June 7, 2024 • 10 mins
"It’s Italy in the extreme. She’s rough and ready and in your face. Gritty, gripping, daunting and intimidating to the uninitiated, mighty Naples is a southern Italian classic beyond comparison. It can strike newcomers as a hot mess. I have to confess that on several prior occasions, I haven’t ventured beyond the central train station in Naples, surrounded by Piazza Garibaldi. The ensuing piles of rubbish, swarms of beggars and general bad vibes on the streets outside the station proved to be potent turn-off – and I high-tailed it out of town bound for the Amalfi Coast. By train, it is the critical stepping-stone to reach Pompeii, Sorrento and beyond.
"But last month, I was determined to give Naples a fair shake, eager to get a proper flavour of what this heaving, high-density city had to offer. Overcoming my fear of being ripped off, mugged, gunned down by the Camorra, or run down in a city where red lights are merely decorations, my urban safari in Naples was certainly eye-opening but undeniably rewarding. I was in town as a port call aboard Princess Cruises’ spectacular new flagship Sun Princess, so disembarking at the port terminal, Stazione Marittima, affords an effortless entrance into downtown Naples, on foot."
Read Mike's full article here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks A B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mike Hardley's our travel correspondent.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
He is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now, Hey Mike, good morning Jack.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Now, like your producer, are you off to the climate
protest after the show or are you're going home to
watch the cricket?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I will be watching the cricket this afternoon. I am
taking no position on the climate protest except to say
that people are very welcome to protest as they wish,
you know, anywhere. But I know I am you know,
I always in my in my role on Q and A,
I always just try and take a kind of politically
neutral position on all these sorts of things. And so, yeah,
(00:44):
people are welcome to protest, people are welcome to support
the bill as far as I'm concerned. But I've got
a I've got a job, which means that uh no,
I don't. I don't participate in anything like that. So yeah, enough,
are you going to be? Is there one in Christich
as well?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Today?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I suspect here as yes, But I have to have
been seduced by the cricket. The idea of US beating
af Ghinnistan.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
What could be better?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, it's a funny old T twenty a so far.
I mean, you know, it's a you know, early days
in the tournament, but you're really getting the sense that
T twenty is going to be like rugby sevens I reckon,
and that basically any team can win, you know. Like
so you see Kenya beats like a New Zealand team
in the sevens and it's not a huge you know,
it might be a bit unexpected, but it's not totally crazy.
(01:31):
And you look at all the high guns kind of
playing for these different teams, you know that the Cory Anderson,
you know, teeing off for Team USA and Cory Anderson
from christ Church.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay, tell me what.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I was just watching some of the build up and
Denny Morrison is looking more and more like Sugaran Dolsen.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh is it?
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Well?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, okay, yeah, no, actually I can kind of see that.
I can kind of see that observation. Yeah. Right. So anyway,
that game begins in nine minutes live from the Guyana
National Stadium, so I'll make sure I keep it run
up to speed with that. The Black Cat's bowling first
against Afghanistan. Anyway, this morning, we are turning our attention
to a different side of the Atlantic and Naples. Naples
(02:16):
strikes many newcomers. Is pretty intense, is it Italy in
the extreme? Would you say?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think it is? Yeah, rough and ready in your face, gritty, gripping,
even intimidating to the uninitiated. And I have to say, Jack,
on previous occasions, I have not gone beyond the train
station in Naples because I've stuck my head outside piles
of rubbish, the ensuing assembly of the bad and the
sad outside, and it's just been a huge turn off.
(02:46):
So I thought, last month, come on, man up, give
Naples a fair shake. And I was very eager to
get a real flavor of what is a heaving city.
And I'm delighted to report I wasn't mugged, I wasn't
gunged down by the Kimora, and I wasn't run down
in a city where read lights are merely decorations.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah nice. And so despite the lawless traffic, did you
find it to be a walkable city?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It's definitely the way to explore it. Yeah. There are
some epic main streets, many which were laid out thousands
of years ago, like Via Day Tribunali, which just brims
with monuments as you walk along the street, and even
below Tribunali, they've got what they call the Monumental Complex,
(03:34):
which is this ancient market undergrounds, the vast ruins of
it that's fascinating to explore. But it really is in
the skinny lanes of the old City Jack that serves
up the most vivid slice of Neapolitan life. You know.
