Epiphany

January 6 is a holiday of sorts here in Italy. Each of the several holidays we have been in Italy for so far this trip has varied in observance, perhaps because of where we were. Much more is shut than we are used to in Australia, but even on Christmas in Rome, some things were still open.

Our major intention today was the Neapolitan walking tour which we had missed yesterday. Before this though, we wanted to find the bus stop for the Vesuvio bus near our place. Many minutes on Google had failed to reveal this mystery. To cut a long story short, about a half hour of wandering around asking questions near the cruise terminal similarly failed to unlock the secret. To cap an abortive attempt off, I discovered in the small print on the timetable that I had downloaded that it looked like the bus doesn't run between New Years and the end of Feb. This is the first thing we have found so far that simply shut down, all the more strange because it is actually peak time for Italian domestic holidaymakers. We'll do Vesuvio by train and bus when the day comes.

With a bit of time, we walked up to the newer part of town, where the major monumental buildings are - the Piazza Plebiscito, situated in front of the erstwhile royal palace - of the rulers of the kingdom of Naples( usually, as we were to discover , foreigners). Opposite, across the huge open space is the majestic neo Classical church of San Francesco di Paola, a little like the love child of St Peters and the Pantheon. We wandered into the Galleria Umberto I - another of those magnificent glass roofed edifices like the Galleria in Milan, but looking somewhat sorry for itself at present with major renovations going on, and many shops closed (temporarily for the holiday, or more permanently?). Still, a wonderful building - even though the cafe we stopped at was less than welcoming. We did, however, get to see how plain croissants- cornetti- become filled with cream (stabbed with a spoon and then filled with a piping bag) or 'marmelata' (an outsized syringe ladled full of apricot jam).

As 1030 approached at the castle gates, so did the little crowd of walking tour participants. Our guide, Roberto, met each of us and quickly identified that he had two major language groups, so the tour would be in both Spanish and English. Roberto carried this off with great aplomb, somehow keeping our motley crew of at least thirty together for the next two and a half hours!

He gave a brief introduction then we headed back to the Piazza Plebiscito, this time with an explanation - some of which I stole for the earlier commentary. The centre of the Piazza was being used by the fire brigade for a PR family day, and the families had turned out in force. We got some insight into the importance of theatre and music - Naples having Italy's oldest theatre - and the way in which the. Neapolitan dialect was a fusion of influences from its many rulers. We moved through to via Toledo, which we discovered had been the main artery for troop movement, and the Spanish quarter, which had housed the Spanish troops - who were responsible for the bad reputation the area has had until comparatively recently. Maradona, who has long lost any capacity to play football, and even longer left Napoli, is still a god in these cramped and poor quarters, with his name and his image widespread on walls, signs and posters. This, apparently is the place to get a good feed at a good price. The only blot on an excellent tour was the rather extended pause at a little bar with little else to recommend it while we were in this part of town.

We passed through the very lively Pignasecca street market which specialised in lovely fresh seafood - there are a couple of pictures in the blog.Next stop, Spaccanapoli. Roberto pointed out the different local delicacies as we passed the gleaming shop fronts. The Chiesa Gesu' Nuovo ( I didn't know we had a new one) came in for comment. We had visited it yesterday, but today discovered that the rather unusual pyramid decorations on the front wall, so unchurch-like were that way because the building had previously been a noble place. There were two theories for the pyramid decorations. One - to shield the inhabitants from bad luck. Failed on that front since both the original inhabitants and the church seem to have attracted rather more than their fair share of misfortune! The second is that the symbols on each pyramid are a code for something - and one person has suggested it is a code for a piece of music. Roberto says it can be heard on YouTube!

As we parted, Roberto mentioned the street that specialises in presepe figures nearby, and the one at the end of this that is world pizza central. The narrow lane that is via Gregorio Armeno was jammed with people finishing their Christmas break in appropriate style. It was almost impossible to move, but even harder to stop, being caught up in the slow human tide. Suffice to say that for this street, too many presepe figures - and likenesses of actors and footballers - could never be enough!

It was easy to spot the famous pizza places- the queues were 59 metres out the door. If we plan to eat at one of these, it will need to be a well planned assault! We found a busy little corner place and bought two takeaway pizzas, folded into quarters in brown to eat on a bench under the watchful eyes of a large mural of a rather handsome San Gennaro, outside the Duomo.

By this time, feet and legs were tiring, so home for a rest before the evening's entertainment- a brass quartet at the Chiesa Gesu'

The concert was being given by a brass quintet called 'Quintessenza Brass'. It was scheduled for 7.30, and not knowing how heavy demand would be we arrived early - allowing us to catch most of the 6.45 mass! A bonus. As we have come to expect, mass finished very close to 7.30', and the concert didn't start close to it. Admission was free, but there was a request for a donation in support of the restoration of the church. Given that we found out that the main rear window had fallen into the church just shortly before Christmas, we could appreciate the need!

The two trumpets, French horn, trombone, tuba and occasional pipe organ made their way from Albinoni to Rocky and from 'A closer walk' to the sound track from Il Postino, and 2001 A Space Odyssey (Richard Strauss). They were a very fine ensemble, and the concert was a delight. It was only a 10 minute walk back home through the still busy Naples Streets, which don't seem any more dangerous to us than the other cities we have visited this trip. A full and rewarding day!