Naples

I really wasn't looking forward to Naples. The suburbs I saw from my train ride in looked grim and dismal. Also, Bill Bryson had nothing nice whatever to say about the place in Here and There, so it wasn't looking promising. I only had one full day, so I was fully expecting to just visit Pompeii or Herculaneum, and that would be it.

My arrival certainly didn't get off to a good start. The short walk from the train station to my hostel proved all the stereotypes about Italian men and their attitude to women, and I felt really uncomfortable. Especially when I realised how much of a dive the area my hostel was in - in the market area, covered with litter, and generally just looking rough. I had visions of... Well, I'm not going to say what those visions were, because my family are reading this and I don't want to worry them.

In any case, all's well. I met up with a fellow traveller literally as I checked in at the hostel, and we went for a walk along the coastline to try and find some interesting parts of Naples. It wasn't pleasant in some areas - I think I may have seen a homeless man squatting by the side of a busy main road but I looked away out of decorum.

We got to the Castel Dell' Ovo. A lovely old building, and you can climb almost to the top which gives you a great view over the bay. Plus, it was free of charge which is always good in my book. The free entry I think may have contributed to the number of people loitering around, but in a good way - there were locals just sat on the cannons, reading books.

Castel dell' Ovo. Sadly it was a grey and rainy day so the Mediterranean was an uncharacteristic shade of grey

We then managed to find the posh part of Naples - entirely by accident. It was bizarre, but that's because I've only ever seen shops of that calibre in drizzly cold Bond Street in London, rather than a sunny coastal town. Needless to say, I had no desire to linger and risk spending my money in Prada or Valentino. We did, however, manage to find a couple more old pretty buildings.

After a brief detour of getting lost - and by brief I mean two hours - it was dinnertime, so on the recommendation of the hostel staff headed to Gino Sorbillo's. Seriously. Possibly the best pizza of my life. And, and! To further endear myself to the area, there was an older gentleman sat at a table nearby, with a King Charles spaniel on his lap, which was just totally normal. Perfect.

Last night there was a walking tour arranged by one of the hostel staff, so I headed out with a few others. When I say 'walking tour', I really mean our host just walked us to the cheapest/best drinking spots in the area. Apparently Naples is the cheapest place for alcohol... I had a bottle (yes, you read that right) of gin and tonic for €1.50. Dangerous stuff. But the atmosphere was brilliant, I don't think I could even compare it to anywhere else.

And what really won me over to Naples? Yes, it's dirty and grimy. But it's so vibrant, and real, and just the atmosphere feels totally alive and fun.