by Julia Webster
The urgent need for a metro system boosted archeology in Naples with discoveries that have altered the understanding of its history.
Metro Napoli's “Art Stations” which opened in 2012. Its aquatic design made it to number one on the Daily Telegraph's list of most impressive metro stations in Europe, and it was extremely well received by Neapolitans. There was also an interesting exhibition we happened to stumble upon in Stazione Museo depicting the underground construction as a struggle between the modern and the ancient city. The urgent need for a metro system boosted archeology in Naples with discoveries that have altered the understanding of its history. Naples calls for much more exploration than my short visit allowed for, but the time of year meant having the opportunity to get in touch with local New Year traditions and avoiding the most crowded months. However, if you do decide to go there in the winter...don't forget to pack a ski jacket!
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The main attraction was a big New Year’s Eve party in Piazza Plebiscito where everyone was to gather for the countdown. All restaurants were either closed or charged exorbitant prices so we ended up buying bread, cheese, champagne and panettone and eating in the hotel room before heading off to the celebration in the centre of town. As we left it started snowing, a real rarity in this part of Italy! Despite the weather the whole city seemed to have gathered in the square. The concert was led by Gigi d'Alessio, a famous Neapolitan pop signer, and included other artists. They performed a few famous Italian songs, of which I only recognised Nel blu dipinto di blu. At midnight the square filled with cries of auguri, accompanying the sound of fireworks exploding and champagne corks popping. On the way back from the festivities we took the metro from Via Toledo, one of
New Year was approaching, and with it, the pressures of having to plan something exciting to end the year with. My parents decided on a trip to Naples, and hoped to use me as a guide, even though I'd never set foot further south than Bologna. All I knew about the city could be reduced to crazy driving, Gomorrah and pizza. About time then that I broadened my knowledge.
The taxi from the airport did confirm for me that Neapolitans have their own rules of the road, evidenced by the fact that nobody reacted or beeped when the driver went against the direction of traffic on a roundabout. As soon as we arrived at the hotel we dropped off our luggage and headed to the centro storico for a pizza lunch. Before the trip I had carefully planned a route and located a few of the most famous pizzerias on Via dei Tribunali, leaving nothing to chance. But disorientated as we were, we arrived starving at the busy street at 3:30pm, and discovered they were all closing. The temperature was 4ºC (colder than London), and we ended up in a small café having hot chocolate instead. Despite our initial setback, the food was undoubtedly the best thing about Naples, my favourite meal coming in a typical small Neapolitan trattoria on Via Foria called A' cucin e mamma. I ordered calamarata – the recipe for which can be found in the previous issue of La Civetta – which consists of several types of seafood and a very large pasta, which was cooked, like all the pasta I had in Naples, very al dente. The service was rarely efficient in most places, but the food was always well worth the wait.
dISCOVERING naples