Napoli, Italy

This classical violinist on the Naples fernicular railway appears to be struggling for an attentive audience.

We last visited Naples around 10 years ago. At that time the city was virtually bankrupt and it showed. The beautiful buildings were all crumbling due to neglect, the streets were filthy and there was a general air of decay. A decade later and the whole country is bankrupt and Naples appears to be in an even worse state. With a bit of investment, ok a lot of investment, well actually billions of German euros, it could be a beautiful city again. Almost every building is crumbling, the streets are empty and many of the shops are boarded up. Even the grass in Naples looks shabby and worn as if it's lost the will to grow. It sort of reminds me of the way Glasgow was in the 70's before the sandstone was cleaned up and the city was gentrified. We walked around all day in searing 40 degree heat, drank coffee and coke, didn't eat pizza and visited the archeological museum where many of the exhibit halls turned out to be closed off due to lack of staff or money. Squeezed in a quick interview for Republica, an Italian national newspaper, before heading back to the relative opulence of the ship. Nobody dined with us tonight and we had a table set for ten people all to ourselves. Is it something I've said?