It just sort of tumbles out into the street like
an old Fresco pageant. You'll see teenagers flirting, schoolboys fighting,
(03:58):
market store vendors touting there wears with operatic gusto. It
really does feel like you are getting to snap shots
of real deal naples in those lanes, and any standout
lanes well, if you're after some instant gold. There is
this legendary Nativity street called Via Sangregorio a Menol, and
there are hundreds of artisans in the street, jam packed
(04:22):
hawking their hand crafted nativity cribs and figurines, so as
you can imagine, come Christmas time, the place is just chaos.
But they also do a really good line of contemporary figurines.
You can pick up a Berlasconi, a trump at Marda
Donna at Taylor Swift they're all there in matt Street,
and then in the Spanish Quarter they've just got like
(04:43):
this spaghetti like tangle of lanes and it's home to
this free story high mural of Diego Marda Donna. And
of course the locals in Napoli they just adore Maradonna
because he skippered them to two wins for that Italian
football championship with Napoli, so they've got this massive mural
(05:06):
of him, and there are still small shrines beneath the
mural being created today by locals who, yeah, they just
venerate them.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, yeah, I understandably too. So where did you go
for pizza?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Well, you're spoiled for choice in the birthplace, So I
went to a place called Pizza Rea da McLay, which
has been pumping out the Neapolitan staples Margareta or Madanara
for one hundred and fifty years. And the reason there
are huge lines at this place is because this is
the pizzaia that had the starring appearance in Each per
(05:40):
Club with Juliet Roberts. The thing which amazed me Jack
is despite the fame of this place, the pizzas are
still bargain priced five euro for a pizza bigger than
a dinner plate, and that's whether you're dining in or
to go. And they're quite sloppy pizza. It's quite sloppy
(06:01):
in the middle, but definitely worth the weight.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So when you say sloppy, do you mean that things
are sloppy or like the Yeah, what do you mean
by that?
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Now?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, like the base is kind of sloppy.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
The bass has got that lovely sort of leopard spotted charring. Okay,
once you get into the yeah, but once you get
to the middle of the pizza, they just load up
so much fresh buffalo mozzarella. Then it becomes quite sloppy
to like folded up at like a napkin, and that
way it's very good.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well that's the way because in New York, you know,
they get a slice and then they fold it lengthways,
you kind of fold over itself like a sandwich almost
or something.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
So yeah, exactly, yeah, very similar. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Right, So what is the best pastry in Naples?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Ah? I stuffed myself stupid on Follier Tella, which is
this shell shaped Italian puff pastry similar to a croissant,
but it's injected with sweet ricotta with a hint of vanilla,
cinnamon and Sorrento lemon Ah. This Folia tailor is best
served warm your want of warm one and it's got
(07:07):
a very crispy shell, very fluffy interior. They are synonymous
with Naples binge away.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, okay, that sounds so good. Are there good landmarks,
good museums and Naples that are worth checking out?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, just a couple of tips to get your pastry
fix on those Sofalia tellers, go to Grand Cafe Gambrinos.
It's this landmark coffeehouse from the eighteen sixties. And right
across the road from the cafe is Galleria Umberto Aulno,
which is a replica, an absolute replica of the famed
Glass Domes galleria in Milan, and they were both built
(07:43):
in the nineteenth century. The Naples version was built pretty
much is a unification present to the city, so that
that's must see, as is the Archaeological Museum Jack. They
have got the most priceless artifacts rescued from Pompavia and
best of all, the Secret Room, which touts an X
rated collection of erotic art salvaged from the ashes of Pompeii,
(08:07):
hundreds and hundreds of works. They were such a raunchy
lot in Pompeii, And I mean I was quite I
was feeling quite offended as I was looking at these pieces,
the statues and the frescoes. They leave nothing to the
imagination two thousand years ago.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, yeah, fair enough, right? Are you a little bit
of blushing there? Maybe what would be the quirkiest attractor
in Naples?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well within the Gothic grandeur of their dormo, the cathedral,
the relics of Naples patron Saint Genoarius. Now three times
a year Jack the faithful of Naples gather around the
cathedral to witness what they called the miracle of the Blood.
This is a weird old thing, but apparently he's got
like dried blood from Genarius has kept in the glass vial, right,
(08:54):
and three times a year it's brought out for public display. Supposedly,
this striede blood.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Liquefies in front of them, and Pope Francis went to
the cathedral three years ago kissed the vial in Supposedly
it's spontaneously liquefied for the Pope.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Wow, you may want to add genoarious to your checklist.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, oh, very good. Okay, thank you so much, Mike.
