"85 people were killed in Naples Last year 81 were mob related"

Sorry to everyone for the lack of posts ... school has been really busy and the time that I usually use to post is now taken up by studying cause unfortunately I have to go to school here.

So the last weekend in September I went to Naples and Capri! So we left early Friday morning and took the train in to Naples and got there around 10:30. The ride through the country side was breathtaking. However when we got into Naples it was a whole different story because the skyline looked like the average American city. It was weird to see all of these modern buildings in between old castles or monuments. Because in Rome they kept all of the original architecture and just converted the inside of the buildings. I was also surprised how dirrrty everything was and not like Rome is dirty because Rome is the dirty because it is old but Naples has that Philthydelphia dirty feeling.

So once we got to Naples we hopped on the metro and got to our hostel only to find that the online bookings got messed up and we didn't have a room there. But the guy was nice and found us a room at a more expensive hostel for the same price. So we walked to this other hostel and in all honesty it was a downgrade so I dont understand how they charge 20 euro more but whatever. So we want to get checked in and get out which usually takes 30 mins tops but... no!the owner sits us down for an hour and 30 min lecture on Naples and why we should like it and blah blah blah. however the only thing good about it was the highlighted map of Naples that showed what areas we should stay out of and which routes we should travel and when the cheapest ferry is to capri. So as soon as we are done with his talk we so to the famous pizzeria Gino Sorbillo who it is said invented the calzone and had one wife and 19 kids (I KNOW!) so we had pizza which was amazing! then we set out for ercolano and saw Mt vesuvius... we didn't hike up it cause it was too close to closing time but we did go to the ruins which are much smaller then pompeii but are said to be better because there are two story buildings and the winds miss ercolano where as the beat on pompeii. But the place was awesome you could see the original paintings and tons of mosaics and a bath house.
after the ruins we went to see if we could get to the water. however we just ended up getting lost in the not touristy section with us looking extremely touristy.... probably not the best idea. but whatevs i am still here. so we find our way back to the metro and get back to Naples by dusk and get dinner at this really cheap and locals packed restaurant which was so delicious! and then we went back to the hostel because we had to wake up at 6 am to catch the cheap ferry to Capri at 7:35.

So in my italian politics and society class we just learned about the mob.... and I was wondering why there was sooo much trash in Naples. It was just piled up against buildings .... huge mountains of Trash that were higher then the dumpsters themselves! And I just learned that the Cammora (napoli mafia) is thwarting the states trash collecting efforts to gain a civil service contract from the state because they own a bunch of "illegal" incinerators .... Cause I guess swimming with the fishes isnt cutting it anymore! haha anyway this summer apperantly it was at its worst! the trash was past the windows on the first floors of buildings and almost to the second floor in some parts!!! Crazy!