Naples | 那不勒斯

After Rome, we moved on to our next destination, Naples. (Technically, we stayed in Naples but spent most of our time in the surrounding areas.) Naples did feel like the stereotypical southern Italy. When we picked up our rental car at the Rome airport, the staff repeatedly reminded us to never leave anything in the car. When we got off the freeway and drove into Naples, the traffic immediately turned into chaos. When we stopped at a red light, a man approached our car trying to clean our windshield. We had to signal really hard and almost turned on our windshield wipers to show that we did not need his service. When we finally got to our B&B, we had to wait in the scorching heat for over half an hour to check in because our host was too unorganized. However, while we were waiting, we got to experience the southern Italian hospitality. An old man in the building tried to help us — he walked up to us with a smile and started to talk to us in Italian. Although we did not understand anything he said, I really appreciated the kindness after the nerve-wracking drive.

Although our first encounter with Naples was a bit stressful, and Naples continued to prove itself to be a city of chaos during our stay, it still has its own kind of charm and energy. For example, the neighborhood we stayed in, Chiaia, overlooks the Gulf of Naples. At dusk, I enjoyed watching the sun set into the gulf as the houses built along the mountains lit up. Also, Diego Maradona is literally everywhere. There is a giant Maradona mural in the city surrounded by dozens of vendors selling Maradona merchandise. It continues to draw visitors and fans from all over the world, and is perhaps the most crowded area in the impoverished Quatieri Spagnoli. (I had to go see it because Maradona is one of my dad’s favorite soccer players, along with Gabriel Batistuta.) I saw tributes to Maradona everywhere in Naples — people wearing his jerseys, posters of him in shops and restaurants, flying flags with his name, and the soccer stadium named after him. It is incredible to see how the whole city is still so obsessed with him even after he left Napoli over 30 years ago, and passed away in 2020. I guess when he single-handedly lifted Naples out of a long-lasting sense of inferiority against the wealthier northern Italian cities and brought Neapolitans happiness and pride, especially when he deeply connected with the working-class people and was identified as the voice of the suppressed, he became not just a soccer legend or a hero, but a savior of the city. It was humbling to see how much legacy and influence Maradona still has over Naples, and how much Neapolitans still love him and miss him.

We also visited Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, another place that I learned so much about from books, and I was really excited to see it with my own eyes. Pompeii is a truly impressive archaeological site and a frozen moment in time. As we walked through the city with our tour guide, I could see a glimpse of the ancient city’s prosperity, civilization, and glory. It felt quite different from seeing artifacts in a museum, because we were walking through streets, homes, shops, and bath houses where Pompeians used to live their lives. Further, when our tour guide cracked jokes as he told us stories about different sites, the phrase he used the most was, “Nothing new under the sun.” Therefore, even though Pompeii was destroyed almost two thousand years ago, I felt an odd sense of connection as I walked through the places where Pompeians lived. The hike to the top of Mt. Vesuvius was also a great experience. It was nowhere as intense as the other volcanoes I’ve hiked (Shasta, Kilimanjaro), but the view of the Gulf of Naples was absolutely incredible, and seeing how far away Pompeii is from Mt. Vesuvius made me realize just how powerful the eruption must have been to destroy the city, which was a very humbling moment.

Finally, we spent some time in the nearby coastal towns such as Procida and Sorrento. This was when I finally felt like I was on vacation. No timed tour, no googling history, no agenda, just being in the moment. Sometimes Steve and I would be feeding fish on the pier, and all of a sudden, a couple of hours would go by. In Procida, we buzzed around the island on a scooter like Luca (which turned out to be trickier than expected because we were not familiar with the traffic rules), saw the pastel-colored houses by the port, and admired its picturesque landscape from Terra Murata while a retired Italian sailor told us dirty jokes. In Sorrento, we walked through shops and streets that reminded me of the vibes of the “Old Streets” in Taiwan (Jiufen, Tamsui …etc.), ate the biggest lemon sorbet I have ever seen (the guy at the sorbet stand was super friendly and excited to sell us a sorbet), bought a lemon dress and a bunch of lemon candies, and enjoyed the golden hours by the coast, where we could see Mt. Vesuvius across from the Gulf of Naples. After the dense first half of our trip packed with history and culture, it was a nice change to turn on my vacation mode and relax. 

I wouldn’t say Naples is my favorite city. The chaos, the insane traffic, the noise, the narrow streets and dense buildings, and the shadow of the Camorra all made me nervous. However, I truly appreciated the southern Italian hospitality, the vibrant energy, the beautiful mountains and coasts. It was a new experience for me — although parts of Naples reminded me of Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and even a little bit of Tanzania, I have never been to anywhere like Naples. The stunning scenery also made me really excited for the final stop of our trip — Sardegna. 