It does sound amazing. Did it win you over.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Then after all of that, what was that? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Did it win you over given your hesitance, you know,
giving you Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, in places it is a bit of a hot mess,
but overall it's well worth checking out, very rewarding. Yeah,
very good.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I always reckon if the place you're visiting is a
bit of a hot mess or if it's intense. So
if you're traveling through you know, like India or Pakistan
or something like that, then the key is just to
have is to shell out for a really good accommodation
so that at the end of the day you can
try and just have a bit of tranquility, you know,
like if it's an experience outside, make sure the inside
experience is as peaceful as possible. And that's mine.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Very wise.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, hey, thank you so much. We'll put all of
Mike's tips for getting to grips with Naples up on
the news Talks He'd be website.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For more or from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen
live to News Talks at b from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks A B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mike Hardley's our travel correspondent.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
He is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now, Hey Mike, good morning Jack.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Now, like your producer, are you off to the climate
protest after the show or are you're going home to
watch the cricket?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I will be watching the cricket this afternoon. I am
taking no position on the climate protest except to say
that people are very welcome to protest as they wish,
you know, anywhere. But I know I am you know,
I always in my in my role on Q and A,
I always just try and take a kind of politically
neutral position on all these sorts of things. And so, yeah,
(00:44):
people are welcome to protest, people are welcome to support
the bill as far as I'm concerned. But I've got
a I've got a job, which means that uh no,
I don't. I don't participate in anything like that. So yeah, enough,
are you going to be? Is there one in Christich
as well?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Today?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I suspect here as yes, But I have to have
been seduced by the cricket. The idea of US beating
af Ghinnistan.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
What could be better?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, it's a funny old T twenty a so far.
I mean, you know, it's a you know, early days
in the tournament, but you're really getting the sense that
T twenty is going to be like rugby sevens I reckon,
and that basically any team can win, you know. Like
so you see Kenya beats like a New Zealand team
in the sevens and it's not a huge you know,
it might be a bit unexpected, but it's not totally crazy.
(01:31):
And you look at all the high guns kind of
playing for these different teams, you know that the Cory Anderson,
you know, teeing off for Team USA and Cory Anderson
from christ Church.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay, tell me what.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I was just watching some of the build up and
Denny Morrison is looking more and more like Sugaran Dolsen.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh is it?
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Well?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, okay, yeah, no, actually I can kind of see that.
I can kind of see that observation. Yeah. Right. So anyway,
that game begins in nine minutes live from the Guyana
National Stadium, so I'll make sure I keep it run
up to speed with that. The Black Cat's bowling first
against Afghanistan. Anyway, this morning, we are turning our attention
to a different side of the Atlantic and Naples. Naples
(02:16):
strikes many newcomers. Is pretty intense, is it Italy in
the extreme? Would you say?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think it is? Yeah, rough and ready in your face, gritty, gripping,
even intimidating to the uninitiated. And I have to say, Jack,
on previous occasions, I have not gone beyond the train
station in Naples because I've stuck my head outside piles
of rubbish, the ensuing assembly of the bad and the
sad outside, and it's just been a huge turn off.
(02:46):
So I thought, last month, come on, man up, give
Naples a fair shake. And I was very eager to
get a real flavor of what is a heaving city.
And I'm delighted to report I wasn't mugged, I wasn't
gunged down by the Kimora, and I wasn't run down
in a city where read lights are merely decorations.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah nice. And so despite the lawless traffic, did you
find it to be a walkable city?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It's definitely the way to explore it. Yeah. There are
some epic main streets, many which were laid out thousands
of years ago, like Via Day Tribunali, which just brims
with monuments as you walk along the street, and even
below Tribunali, they've got what they call the Monumental Complex,
(03:34):
which is this ancient market undergrounds, the vast ruins of
it that's fascinating to explore. But it really is in
the skinny lanes of the old City Jack that serves
up the most vivid slice of Neapolitan life. You know.
It just sort of tumbles out into the street like
an old Fresco pageant. You'll see teenagers flirting, schoolboys fighting,
(03:58):
market store vendors touting there wears with operatic gusto. It
really does feel like you are getting to snap shots
of real deal naples in those lanes, and any standout
lanes well, if you're after some instant gold. There is
this legendary Nativity street called Via Sangregorio a Menol, and
there are hundreds of artisans in the street, jam packed
(04:22):
hawking their hand crafted nativity cribs and figurines, so as
you can imagine, come Christmas time, the place is just chaos.
But they also do a really good line of contemporary figurines.
