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"You have 24 hours for Naples? What a fool!" Meckert my old friend Agostino, shortly Schtino - and thus as always right. On a single day the most exciting, most difficult and chaotic metropolis of southern Italy to try to discover is not only bold but measured. But nothing good, because I'm nearby and curious.
To me the flash to get started, I am looking for an expert on, so to speak, a specialist in matters Napule ", born in Santa Lucia, connoisseurs of the matter and the Neapolitan women, creator of the show everyday philosophers Bella Vista - Luciano de Crescenzo.
The world-famous bestselling author receives me in bed. "Ah, my dear, come inside," says the 80-year-old jokingly and suggests the sheet back. His first memory of the home town? The Vesuvius, of course! "I had the great good fortune, in Santa Lucia to the world came to be. The first thing I as a child from the balcony of our apartment saw was the volcano, the smoke ausstieß" he recalls.
De Crescenzo lives in Rome - and this is significant. One can love Naples, but to live, we must also be a little crazy. "Nevertheless, I am always NEAPOLITAN remained," he says. His apartment in the heart of the Eternal City is filled with knick-knacks. Everywhere are little tin soldiers, Harlequin and the famous Neapolitan crèche figures. The work room has a huge jukebox wide made of plush seating, there is a frightening view of the Piazza Venezia.
What I am not to be missed in the "Nea Polis", the "new city" as Napoli was called in Greek? The cornflower blue eyes begin to glow Luciano: "You have to be the church in Piazza San Domenico Maggiore visit," he implores me. "There is a sculpture by Giuseppe Sanmartino, the" hidden Christ "- just fantastic!" As for the thin cloth meant Jesus so elegantly hide, let me know. "It shows us that he is very close, but is separated from us."
I am reporting from my Zeitnot. "What should I do just in one day, in beautiful Naples, but also the waste, corruption and Camorra stronghold is?" "Speech!", We recommend the expert. "If there is something about the world of the Neapolitan can learn, then it's just that" Nobody could be a single day in the city without having to be approached by someone who has close friendship with him wanted. "And if two people are entertained, there's De Crescenzo sure," then they may be someday. "
Verkehrte Traffic
De Crescenzos Alter Ego, the wise teacher Bella Vista, says: "In Naples, a red light no prohibition, but a recommendation." Oh yes, still. I was just at the Via Duomo with three other small cars to a sort of cloverleaf plate verkantet. Nobody moves, all grumble, croak hundreds behind us honking at all pitch.
A policeman pushes annoyed his motorbike to a car passing the ball and looks at me with contempt. While all the other upset with delight, running the sweat of my forehead down. Suddenly, nobody knows how or why, the jam dissolves completely and all alone on the road as if nothing had.
I'm waiting for Raffaele, an architect, not far from the cathedral in the historic center of a Bed & Breakfast operates. "Ciao, bella", I hear more, and then suddenly a kind of stretches of modern D'Artagnan put his head through the window - instead of a Federhuts, the journeyman spitzbärtige a soldier helmet from World War II, his faithful horse is an olive motocross machine with a golden rims. "Follow me", says the musketeer and rast ever happening.
"Give me your camera!"
In Vico Giganti, the small alley of giants ", governs the cliché: washing lines through the narrow streets, the cries of mothers for their children bounce on crumbling plaster from walls of houses. A big boy of about seven years, crashes on me and asks: "Give me your camera!" I refuse and catch me an evil look to his mother, which in pajamas sitting by the window and blows tribulation.
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At one house passes the altar are many wrong geschlurfte stairs, Raffaele then opens the door to his kingdom - and this is from another world: bright, clean, uncluttered and very tastefully decorated, the five rooms. Whether handmade carpets, designer lamps or washstands from Vesuvgestein - everything here is perfectly designed and beautifully combined. A big, seductive blumenumrankte rooftop for breakfast and reading - that's it, my urban oasis!
I open a window, look into the depths and listen to the noise. A little dark and Gothic, the yard to my feet. Pigeons nest in decaying brickwork, compared to a canary sings against the bars on. A plump blonde in tight skirt calls her lover from the balcony to Frotzeleien. The laughter of the two mixed with the rattle of Motorini and a sea of voices.
Still undecided if I can just drive or the city should tap touristically, I schlendre through the streets to the entrance of "Napoli Sotterranea" a fantastic, 80 kilometers long and up to 40 meters deep cave labyrinth, in which since the 4th Century BC, people lived, to celebrate rites themselves from bombs or covert persecution. The lady at the box office blow two hair from the face and makes my decision easy: "The last tour was a 16 clock, we have closed."
Expensive Selbstdarstellung underground
Nevertheless, a little background should be, so I decide to send me the metro stations of line 1 a.m. to 6 p.m., just the part of a major urban metro-art concept are. At the Piazza Dante, the Greek artist Jannis Kounellis shoes wedged behind the railway tracks, his Italian colleague, Nicola de Maria a floral mosaic in a universe without bombs "contributed. Michelangelo Pistoletto designed a decorative wall installation, the traveler is on the escalator of its mirror image can adopt.
The subway art is colorful, modern, and irritating, does what art should do in public spaces, create new contexts, confused and perhaps cheer up. However, there are also critical voices: "The modernization of Naples takes place after Bourbon patterns, it is bursting with desire and self-application", outraged the renowned journalist Giorgio Bocca, in his book "We are Naples'. Projects like the Metro-kind cost a lot of money, but had no social relevance, produced no progress, and could certainly not between rich and poor mediate.
I run the time of the waste of government funds, anarchy and corruption have to wait, I have Bella Vista promised me the Homo Neapolitanus up close view.
On the Spaccanapoli, a like with an ax through the city streets beaten, I discover him: Because he is about 70, has a hat on, as it formerly was. He smiles, stutzt and meckert, stretches his arms in the air and lets his fingers to tell stories. And of course he speaks, talks a lot and friendly, relaxed and unloading, he had nothing, absolutely nothing better to do.
A view over the Piazza shows: He is not alone. At each corner, on benches, fountains and mopeds will chat, and getratscht flirted like mad. Between Old and philosophizing excited teenagers romping children, beautiful, wild and exuberant Racker, which the street belongs to - that they no doubt. They fool the adults, laugh it off and be royally entertained, if these reminding the finger lift.
Napule è ...
Architect Raffaele waiting on the evening in a bar on me. Tired, I plop into a basket chair and run tourist Total denial. Basta, I will no longer see or hear, "I lament - but Raffaele knows no mercy. Already we fly on a motorbike with a golden rim around the city without a helmet, through streets so narrow that they make pedestrians fear. With 90 km / h chasing D'Artagnan to the corners, while I am determined to claw him and my children in the orphanage Think.
Sometime I may get off, it goes back stairs to the roof, a great roof, from which you look at the whole city looks. This is peculiar reason in blood red light and has a chic coat overturned. On the Vomero illuminates the Fort Sant Elmo, while Raffale for guitar picks and such an excellent version of Pino Daniele "Napule è" shakes off-the-cuff that I almost come to tears.
Naples, which are a thousand colors and a thousand fears, says the song. A city like a dirty piece of paper, so everyone does not matter. But even a place where you can speak beautifully and can hear even better.