|
|
|
Naples,Italy
|
| |
|
Naples
is a surprisingly large city, and a sprawling
one, with a centre that has many different
focuses. The area between Piazza Garibaldi
and Via Toledo, roughly corresponding to
the old Roman Neapolis (much of which is
still unexcavated below the ground), makes
up the old part of the city - the centro
storico - the main streets still following
the path of the old Roman roads.
|
|
|
|
This
is much the liveliest, most teeming part of town,
an open-air kasbah of hawking, yelling humanity
that makes up in energy what it lacks in grace.
Buildings rise high on either side of the narrow,
crowded streets, cobwebbed with washing; there's
little light, not even much sense of the rest
of the city outside - certainly not of the proximity
of the sea. But the insularity of the centro storico
is deceptive, and in reality there's another,
quite different side to Naples, one that's much
more like the sunwashed Bay of Naples murals you've
seen in cheap restaurants back home. Via Toledo
, the main street of the city, edges the old centre
from the Palazzo Reale up to the Museo Nazionale
Archeologico and the heights of Capodimonte ;
to the left rises the Vómero , with its fancy
housing and museums, and the smug neighbourhood
of Chiaia , beyond which lies the long green boulevard
of Riviera de Chiara , stretching around to the
districts of Mergellina and Posillipo : all neighbourhoods
that exert quite a different kind of pull - that
of an airy waterfront city, with views, seafood
eaten al fresco and peace and quiet.
|
|
|
The
old part of the city is crammed with bars
; the best thing to do is head for one of
the lively and glamorous central squares
where the local ragazzi hang out - try Piazza
Bellini, a focal point for the gay community,
or Piazza Gesù Nuovo. Bear in mind though,
that things don't really get going till
at least 9pm. For nightclubs you may - due
to the licensing laws - have to obtain a
tesserino or membership card to gain entry,
which will cost upwards of L20,000/10.33.
For the best of the clubs head around the
bay, ideally with your own transport, to
the places situated in the beach areas north
or south of the city; the Qui Napoli magazine
has club listings.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
