Reinout Bosman
Mo' chistu core vola
cca ll'aria e mare addora.
En nun saie pecché chesta a passione mia
è Napule
Now this heart flies,
That adores sky and sea,
And that feeling won't go away, because this passion
is Naples
My greatest passion is Naples, as Luciano Pavarotti sang years ago when he paid his umpteenth ode to this beautiful city and the region Campania. And I must confess to you that Pavarotti was not alone in this. Like him, there are many others who have a warm heart for Naples. In the first place, of course, the Neapolitans themselves, and only then the rest.
Perhaps it is one of the most sung about cities in Italy with the most songs in dialect. Who doesn't know Makes Surriento, I love you so much en O surdatu nnamuratu. Or the famous Saint Lucia, in which the Bay of Naples takes center stage. So time for me to travel again to noisy, messy but oh so atmospheric Naples. Especially at this time of year.
Christmas Shopping in Naples
And that atmospheric Naples has also been noticed by The Guardian. They have posted an article on their website about the ten best European cities where you can do your Christmas shopping. Naples is in ninth place above Amsterdam. With a variety of Christmas markets, fine leather goods and a heap of trinkets, lovers of nativity scenes or other Christmas storytelling can indulge themselves in the narrow streets of the Quartiere Spagnolo and the elongated Corso Umberto I.
While walking through the streets I get checked a lot. Well, that blond hair also stands out among the very dark-haired and often darker-skinned Neapolitans. 'Ahu, di dove sei'? Hey, where are you from? And when I explain to the market vendor that I'm from the Netherlands, he laughs and hugs me tightly: 'Welcome! We are practically family, because you Dutch are also known as the Neapolitans of the North! Welcome to Naples!' Then he presses a difficult-looking Maria into my hands and tries to sell it to me with a big smile on his face and for a slightly too high price.
Smiling back, I hand him the Maria. 'No thank you, sometimes your family also has to refuse something, otherwise we will have nothing to give each other at another time'. We greet each other with a big wink and I decide on a confectionery to shoot for what Neapolitan delicacies before the next seller makes me happy with another Maria that looks pretty much the same.
From the babà to the sfogliatella
Napoli, if only for its lavish cuisine you must have been there once. In the December month there is perfect room for a lot of Christmas goodies next to the Baba and the sfogliatella be widely distributed. But before I venture into that, first my old-time favourite from the Neapolitan patisserie: the babà, a cake soaked with rum. A real calorie bomb, but oh so tasty. Then for lunch on to Sorbillo, one of the best (and perhaps the most touristic) pizzeria in Napoli. You stand in line for a while, but once you sit inside and a beautiful Pizza margherita in front of you, then you know it: you are home again.
Stroll around
Plenty to see in this bustling city. In the Piazza del Plebescito an immense Christmas tree is being decorated and in the crowded side streets a local musician plays the Quann nascette Ninno, one of Napoli's most famous Christmas songs. I see a number of people walking into the artist's entrance to the San Carlo, the city's majestic opera house. 'The West girl will premiere and after this grandeur the Christmas concerts will begin,' says a gentleman who sings along in a choir. His posture betrays that he is a tenor singer.
I ask him about the magic of Naples. 'The magic of Naples? That you step into a kind of folk opera that goes on 24/7. There is life, it is popular, the people are friendly and open. There is drama, mystery, there are neighborhoods you would rather not go and squares where you would rather stay because they are too beautiful to pass up.'
Pulcinella
Strolling through the city I come across the Pulcinella everywhere. The clown that symbolizes the city. And understandably: opera, street theater and music, as well as the clownishness of the population itself, are central to Neapolitan history.
I meet one of the Pulcinella makers in town. A classic: Lello Esposito (Esposito is for the Neapolitans what we know in the Netherlands as Janssen or De Jong). Lello is a sculptor and artist, and self-proclaimed ambassador of Naples. He knows the city like the back of his hand, is welcomed and greeted by everyone like a king, and knows how to run a considerable trade in Pulcinella statues in his own way.
Jesus New
Catholic as he is, he would like to show me where Christmas begins for him. And that doesn't start for him in the market or in the squares, it starts in the Gesù Nuovo: the Church in the Piazza del Gesù, which has been considered a second living room for him for years and where he and his wife are married and their child is baptized.
'The church remains a special place for us Neapolitans, because we are close to the creation of this world and this beautiful city. I thank Our Lord every day for the fact that I was born in Naples and that I am a Neapolitan,' Lello says with a small lump in his throat.
“We're all here on Christmas Eve—my whole family and my wife's family. We listen to the midnight mass, say our prayers and eat well after midnight all together until we go to bed. The next day we have an extensive lunch and give each other gifts,' he explains to me.
After the church visit it is time for a last cup of coffee and I say goodbye to Lello again. Reinout, don't forget how special this time of year is. Celebrate it big, with the right people around you and in a full surrender of gratitude.' He hugs me, shouts 'auguri' and then goes his own way again.
You come down from the stars
Smiling, I look after Lello, still thinking about our meeting. And while I am musing about Christmas, family, the church and all the impressions of the day walking towards the harbor, I see the same musician again as in the morning. He sees me, smiles bare his yellow teeth and then when he hears the first sounds of the You come down from the stars I know that Christmas is very near in this town.
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