As of: February 2, 2024, 11:57 a.m
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Up to Castel Sant'Elmo: nowhere is the view of Naples and Vesuvius more beautiful.
© Alexandra Stahl/dpa-tmn
Christmas is long over, spring is still far away: some people escape the long German winter by taking a long-distance trip.
A trip to southern Europe is enough - for example to the city on Vesuvius.
Naples - It starts with the air: in February it is mild in Naples.
With a bit of luck there will be a few sunny days and even 15 degrees during the day.
One wonders about Italians' winter clothing.
Down jackets and fur hoodies look exaggerated.
The narrow streets of the old town smell of fried food, coffee and sugar.
“Sfogliatelle calde” beckons on every corner, warm pastries with sweet ricotta filling.
They are available fanned out as puff pastry (ricca) or round as shortcrust pastry (frolla) - at “Pintauro” in the old town, for example.
The Neapolitan specialty is said to have been invented in the pasticceria in 1785.
There are treats on every corner in Italy's third largest city (after Rome and Milan), but also art treasures, an ancient underground labyrinth and, in the low season, a relaxed atmosphere.
This is also evident from the fact that you don't have to wait in line anywhere.
Except at popular restaurants, because eating is always in high season in Italy.
Zepolle, which are fried dough balls with sweet cream, or Babà, yeast cake with rum syrup, are also typical in Naples.
“fiocchi di neve”, snowflakes in German, are worshiped in an almost cult-like manner.
In the pasticceria chain “Polpella” there is a display board that shows live how many of the small brioches with ricotta and powdered sugar have already been sold.
You don't necessarily have to remember all the names: in the end it's the eye that decides.
Lucia di Lullo kindly passes the pastry that you found most beautiful across the counter.
The Neapolitan has been working at the “Gran Caffè Cimmino” in the Chiaia district near the center since 1986.
“Crema e amarene,” she explains the filling of the still warm item, a kind of cherry cream.
And which of the delicacies does she like to eat herself?
A resigned laugh.
Di Lullo explains that she has to avoid gluten and lactose.
For allergy sufferers and people with intolerances, Naples is probably depressing.
And for people who care about their waistline, too.
Tasty temptation: these fried dough balls are called zepolle.
They are garnished with sweet creams.
© Alexandra Stahl/dpa-tmn
Poor people's kitchen
“Frittata di maccheroni”, “crocchè di patate”, “pizza fritta”: As far as savory cuisine is concerned, you could also list a number of names or roughly summarize that it involves carbohydrates of all forms, almost everything is fried.
If you want comfort food in winter, Naples is the right place for you.
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“Cucina povera”, poor people’s cuisine, is the name given to the high-calorie food that is available as street food everywhere.
But the city with its one million inhabitants on the Gulf of Naples is of course more than that. The selection ranges from pizza with baked fries to all kinds of seafood dishes to pasta with rabbit from the neighboring island of Ischia.
The cuisine is as diverse as the districts.
Scampia and Secondigliano in the north are Mafia strongholds and have been known beyond Italy since Roberto Saviano's bestseller “Gomorrah”.
Tourists should also avoid the area around the cargo port.
Posillipo, Vomero or Chiaia in the west are considered wealthy, while the eastern districts are considered poor.
Sanità, a well-known district in the old town, is a good starting point for a visit to the Musoe di Capodimonte with its picture gallery.
Climbing the hill via stairs takes barely twenty minutes.
We pass altars with images of saints and women sweeping in front of the front door.
It smells of chlorine and detergent - southern Italy is said to have a cleaning obsession.
In between there are teenagers on scooters.
The brakes are never braked, but the horn is briefly honked as a warning.
The Capodimonte Museum is hardly visited in winter - you don't have to queue.
© Alexandra Stahl/dpa-tmn
The football god has everything in view
And Maradona is always watching.
The Argentine footballer, who played for SSC Napoli from 1984 to 1991, shapes the cityscape.
As graffiti, T-shirt, souvenir.
In Sanità it hangs between Bud Spencer and Sophia Loren on a line with photos stretched between the houses.
It's quiet at the top.
There is no need to queue in winter to enter the Capodimonte Museum, the former summer residence of the Bourbons.
You can spend a whole day there: paintings by Michelangelo or Caravaggio?
Old porcelain?
Or the pistol collection of former rulers?
A plaque explains that in the 18th century, weapons for men were actually nothing more than jewelry for women.
