A touch of Napoli

December 14, 2013

We took our second P-Day in six months.  We still had phone calls and minor things to deal with, but overall it was just wonderful to know we didn't have any pressing commitments that day.  We spent the day with one of the senior couples who serve on the base as a military relations couple.  They are a great couple.  The only two P-Days we have had we have spent with them in Naples because that's how the calendar has worked out.  This day we went into centro (city center).  Naples is a coastal, port city.  Many people consider it the armpit of Italy.  It's a rugged, busy place.  The streets are cobblestone and you wonder if the car will survive a trip down one of the streets.  (We were smart and parked the car outside of town and took a bus.)  Naples is the sort of place where you want to keep your purse firmly in your hands and make certain nothing is sticking out of your pocket.  Sisters aren't assigned to serve right in Napoli, but we do have elders who serve in one of the better areas.  In spite of everything, an assignment in Naples is considered a plum assignment.  Everybody wants to go there because there is so much energy in the air.  The baptismal rate is extremely low, but the desire to serve there is very high.

Castle Nuovo

Spot where cannon ball hit castle

Napoli Opera House

Entering Duomo with Opera House in the rear

Napoli Duomo ceiling

Streets of Napoli

Famous Napolitano Dolci (Naples dessert)

The difference between the lower area of Naples and the upper level of Naples is like night and day.  It is much more civilized and safer on top.  This is the area where the missionaries serve.

From the top of St. Elmo's Castle you can see in every direction.  It was easy to spot enemies.  Every angle has a hole for a cannon to shoot through.

All these shops are in the middle of one street.  It's amazing.  It's nearly impossible to maneuver your way down the street.

Anyone want lamb for dinner?

This store makes gelato sandwiches. They put your choice of two gelatos in a form and then push it out between two wafers to make a gelato sandwich.

Isabel would love this store.

The sign says "National Lottery in Italy at Naples.  In this piazza here in this newsstand no one has ever won."  Sounds like great advertising.

It's a good thing and a bad thing to have two cameras with us.  The bad thing is that we wind up with so many pictures.  The good thing is that we have a good variety of pictures and if one camera has problems we sill have backup pictures.

Wishing Tree

What good is a wishing tree without a wish?

Funiculare to the top of Napoli

Cameo Store

Owners of Cameo store - have been selling cameos to missionaries for 40 years.  They have a box of pictures they have taken with missionaries during that time.  They are not LDS, but they love the missionaries and give them huge discounts on their purchases.

Cameo making tools

Naples Harbor with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

Draw bridge

I don't like fish!

I bought a Fontanini nativity set (presepi) in this store on Christmas Street.  Christmas Street was so crowded it was like trying to find your way in a sardine can.  If you got out of the crowd long enough to go into a store, it was like fighting your way upstream to get back onto the street.