Little little baby Jesus and the bay of Naples

On one of my last days- maybe THE last day in Naples- I rode the funicular with a very nice young couple from Beverly, Mass up to the Museo at the San Martino charterhouse on Capidomonte. From the hill, there's a clear view of the bay and Vesuvius- stunning. The museum (much of which was inexplicably closed the day we went) includes a vast collection of these small terre cotta figurines. They began producing these in the 14th century or thereabouts for churches- and back then they were larger, almost lifesized. They just kept getting smaller and the nativity scenes kept getting more and more elaborate. One of them, the Presipe Cuciniello,consists of 162 people, 80 animals, 28 angels, and about 450 miniature items (this picture is just a detail)- It's really amazing, like a fantastic dollhouse. Well, clearly the craftsmen felt compelled to out-shrink each other- and this definitely outdid the competition. He placed his nativity scene inside an eggshell- I should have photographed something to give you a sense of the scale- but it's a eggshell! the entire thing isn't much bigger than your thumb- or maybe two thumbs. Incidentally, versions of these figurines are also found in Sicily which has its own little puppets tradition- Teatro di Pupi- Marionettes. This is, after all the land of the wooden boy who wanted to be real, Pinocchio and oh... I can't remember the name of the guy who made Pinocchio, Giuseppe?, probably. Google it.

Tales from the crypt- Capella Sansevero

The last century or two hasn't been kind to il Sud, southern Italy, which has struggled to keep up with the north. Most tourists prefer the north (unless, like me, you like your cities slightly dessicated and lived in then you'll want to visit). Basically, things haven't been the same since the Risorgimento- and it wasn't particularly prosperous beforehand. However, Naples did have better days - Two thousand years ago the area around Naples was THE place to see and be seen. The last golden era was in the mid-Eighteenth century when Naples was the capitol of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, ruled then by the ultra-Catholic Spanish Bourbon princes. Naples was prosperous or the Bourbon aristocracy was and the city was renowned in Europe for its rich intellectual and cultural heritage. Today you can see some of those high enlightenment ideals expressed in the architecture and for 7 Euros (hey, high culture ain't free!) you can visit the Capella Sansevero. The chapel was the brainchild of one Prince Raimondo di Sangro, the seventh Prince of Sansevero, who called upon the reknowned artists of his day to create a unified and extremely flamboyant monument to his patrimony... and a place to keep his bones and the bones or his ancestors going back several generations. It's high baroque at it's baroquest- every detail of the chapel from the draping of the marble statues to the last fleur-di-lis is lavishly rendered. The veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino is particularly famous for the tissue-like quality of the marble... the same goes for the statue of modesty but the guard was strictly enforcing the "no photos" policy at Sansevero (I hate those guys)- so you'll just have to go to the internet to check it out (http://www.museosansevero.it/inglese/cappellasansevero/cristovelato.html). I couldn't resist sneaking a picture of one of the macabre surprise in a crypt beneath the chapel. It seems Raimondo in addition to being a man of letters was also a Grand Master of the Freemasons with an interest in science, medicine and he dabbled in ALCHEMY... He mummified a man, a woman and a fetus (the fetus appears to have gone missing). He managed to preserve the entire circulatory system- veins, arteries and all- along with the organs and tissue and the specimens remain under glass (and in remarkably good condition) in a display. No one's sure how he did it or whether these guys were living when Raimondo got his hands on them. Creepy- and very GOTH!-

Sfogliatelle di Napoli

I took the night ferry to Palermo yesterday- but my thoughts and blog are still about Naples.
So, allora, the Neapolitans have their own pastry- Sfogliatelle. The wiki entry: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfogliatelle) says there is the classic Sfoglia which is flaky, and the coarser cousin (pictured here w/ cafe machiado). The name refers to the leaf like shape of the classic's shell. I tried both. The pastry is stuffed with ricotta cheese sweetened with orange peels, or orange peel liquor... it tastes orangey. Warm it up and serve it caldo (hot) - very filling.

Cane e anatra!

Due amici (two friends), cane e anatra (dog and duck) living on la strada a Napoli. Anyone out there able to translate the sign?

Old methods

Planned obsolescence- not in Naples. Sometimes the older technologies work best- if it ain't broke... Here, we see the bucket system employed in the Centro Storico district, probably centuries old. It's very simple and practical: tie a basket to a rope and lower to the street. Saves the .05 Euros you'd spend on the metered elevators (I don't know if its commonplace, but the elevator was metered at the hostel.) ... And ALWAYS hang the laundry out to dry on the line- saves energy, smells good and it's good for the environment.

Hostel of the Sun in Napoli

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In Naples, I stayed at Hostel of the Sun on Via Melisurgo right next to the port. A single room with not one BUT TWO balconies was 25 Euros a night! Plus breakfast and a huge library of DVDs to take back and watch in your room, or the communal area. It's like being back in college but better. The folks who work there- this is Carla and Harriet- are terrific, cheery and really helpful. I hardly had to open my mouth or approach the desk and Carla would say "Dicemi Noah," (Tell me) "I already know your problema." (But how? When I have so many.) It was true- they knew where to eat, how to get there, what to see and why it would be no problem. They were also great company- Carla has been at Hostel of the Sun for EIGHT years. Whoa! She said "don't get-ah married," and "you look a little a gayh eh in-a this eh picture." Harriet is from England but she's been living in Naples and her Italian is exceptional- not just fluent, flawless. From the moment she described something as "cheap as chips, as they say back in England," well I was all hers. Marco- Mark, behind the bar there is from Portland, OR. a place near and dear to my heart. He'd arrived at the hostel four or five months ago, loved it, and just stayed. He manned the bar at the nightly happy hour from 7pm- on. He just landed a job teaching English two days ago so he is celebrating. Congratulations and good luck (buona fortuna) Mark! He's not leaving anytime soon.
All in all, the folks at Hostel of the Sun (or HOTS) raise the Hostel experience to the next level. It's easy to see why the place is so busy, even in the off season. The put me in a nice room and a great mood... if you go to Naples, go there. I'll be back, I hope.

Il Pulpo- psychic pulpo?

Fried, grilled or chopped up in a salad you're going to love our , delicious chewy purple friend, Il Pulpo. Biologists speculate that this creature- which has no exoskeleton- is EXTREMELY intelligent. Some scientists report Octopi watching the researchers and picking up gestures and sign language. A psychic octopus named Paul found itself the center of a paparrazi feeding frenzy when it displayed the ability to pick World Cup match winners in 2010. Paul passed away in October 2010- may he rest in peace- he never made it into my mouth, or onto my plate o insalate di mare. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11626050