The train from Sorrento to Naples, the Circumvesuviana, takes about an hour. We wandered Naples’ centro storico and port, stopped at the Duomo (closed), the Castel Nuovo (closed), and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (partially closed). I should have planned better.
The museum’s Greek and Roman sculptures are wonderful and worth the admission. The presentation is uninspired: signage is nonexistent; the building is threadbare; and the gallery closures are due, not to remodeling, but a lack of staff.
Naples is an old city and it looks it. The architecture has lots of detail, color and variety and the historical centre is scaled for people, not cars, which feels intimate. The buildings seem to lean into each other, the outdoors feels enclosed.
Naples has a lot of people, cars, and mopeds, all sharing the barely one-car-wide streets. Streets are so narrow that many apartments never see sunlight. Walking and driving look to be carefully choreographed experiences.
Naples does not draw a lot of tourists. It has a reputation for having organized crime and a lot of trash. One brief visit doesn't allow me to say anything about crime but I can say that Naples doesn't appear any dirtier than other big cities I’ve visited. The Cicumvesuviana train has a reputation for pick-pockets but the only nefarious activity I observed is a fellow tagging a window and some noisy drunk kids.
What will stick in my mind are the dark, narrow streets with laundry lines strung between buildings; the passionate locals socializing on the streets and piazzas; and the sight of men (and women) walking down the street, arm in arm, talking.
