Walking the streets of Naples with a comic genius ........ Totò

Now there is no escaping Totò in Naples.

He was born in one of the poorest parts of the city in 1898 and was the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and a Neapolitan nobleman who did not legally recognise him until 1937.

By which time Totò had become a popular entertainer who in that year made the first of 96 films, many of which we still regularly watch on Italian TV.

And he was one of those all round entertainers, performing variously as a comedian, film and stage actor as well as a poet and song writer.

But above all it was his comic genius which delighted generations of Italians and earned him the nickname of the Prince of Laughter.

Yesterday we sat and re watched Totòtruffa 62 in which a poor man supports his daughter’s stay at an expensive boarding school by a series of outrageous money schemes including the sale of the Trevi Fountain to a foolish businessman.

And such was his popularity that at his death there were three funeral services.

So I am not surprised at how a full half century after he died he is to be found everywhere in Naples.

We sat beside him at a small cafe where his life sized model advertised Caprese, which is a salad made from tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.

There was an exhibition devoted to him; the shops were full of Totò souvenirs, from key rings to painted plates and masks.

And in that small street devoted to all manner of nativity figures more than a few were of the man himself.

Location; Naples



Pictures; Totò in Naples, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Naples .... squeezing cars, people and lots more on to those narrow streets

Now you can never get enough of pictures of Naples and of these it is the ones showing the narrow streets where everything squeezes in every available space.

Location; Naples

Picture; Naples in 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson 

In Naples trying to choose between the figure of a saint or the green frog with a hat

I never tire of the contrasts that confront you in Naples.

For any one wanting a souvenir, sooner or later you end up in the street that specializes in a mountain of such objects.

It remains one of those places we always go back to, for here there is everything you could ever want to remind you of a stay in the city.

Tina always looks out for the figures associated with the Nativity, because her mum collects them, and until recently would always display the full collection at Christmas.

These jostle with more risqué figures of impossibly fat men and slim women who crowd the glass cabinets and spill out on to rickety tables.

And for those with a more serious side, there are the religious ones, which range from saints painted on slim wooden panels, to porcelain giants, complete with wings and halo, which share a shelf with Jesus, Joseph and Mary.

While next door the shop is full of silly plastic animals, cartoon characters and the odd toadstool.

But what they all have in common is that they are bright, outrageous and made of plastic.

More than once I have wondered how long these impulse buys stay with the purchaser.

Some no doubt make it home, but most will be lost in transit, left in the hotel or become a victim to the need to lighten the weight of the suitcase at the airport.

Most of what is on sale, is tack, …………. garish, poor quality, over priced and ugly, but there is no getting away from that simple fact that they are fun, and that for me is Naples.

Location; Naples

Pictures; a  little bit of Naples for sale, 2019, from the collection of Balzano

At home in Torre Annunziata in the Gulf of Naples

Now according to one travel authority the top ten things to do in Torre Annunziata range from 21 sights and landmarks, six outdoor activities, nine night spots and a handful of shops, spars, and parks.

Baba and zeppole

But after the short flight from Milan down to Naples and the 30-minute taxi ride from the airport, the remainder of the first day’s stay should really be taken gently.

This usually consist of a stroll to the local supermarket for a few essentials, including a selection of pastries, one of which must be a  zeppole and my favourite which is baba.

Then after a rest, a more serious wander to the nearby piazza where they sell fried potato croquettes.

These are called panzerotto but differ from the usual ones which look small calzone and use mashed potato instead of bread dough.

Looking for the piazza

By which time there is not that much left of the day, and the most sensible thing is to head back to the apartment, and settle down for the night, so as to be  ready for the morning’s adventures.

Torre Annunziata is a small place, and it is where Rosa was born.

The plan is to visit some of the old places and take in a few more from where Simone grew up, which is close by.

Today the town is a suburb of Naples, with a population of just over 42,000 but has its own distinct dialect which is a variation of Neapolitan.

It never occurred to me before that this will be what Simone and Rosa would have used at home and it will be what Tina and her brothers and sisters heard in the family home as they were growing up.

But Rosa and Simone left in 1960, and while they have been back, I wonder just how much it still looks like the place they knew.

The Encyclopedia Britannica described the town as "a seaport of Campania, Italy, in the province of Naples, on the east of the Bay of Naples, and at the south foot of Mt Vesuvius, 14 m. S.E. of Naples by rail. Pop. (1901), 2S,070 (town); 28,084 (commune). It is on the main line to Battipaglia, at the point of junction of a branch line from Cancello round the east of Vesuvius, and of the branch to Castellammare di Stabia and Gragnano. 

It has a royal arms factory established by Charles IV., and other ironworks, considerable manufacture of macaroni, paper, breeding of silkworms, and some fishing and shipping. 

