Sandro and Marg in Naples: Part Three

March 2002

Saturday 16th March

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Saturday Morning. We had almost completed packing the night before, so were ready to check out immediately after our paltry breakfast. I explained that we were moving out because the room was too small, had no proper wardrobe and other points. The manager just made out the bill, and we left to take a bus for the couple of kilometres to the Continental.

We took our time settling in – we were just amazed at the difference between the Canada and the Continental. The view was terrific, and would have been better except for the notorious Neapolitan smog, which all but obliterated Vesuvius and Capri. We eventually ventured out to visit the castle across the road, and then the “Borgo Marinaro” (Fisherman’s village?) where we had a simple lunch at the bar next to the Zi Teresa restaurant, overlooking the marina.

On our trip to Posillipo, we had passed a few antique shops near to the hotel. I checked the Time Out guide to Naples, and discovered that the “upmarket” Piazza dei Martiri was practically next door to the hotel. In the evening, we dress up a little and go for a walk. It is a little cooler than we’d expected, but that went OK with our duds.

The walk took us past one of the many road tunnels, and it took a while, and some courage, to make the crossing! It was worth it. The throng was gathering, and there were many shops – antiques, fashion, leather and so on. All the big names are represented, from Armani to Versace.

We stopped for a café in the square – and we were slightly disappointed by the slow service. We forgave that because it was quite busy. Another walk round the area, past a nightclub? We couldn’t really tell because of the mass of young people crowding the street. I was only slightly concerned, and made sure I could protect my wallet.

We continued to walk, and eventually ended up back at the Piazza del Plebiscito. We were tired and footsore, and there was nowhere nearby which looked promising for dinner, so I suggested we walk back to the hotel – via a slightly different route – to look for a restaurant.

A mistake. We got lost and ended up in the Spanish Quarter. We’d been warned that this area was less than salubrious but we did not encounter any worrying situations - apart from the gradients! We had managed to get quite high up and were now looking down a rather impressive number of steps, and a couple of hairpin bends before we got to sea level. I had only recently had an operation on my knee so the descent ended up being quite a struggle.

By the time we made it back to the Castle, we were almost too tired to be hungry, but we headed for La Bersagliera, a restaurant in the Borgo Marinaro which we’d read about and was recommended for seafood. We had a reasonable meal, though the experience was slightly let down by the poor house wine and the perennial band of immigrant musicians. Nevertheless, the meal represented remarkable value for money.

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