Well really I guess I mean Naples. I haven’t spent time more than an hour outside of Naples as yet. So let’s go with that. I have never simultaneously loved and hated a city the way I do Naples. In the beginning the hatred definitely outweighed the love, at the moment I’d say it’s probably the opposite situation.

The biggest factor in this shift? I took the advice of a friend: treat Naples like Africa. Or, not really Africa, but like any place that is more or less underdeveloped, or whatever we want to call it. In the case of Naples, there is a very special difference, of course. This underdevelopment is created by Neapolitan corruption, refusal to pay for transit and tax and many other phenomena, and so responsibility for the state of the city falls squarely on society here itself (as opposed to, say, a developing country, where a history of imperialism and exploitative loans and diplomatic tactics from more powerful nations play the decisive role).

I spent my first two days in Naples couchsurfing, staying probably 30 minutes outside of the city center by car, which of course translated to upwards of an hour by bus. In and of itself, I could have dealt with that… but the fact that the buses come, at most, once an hour, and they don’t follow any form of written schedule (meaning that the shortest time one could reasonably expect to wait for any bus in the city is about 40 mins) makes it a pretty absurdly frustrating place. Add to that the rampant crime that goes unpunished in the streets (something I haven’t seen anywhere else in the world, a blatant thief would still be heckled by upstanding citizens just about anywhere but here), and it’s easy to dislike Naples.

But… BUT. It’s just one of the most friendly cities in the world. The people here have been absolutely amazing. Once I learned to treat it like I do any other relatively nonfunctioning place (assuming any trip over 1 hour will take half a day and any trip over 4 will be a full day affair) I was able to see past the dysfunction to the hospitality. Literally everyone has been absurdly friendly to me here. Even now, as I sit here waiting for a ferry to leave for Sicily (a ferry ride which is 4 hours, but which I was required to check in for 2 hours in advance, and which now, naturally, is running late) a random group of Neopolitan guys has sat down with me and started force-feeding me some of the most delicious stromboli I have ever had. Moreso than anywhere I have been on mainland Italy, random people in the streets here are friendly, interested, open, and smiling. They get excited when I try to speak my terrible Italian (except for the rich people. They just say they don’t understand and storm away. But I guess that’s just because most rich people everywhere suck. Hence my obvious support for the common “Eat the Rich” graffiti which coats Neopolitan walls and security gates.).

Beyond that, it’s a beautiful city with color and history and ruins on a beach. Many of my favorite cities are like that…. Istanbul, Lisbon, Beirut (though in a different way) all pretty much fall under this catigorization.

So yeah. There’s Naples. Besides people I met travelling while IN Naples, literally every single traveller I have met in Italy said “What’s in Naples and why would you go there?”

The best food, the friendliest/nosiest people, the most laid back street culture, and yes, the most pickpockets I’ve seen in Italy. Everyone who just goes to touristy Sorrento to the south has really missed out.

Andrew