Campania Off the Beaten Path
Most people hit Naples at the waterfront or along Spaccanapoli, where the city is already posing. I drift north of Via Foria instead, where the ground drops into a valley that used to sit outside the walls. Rione Sanità does not straighten up for visitors. Scooters pile under laundry lines. Fruit stalls yell over church … Read more
Most people step off the ferry into Amalfi looking up. The Duomo staircase does that to you. I look inland instead. Past the gelato lines and the souvenir limoncello, Via Pietro Capuano turns into Via Lorenzo d’Amalfi, then keeps climbing as Via delle Cartiere. The air cools. You start to hear water. I keep coming … Read more
Most people meet Capri at Marina Grande, then get funneled up to the Piazzetta like luggage on a belt. The square is pretty. It is also a holding pen. I do better when I leave the lower town’s shop circuit early and ride the bus up the switchbacks to Anacapri. Ordinary doors up there. And … Read more