After Piazza Dante, we turned down one of the old, narrow main streets crowded with people, cars, scooters, and goods for sale. The array of human confusion was dazzling!

I fell in love with the streetscapes of Naples. Many of the streets were narrow, dark, and crowded, but there was the vibrancy one feels in a place where people really know how to live!

I had heard many tales from other travellers to beware of Naples, with cautions against "pickpockets" and "muggers" and "panhandlers," warnings about the noise and dirt and smells, and complaints about traffic and gouging taxi drivers.

I found the city to be captivating. I didn't have any trouble, people were generally friendly and helpful, even to the point where the carabinieri (police) pulled up next to me one day while I was making pictures and tapped me on my camera bag, warning me to be careful in the crowded streets.

After walking through some of the major thoroughfares of the Spaccanapoli district, we turned down one of the side streets near a church bell tower, and discovered we had stumbled into the street market of Christmas creches (nativity scenes). Apparently this is a big folk art in Naples, and people design extravagant scenes for display throughout the holiday season.

The size and detail of many of the scenes was amazing, as shown in the below photos; they really are folk art.

Tom came up with the lovely idea of taking the ferry back to Sorrento, as an alternative to the train. So we decided to go down to the docks, where several ferries and hydrofoils are based.

There were boats going all over the area, including Sorrento, Capri, Ischia, the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, and even Tunisia. We were a little paranoid to make sure we got on the right one to Sorrento!