When I said I was going to Naples, I had a number of warnings about being careful to avoid getting mugged, robbed or pickpocketed while I was there. I am happy to announce that none of these things happened to me during my stay...that's not to say I didn't leave with a bit of a dent in my pocket. It wasn't through being robbed, it was through willingly handing my money over the counter to the numerous 'tourist' activities. Almost everything has a price attached to it which is understandable but when the average entrance price is €10, the amounts soon add up.
I think the biggest money earner of them all is travelling to the top of Mount Vesuvius, you get charged €10 to get taken to the car park then a further €10 to walk from the car park to the top. Although, I think I got my money's worth out of the trip just through entertainment value alone. It all started with what was probably a very stupid decision but it worked out in the end so that's all that matters...right? Anyway I had just visited the remains of the City of Ercolane, also known as Heculaneum with four other people from my hostel and we were walking up to the top of the hill to get the Vesuvio Express, the company recommended to us by our hostel owner. On the way we get stopped by a man called Salvatore, he was a taxi driver who said he would take us to the top of the mountain, well the car park, wait for us then bring us back down to the bottom again. We should have said no straight away but there was something about him that made us think this would be a good idea to go with him. It was the energy he had that was drawing me to say yes, the other part that drew me to say yes was the fact he would be leaving when we wanted and the other thing that was drawing me to say yes was he was offering a good price. Whatever the eventual reason was, we said yes and we all climbed into his taxi, it was a big white people carrier that had about 10 seats and no seat belts...a good start I would say. Within seconds of us getting into his car Salvatore demonstrated what his horn for going around the corners would be. It was the tune of 'Just One Cornetto' and this basically set up the basis for the rest of the journey. He talked non-stop, again showing off the energy that drew me to say yes and when we were about ten minutes into the journey he says do you like music? We all said yes and what a good decision that was...well it wasn't good for our ear drums as it was being played at full volume but it was great for entertainment. It was a mixture of Italian pop, drum & bass, house and a couple of songs by Psy so it was a real mixture. Salvatore's dance moves didn't change however, it was always the same; one hand on the wheel (most of the time) and the other hand moving to the beat either pointing out of the window or rocking from left to right at shoulder height. I'm fairly sure he was trying to get the whole taxi doing his dance moves and as I was sat in the front right next to him, I thought 'what the hey' so there was me and Salvatore dancing along to the music that was blarring out of the taxi as we're going round the tight corners up the mountain. The music was occasionally interspersed with 'Just One Cornetto' as we came to the very tight corners but that just added to the crazy situation that I was in, it was when he took his eyes off the road and hands off the wheel that it became a bit hairy but all in all it was a very fun journey. When we got to the car park he dropped us off and gave us a time to be return to him so we trudged up the mountain, paid our extra €10 to walk to the top, looked around then trudged back down the mountain. I was quite surprised we didn't get charged again to walk down but that part was free and when we got back to Salvatore it was time for another journey similar to the one on the way up. The only slight difference was that he gave us each a postcard from Napoli/Vesuvius as a thank you for choosing him. The way down started with music and at every restaurant or shop we passed he would beep the horn to try and get them dancing too. A couple of them joined in although the majority of people just looked in utter confusion at this sight of a big white people carrier literally rocking with music and absolutely awful dance moves...and lets not forget 'Just One Cornetto'. All in all, what was probably a ridiculously idiotic decision to go with Salvatore turned out to be one of the highlights of the day and the trip so far. We paid Salvatore and said bye to him before going to get what was probably the worst meal I've ever eaten, I didn't think the Italians could get Spaghetti Carbonara wrong but when its presented on a plastic plate swimming in butter with chunks of un beaten egg in the middle, they can get it pretty hideously wrong.
Overall my time in Naples was a very successful one, especially looking at the warnings I was given before I went. Although one thing I will say is to be careful about where you eat, go to the right place and its stunning, go to the wrong place and you'll be paying over the odds for pasta swimming in butter or a panini that's eitherburnt or raw. Pizza is good though, they know how to do good pizza. The title of this piece refers not to the muggers, robbers and pickpockets but to the restaurants that charge stupid amounts for quite simply awful food with worse service and to the countless of museums that charge a high entrance fee to only supply one or two rooms filled with a couple of fairly ropey pictures and sculptures. I would definitely recommend going to Naples but I would advise you to check out the restaurants or museums before you go in...also be wary about your personal safety, just because it didn't happen to me might just be because I had some pure dumb luck...I definitely did on the way up to Mount Vesuvius.
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