Phew! It’s been a while… Haven’t been here for so long and kind of figured out that it’s maybe high time to... Wait a minute! Hasn't the last post already started like that? Yes, it has. And it was in 2019...
As you can imagine, Covid definitely took its toll on this little blog of mine. 2020 was quite full of all kinds of events, but not necessarily travel and photography related ones. Luckily, this year brought a little bit of a normal life for me and I managed to do some nice trips and one of them seems to be a great occasion to post again.
Vedi Napoli e poi muori - See Naples and then die. It is a little bit exaggerated, but I did want to visit this city really badly. So when the occasion presented itself, I didn't think twice and grabbed the kind invitation from the Campania Region to participate in Campania Today tourism campaign. As a matter of fact, Naples has been on my bucket list for quite a long time, since my photographer friend @puanindya told me everything about its unique vibe and endless opportunities to do street photography.
Naples is only 2h flight from Paris Orly airport and it's a really easy trip that can make you feel like you’re very far away from home. After a smooth landing and a short taxi ride from the airport that is located very close to the city center, I found myself directly in the heart of Naples, ready to check in at Magma Home. This guest house is wonderfully located in the old city center and it makes you feel like you have an authentic, Italian apartment all for yourself.
I didn’t take my time to discover the whole place in the evening, as it was getting a bit late and I was planning to kick off the next day properly by heading to the best place for sunrise. However, I did meet the little group of 3 other fellow photographers that were going to explore Naples with me and even join me for my sunrise quest :). This is how, a few hours later, at 6:20 am we were already out, heading to Pedamentina. This charming street dotted with hundreds of stairs, offers a breathtaking, panoramic view of the city and the Mount Vesuvius and I must say that my expectations were pretty high. Especially, that already on the way there, the view was very beautiful and the blue hour was slowly turning into multiple colors.
I managed to climb up the Pedamentina perfectly on time to see the sun emerging from behind the Mount Vesuvius and what I saw turned out to be so much better than what I imagined. It was a truly emotional moment and I couldn’t wish for a better start of the day.
After a few minutes of contemplation, I headed down, right to the famous Quartieri Spagnoli to catch the golden hour there.
Quartieri Spagnoli is like no other neighborhood. This grid of extremely narrow and busy streets, going up and down, offers a glimpse into an everyday life of its inhabitants in a most intense way. Scooters and cars, vendors and kids going to school, all this rush mixed with the smell of fresh laundry, old ladies walking their dogs and people sipping their morning espresso. It’s hard to imagine a better place to practice street photography and you’ll hardly find another place in Europe with this level of liveliness.
At some point, all you gotta do is just stand at a street corner and capture the life unravel in front of you. Golden morning light made it all look really photogenic.
After almost 2 hours in this incredible place, I hurried back to Magma Home to get a quick breakfast and continue the day with our guide. Of course, as you can imagine, I got a bit lost on my way back and almost missed the breakfast as a result ^^
Next stop turned out to be the National Archeological Museum, the best place to learn about Pompeii and to admire the art and mosaics excavated from the destroyed city.
The tour was super interesting, even if at times it was a bit hard to concentrate on it, given that there was a bunch of nice photos to be taken there as well!
Who would have thought that archeological artefacts can make you really hungry ^^ Luckily, it was lunch time and for this very first meal in the city, we got a true Neapolitan pizza in one of the most popular pizzerias - Sorbillo Pizzeria.
Classic Margherita turned out to be the perfect choice to soak up the taste and the atmosphere of Naples and to get some strength for the exciting visits ahead.
Our tour continued in the northern part of Naples, where we escaped the heat of the day by going underground to Catacombes of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso. But first we admired beautiful architecture of the church of Madre del Buon Consiglio.
This rich baroque architecture was to be followed by a much darker place - the catacombes.
We were very lucky to have a great guide there that told us all about the history of this unique place and its walls, covered by many paleo-christian frescos.
We learned a lot about different types of burials, the status of the deceased, hard life of people working there and we were told some scary stories as well! This visit made us understand better the unique attitude of Neapolitans towards death. At the same time, as you can imagine, we were pretty relieved to see the daylight after going out!
As the sunset was approaching, we decided to go to the seaside, along Lungomare boulevard.
Just after the sunset, we got back to Magma for what turned out to be probably the best evening during the whole stay. Magma’s owners, Chiara and Livio, prepared a delicious dinner on the rooftop and invited a couple of friends. Great company, many glasses of local wine and lots of laughing, made me feel like spending an evening with good, old Italian friends. That was one of those moments that I particularly cherish during my trips. A moment when you feel a true connection with people that you meet. And, of course the food was incredible too!
That first day was incredibly intense. I actually walked more than 20km! So, as you can imagine, I slept like a rock. The next day, I managed to wake up with lots of without any difficulties to leave at around 8am, very excited to visit the largest royal residence in the world - Reggia di Caserta.
The visit started at the royal gardens. Kept in the style of Versailles gardens, they are immense and full of plants from all over the world. You will also find some charming, hidden places, if you know how to look…
I loved it how the incredibly vast space of the gardens is mixed with very intimate, almost secret spots. The stroll through all this greenery was very soothing and I would’ve been more than happy to actually spend the whole day there.
At the same time, the visit wouldn’t be complete without seeing the palace. While walking through all those extremely rich, baroque interiors, I did my best to take the full advantage of my wide angle lens.
After this visit, worthy of kings and queens, we headed back to the city for a lunch in a busy and very touristic district. However, to my great relief, the restaurant Salumeria Upnea happened to be a cosy place in a calm street and offering a variety of delicious pasta.
The afternoon started with a nice stroll in the old Naples. I really enjoyed getting lost in those tiny, narrow streets, following my photographer’s instinct and shooting as much as possible.
As the sunrise was approaching, we went for a quick tour at Certosa San Martino and then to Castel Sant’Elmo - the most impressive fortress towering over Naples.
Castel Sant’Elmo is, without any doubt, the place to be when it comes to sunsets. The panoramic view stretching out from there is beyond breathtaking. Naples seems to be endless, the Mount Vesuvius is at your fingertips and you can see Capri right in front of you.
This time however, the proper sunset with the golden light didn’t happen and the whole evening the sky was hazy. Luckily, our waiting was rewarded just by a nice, pink light.
Also, it is usually a good idea to stay even longer and wait till the city lits up. It wasn’t different this time.
After all this time spent on waiting and shooting, we went for a well deserved gourmet dinner at La Frescheria. It was our last dinner together and it couldn’t have been any better.
Our last day started with a goodbye breakfast at Magma Home’s amazing rooftop. This place is actually so great that it deserves a separate photo shooting on its own ^^
That last day of the trip was spent entirely on the streets of Naples, starting with the famous Toledo metro station. Out of all Napoli’s Art Stations, it is probably the most known one. Designed by Oscar Blanca, it will make you feel like going deep down into the ocean. I also really liked how the mosaics decorating the station make the reference to Pompeii mosaics.
This underwater exploration was followed by the very last tour in the Quartieri Spagnoli located very close to the station. The last chance to capture this unique place, before heading to the airport.
At the airport we were lucky enough to enjoy the final lunch with some of the best Neapolitan specialties.
And that’s a wrap! This 3 days stay was so intense, full of wonderful encounters and experiences that it felt like a whole week. Yet, it was definitely not enough. But that’s ok, because I know for sure that I’ll be coming back to my new favorite city someday soon and for a bit longer. And as for now, ciao Amici!