But I understand why they do not. The city, she is. To be honest I can't remember exactly what he said next about his birthplace, but it could have been something like this: that Naples is noisy and polluted, the roads are congested, and you can barely make your way down some lanes and footpaths for hawkers from North and West Africa selling fake Gucci, belts, shoes, jeans and sunglasses.
Maybe Alfonso also said that everywhere there are touts offering bootleg DVDs and CDs standing elbow-to-elbow with fish and vegetable sellers, and that there is visible prostitution. Travellers to this city in the Campania region of south western Italy are often warned by other tourists and some Italians to watch out for pickpockets, to not travel alone down certain streets at night, and.
Just a whole heap of cautions. And while cities in Italy have their character up-front in the form of Roman ruins and Renaissance grandeur, Naples can seem like little more than a mess of motorcycles usually coming right at you along the footpath , crumbling buildings, traffic jams and chaos.
Naples is, to my mind, the Bangkok of Italy. Alfonso, whom I met in nearby Pompeii one glorious afternoon, defends his city's bad reputation but admits it can be hard work. The local Mafia -- the Camorra which dates back around years -- has a well-earned reputation for being murderous and secretive, and it controls much of the black economy as well as illegal gambling and prostitution.
It's unlikely the casual tourist would be troubled by a Camorra thug, but the bag-snatchers on motorcycles are very real. Reality and fiction blur readily in Naples: it was to this city that Tony Soprano, Paulie and Christopher came to seal the deal selling stolen cars. Naples -- with a population of one million and occupying a window seat above the glorious Bay of Naples with the Isle of Capri in the foreground, and with Pompeii and Sorrento just around the corner -- is one of the most fascinating cities in Italy, yet its bad press has done the city a disservice.
