On a cruise, the stop in Naples is around 12 hrs long….use it for exploring the one city that will give you the truest taste of Europe, with a port that’s one of the most important in the continent, culture, the originating of Pizza, and credited with the invention of of the romantic guitar and mandolin.

It also sports the metro stop “Toledo”, considered the most beautiful in Europe and the winner of the Leaf Award 2013, as Public Building of the year.

I visited Naples, for the third time and found that the city still brings up the same emotions it did, when I was there as a tiny, skinny girl walking hand in hand with my beautiful mother. The people were warm, talkative and made a big deal about my mom. She ignored the attention, but I remember being fascinated and a little scared of several Neapolitans who paid her much attention.

I remember seeing the a combination of an ancient city with the most wonderful feeling of young, contemporary culture, and when my dad joined us he brought a record of of Italian rock and roll, fun and sedate enough even for my music loving grandpa. It was called “tu vo fa Americano” and was played when we got back to Israel, almost daily.

When people mention Napoli, they often mention corruption, sanitation problems and Mafia connections, but truth is, the vibrant city is so much more than just another metropolis with problems and crime.

Let’s start with the landscape, getting off the boat has changed and became more sedate last April. A new mayor banned the crazy traffic from the waterfront, turning it into a lovely seaside promenade. Now, as in the past, you get a view of mount Vesuvius, the island
of Capri in the distance, but now there is I no need to watch out for the cars buzzing by (Italian style) and the walk talks you straight to Villa Communale park, and the wonderful art gallery Studio Trisoro. The gallery is perfect for contemporary art lovers and holds a revolving slate of of exhibitions. The Teatro do San Carlo is among the oldest and most beautiful opera houses in Europe, where I attended La Traviata and fell in love with opera.

Later that week the We had seats at the regal theatre, Via San Carlo, to attend Swan Lake. My mom says I kept nagging to go on stage, certain I could fit into the ensemble (I was 4). For tickets speak to your cruise director.

The city was a major cultural center, and by the 17 th century became Europe largest city, second only to Paris. Caravaggio, Bernini, Salvatore Rosa, and writers and philosophers of world class influence sprang from there. Naples has changed hands thru history, being a centre of Renaissance,having been part of the Spanish empire, and conquered by the Hungarian King Louis the and was unified with Sicilily several times.

The Napolenic conquest installed Bonaparte rulers, conquered by the Hapsburg empire. In 1839, Naples became the first city in Italy to have a railway and for a while became the combined kingdom of The Two Sicilies, thriving and wealthy. Hatter the the major cholera epidemic of 1887, the two Sicilies collapsed and an unprecedented wave of immigration abandon Naples, with around 4 million people leaving it. Then, as of late , sanitation and waste management plagued the city with unemployment issues to this day.

The old city is listed as UNESCO World Heritage site with the most prominent forms of architecture sites, in the Baroque, medieval and renaissance style. The third largest city in Italy and the oldest continuously inhabited one in the entire world (2.800 yr old history) reminds me (don’t ask me why) of New York, the throbbing energy of the city milling with people and traffic and of course, excitement, which supersedes most any other city in Europe.

The wealth of historical buildings and monuments from time immemorial combines with the latest in technology such as the 6 th Urban forum and 63 international astronautical congress.
It houses the Naples International Archeological Museum with the most extensive antique artifacts of the Roman Empire in the world, including antiqued unearthed a Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The climate is mild with wet winters and warm dry summers. The perfect climate of the jewel on the Mediterranean made it famous during Roman times, when emperors such as Claudius and Tiberius used it to holiday in.

Love is the most powerful way to create profoundly tangible transformation in everyone who crosses our path. Yet we must be mindful to endow the self with pure, unconditional love and acceptance, which will result in an infinite fountain of empathy and joy, readily available to give others.

Sarity

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