Naples Isn't Much To Be Impressed By, But Pompeii Was A Marvel To Behold

 

I have to say, it's a great pleasure to be on the road again, back in April I didn't think for a million years I'd be heading to Italy after seeing how hard this wonderful country had be hit hard by the pandemic. 

Naples is certainly an interesting city, when I expressed interest in visiting, my dad described it as a sh*thole, what I knew of the city before visiting was that it was once the stomping ground of the great Diego Maradona and is also infamous for the Camorra organised crime group. On my plane there the guy sitting next to me warned about people who would mug me at knifepoint and also if you're a British citizen planning to visit Italy, you are expected to print out a health declaration, however the immigration officers don't even look at it anyway. 

When you think of Italy, you may think of elegant cobbled streets, rolling hills and quaint houses with shutters. Naples feels like a completely different country from Italy, on my walk from the airport, I was fearing for my life due to the chaotic traffic and I noticed the absolute state of the streets of constant rubbish everywhere. 

When I arrived at my hostel I was welcomed warmly by the excellent staff, Naples Experience Hostel was an excellent hostel if you're a backpacker thinking of experiencing Naples. It was time to grab some beers and a beer at the hostel cost me €1.50 and then I knew it was time to eat, it was a no-brainer as to what I wanted for dinner. Adjacent to my hostel was a Napolitano pizza place as authentic as you could get. No English was to be found inside and a rather big margarita pizza cost me five euros. The origin of pizza is open to debate, but the most authentic Italian pizza can be found here in Naples and it is absolutely delicious. A Domino's pizza will forever be in the shadow of authentic Italian pizza straight from the oven. 

The next day I made the mission to see Pompeii and Vesuvius, something I was told to do by loads of people when I mentioned that I was heading to Naples. However, getting to Pompeii is not easy whatsoever, my friend and I spent an hour looking for the right place to find the train that goes to Pompeii. We bought our tickets at the central station and then were foolishly looking for the train there, we asked around the station and different people told us different things. Then we were that the line there was closed that day and we had to get a bus to a different station.

 We waited and waited at the bus station, but the bus didn't seem to be coming, so we decided to walk there. On the bright side we got the chance to take in the scenery of the city, the streets looked like they had been through a war and when we got to the station, one could have been forgiven for thinking we were in Somalia. Nonetheless, thankfully we could get the train to Pompeii there. 

When we got to Pompeii we were told that we could get the bus to Vesuvius so we decided to do that and then headed to the archeological site. It felt great to be there when it was almost devoid of any tourists and it is a sizeable ancient city to walk around, even with an amphitheatre. You may have seen pictures of the ash moulds, however they are only in one small part of the site. 

Left amazed by what we had just seen, it was time to get the bus to see the top of Vesuvius, The way up took us up some crazy windy roads and it reminded me of the journey going up Corcovado in Rio. 

The walk up gave us some incredible views of the Amalfi coast, however what was truly mind blowing was the volcano of Vesuvius, it was one of the most incredible natural sites I had ever seen as looking into the hole made me think it was a drop of colossal proportions. It made me think how freaked out the Roman population must have been when it erupted in 79 AD as it must have done some serious damage. 

Then it was time to get back to Naples, I decided to go for a few drinks and sample some Napolitano street food. However, what was meant to be a few drinks turned into a great night out. I had some more incredible pizza and then I was overjoyed when one bottle of Peroni was just a Euro. We bumped into some of the local Italians and I have to say, the people of Naples love to party. Naples is a big student town and the streets had loads of people drinking and enjoying themselves. When I got back to my hostel, I didn't even have enough time to sleep as I needed to catch my bus to Rome at 9AM.

 

So what do I have to say about my experience of the south? Honestly, Naples is certainly a dirty and run-down part of Italy, but a lot of what is said about it is exaggerated. What I loved about my experience is that it felt off the beaten track, in many European cities, loads of people are trying to climb into my wallet speaking English to me and everything is set up for tourists. However Naples feels extremely authentic to the culture of Italy, the pizza is the best I've ever had and they know how to have a party. If you like the sound of that, then you should certainly check it out. Not to mention how much Pompeii and Vesuvius blew me away. 

The big questions is whether or not it is a safe city, in my opinion, I felt Rome was sketchier in places than in Naples and the Camorra? I didn't not see a single person who looked like they could be gangsters, nor people who would rob me at knifepoint. The traffic is a little bit mental, but that is simply the way it is. However it can be said that there is a possible risk of being pickpocketed, just like in most European cities. I was walking through the streets at night and even though it felt quite sketchy, I didn't get in any danger. What's commendable is that there's no-one who makes their living here by scamming tourists and the locals made me feel welcome. I have to say that my visit makes me want to see more places in Southern Italy as it's a completely different vibe from Northern Italy.