Sunday, April 24, 2005
I have been lax. I put it down to the non arrival of Spring, the end of courses and the onset of exam time. Anyway what news from Naples ... Tomorrow is the Naples marathon, half marathon and fun run. There's also a football match, and an ecological SUnday where all traffic is banned in the town centre for 5 hours. To police all of this there will be 350 Vigili. The capo says 'Im very worried'. And, frankly, Im not surprised. If its anything like last year, the Neapolitans only manage to live without their cars till about 10 am and then its a free for all. The slower marathon runners ended up weaving in and out of traffic as they finished the race.
It's also the first weekend of May of the Monuments. Now I know its not yet May, but there are six weekends of fun and larks and its physically impossible to have six weekends in a month of 31 days so there is a bit of artistic licence. Given that this is the major tourist event of the year, it's a shame that the final listings were only published on Thursday, hardly enough notice to get Thomas Cook to chuck together a brochure. Still, it means there are lots of buildings open to the general public, this year mainyl hospitals for some reason, oh, and cemeteries (the two are not necessarily related).
It's also the first weekend of May of the Monuments. Now I know its not yet May, but there are six weekends of fun and larks and its physically impossible to have six weekends in a month of 31 days so there is a bit of artistic licence. Given that this is the major tourist event of the year, it's a shame that the final listings were only published on Thursday, hardly enough notice to get Thomas Cook to chuck together a brochure. Still, it means there are lots of buildings open to the general public, this year mainyl hospitals for some reason, oh, and cemeteries (the two are not necessarily related).
Sunday, April 10, 2005
I have been astonished at the amount of column inches written about the Pope's death. Here in Naples, the papers informed me that thousands of people went to Piazza Plebiscito to watch the funeral on a maxiscreen, all the shops shut and the streets were silent. Just to put things on a more truthful level, some shops closed, the streets were their usual bustling selves and as one of the hundreds in Pzza Plebiscito I can honestly say the papers are lying through their teeth.
Today, more worryingly than hyperbole and exaggeration, the Pope's secretary has declared that the Pope already managed a miracle while still alive. Apparently, a wealthy Jew was cured of cancer after talking to John Paul some years back. I didn't read on to find out if he promptly converted to Catholicism, or even if he connects the two events in the same way as the Pope's private secretary has managed to do. This headlong scramble to make the man a saint is just going to make the church into a laughing stock. In a year's time when people look back on his papacy objectively, perhaps they will see that merely being Pope for a long time doesn't qualify His Holiness for automatic sainthood. Support for reactionary, quasi militaristic branches of the Church is also low on the list of requirement for beatification. Strange that out of the 2500 members of the clergy at the funeral, 5 were women. A handful of nuns showed all that JP did for women in the last 25 years.
Otherwise it's business as usual in Naples. With the elections over, the posters have been replaced with new ones, each candidate thanking the electorate for their votes. By the time these are taken down, it will be time for the next election and the whole process will start again.
Today, more worryingly than hyperbole and exaggeration, the Pope's secretary has declared that the Pope already managed a miracle while still alive. Apparently, a wealthy Jew was cured of cancer after talking to John Paul some years back. I didn't read on to find out if he promptly converted to Catholicism, or even if he connects the two events in the same way as the Pope's private secretary has managed to do. This headlong scramble to make the man a saint is just going to make the church into a laughing stock. In a year's time when people look back on his papacy objectively, perhaps they will see that merely being Pope for a long time doesn't qualify His Holiness for automatic sainthood. Support for reactionary, quasi militaristic branches of the Church is also low on the list of requirement for beatification. Strange that out of the 2500 members of the clergy at the funeral, 5 were women. A handful of nuns showed all that JP did for women in the last 25 years.
Otherwise it's business as usual in Naples. With the elections over, the posters have been replaced with new ones, each candidate thanking the electorate for their votes. By the time these are taken down, it will be time for the next election and the whole process will start again.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Back from Blighty, and the Pope promptly dies. I was expecting a universal wailing and gnashing of teeth, but Naples has remained untouched by the event. Flags are at half mast, and neon signs remain unlit at night, otherwise life goes on. Part of me thinks that had he died in the week people may have taken to their beds, but as he expired at the weekend, there were far too many pressing reasons to ignore the fact. cinemas and theatres are closed for three days of mourning, which means that even more people than usual are walking up and down Via Toledo eating ice cream and window shopping.
Other hot news is that the Vigili are considering industrial action. Apparetnly they feel they are being spied on.. and object to be told told that they can't got for a coffee in groups of five. They also dont like the fact that people take photo's of them while they stand around chatting and not implementing the law. Can't think why.
After the Easter holiday there seems to be no let up in just how excited the young people are. It's the thought of approaching summer apparently, the mediterranean equivalent of teh last few days before Xmas in the frozen north. I am joined at their southern European hip.
Other hot news is that the Vigili are considering industrial action. Apparetnly they feel they are being spied on.. and object to be told told that they can't got for a coffee in groups of five. They also dont like the fact that people take photo's of them while they stand around chatting and not implementing the law. Can't think why.
After the Easter holiday there seems to be no let up in just how excited the young people are. It's the thought of approaching summer apparently, the mediterranean equivalent of teh last few days before Xmas in the frozen north. I am joined at their southern European hip.
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