Naples: City of History

As the ferry from Palermo approached Naples the city lights called through the pre-dawn atmosphere like the siren Parthenope singing her magnetic song to Ulysses. Parthenope became so distraught when she was unsuccessful in seducing Ulysses, (a monumental failure for a siren) that she flung herself into the sea and her body washed ashore in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Her name was given to the settlement at that site, and later the settlement became Neopolis, then Napoli.

This city that had once been the largest and grandest in Europe now has a gritty external appearance in places...


yet the elegance is all around. I understand that the interiors of some of the gritty buildings are quite nice, but the tax laws and city rules make it advantageous for the property owners to leave the exteriors as they are...so the apartments inside are like little jewels encased in a rough hewn wooden box for protection.

The vibrant fabric that is the modern Naples reflects the mingling of the grit and elegance...a fusion created by the richness and diversity of her long history.

• STROPHE α. I.
• Naples! thou Heart of men which ever pantest
• Naked, beneath the lidless eye of heaven!
• Elysian City which to calm enchantest
• The mutinous air and sea: they round thee, even
• As sleep round Love, are driven!
• Metropolis of a ruined Paradise
• Long lost, late won, and yet but half regained!
• Bright Altar of the bloodless sacrifice,
• Which armed Victory offers up unstained
• To Love, the flower-enchained!
• Thou which wert once, and then didst cease to be,
• Now art, and henceforth ever shalt be, free,
• If Hope, and Truth, and Justice can avail,
• Hail, hail, all hail!
• ...Percy Bysshe Shelley

We stopped for breakfast at a lovely hotel, then rode around the city briefly to look at some of the historic buildings.

As we rode around the Gulf of Naples to get to Pompeii and Sorrento, we could see the city basking in the shadow of her volcano.

Positano, John Steinbeck, and North Carolina Turkey

In 1953, Positano was a fishing village of about 2000 people when John Steinbeck wrote an essay about it in Harper's Bazaar magazine. Tourism immediately increased, but Positano is still small in population because of its location on the side of a mountain next to the sea.

Steinbeck describes what he found as follows:
"Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are
there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Its houses climb
a hill so steep it would be a cliff except that stairs are cut in it. I believe that whereas most house foundations are vertical, in Positano they are horizontal. The small curving bay of unbelievably blue and green water
laps gently on a beach of small pebbles. There is only one narrow street and it does not come down to the water. Everything else is stairs, some of them as steep as ladders. You do not walk to visit a friend, you either climb or slide."

This is what is is talking about...buildings stacked almost on top of each other...marching up the hill with stairs as the only access to them. However, today the town is quite different from the town of 1953. Shops line the main street and business seems golden!

Food is abundant and fresh...

And even the dogs are content.

In the late 19th century however, times were not so good for Positano. Formerly a prosperous fishing and trading community, the advent of larger steam ships left Positano behind as commerce moved to larger ports. The population of Positano decreased from about 8000 to about 2000 (its population in 1953)...with more people who were born in Positano living in New York City than were living in Positano! Now the population is up to about 4000, and tourism has brought affluence back to the people.

Steinbeck was in Positano for a respite from the suffocating heat of Rome. He encountered another writer from North Carolina who had been in Positano for a year with his wife while he was writing a book.

When Thanksgiving arrived, the North Carolinians were homesick, so they had a live turkey sent to them in Positano. They had learned in North Carolina that the turkey tastes best if it dies a peaceful death. If the turkey is frightened just before dying, the meat will taste bitter and tough.

Therefore, the they decided to give the turkey Grand Marnier to calm it down. When they went to get the turkey, the turkey flew out to sea.

Positano has people on top of the hills watching the sea at all times to spot schools of fish for the fishermen. The watcher radioed the fishermen who saw the turkey plunge into the sea. They retrieved the turkey and brought it back to the North Carolinians who promptly cooked it and discovered that they could taste the seawater in the meat of the bird. They had a lot to be thankful for that Thanksgiving, especially the kindness of the Positanese.

When Steinbeck says that Positano "bites deep," he is not kidding. I will always carry the charm and beauty of Positano in my soul now that I have discovered its riches!!!

Axel Munthe's Love Affair with Capri

Who could not be in love with an island as enchanting as Capri? However, few of us are lucky enough to be able to live there ... even part-time.

Axel Munthe was one of the lucky ones, building his home, Villa San Michele, on the site of a Roman Villa in the town of Anacapri.

He wrote a book called "The Story of San Michele" which is a charming collection of vignettes about people and places from his life. Villa San Michele plays a starring role in the book, and Dr. Munthe is not shy about expressing his passion for her magic.

He relates the story of his first encounter with San Michele...and the thunderbolt of her impact on him. For many years afterward he dreamed of owning her, and once he became a psychiatrist and married an English aristocrat, he was able to realize his dream.

Once you enter the front door and beware of the dog (Munthe was actually an animal lover who kept numerous dogs) you notice that many antiquities are incorporated into the structure. Some of them may have been recovered from the original Roman villa on the site, but others may have been brought to the site from other places.

The home has Gothic elements and Axel Munthe himself was heavily involved in the design and renovation of the property.

Although the interior is luxurious and beautiful.....

the most spectacular part of San Michele is the garden.

You reach the garden through an art-filled portico...

And your reward is a spectacular view of the sea.

Facing east toward sunrise is a special treat, the granite sphinx. Its origins are unknown, but it is thought to be Egyptian and perhaps Axel Munthe acquired it from a Roman Villa. It had to be transported up the approximately 700 Phoenician steps to the elevation of 327 m. because there was no road at the time. The Greeks carved the steps into the dolomite cliff face, and they are narrow and steep, so it must have been quite a chore!

The image below shows a bust of Axel Munthe in front of a pomegranate tree.

A splendid surprise at the edge of the garden is a small chapel.

Axel Munthe's motto was "Live unafraid, trust in life!" and that he certainly did!!!

More information about Axel Munthe and San Michele can be found at http://www.villasanmichele.eu.

An Ode to Anacapri

The winding road guided us on a breathtaking journey through the Isle of Capri to the town of Anacapri, perched on a mountainside overlooking the azure sea. Before the road was built, the only way to reach Anacapri was by La Scala Fenicia, the Phoenician Steps. The Greeks (not the Phoenicians) probably created the steps, which were carved from the dolomite cliff face leading from the areas of the Grand Marina to San Michele...involving an elevation change of about 327 meters. 

Our first stop was a visit to a man who showed us how they made inlaid furniture, a trade with a long history in the town. The table in the picture is a game table, filled with hidden compartments and inlaid game boards. The beauty and precision of their work is astounding! We then walked along the path to San Michele, encountering the treasures that you see in the photographs below.

A poem on one wall intrigued me, so I translated it using "Google Translate." The translation is below the poem's image. Let me know if the translation in not accurate. I find the poem to be lovely and expressive of the ambiance of this special island! I wanted to stay there forever!!!!

We sing to you, green Anacapri, tell you that silence closes like a vest;

Sing the peace that flows in you like blood, sweet and kind, without disturbance.

Tell the broom plant that crowns the mountain who is grateful for the ilex shade in the afternoon,

Tell the prickly pear, which offers open palms to the stigmata of the sun.

But now and later:

The day already declines and the mountains are blue shadows.

Feel that slight chirp of birds, hiding low in the bushes?

It is late now: you need to go,

There is already a bit of a Tiberius moon, just a comma, and the new moon, one more time ...

Now I decide to go that way between the mountains and the sea and I'm going to accompany a firefly.

Alma Syracuse Vuotto

Additional information about Capri can be found at

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/The-Lure-of-Capri.html?c=y&page=1