V5 travels: Napoli

The fast train took us from Roma to Napoli in 1 hour and 13 minutes - 227 kms! NSW Trains needs to do a study tour - it was smooth, it was on time and it was very clean and comfortable and it was just so seamless!

Our accommodation is only a few minutes from Napoli Centrale Stazione. It’s clean and comfortable but not luxurious. Ettore - our host was very welcoming and helpful - giving us the rundown on where to go and what to do.

Street food for lunch in a back lane on the way to the Museum.

V4 was excited to find there was a museum of anatomy at a local university that held specimens - MUSA - Museo Universitario delle Scienze e delle Arti. Totally fascinating (and huge) anatomical collection of bones, preserved bodies, wax models, diseased organs and body parts, etc. I, of course, was not as smitten as V4 who just wandered around glued! It was a little confronting and gruesome at times - baby skeletons of conjoined twins were just one example.

We then wandered the laneways from the University, marvelling at the difference between Naples and Rome. The tiny cobblestones lanes, barely a car width, wind up and down. Front doors to accommodation are on the street level, washing hangs on portable clothes lines in the lane way, or on ropes from verandahs on the first, second, third floors. This is high density living!

As we ambled through lanes, you could hear the buzz of the high traffic areas - not car noise but indistinguishable human voice noise that created a buzz and excitement to turn the next corner.

We took the direction to the Spanish quarter and found ourselves amongst laneways of markets - everything from knock off Gucci bags, to fish mongers, to hardware stalls, mixed in with clothes, souvenirs and cafes.

The water called us with its magnetism and allowed us to rest and have a limoncello spritz at the waters edge while we watched the local teens gather, chat at court each other - somethings never change despite changing locations.

We caught the Metro back to Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi where we are staying, and dined on a rooftop bar to watch the sunset.