Competing for size?

With the days we had left, it was not possible to take a ferry to the island of Ischia without incurring expense and complicated connections, so we decided to visit Naples instead. When we arrived in the docks with a building site and the traffic roaring past on a four laner we wondered where to start our adventure in this exciting and sometimes dangerous crumbling city. Suddenly an open tourist bus arrived so we jumped on board but it was only taking us to the terminal near the Castel Nuovo where tickets were bought and routes chosen. There was one person in the ticket kiosk and a very long queue so we decided to return later. Walking along the road we suddenly found ourselves in an area of magnificent and grandiose buildings- the Galleria Umberto I, the Opera House (Teatro San Carlo), the Royal Palace which is now a museum and National Library, and the spacious Piazzo del Plebiscito dominated by the Church of San Francesco di Paola reminding one of a smaller version of St Peter's in Rome. We had coffee in the nearby famous belle-epoque Cafe Gambrinus which is visited by the President of Italy whenever in Naples. Later we snacked on the quieter esplanade round the corner leading to the Castel dell'Ovo before walking back to the docks and our journey across the water to a calmer Sorrento.

The photograph was taken in Naples from the bridge crossing the motorway. The side of the Palazzo Reale on the left and a very large Norwegian cruise liner on the right looking very top heavy. We had never seen anything like it and it did not tempt us in anyway for a holiday if ever the unlikely opportunity arose.

The Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) was built in the early 1600s by Spanish viceroys but the building was really influenced by Joachim Murat, a Bourbon Monarch, and his wife, Napoleon's sister, Caroline Bonaparte. Much restoration took part after the Allied bombing in WWII.

There is so much too look at here we would definitely make another flying visit from across the bay if ever we return to the area.