The harbour is protected by moles. Remains attributed to the Roman post-station of Oplontis were discovered in making the railway between Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata, a little west of the latter, in 1842”.

Down a street

But that was in 1911, and today my guide book tells me that it still has industries based around the navy, armaments and pharmaceuticals.

Just leaving me to ponder on the current exhibition of “sculptures and objects from Roman villas” at the Palazzo Criscuolo.

It will cost us just € 3.00, and not for the first time I ask Tina if they might offer concessions for OAPs but reflect that my concessionary bus pass might not pass muster as identification of my senior age.

So instead I will use the virtual guide to see what I am missing, which can be accessed from the town’s municipal web site.*

Who said you can’t live in the fast lane in Torre Annunziata?

Location; Torre Annunziata

Pictures; Torre Annunziata, 2019, from the collection of T. Balzano

*Comune Di Torre Annunziata,  http://www.comune.torreannunziata.na.it/hh/index.php

A Roman street and Neapolitan pizza from Pizzeria I Decumani........ just perfect

We were in Naples and having chosen not to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum I suppose we felt more than a little guilty.

Walking the Roman street

After all here were those two Roman towns frozen in that moment back in 79 AD when Vesuvius erupted.

But there is only so much you can do in a week.  That said given my love of all things Roman I did feel a little that I had done something wrong.

But Tina knowing how I have felt came up with the Roman remains under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore.

The church was built at the centre of the ancient Greek Roman city where today the via San Gregorio Armeno crosses the via dei Tribunali and underneath there is about half of an original Roman market which has been excavated over the last 25 years.

Just as at Pompeii you can walk down the main street past a collection of shops including a bakery, winery and laundry, step over the grooves used to drain the basins of dye and bleach and call at the offices of the tax collector.

A little further down the street are seven interconnected rooms with barrel vaults pierced by skylights designed to draw in the air and sunlight.

And in some of these rooms are the shop counters and wall niches along with at least one iron grill which would have protected the windows along the street and a selection of mosaic floors.

Now I grant you it lacks the size of Pompeii and today is deep beneath the streets of Naples but it still is a powerfully evocative place with the added bonus that you are almost on your own walking the 3 metre wide street which runs off for 54 metres offering you a slice of Roman life.

Pizzeria I Decumani

Now that did for me, particularly as it was only minutes away from the Pizzeria I Decumani.*

And of course if you want a pizza there is no where better than Naples.
The two most popular ones were packed out with long lines of hungry tourists waiting patiently outside but we had asked the local fruit seller on the corner of Via dei Tribunali who suggested Pizzeria I Decumani which he reckoned was not only the best but was where he ate.

Now it was midday and the place was full but we gave our name and sat outside in the small area opposite the shops and within the space of  five minutes were inside and ordering.

An as it happens the pizza I ordered

What came was a pretty spectacular pizza and one that cost just €3.50 compared to the €12 we had paid the day before in Sorrento.

So all in all a good day made even better by those narrow Neapolitan Streets with their tall buildings and drying washing hanging from the balconies, which is a story for another time.


*Via dei Tribunali, 58 80138 Napoli Italy‎ +39 081 557 1309

Picture; of the Roman street, "Scavi san lorenzo maggiore01"  and the rest  from the Pizzeria I Decumani

Dodging the unexpected in Naples on a July day

We were lucky to be on the other side of the road when the woman threw the contents of a bucket of water down from her balcony.

She lived on the top floor of one of those tall properties which rise six stories from the street.

Her shout of warning was followed only seconds later by the sound of the water hitting the pavement.

Now I hope it was only water because there was no time for anyone to have heeded her shout and dodged for cover.

Luckily no one was hit and within seconds the spreading stain joined the other bits of street rubbish which littered the pavement.

These included a box of assorted rotting fruit, a pile of old newspapers and a broken chair.

Of course a few years ago the piles of rubbish were everywhere and we were treated to daily horror stories on the TV news but not now.

And that I suppose is one of the things you take in your stride about Naples.

There are the stories of crime, along with the frenetic activity on the streets and the sheer shabbiness of some of the city all of which will be true but not of the Naples we saw.

Yes it was noisy and we had to jump out of the way of the cars whizzing their way through the narrow streets but then everyone we met was extremely helpful, no one sought to exploit us and we had fun.

And judging by pictures from the late 19th century not a lot had changed.

Picture; "Via Toledo1". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Via_Toledo1.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Via_Toledo1.jpg and Naples circa 1890 from Napoli coom’era, 2013, courtesy of the publishers, Intra Moenia

Beware stories of Naples

Via Dei Tribunali

Now you are never quite prepared for Naples.