---

離開羅馬後，我們驅車前往那不勒斯。 （嚴格來說，我們下榻在那不勒斯，但大部分時間都在周邊地區度過。）那不勒斯確實是典型的南義：我們從羅馬機場取車時，工作人員一再提醒我們不要在車上留任何東西；下了高速公路，一進入那不勒斯市區，交通立刻變得混亂擁擠；我們在等紅燈前時，一個提著水桶和拖把的男人走過來試圖擦拭我們的擋風玻璃，我們不得不拼命對他搖頭，還差點開了雨刷器，表示我們不需要他的服務。當我們終於到達民宿時，房東完全狀況外，導致我們在酷暑中等了半個多小時才辦理入住。不過在等待的過程中，我們體驗了南義的人情味——樓裡的一位老先生試圖幫助我們，他微笑著走到我們面前，對我們滔滔不絕地說義大利語。雖然我們一個字都聽不懂，但在經歷了混亂的市區駕駛後，他的笑容和善意終於讓我們緊繃的神經鬆弛了下來。

雖然那不勒斯頗爲混亂，但它仍然擁有獨特的魅力和活力。比方說，我們下榻的基艾亞區瀕臨那不勒斯灣，我喜歡在黃昏時分，欣賞西下的夕陽緩緩沒入地中海、依山而建的房屋逐漸亮起燈光。此外，迪亞哥‧馬拉度納的身影隨處可見。西班牙區裡有一幅巨大的馬拉度納壁畫，周圍環繞著許多販賣馬拉度納週邊商品的攤販。這幅壁畫持續吸引著來自世界各地的人潮，使它成為貧困的西班牙區最熱鬧明亮的地方。（雖然西班牙區的治安令我心下惴惴，但我必須去看這幅壁畫，因為馬拉度納是爸爸最喜歡的足球員之一。）在那不勒斯，隨處可見居民們對馬拉度納的致敬和懷念——人們穿著他的球衣、商店和餐館裡張貼著他的海報、街道懸掛著印有他名字的旗幟，還有一座以他命名的足球場——即使在他早已在30多年前從拿坡里轉會到塞維利亞，並於2020年去世，他依然是這座城市的神。我想，當他憑一己之力讓曾經的保級隊拿坡里能與北義的豪門球隊分庭抗禮、將那不勒斯從長期以來對北義富裕城市的自卑感中解放出來、為那不勒斯人帶來了歡樂與自豪，並同時憑藉著貧寒的出身成為當地工人階級的象徵時，他不僅僅是一位足球傳奇或英雄，更是成為了這座城市的救世主。即使離開多年，馬拉度納在那不勒斯巨大的影響力至今猶在，而那不勒斯人對他的愛戴和懷念也令人感動。

我們也參觀了龐貝古城和維蘇威火山，又一個我在學校和書本上看過無數遍的地方，所以我非常期待能夠親自參觀。龐貝是一處令人印象深刻的考古遺址，時光好似凝固在了兩千年前。我們跟著導遊漫步在龐貝人曾經生活過的地方，我彷彿看見了這座古城曾經的繁華和榮光。這種感覺與在博物館參觀文物時截然不同，因為我們走在龐貝人曾經走過的街道、住過的房屋、光顧過的商店和澡堂，想像著他們曾經的生活，而不僅僅是看著玻璃展櫃裡的物品。此外，我們幽默的導遊向我們講述不同遺址的故事時，最常說的一句話是「太陽底下無新事」。因此，儘管龐貝古城在近兩千年前就被摧毀了，身處龐貝人曾經居住過的地方卻帶給我一種奇妙的連結感。徒步登上維蘇威火山頂也是一次很特別的體驗，它遠遠不及我爬過的其他火山困難（沙斯塔山、吉力馬扎羅），但從山頂眺望那不勒斯灣的景色美得令人屏息，而且當我意識到龐貝古城距離維蘇威火山有多遠時，我終於瞭解那次火山爆發的威力有多麼強大，才摧毀了這座繁榮的大城市。在大自然的力量面前，人類的文明終究還是渺小。

最後，我們造訪了普羅奇達和索倫托等沿海小鎮，讓我真正有了度假的感覺。沒有行程表、沒有瘋狂地上網查詢歷史資料、沒有事先安排的導覽，只有享受當下。有時我和 Steve 會在碼頭餵魚，餵著餵著幾個小時就過去了。在普羅奇達，我們像電影《路卡的夏天》中的路卡一樣，騎著摩托車在島上飛馳，欣賞港口邊色彩柔美的漁村，在島嶼北端的特拉木拉塔一邊俯瞰風景如畫的港灣，一邊聽一位退休的意大利老水手講黃色笑話。（我們不熟悉交通規則，島上的小路又彎彎曲曲、起起伏伏，好在島上人口不多，整個過程有驚無險。）索倫托的商店和街道讓我想起台灣九份老街的煙火氣——在路邊攤小伙的熱情推薦下，我們品嚐了一個我這輩子見過最巨大的檸檬雪酪，買了一條檸檬洋裝和一大堆檸檬糖，並在黃昏的的海邊，隔著那不勒斯灣欣賞維蘇威火山的黃金時刻。這趟旅程中，在經歷了前半段充滿歷史文化的緊湊行程之後，這些步調悠閒的海邊小鎮終於讓我真正開啟了度假模式。

我說不上特別喜歡那不勒斯——市區的混亂和喧鬧、擁擠又瘋狂的交通、狹窄的街道、密集的建築，以及籠罩著黑手黨的陰影，都讓我神經緊繃。但我同時也喜歡南義熱情好客的居民、頑強的生命力，以及如詩如畫的山脈和海岸。這對我來說是一次全新的歐洲體驗——雖然那不勒斯的某些地方讓我想起了台灣、東南亞，甚至有點坦尚尼亞的味道，但我從未去過像那不勒斯這樣的地方，那不勒斯和周邊地區的山光水色也讓我們在期待中踏上了我們旅程的最後一站——撒丁島。