A Day in Vomero - 4/09

We chose to spend Saturday up in the Vomero district.  We could see it from our hotel room window:

The big hill in the back

I suppose fitter, hardier folks might walk up there in order to explore other neighborhoods along the way - but those people might also be nuts.  We rode the Montesano funicular, as the funiculars are included in the metro pass.

At the station, waiting for the funicular to arrive.

You'd think that there would be an opportunity to take some cool photos as you travel up and down the hillside - but you'd be wrong.  Much of the ride passes through a tunnel, so there's not much of a view.  Still, it beats climbing the mountain, that's for sure.

From Morghen station we walked to our first destination, the medieval fortress of Castel Sant'Elmo (taking notice that the streets up un Vomero are much less congested as well as noticeably quieter than those in the city below).  The fortress dates from about the 1300s, was once a military prison, and is now fairly empty, except for a few cannons and some art installations here and there.  

A whole lot of nothing much

The hands on the clock appear to be knives or, perhaps, spearpoints of some kind...?

But the real reason to visit it isn't so much for the fortress itself - aside from its interesting star shape, it's not much to look at.  Rather, it's the breathtaking views available as you walk along the top of the walls that makes the excursion worthwhile.  I took many (far too many) photos as we slowly made our way around.  I couldn't help myself.  I'll include a few of the better ones here:

My favorite travel companion

Photographic evidence that I, too, am here in Italy.  Please excuse my messy hair; it was a bit breezy up there.  Also, I ran out of conditioner.

I think these photos convey a sense of just how dense Napoli is.  Notice that there is very little green space within the city.

After we made our way around the fortress walls, we headed down and out to the street to the nearby Renzo e Lucia for a leisurely lunch on the terrace, so we could keep admiring the view.  

How could you not eat outside on a day like this one?

After lunch, we continued a short distance downhill to the Certosa di San Martino - the Charterhouse of St. Martin.  Once a monastery dedicated to St. Martin of Tours (the St. Martin who gave half his cloak to a beggar, not the one trying to convert the rustic pagans, or the one who is the patron saint of gout sufferers), it is now a museum focusing mainly on Spanish/Bourbon-era artefacts.  It also houses a large collection of Nativity scene displays (this is a real thing here in Italy - they're called presepio, and can be extremely elaborate as well as humorous; some of them include pretty wacky characters that I am fairly certain aren't mentioned in the gospels).  The Charterhouse, incidentally, is the big white building at the top of the hill that is quite visible from our hotel room (pictured at the beginning of this post).

Detail from the front door

Paolo said there was nothing in the well except "dirt, grass, and coins."  He was disappointed.

Really glad we went to Sant'Elmo first, otherwise we'd have missed out on those amazing views of the city.  A heavy fog rolled through while we were at St. Martin's.

The Royal Whip

Obligatory artwork featuring St. Martin of Tours.  I am of the opinion that it would have been a bit more saintly to just give the beggar his whole cloak.

I just liked these tile floors

The most elaborate of the nativity displays, complete with flying angels

For the record:  I'm not the one who put the flowers in the skulls.  But I wish I had thought of it!

Don't often get to see the view behind the altar

Detail from the wooden panels

We enjoyed our time up in Vomero very much.  If we were going to live in Napoli, this is the section of the city I would choose, as it is relatively clean and quiet, and there is a lot less vehicle traffic than in many of the other neighborhoods - part of the area is in a ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone).  To give you a sense of the difference, here are a few shots I took on our walk back from the funicular station to our hotel:

Imagine having to drive around racks of clothing in the middle of the street on a daily basis. Or having to drive in Napoli at all.

Selling seafood in the middle of the sidewalk...

…and selling it in the middle of the street

See the motorcycle folks stopped in the middle of the road for a chat...with traffic behind them?  Also - see how steep that hill is!

This is the spot on Via Toledo near our hotel where it seems musicians play every late afternoon.  There's always a military vehicle and a couple of soldiers here too.

For dinner this evening, we wanted to have pizza - after all, we're in Napoli, home of the some of the world's best pizza.  Gusto Marigliano did not disappoint!  I took our server's recommendation to order the "Super Bufalina" (a reference to the buffalo mozzarella cheese on it, not its size).  It was as if I died and went to Pizza Heaven.  The crust!  The cheese!  The nearly perfect ratio of tomato-to-cheese!  Yum.  Paolo had a pizza with anchovies, olives, capers, and lord knows what else on it, which he enjoyed thoroughly.

If you look closely, you can see the stacks of wood beneath the oven.  Our server is on the left.

Sure, these pizzas look huge - but despite the relatively wide edges, the crusts were quite thin and light - very typical in Napoli.

Dessert was some kind of ricotta and pear concoction with a cookie, topped with a sprinkle of black salt.  It too was delicious.

Next up:  I make a mistake in planning, so we end up at a museum we previously visited in 2018.