Allan and Muna: Naples - a city of contrasts, amazing views and a fort

Our first impressions of Naples were not that favourable, as can be seen later, although the train journey down from Rome was pleasant and our second day that this really was a city of contrasts. Around the train station, hundreds of stalls offered everything cheap, but just away from the main square, the city became almost deserted from a Sunday, and dirty.

We found the Duomo which was one of the main attractions of the downtown area.

Outside the church was intricate, but inside it was again, breathtaking.

Again the dome tried to rival Florence.

a number of chapels were used by a lot of people.

Little did we know it, but we arrived during what looked like the festival of a Saint Gennaro,

and that a holy relic was in the Duomo. Hundreds of pilgrims, locals no doubt, lined up to kiss a metal cylinder that a priest was holding up. It must have been important as there were several police men on either side of the relic - not that anyone could get far with the sheer numbers of people.

The organs in these churches are a piece of art in themeselves.

and the ceilings of the main part of the church hopefully do not need to be cleaned on a weekly basis - they are a long way up!

Outside, a festival was taking place. The whole street outside the Duomo was blocked off for about a kilometre and stalls lined the streets selling all kinds of products. We bought some roasted sugar coated peanuts and almonds - and they were making them fresh which was a first for me to see - Muna loved them.

unlike the streets from the train station to the Duomo, this street was packed with families enjoying a lovely Naploi day.

The "mafia" women were out as well - or so it seemed. Hundreds of stalls selling the same types of sweets. The nougat with nuts was lovely - I took several back for the Office staff.

there were also other kinds of nuts and sweets. The kids, big and small, were in heaven.

All over Italy young men from North Africa sold items on the streets. They looked a similar age and leather goods was a popular offering.

hmmmmm fairy floss looked good.

what is it with Europeans and Nutella - in Israel as well, they love it on crepes. Kids in particular crave it.

People statues are very popular all over Italy.

Amazingly, the next morning we found a Galleria that was worthy of an international exhibition.

glass covered, I do ot know who washes those.

Almost like a museum, the level of detail.

It was the designs on the floors that caught Muna's attention and she got used to her "new" camera by taking lots of these images. Only three made it to this blog.

Outside in a large piazza, was the remnants of a big activity the night before. The rubbish had to be seen to be believed. Even the council workers seemed overwhelmed as their equipment hardly made an impact.

the graffiti in Italy is worse than we saw anywhere else - a lot of it very clever drawings, mainly on railway cuttings and bridges. But to see graffiti on public buildings and even this church entrance was desecration beyond what I have experienced.

this was the side of a protestant church.

There actually is a Luigi in Italy.

even public statues were defaced with graffiti, I am not impressed with Kelly and Aldo.

this was the one public monument to escape major graffiti - although there was some on the base step.

A church that was identical to the Pantheon in Rome was beautifully restored.

Sadly, it looked out onto the rubbish filled piazza. We kept walking along streets into a more affluent area. This church shares a wall with apartment buildings.

balconies are embellished with a lot of wrought iron.

the castle on top of the hill was just too far to climb.

overshadowing Naples is of course the most famous of volcanoes - Mt. Vesuvius - it covered Pompeii, which is just along the bay from Naples, with ash and basalt. It looms over everything, and provides a beautiful background to the bay of Naples which is spectacular.