Nasty Naples

To be fair, there are pluses and minuses to everywhere we've been so far, but a particularly bad spell of luck is causing Naples' deficit sheet to mount. We spent the morning on a crowded bus vainly searching for an art gallery on the top of a hill. We seem to have exited at the wrong stop, and went searching for what looked like the right place. However, after trudging through smelly tunnels and staircases strewn with used hypodermics, we found we were in the wrong place. The gallery had been nearby our initial stop, only hidden from view. All this and a pigeon got splattered on the road right in front of us. Icky icky icky.

Eventually we found the gallery, but hey, it's closed on Wednesdays. :P

The afternoon fared a little better at least. We had a nice revivifying lunch (pizza and beer) and set out for some smaller sights in (again) the historical centre. First up was the Museo Cappella Sansevero, home to the splendid marble "Veiled Christ". This masterful work appears to be a person under a translucent silk sheet - it's eerily effective. There was also an ironically sensual personification of "Chastity", and a man struggling under a net that was superbly realised.

Next up was the Cathedral Duomo (again). This time, however, we stopped by the museum which is full of San Gennaro's treasures, and the archaeological zone - a series of excavations beneath the cathedral. Very interesting; the usual Greek and Roman stuff and mosaics.

Anna has also reminded me of several other positives:

• we met a friendly guy at the Kodak shop, who pointed us to some interesting sights
• I got a decent cheap haircut without having to wait around
• the pizza and beer is a w e s o m e
• the city is not as crime-ridden as we were lead to believe
  

These may sound trivial, but they make a difference after a hectic day.