Napoli

Dear readers, before Bruce and I set off for dinner tonight, I downloaded 12 photos of our day in Naples and left the process happening on my computer. When we returned, two hours later, only a third were uploaded and the poor machine was still struggling. The internet in this hotel is very poor. You will not be seeing pictures till I get to London or home.

This seedy hotel is an experience, as is this whole seedy city - madder than anywhere I've been except New Delhi. Piles of garbage on ancient, extremely narrow and dangerous streets down which cars and motorbikes speed, rows of Africans sell Prada knockoffs, and at every turn, another massive ancient Catholic church. Hundreds of them, in a city that cannot deal with its garbage.

But my dear Bruce took me about, showed me beautiful things - a chapel museum with the famous Veiled Christ, marble carved so fine it looks like filmy cloth and lace; the beautiful majolica cloisters, with scores of colourful tile pillars. We walked miles, taking in this crazy metropolis. Tonight we went out to find a pizza place recommended in the New York Times - when we finally found it, it was jammed so we went nearby, and it was great - 10 euros each for a huge pizza with half a bottle of wine for me and a beer for Bruce. A deal. But the walk there and back was something - long dark streets that are more like alleys, ancient buildings blackened by time, the speeding traffic, everything slightly out of control and dangerous. I can see why people are afraid of Naples.

But tomorrow - museums!