Tina’s mum who was born here and regularly returns warned us to be careful with a set of safety instructions which would have been a disappointment for anyone intent on robbing us of all we possessed.

We left the cameras behind, stowed the cash in the most obscure places and kept an ever vigilant eye and all for no reason.

Everyone we met as we plunged deeper into the heart of the city and wandered further from the beaten track was helpful and went out of their way to put us on the right track.

One shop keeper actually suggested that the Crocchette di patate he sold was far inferior to the one just a few metres away.

And when it came to the pizzeria the best was not the one with the long lines of tourists but the one recommended by the fruit seller on the corner of VIA DEI TRIBUNALI.

True you still had to wait but only for a few minutes, and it was well worth it.

The basic pizza in the city of its birth was big, the best I have tasted and cost just €3 compared to the one in Sorrento which was 4 times the price.

Napoli Spaccanapoli

Added to this the pizzeria was comfortable and the staff welcoming and efficient.

And if you wanted more confirmation that we had indeed walked into the right place it was that we were surrounded by locals taking a break from shopping or grabbing a leisurely meal form work.

The final touch was in a way the best for as Tina left the tip the boss shouted “a bonus for the lads” where upon the waiters all shouted a thank you.

So all was well and the warnings proved unnecessary.
That said the area around the main station might well have  lived up to Rosa’s fears but then most big railway termini offer up that edgy atmosphere where shady characters appear out of nowhere offering all sorts of dodgy deals.

In our case it was the usual range of DVDs and CD’s with that man selling IPads.  To be fair once their offers had been declined they retreated into the corners of the street by the bars selling tired looking food and watered down soft drinks.

But the station with its crowded rush hour trains was for later, for us there was more of the less well known to encounter.

Not that we set out to search for it, instead it came our way as we left the VIA DEI TRIBUNALI with its mix of pizzerias and food shops and ended up in those narrow side streets where the buildings soar six storeys and every other balcony  has its set of washing hanging down.

And from these streets led off even narrower ones often fronted by a tiny piazza with a fountain the odd shop and a few rickety chairs.

Here were fish mongers bakers and all manner of tradesmen from the watch repairer to the cobbler and much more.

The Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore 

And just as for centuries the street and this ting piazza were where you lived great chunks of the day which given that in the past there was no air conditioning and rooms were small and overcrowded the outside was a preferable place to be.

Look back at old photographs from the late 19th century and read the stories from the traveller writer Norman Lewis and there are the poor sitting on those rickety chairs, carrying out all the everyday routines in the open on the streets.

And that I think will be another story as today I bought a book of photographs of old Naples and with those images will come more stories.

Alas as I took Rosa’s warning to heart and left my camera I have fallen back on the pictures of others.

Pictures; Via Dei Tribunali, Mattia Luigi Nappi and Napoli Spaccanapoli, and the Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore
MM

* Stories from Naples in the spring of 1944, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/stories-from-naples-in-spring-of-1944.html

Looking for that street in Naples …………….

Now, when we are in Naples there is always one street we go back to.

It doesn’t matter much that what is sold in the small shops that stretch along both sides, are a mix of bad taste and questionable quality, we always return.

And we return because it is just a fun place, full of figures of all sizes and subjects.

Many have a religious flavor while others play to the superstitious side of many Neapolitans and include those little red chilies which are believed to protect your car and house from all sorts of nasty things.

Now ideally, they should be fresh, but that can be a faff and so the street specializes in little wooden and plastic ones.

Simone and Rosa who are from Naples have a collection of them in their house in Varese, while Tina carries one pair on her key ring and another bunch in the car.

But on our street these jostles with large figures of the saints, smaller ones of footballers, and film stars and nestle beside rows of politicians including one of President Trump.

All these crowd in next to cabinets of nativity figures and wooden painted panels, ranging from scenes of Naples to risqué ones of fat men and slim young women.

And while I never tire of the shops I am always drawn to those other shops, the ones that sell a bewildering variety of cakes, and biscuits with fillings that cover the full sweep of tastes and look as good as they taste.

Having navigated that street, the challenge becomes one of getting back to the station.

And that very quickly means plunging down those narrow streets where the buildings soar to the sky and seem to challenge the law of gravity.

And just when you think the street can’t get any narrower, it does.  If you are lucky it will eventually open out into a small piazza or lead onto a main road, but not always.

Added to this, some of residents do throw their dirty water off the balcony, but do at least offer up a warning shout, which in my experience comes moments after the water is in free fall.

To be fair it only happened to us once, and it was no more sinister than a bowl of water left over from washing the pots.

I don’t suppose it is that common, given that many people still spend great chunks of the day on the street, and in the very warm weather might set up a table, prepare vegetables, eat a meal or just get on with “doing things” while snatching conversations with neighbours and passerby in a seamless continuity of street life that goes back generations.