Outside in the park around the museum, gardeners and joggers are active in the winter sun, surrounded by palm trees and greenery.
Two older men sit on a bench and discuss.
The nice thing about Naples in spring is that you share the sights with the locals.
The choice is just as overwhelming as when it comes to food: the entire old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The center is the Piazza del Plebiscito with a view of the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola.
Nearby are the Galleria Umberto I shopping street and the famous Teatro San Carlo opera house.
Also not far away: the Palazzo Reale, once the seat of the kings.
You can visit the living quarters of the Bourbon regents and later those of the House of Savoy.
Naples has only been part of Italy since the founding of the nation state in 1861.
Previously it was mainly French and Spanish who ruled.
The Basilica of San Francesco di Paola in Piazza del Plebiscito is located in the center of Naples' old town.
© Alexandra Stahl/dpa-tmn
A ghost lives underground
But Naples was founded by the Greeks.
Napoli Sotterranea, Naples Underground, is the name of a guided tour through a 120-kilometer-long system of passages that was built by the Greeks to supply water.
During the Second World War they served the population as protection from bombs.
Today only five percent of the corridors are accessible.
The proceeds from the tours benefit an association that wants to reopen underground Naples.
The president is Salvatore Quaranta, who explains before the descent that it will now go down forty meters - over 187 steps.
The corridors are not for the claustrophobic, as some passages are so narrow and low that you can only move forward while crouching.
Leader Alessandro Fusaro knows how to distract.
With a flashlight he shines a spot in the walls and says: “Marlene Dietrich.” The legendary actress’s portrait appears, an old drawing from wartime.
During the one-hour tour, the 38-year-old also reports on the “pozzari” - men who cleaned the water pipes and accessed the residents' houses.
Because things often disappeared (and later reappeared), the superstitious Neapolitans were convinced that a ghost lived in the canal system.
This is how the legend of the little monk “il munaciello” who accepted wishes arose.
Today he is available as a figure in the souvenir shop.
Alessandro Fusaro works as a guide for Napoli Sotterranea and leads through the underground tunnel system.
© Alexandra Stahl/dpa-tmn
View of Vesuvius
And the sea?
Parallel to the beach promenade, the Villa Comunale park leads to the aquarium - it is one of the oldest in Europe.
Visitors can experience the underwater world there for themselves on a winter day.
“Pomodoro di mare” means a water lily, “patata di mare” means a sea squirt.
Tomato of the sea, potato of the sea - symbolically, food also plays a big role in Italy.
From the aquarium you can easily explore Chiaia, the district known for luxury boutiques.
There are expensive things in the shop windows and the dogs wear jackets.
The funicular is apparently missing the money that is in circulation here: the Funicolare is once again “fuori serzizio” - out of service.
So walk upstairs.
From Castel Sant'Elmo the view of Naples and the nearby Vesuvius is the most beautiful.
It is one of three castles in the city made of tuff, or volcanic rock.
If you don't want to pay an entrance fee for the panorama, you can make do with the view at the Certosa di San Martino monastery.
The huge city lies before you in the winter light and seems almost peaceful.
At the beginning of the year it is only this quiet until around mid-February, says Sara Guarino, who works in the stylish “Ba-Bar” on Piazza Santa Maria La Nova near the main shopping street Via Toledo.
Completely different than October, the busiest month of all.
No matter what time of year: enjoying a real Neapolitan pizza is mandatory on site, anything else is a culinary omission.
It's Sunday lunchtime and - finally - there is a space available in the third restaurant.
Locals at the tables, many families with children, leftovers on the plates.
Somehow reassuring that even the Italians can't create the typical thick pizza crust.
Practical information about Naples
Getting there: There are direct flights from Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf and Berlin.
The drive from Munich (a good 1,100 kilometers) takes around 11.5 hours.
Sightseeing: The Musoe di Capodimonte costs 15 euros entry, free for under 18s (capodimonte.cultura.gov.it).
One-hour underground tours, either in English, Italian or Spanish, cost 12 euros per person (lanapolisotterranea.it), another provider charges 15 euros, and it is cheaper in a group (napolisotterranea.org).
Anyone who visits Castel Sant'Elmo pays 5 euros;
Admission to the Palazzo Reale is usually 10 euros.
Further information: Information on accommodation, restaurants, public transport and sights can be found at visitnaples.eu.
dpa