Italy- We came for some wine and pizza part1 Nov-2012

michnus

14th July 2013

Part of the reason we travel is to seek to understand the beauties, the mysteries and the differences of our world. The beauties for us in cities like Napoli are the absence of the likes of the traditional malls we have in South Africa.

Street shops owned by individuals or passed down in the family do business next to each other with a lively buzz and healthy competition. None of the same boring retail chain brands you find in every bloody mall in SA with the same stuff on offer and any new offerings pressed out by the big ego driven retail brands.

Stores and shops rarely open before 10am. Everything closes again around midday, not to reopen until 3 or 4pm. In the evening, the streets in the centre come alive.

The museums we have visited thus far are all well maintained and the information easy to use. It is in stark contrast to the museums in Cairo where photos are not allowed and the place is stuffy and the artefacts not properly marked with little or no information.

The National Archaeological Museum is one of the best to visit if you had to choose one. Secret Museum or Secret Cabinet (Gabinetto Segreto) principally refers to the collection of erotic or sexually explicit finds from Pompeii, held in separate the former Museo Borbonico.

Rather strange that they were so open about sex at the time one would have thought them to be more conservative. Yet in our age Janet Jackson slips a nipple on stage and the USA faints in disgust.

Just a bit much to post here but the history of the erotic depicting of the gods is on Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Museum,_Naples

click on the image to enlarge.

It was surreal to wander through the elegant halls lined with works by El Greco and Caravaggio, Roman sculptures from the Farnese collection and 18th-century furnishings.

Did the pizza in Napoli live up to the standards? Well yes, but that said, some South African pizza places make damn well much better pizzas.