Naples

There is really nothing romantic about Naples. It is a dirty, gritty city with all the traffic woes that are legendary when one thinks of Italy. In fact, Naples makes driving in the rest of Italy positively a breeze. It is a city that bustles with life -- and death. For generations, the Mafia has had a stranglehold on Naples that has been impossible to shake. But do not let this dissuade you from visiting this very unique Italian city. Rarely, if ever, does the Mafia impose its presence upon tourists. It is infinitely safer than Los Angeles.

If you think you know Italian, you can forget it in Naples. The Neopolitans speak with an accent that even Italians from other parts of Italy cannot understand.

There is much to see in Naples. The Naples National Archeological Museum is one of the most important in the country. It hosts some of the most important artifacts of the Roman Empire as well as relics unearthed at nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum. The National Museum of Capodimonte is a repository for Neopolitan painting and decorative art. It also houses some major works by Raphael, Titian, Caravvaggio and El Greco.

Nowhere in Italy are soccer fans more exhuberant than in Naples. The Naples soccer team -- The Napoli -- is the perenniel underdog, but its fans are as rabid as the people of Chicago are about their underdog Cubs.

Naples is in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, whose lethal eruption in 79A.D. wiped out the populations of Pompeii and Herculaneum -- the ruins of which are must-see sites if you plan to vacation in Italy.

Besides basking in the shadow of Vesuvius, pizza may be Naples' greatest contribution to the world. But don't expect the super-sized, ham-and-pineapple variety here. Neopolitan pizzas are simple fare. The most famous, Pizza Margherita, is traditionally cooked in a wood-burning oven, ingredients are strictly regulated by a law dating from 2004, and must be composed of wheat flour type "00" with the addition of flour type "0" yeast, natural water, peeled tomatoes or fresh cherry tomatoes, marine salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

A short trip by boat whisks you away to the very romantic Isle of Capri, and from Naples, it is a short trip to Sorrento and the beginning of the magnificent Amalfi Coast.