Imagine chaos, in all the best ways possible. Streets packed with honking cars, laneways lined with busy walkers and hawkers, plus little Vespas and other scooters, winding through it all. On the left, maybe an argument, full-Italian style, voices raised, arms akimbo. On the right, a slightly impatient queue for the best pizza you can imagine. The aroma of the dough and sauce and cheese in the wood-fired oven wafting over the whole scene.
Love it or not, Naples is one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Italy’s third-largest urban center spreads out along the sea, under the steaming peak of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano. Seeming to draw their energy from this magmatic peak, Neapolitans live (and love) their lives with an intensity and passion you won’t encounter perhaps anywhere else in Europe. It’s a lot, for 24 hours, but here’s a guide for experiencing as much of “la passione nella vita” (“passion in life”) as possible in just a single day.
