Tuesday, March 18, 2008

On Pilgrimage with Sr Jeannine (2)

I was apprehensive about our overnight trip on the ferry from Catania to Naples but it turned out to be fine. The cabins were comfortable with en suite showers and there was a reasonable bar and lounge area. We set off shortly after 11pm and I went up on deck to watch the coast of Sicily and the stars in a clear sky: magical moments. After a reasonable night's sleep our arrival in Naples was even more magical, travelling up the Amalfi coast between Capri and Vesuvius in the morning sunshine. A morning coach tour of Naples brought us to the view over the bay of Naples, surely one of the great sights of the world. Unfortunately the rest of our 'tour' consisted of sitting in Naples traffic jams.
After booking into our hotel I headed off to the opera house for a performance of Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle". The Teatro San Carlo is a magnificent theatre following the classic European layout of stalls surrounded by six layers of boxes. Like everything in Naples it is slightly shabby and run-down, so all the row and seat numbers in the stalls had disappeared. I was glad to have had the opportunity to visit this theatre where Bellini had his first great success and to see a fine performance with Laszlo Polgar as Bluebeard, Ildiko Kamlosi as Judith and Jeffrey Tate conducting.
The itinerary for the next day was a visit to Pompeii but I forewent that. I have been to Pompeii before and I needed a break from the relentless pace of this trip. So instead I had a leisurely breakfast and headed off to Naples's Archaeological Museum. This contains many artefacts taken from Pompeii and Herculaneum when they were first discovered. There are remarkable sculptures, frescoes and mosaics, perhaps the most memorable being the huge mosaic of Alexander and Darius in battle. On my way back to the hotel I visited the Cathedral of San Gennaro. I was interested to note that the cathedral bookshop had the Liber Usualis on sale.
In the evening we were scheduled for a trip to a Pizzeria for an authentic Neapolitan Pizza. Unfortunately there had been a huge Mediterranean downpour, drenching many of my fellow pilgrims. As a result few of them were willing to venture out again. As a result I led Sr Jeannine and Gerda Kennedy through the rain for a pizza takeaway. I stayed to eat mine in the restaurant for the authentic experience. With strip lights overhead and policemen in uniform (and with guns) on the next table, it was certainly an authentic Naples experience, I can't say the pizza was much better than Sainsbury's though.
Staying in Naples was an interesting, at times exciting, at times frightening experience. One of our party had her purse stolen on the bus. The traffic was mad, noisy and never-ceasing. Crossing the road involving just walking out into the traffic: 'they won't hit you' instructed Elke. At times it put me in mind of being in a north African City. I certainly found it difficult to believe that we were in the third largest city of a major European country.

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