Naples,
Campania,
Italy
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Naples, ah Naples. Bits of beauty and history are tucked into this bustling city. A co-worker clued me in to a little gem worth seeking out, a sort of indoor/outdoor mall not far from the ship. I grabbed one of my camera's - it was way too hot to carry my full backpack so I simply wound the strap around my wrist - and set out in search of this place. Staying in the shade so as not to suffer heat exhaustion I wound through the narrow streets avoiding the traffic and craziness that is Italy. I did find the building and was saddened on two accounts. One, it was being renovated and two, I didn't bring the right camera. Walking into this enormous "mall" the first thing I saw was scaffolding, but beyond the scaffolding my eyes were immediately drawn upwards towards the ceiling to take in the amazing rounded glass wonder. It was beautiful and cathedral like as it formed the shape of a cross having two intersecting passageways that came together in the center. Ornate decorations in the center depicted both a cross and Star of David. The ends of each hallway had arches and pillars and ornately carved scenes. Pretty amazing for a mall of sorts. Unfortunately only a couple of stores were open in the mall, the rest of it was mostly deserted, but it was also Sunday and in the middle of massive construction so one can only hope for a revival when it is finished.
I walked back while checking out different little streets and alleys and discovered that a building that looked like a castle from the backside actually houses the Opera. The front side boasts ornate pillars and carved statues and such, but the cost was around 15 or 25 Euro to enter and photos were not allowed inside so I decided not to go in. I did see photos on postcards of the Opera and it is a very grand building with plush red seats set ampitheater style into numerous tiers with grand opera boxes near the stage from top to bottom. Beautiful for sure and for the opera lover a must see in Naples, probably THE must see in Naples.
