The unvarnished truth

Bursting at the seams, Naples is everything it's cracked up to be: noisy, stressed and distressed, dirty, extremely fast, more than a little sketchy- but it is awesome in the truest sense of the word- awe inspiring. Say what you will- and what I have- about the past and the present comingling in Rome... the truth is, in the North, whether it's Rome, Venice, Genoa, Fierenze- the past is a bit stage managed. It's been polished and fixed up for the tourists and scholars who flock there. Here, in Naples, the ragged past crops up in all it's unvarnished glory. Even the National Museo of Archeological... arguably THE best collection of ancient Roman art and artifacts (due to the proximity of Pompeii and Herculaneum) in the world, is presented in haphazard fashion. The mosiacs, frescoes, statues, instruments- priceless and certainly one of a kind- are kind of tossed throughout the building. There's no rhyme or reason. The audio guide doesn't sync up with the displays. The exhibits are occassionally accompanied by explanations, rarely translated into english... but just as often not. Still, you won't find anything like this collection - in particular the fully preserved wall frescoes and mosiacs from Ercolano and Pompeii- anywhere else. Naples and the region is so old...