James Gaston

Napoli streets and church

Napoli treats

Napoli loft 14 Nov 2024 Napoli loft 14 Nov 2024 Napoli --

Vide 'o mare quant 'é bello, spira tanto, sentimento!
He saw how beautiful the sea is, it inspires such feeling!

Causality is of course hard to assign for so many life forks but allow me to offer up Danilo, a young Neapolitan fellow, former sailor, currently a train conductor and part time landlord, as the force for us stopping in Napoli. Danilo bought and renovated an old—and of course everything here is old—apartment in the centro storico (historical center) neighborhood in which he grew up. The finished flat, offered for rent, caught our eyes and with that we decided to make a stop in Napoli.

Our landlord is a sweet fellow, always smiling, and responsive. He did a fine job of renovation, splitting the single-floor flat into a two-level loft, the only weakness being a ceiling that is low in places, low enough that Paul has to watch his head.

I had a problem with the espresso machine and Danilo, with his father, were at our door fifteen minutes later to get me back on good relations with the little red machine. User error, of course. Oh, they even brought a spare espresso machine. Just in case.

The loft is surprisingly light, what with it facing a narrow street lined with five- to six-story buildings. It is spacious, with two bedrooms, two luxuriously-sized baths, washing machine, a small kitchen, and a living room. The apartment is on the third floor. There is a small coin-operated elevator, about the size of two coffins, and it costs 20 cents for a lift.

A bonus: we have an opera singer for a neighbor. Every afternoon we enjoy the beautiful voice of a woman singing arias which provides a beautiful topping to this atmospheric dwelling.

Our apartment on Via San Giovanni Maggiore a Pignatelli

The third floor (physical floor 3 is of course called floor 2 in Italia) balcony, lined in green, is ours. It is where we hang our clothing to dry.

Our apartment on Via San Giovanni Maggiore a Pignatelli

The third floor (physical floor 3 is of course called floor 2 in Italia) balcony, lined in green, is ours. It is where we hang our clothing to dry.

Our apartment on Via San Giovanni Maggiore a Pignatelli

The third floor (physical floor 3 is of course called floor 2 in Italia) balcony, lined in green, is ours. It is where we hang our clothing to dry.

Lobby with coin-operated elevator

Loft in Napoli

Living room and kitchen

First floor bathroom

Living room

Larger bedroom

Living room seen from bedroom

Balcony

Light switch

The apartment has a number of eye catching details. For example, the light switches display a light, a thin blue vertical line, when turned off, so it is easy to find them in the dark. Looks cool, too.

Light switch

Second floor bathroom

Water faucet

Danilo chose to use an industrial motif throughout the apartment. Stair handrails, grab bars, table legs, light fixtures, picture frames, faucets and handles, and so on, all are made using dark brown pipes. It looks great.

Water faucet

Plumbing-inspired bathroom light fixture

Grab bar over the bidet

Kitchen

The kitchen is minimal but it is enough for our needs. Cook top, full sized fridge, sink, espresso machine. The espresso machine uses the same paper-enclosed pods as the machine in the apartment in Lecce. The full-sized refrigerator, following the industrial theme, looks like a coin-operated Coca-Cola dispenser. The stairs is a textured metal that provides a nice grip when in use. Danilo did a great job designing this flat.

Kitchen

Paul hanging laundry

Just like most everyone else in Napoli, our laundry dries off of the balcony, over the street. Some people have awnings over their drying laundry to protect from bird droppings.

Paul hanging laundry

Just like most everyone else in Napoli, our laundry dries off of the balcony, over the street. Some people have awnings over their drying laundry to protect from bird droppings.

Paul hanging laundry

Just like most everyone else in Napoli, our laundry dries off of the balcony, over the street. Some people have awnings over their drying laundry to protect from bird droppings.

Hanging laundry

Our street

Our street looking east, at night

Our street looking west, at night

Napoli streets and church

Napoli treats