the European flags wave proudly. When possible, I collect photos of flags from the places we travel. Like those in Spain, Italians display their flags proudly!
Streets crowded with homes, villas, shops, restaurants and bars stretch all the way to the shoreline. Built on the hills, so many ocean views available. It was an interesting place to visit but I would not wan to live in such a bustling city!
The building lined hills abruptly turn into vineyards. Homes and hotels are nestled into the vineyards but not in close proximity as in the heart of the city. This area was very attractive to me. If I were to visit again, highly doubtful, I would head up the coast to a location more like this…
After a full day of exploring, mostly in traffic, we headed back to the ship. We decided to grab a fresh salad and enjoy the view. While in port, we got to overlook an MSC ship. Most people were still off the ship so we had no wait and no trouble grabbing a window seat! Enough excitement … until tomorrow…
