amore on the water

Taking a walk along the Bay of Naples is vastly different than strolling around Milan. There is no grey matte finish to the sky. You can see the sun and confirm its existence. The water shimmers and flows. You remember that even in cities there can be a touch of nature. Or an entire coast.

Naples and Milan, both in Italy but with a large swath of the country in between them, share one firm commonality. The traffic may be far more hectic in Naples. There may be larger and more fierce swarms of scooters leading off at every traffic light. And there is certainly a local dialect that trumps any and all Italian language skills I've managed to accumulate. But...

This is still Italy. And so this is still the land of unabashed public affection.



This couple could be anywhere from Milano to Napoli; they have all the basic requirements. They have a motor scooter. They have their shared admiration. And they have, without a doubt, no shame in canoodling in public.

To them, I say good for you. It's a fact that many Italians live with their parents well into their thirties. So everyone, including their parents, probably prefers that they share their romantic antics away from home. Along a busy street. Perhaps on the sea shore as the sun sets behind a colorful jumble of homes.



It bears repeating that in my brief Italian experience this appears to be quite normal from North to South. In fact it made me feel at home in Naples. Because even though I couldn't understand what many of the locals were saying, I knew that, by the look of things, they were still quite Italian.