Posts written about Italy, particularly Naples, and other posts written whilst in Italy.
The Castel Sant’Elmo Naples, Italy with coat of arms of Charles V and the double-headed eagle
If you find a castle in town you know there’s been trouble … and the bigger the castle the bigger the trouble.
Bump into Castel Sant’Elmo, with Vesuvius just there, and you realise that you probably have no idea what ‘trouble’ even is.
When we visited there was trouble.
The light at Capo Miseno, Bacoli. The lighthouse was bombed in WWII and rebuilt in 1954
A couple of weeks ago, like moths to a flame, we set off by car to find the lighthouse at Capo Miseno, on the north-westerly tip of the Bay of Naples. The dog in the back was beyond excitement.
Within a few miles he could smell the sea to our left and the fresh trees and orchards around the lakes, and down the hillsides to our right.
Royal hideaway in Portici, near Naples
It was a warm day and we were on an old road in a corner of what used to be a royal park. It is now university grounds but still has that swish of palaces, intrigue and celebrity at play.
In front of us a smallish red building curved its face to catch views of Vesuvius and the sea. This, we were told, was where the king entertained his mistresses. Instantly the Italian guide had our attention.
