A SMALL PART OF CAMPANIA

I have never been to southern Italy before. I have heard the rumours, especially those about Naples, and thought that it would be full of danger, muggings (and worse!) on every corner. Naples is not a typical tourist city. More like a mangey, yet appealing, mongrel that might bite you at any moment. It seems to have an attitude of: come if you want, but if you don't want, va bene. If I had gone for the day, I would probably have left hating it: the chaos, the dirt, the heat, the smells. But it's the kind of city that grows on you, slowly, and remains with you. The food is simple but wonderfully tasty, the views from the hills of Naples are amazing, and once you get your bearings, it's an easy city to navigate. By the end of the holiday, I was even attempting a Neapolitan dialect (pronouncing 1oo 'shento' instead of 'chento'), making friends with old men on buses and even, dare I say, enjoying the laissez-faire attitude.