September, 2021. Napoli.
Taking a train from Rome to Naples was probably the best decision of the whole journey. 2 hours and 12 euros less later we were arriving in the capital of thin dough, thick edges pizza.
Napoli was a whole different story.
Starting with the motorbikes, everywhere.
Young girls in motorbikes.
The colors of the city...
...the romanticism in the streets...
Kid watching the cars pass by.
...and the fashion.
Woman in a dress and Italian leather boots.
Man working the leather.
The people and the energy.
Men posing for the picture.
The reality of marginalized quarters...
Le Vele di Scampia, an urban housing project that gave birth to crime and home to the Camorra.
"When you don't see happiness, look for it inside". A motto for those in Scampia who dreamt of a better future and believe the fight against degradation, abandonment and illegality begins inside us.
...and the landscapes and history of the region.
Isola di Nisida, seen from the park of Posillipo. It is said that Brutus and Cassius, allies of a conspiracy to kill Caesar the Emperor, were planning the crime on this island. Now the island is a teenage prison.
Train to Mount Vesuvius volcano. It buried the city of Pompeii under the ashes that preserved it.
In ancient Pompeii.
It was towards the end of the trip, while I was at the airport on my way back home, when a hectic phone conversation a girl my age was having with her mother caught my attention. Ironically, she felt nothing but disgust towards the city that had delighted me. She found the attentive, expressive men repulsive and troubled; the lively squares loud and noisy; the ancient streets dirty and dangerous. It was then when I realized traveling is not for everyone. Naples is not for everyone. Naples, like many other cities, is a whole different story. A culture you need to be passionate about to enjoy. And that, after all, is traveling: the passion for the unknown.