How To Experience Naples

Italy is really two countries in one -- the wealthy, historic north from Rome to the Swiss border and the poor, heavily unemployed South from Naples to Sicily. To get a taste of southern Italy, Naples is the best way to experience it.

If ever there was a city with a reputation, it is Naples. Dirty, nasty, crime infested and fanatical are all words thrown around when describing it. The descriptions are all true. Yet Naples is somehow the archetypal soul of Italy. When one thinks of laundry hung above the streets, Naples is where to find it. When one thinks of the gregarious, overly friendly Italian, he lives in Naples. The place is a madhouse and colorful beyond description.

Naples is all about “real.” You will not get that odd touristy sensation you find in the cities to the north. Naples is about living now, not in the past. The people can be gruff but are also a heck of lot more colorful than you will find elsewhere in Italy. So colorful, in fact, that the Neapolitan dialect that everyone speaks is rarely understood outside of Naples.

If you get into trouble in Naples, just bring up the subject of football (soccer) and you’ll suddenly have friends for life. Nowhere in the world are soccer fans more rabid than in Naples. Cheers from the soccer stadium during a game can be heard all across the city.

The best way to experience Naples is just to explore it. The action is on the street, not in museums. The Museo Archeologico Nazionale, however, is the exception. It is one of the world's most important musems as it contains some of the greatest archeological finds in all of Italy.

Naples is also proported to be the home of the pizza pie. In 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita," a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag. From this simple dish, pizza has developed into the many forms that we know it today. Still, a small, Pizza Margherita straight from a wood-fired oven in Naples is hard to beat.

If you’re hankering for picture opportunities, the glass dome over the Galleria Umberto I is a good spot. You can also climb above the city to take scenic pictures of the coast and madness of Naples.

If you are really pining for a tourist fix, Pompeii and the looming Mount Vesuvius are close by. Pompeii, of course, was buried in a Mount Vesuvius explosion, literally freezing everything in place. Ah, you already know the story. Naples is also the shortest connection via ferry or hydrofoil to the Isle of Capri, a gentile though touristy alternative to the madness that is Naples.

Southern Italy often gets a bad rap as a rough place riddled with crime. To some extent it is true, but seeing Italy without the gloss of the north is worth it.

How To Experience Naples