Via Roma strolling

8th April 2006, Napoli

Saturday afternoon, we are strolling down Via Roma, Naples oldest shopping street. The street is full of locals, partaking in a traditional post lunch promenade, window shopping, meeting friends and enjoying the warmer spring weather. The street is closed off to traffic, but the plain-clothes police on big all terrain motorbikes cruise up and down the pedestrian zone. We walk past a drum group on the sidewalk led by a large vibrant African, the rhythmic beat echoing through the alleys. Chalk artists sprawl out recreating religious paintings, only to have the images disappear tomorrow.

A large crowd surrounds a multicultural group practicing the Brazilian martial art/dance of ‘capeira’ until a more local tradition impinges on its space. Young men costumed in matching blue and white outfits carrying large hand stitched banners bearing images of the Madonna are clearing the way for the following procession. About a dozen men are carrying a large Madonna icon on a platform, swaying back and forth. Behind them is a haphazard band belting out the requisite holy music. The procession consists of boys and men, but around the fringes are women with bowls, collecting donations from the passing crowd.

The local bars are overflowing with people savouring a coffee, pastries or perhaps an aperitif. Children are well catered for with street side vendors selling freshly prepared popcorn, sugar coated peanuts and white fairy floss. Gelato is also a favourite on such an afternoon, but it’s wise to keep one eye on the footpath to avoid the one that got away. Small stands with strings of lemons and oranges hanging from the eves are selling cold drinks, freshly squeezed juice and crushed ice flavoured with syrup.

At the end of Via Roma we enter the Piazza del Plebiscito, one of Naples largest piazzas, and certainly one of the most beautiful. It’s an open space, encircled by the royal palace, an imposing church and the headquarters for the Carabinieri (state police). The afternoon sun is starting to slide behind the dome of the church, throwing its light directly into the faces of the three Neapolitan musicians playing underneath a king’s statue adorning the palace. A group of boys mark out a soccer field in the piazza, throwing their jackets down as goal posts. We watch as a blonde woman in a red jacket wanders across their ‘soccer’ field. The fiercely competitive game doesn’t stop however, especially for a tourist preoccupied with the architecture. A bride and groom stroll across the wide expanse followed by their photographer and attendants. In stark contrast, two heroin addicts scurry past in the opposite direction; their strange speech patterns, foggy eyes and habitual face scratching giving them away. On the other side of the piazza, across from an Irish pub we pause to view the freeway passing under the bridge. The whole city is layered like this to accommodate the steep slope that Naples is built on. Young lovers gather in this area, one of the pair sitting precariously on the edge of the overpass, legs and arms, and lips, wrapped around the other. The religious band is behind us playing a time-loved hymn, and the bride has settled herself in the get away car, ready to go to the next photo location for the sunset shots.

Ahead of us the view of the bay unfolds. The Vesuvio, an ever present, ever impressive backdrop, stands guard over the city as the afternoon haze settles. The sweeping blue sky merges with the Mediterranean and the islands of Ischia and Capri are visible, reminding us to visit on springtime day trips.

It’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon, spending as much or as little as you like, taking in the street entertainment, the colours, aromas and the passing fashion parade.