Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson
Cities are like people … some are packed with character, and others less so.
The city of Naples in Italy is a character, one that can raise you to heaven or leave you in despair. Johann Goethe was ecstatic; Mark Twain fairly grumpy; Shirley Hazzard inspired; and Elena Ferrante fierce and irresistible. Now, published in 2016, here’s Katherine Wilson whose style goes straight to the heart of the city.
A look back (first published 9 March 2016): the Villa Pignatelli – owned by the Actons, the Rothschilds, and the Pignatellis – is now a museum and, together with its carriage display, well worth a visit if you’re lucky enough to be in Chiaia in Napoli.
Villa Pignatelli in Naples, Italy
This villa – white and recently restored – sits in the lap of one of the most crowded cities in Europe. It has the blue sea to its front, colour behind, and is wrapped in an exclusive coat of green.
Its striking, classical profile is very different to the buildings that now surround it.
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I wrote this post at the end of February last year. Since then we’ve seen another summer on the lovely Amalfi Coast … but we’ve also sat in its traffic jams, and met up with friends, weak with frazzled nerves, after they’ve completed their own summer drives along this famous coast. My advice is to travel by sea .. I don’t think donkeys are available yet 🙂
View from above Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy
Some places fill the mind with light, draw us like moths towards their flame … and as we arrive in our thousands the chaos from our wingbeats pushes outwards.
The Amalfi Coast, rippled turquoise, with emerald light and wilderness, is one such flame; and I feel like a vandal every time I visit by car.
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The Phraser 