Perhaps another time

While staying in the bay of Naples area, N and I decided we would try and visit Castellammare di Stabia which was over the mountain from Sorrento on the way to Naples. My gt gt grandfather died in Italy in 1868 and was buried in the Protestant cemetery there and we wanted to find out whether the grave still existed.

Our enquiries with several locals were met with alarm. We knew it was a poor industrial town with shipyards, factories and slums cut in half by the motorway but these Italians were concerned for our safety. The crime rate is high and it is a stronghold of the Mafia and Camorra clans who are sometimes at war. There are a few friendly hotels there and a long sandy beach but nobody is allowed to enjoy the sands and they remain dirty. In 2010 the then mayor was going to bann revealing clothes, sunbathing, blaspheming and the wearing of clogs (!) so perhaps this is the problem with the beach. Another "by the way" is that the captain of the upturned Concordia lives here and this is where he has returned. On a more positive note C di St has cooling springs where people go for treatment but maybe the spas are higher up the mountain!

Next time, if I could find out whether the Protestant cemetery still exists, I would take a waiting taxi straight to the graveyard, there are hotels there so there must be normal life somewhere in the place!

The suburbs of Naples all around the coastline to Castellammare are very poor compared with northern Europe and Naples is the most intensely populated city in Europe. Some of the dwellings look similar to those found in the third world.

This blip was taken at Castellammare on the way to the airport. Goodbye Italy, until next time!