We have traveled to many different areas in Europe and saved one of the most interesting for last. Before we were to end our trip in Rome, we decided to spend some time in the Naples region called Campania in southern Italy. What an experience it was! This most densely populated part of Italy does everything in capital letters. If you want chaotic crowded streets, come on down to Naples. If you want hairy cliffside driving, come try the Amalfi Coast. If you want fantastic ruins, come tour Pompei. If you want to see amazing Christmas light displays, come visit Salerno. And if you want to be woken up by firecrackers and have a parade go by your window at seven AM, come to Castellammare.
We drove into Castellammare in the evening and promptly decided we needed to park the car for a few days. Motorcycles swerved in and out of traffic and pedestrians seemed to come out of nowhere. It was more chaotic than any other place we had visited on our trip (which is saying something). We settled into our wonderful Airbnb and told ourselves that our mantra of 'give it 24 hours' would be needed one last time. And by the time we left, we had fallen in love with the crazy busyness of this area. Our host Catello gave us very helpful advice and soon we were navigating the area easily. We took the local train everywhere and found everything we needed just around the corner. The people were some of the friendliest we have met anywhere during our travels.
We were fortunate enough to be in Castellammare during their celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. That included bonfires by the sea, fireworks everywhere including just outside our balcony, and an early early morning parade down our street to the local cathedral. We weren't short of entertainment during our stay.
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