You can pick up a Berlasconi, a trump at Marda
Donna at Taylor Swift they're all there in matt Street,
and then in the Spanish Quarter they've just got like
(04:43):
this spaghetti like tangle of lanes and it's home to
this free story high mural of Diego Marda Donna. And
of course the locals in Napoli they just adore Maradonna
because he skippered them to two wins for that Italian
football championship with Napoli, so they've got this massive mural
(05:06):
of him, and there are still small shrines beneath the
mural being created today by locals who, yeah, they just
venerate them.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, yeah, I understandably too. So where did you go
for pizza?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Well, you're spoiled for choice in the birthplace, So I
went to a place called Pizza Rea da McLay, which
has been pumping out the Neapolitan staples Margareta or Madanara
for one hundred and fifty years. And the reason there
are huge lines at this place is because this is
the pizzaia that had the starring appearance in Each per
(05:40):
Club with Juliet Roberts. The thing which amazed me Jack
is despite the fame of this place, the pizzas are
still bargain priced five euro for a pizza bigger than
a dinner plate, and that's whether you're dining in or
to go. And they're quite sloppy pizza. It's quite sloppy
(06:01):
in the middle, but definitely worth the weight.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So when you say sloppy, do you mean that things
are sloppy or like the Yeah, what do you mean
by that?
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Now?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, like the base is kind of sloppy.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
The bass has got that lovely sort of leopard spotted charring. Okay,
once you get into the yeah, but once you get
to the middle of the pizza, they just load up
so much fresh buffalo mozzarella. Then it becomes quite sloppy
to like folded up at like a napkin, and that
way it's very good.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well that's the way because in New York, you know,
they get a slice and then they fold it lengthways,
you kind of fold over itself like a sandwich almost
or something.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
So yeah, exactly, yeah, very similar. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Right, So what is the best pastry in Naples?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Ah? I stuffed myself stupid on Follier Tella, which is
this shell shaped Italian puff pastry similar to a croissant,
but it's injected with sweet ricotta with a hint of vanilla,
cinnamon and Sorrento lemon Ah. This Folia tailor is best
served warm your want of warm one and it's got
(07:07):
a very crispy shell, very fluffy interior. They are synonymous
with Naples binge away.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, okay, that sounds so good. Are there good landmarks,
good museums and Naples that are worth checking out?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, just a couple of tips to get your pastry
fix on those Sofalia tellers, go to Grand Cafe Gambrinos.
It's this landmark coffeehouse from the eighteen sixties. And right
across the road from the cafe is Galleria Umberto Aulno,
which is a replica, an absolute replica of the famed
Glass Domes galleria in Milan, and they were both built
(07:43):
in the nineteenth century. The Naples version was built pretty
much is a unification present to the city, so that
that's must see, as is the Archaeological Museum Jack. They
have got the most priceless artifacts rescued from Pompavia and
best of all, the Secret Room, which touts an X
rated collection of erotic art salvaged from the ashes of Pompeii,
(08:07):
hundreds and hundreds of works. They were such a raunchy
lot in Pompeii, And I mean I was quite I
was feeling quite offended as I was looking at these pieces,
the statues and the frescoes. They leave nothing to the
imagination two thousand years ago.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, yeah, fair enough, right? Are you a little bit
of blushing there? Maybe what would be the quirkiest attractor
in Naples?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well within the Gothic grandeur of their dormo, the cathedral,
the relics of Naples patron Saint Genoarius. Now three times
a year Jack the faithful of Naples gather around the
cathedral to witness what they called the miracle of the Blood.
This is a weird old thing, but apparently he's got
like dried blood from Genarius has kept in the glass vial, right,
(08:54):
and three times a year it's brought out for public display. Supposedly,
this striede blood.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Liquefies in front of them, and Pope Francis went to
the cathedral three years ago kissed the vial in Supposedly
it's spontaneously liquefied for the Pope.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Wow, you may want to add genoarious to your checklist.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, oh, very good. Okay, thank you so much, Mike.
It does sound amazing. Did it win you over.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Then after all of that, what was that? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Did it win you over given your hesitance, you know,
giving you Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, in places it is a bit of a hot mess,
but overall it's well worth checking out, very rewarding. Yeah,
very good.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I always reckon if the place you're visiting is a
bit of a hot mess or if it's intense. So
if you're traveling through you know, like India or Pakistan
or something like that, then the key is just to
have is to shell out for a really good accommodation
so that at the end of the day you can
try and just have a bit of tranquility, you know,
like if it's an experience outside, make sure the inside
experience is as peaceful as possible. And that's mine.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Very wise.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, hey, thank you so much. We'll put all of
Mike's tips for getting to grips with Naples up on
the news Talks He'd be website.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For more or from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen
live to News Talks at b from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,
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