Scusa me, but you see, back in old Napoli....

I would like to provide a somewhat different view on the city of Naples . First off, I must say that Naples is, indeed, my least favourite Italian city. And yes, the buildings are close together and the city is quite dirty.

But there were some things I liked about the city, so I would not describe it as a "rathole". The pictures in Talinn's post below were actually taken from the top of a hill, which you got to ride a funicular up to. That was fun, and the castle at the top was pretty nice, with, as you can see, fantastic views.

There is also a lot of good pastry and chocolate in Naples. So much so that we were speculating that there must be some French influence. Then we checked our history and discovered that there indeed was! It was ruled by members of the House of Bourbon (France, not Kentucky) in the 17th and 18th century.

People were also quite friendly there. Although, as one of my friends told me "Yeah, they smile at you while stealing from you". Which I think proved to be an accurate description of at least one transaction where I am pretty sure I got ripped off while picking up bread and cheese for a picnic on our train ride to Northern Italy.....

But, as you all know by now, we made it out of town without falling victim to the Camorra. And when we stepped off the train in Trento it was like we'd arrived in a different country. The streets were wider and cleaner and traffic moved at a sedate pace. Much more to my taste. The Northern European blood runs strong.