Goodbye Naples!

My discovery of the city of Naples and its Neapolitan character continues... ideal to explore it on a Sunday, because it's less noisy and chaotic than usual.

Once again I wandered around the centre starting from Corso Umberto; note the majestic late-19th-century Galleria Umberto I, built after the severe cholera epidemic of 1884, a meeting place for many Neapolitans and a shopping spot.

Continuing along Piazza Trieste you arrive at the square of the same name, where the 17th-century church of S.Maria della Sanità stands, together with the "a carcioffola" fountain, as the Neapolitans call it because of its shape. Before heading to via Chiaia, a stop at the Caffé Gambrinus is a must, a bar of ancient origin opened in 1860, the favourite haunt of poets, painters, writers and playwrights. It's here that D'Annunzio wrote the Neapolitan song "A vucchella".

On the way back a brief stop at the "Maschio Angioino" (I described it in the previous travel diary); I recommend the double-decker bus tour that leaves right from P.zza Municipio. An evening dinner at the hotel...

Goodbye Naples, next stop: the Veiled Christ and the Spanish Quarters!