For my last half-day in Naples, I had free entrance to the catacombs Catacombe di San Gaudioso, one of the monuments in the Catacombe di Napoli (Catacombs of Naples) network. These are in a really bad part of town that the cooperative is trying to revive – and they say they’re being successful. San Gaudioso – Saint Gaudiosus of Napoli – was a North African Christian bishop who fled persecution into Naples. His relics were buried in the Catacombs of San Gennaro and then transferred to his own around the 6th century. The Catacombs of San Gaudioso were “popular” at first, but they became abandoned, until eventually they were rediscovered and entrusted to the Dominicans in the 17th century. The Dominicans took over and developed a rather morbid interment tradition for the nobles and clergy. The body was drained, then buried. A wall would be built in front of the tomb, and the deceased person’s skull placed on it, with the frontal bones facing forwards. The body was fresco-painted as a skeleton underneath, with symbols and writings around it. Today you can see those frescoes, but the front part of the skull has been smashed away. There is also the actual tomb of Saint Gaudiosus and other 17th century paintings left. If you ask me, the guide went a bit into… excessive graphic detail about the body preparation.

The catacombs were restored and open to the public in 2017. They are accessible though Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità (Basilica of Saint Mary of Healthcare), the Baroque church that was built by the Dominicans once they were entrusted the catacombs – with the money they had from the noble family’s interments. The church connected directly with the catacombs through a hole under the back area of the altar. There was a wedding, so we could not snoop around much. In the sacristy, there is a presepe which, aside from the standard Nativity scene, has scenes from everyday life, legends of Napoli and mythology touches.

I walked back towards the Historic Centre of Naples Centro storico di Napoli thinking that maybe I could get an early lunch, but the nice places were not open yet, and the smell was a bit on the overwhelming side. I went into Via San Gregorio Armeno – the Christmas alley – again. It was Saturday morning so the “good” shops had brought out what they offered and I finally got to see what makes the area famous.

I finally decided to go towards the station, grab a bite to eat there, and head off to the airport. I had seen a huge bookshop near the food court, and I found something to entertain myself. I tried another piece of typical Italian food – a focaccia stuffed with cheese and greens. And then I realised that I had not had any real Italian ice cream! That was easily solved though…

The flight back was uneventful except I got emergency exit seat again, so I had to negotiate an exchange seat. The flight attendant this time was not as efficient as the one I had last time this happened. He had me wait until boarding was complete to find me another seat, which almost ended up with him having a riot in his hands. And here I had tried to board a bit earlier than usual to help the crew out… I will go back to boarding late-ish from now on.

Balance: Pompeii and Herculaneum are fantastic. Some people need to learn some respect and be civil – “no smoking” includes marijuana, don’t prance around with your shirt off in what is basically a ghost town, and for the love of that is holy, don’t poke the buildings. At least I did not run into anyone writing their name anywhere. Naples is not the best city, but it’s not as dangerous as I had worried about beforehand. However, maybe I should have done my planning a bit more carefully. Then again, not being too efficient allowed for downtime and resting, which I might have needed. I recently read that you should relax when you go on holiday?