We anticipated not liking Naples. But let me just tell you, Naples is NASTY. Thank goodness we at least partially listened to the warnings and stayed for only one night, the night before flying out, and only for convenience sake.
I have NEVER in my LIFE seen so much trash. Ever.
I have NEVER in my life seen so much graffiti. Ever.
I mean, seriously. I can't even explain to you how dirty Naples is. WOW. Just wow. On top of it being a nasty, nasty city, the people... well, we have always been impressed with Italians. They are beautiful people. Their clothes, their shoes, their faces, their bodies even. But not in Naples, no sir-ee. Never in my life have I seen so many dirty, overweight, non-Italian looking Italians. Again, let me reiterate, EVER. And we have traveled Italy.
We got into Naples by train and then took a taxi to our hotel. Not nice from the outside because surprise, the building, along with every other building we saw on our 15 minute drive was covered in graffiti. And I mean covered. But the courtyard we walked into was nice. So we had high hopes. Well, those hopes were soon destroyed. This hotel was nothing special. The bare basics. Oh well, it's only one night right? And we wanted to walk around Naples anyways, so whatever. So we got out, walked around, and were disappointed, over and over again. Nothing I can say can explain how absolutely disgusting Naples is. Nothing. I didn't even want to take pictures of the trash. As we walked around, I saw people there obviously sightseeing, strapped with cameras and holding tourist books. I felt so, so sorry for them. Yes, there were a few historic things to see. And while we were walking around for the 20 minutes that we did, we saw all of them. Yea. Not impressive. The only impressive thing we did while we were there? Ate and drank. There was an impressive wine and cheese bar right outside of our hotel which was great (the only good thing I can say about our hotel is that it was close to this place!) and we spent a few hours with some awesome local Taurasi red wine and incredible cheese. Then, we moved onto a pizzeria a street away. Again, the pizza was good, the wine was better, the atmosphere was ok (the walls of the terrace were covered in... yes, graffiti if you can believe it).
My travel recommendation? Don't go. Yes, the pizza was invented in Naples so everyone wants to go there, just for the pizza. Well, let me tell you. Yes, the pizza was good. BUT and this is a big but, not any better than the pizza in other cities in Italy.. in other cities in Europe really. Italians have transplanted all over Europe and taken their secret recipes with them. You can get amazingly delicious pizza anywhere in Europe. No need for Naples. Thank goodness our other 7 nights in Italy were perfectly amazing because Naples, well, gross.