Look at the old photographs from the early 20th century, and the same pattern is there, with women working at a rickety wooden table, to children having their hair cut and od men fiercely debating the issues of the day.

And that is the city I have come to love.

Location; Naples

Pictures; street scenes, Naples, 2019 from the collection of Balzano

Naples .... where the houses rise like cliffs and look down on narrow and busy places

Over a century and a bit ago a group of Neapolitan photographers set out to capture something of the vibrancy of their city.

And because then as now much of that vibrancy was conducted on the streets they photographed families eating off battered old tables, and women having their hair done in the streets while conversing with water carriers shop keepers and anyone who wandered into the street.

Nor has much changed.

Location; Naples

Picture; Naples in 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson and Emilka Cholewicka

Naples ............ the event in the street

Sometimes you just wonder what was going on to attract the attention of the four men.

Whatever it was it proved amusing for one and provoked another into a comment which we will never know.

Location; Naples









Picture; Naples in 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson and Emilka Cholewicka

Watching the hail storm and much more in the Bay of Naples

The VIA R. REGINALDO GIULIANI  July 23rd

Never underestimate the surprises offered up in the Bay of Naples

We arrived in Sorrento in the blistering heat of late afternoon and that was how it was for two glorious days before the rain.

Now I am used to those Italian thunderstorms which come out of nowhere, rage with the full force that nature can devise and are over as suddenly as they came.

But in that brief few minutes the sky darkens and the low rumble of thunder becomes defeating as streaks of lightening flash and the rain just comes down like stir rods.

All that we had and hailstones too which even the locals claim were bigger than anything they had seen before.

Then in a matter of minutes the storm had passed leaving a carpet of fast melting hailstorms and a few broken leaves.

But as ever the storm had cooled the air and cleaned the streets, so that the evening stroll on Sorrento was a pleasant affair despite the crowds of tourists who were all intent on capturing that little bit of Italian life.

And Sorrento did not disappoint, all of which is why we returned the following day.

Eating in the VIA R. REGINALDO GIULIANI 

We took in the odd museum and a fair number of narrow streets each with a bewildering number of shops offering all manner of stuff to entice the tourist and which were pretty much replicated in the next half dozen streets.

All of which led us by degree to VIA R. REGINALDO GIULIANI and a meal at one of the many restaurants that spread out across the road from its beginning to the point when the it becomes too narrow.

The meal was good and of course the position offered up plenty of opportunities to sit and watch.

It cost just €70 which for four seemed acceptable until that is we sampled the delights of Naples a place I have fallen in love with.

Rome will always be my favourite city which has the power to draws us back but Naples is something else.

But that is for another time.

Pictures; Sorrento, July 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Naples ........ eating what the city does best

Now if you are in Naples the obvious choice of something to eat just has to be pizza.

We had ordered up some good ones in Sorrento but the Neapolitan ones were better and turned out to be cheaper at 3€.

And when our Saul was there last week he ended up with two fine pizzas.

Enough said.

Location; Naples

Picture; Naples in 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson 

Naples in April

Now if you don't live in Naples the next best thing is that one of your sons is there and is happy to send back pictures of the place.

I fell in love with the city the first time we went there and continue to find it fascinating.

It is noisy, and chaotic and at times bewildering.

The voices you hear speak a language which is unique to the south and when Tina had her siblings washed up in the north of Italy how they spoke and what they said marked them out as from Naples.

The first time we went her parents who were both born there warned us to be careful but  the warning was unnecessary.

Like any city there is a lot to see, and you can fill your day wandering from former palaces to wonderful churches and taking in plenty of ancient ruins.

But for me it is the streets themselves which I adore.  They are narrow and give off onto even narrower streets and everywhere the buildings climb cliff like into the sky.

And from every available balcony the residents will hang out their washing.

We won’t be back for months and so I shall content myself with Saul’s pictures.

Location; Naples

Pictures; Naples, 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson and Emilka Cholewicka

In praise of the postcard .... greetings from Napoli

Now despite what I often say the picture postcard is alive and continues to give great pleasure.

Of course we don’t send as many as we did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The cost of postage is one factor along with that simple fact that where once there were numerous collections and deliveries in a day now we are down to just one.

Add the fact that for many the email, social media and the camera phone is a faster and almost instant way of announcing a holiday moment and it is all too easy to see why the postcard is second best.

So here in praise of that simple and old fashioned form of communication is one we received a few weeks ago.

Simone and Rosa had left Varese in the north to visit family in Naples and sent us this picture.

They were both born there and it is a city I have fond memories of, so for those reasons and just to celebrate the postcard here is Napoli.

Pictures; Napoli, circa 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson