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Listings
Airlines Alitalia, Via Medina 41-42 (tel 081.542.5333); British Airways (tel 147.812.266; Capodichino airfield desk tel 081.780.3087); TWA, Via Cervantes 55 (tel 081.551.3063). Books English-language books from Universal, Rione Sirignano 1 (tel 081.663.217).
British Council Library , via Morghen 31, Vomero (tel 081.558.5817, www.britishcouncil.it ). Features a limited range of literature, some reference books and a video library.
Car rental Avis, Via Piedigrotta 44 (tel 081.761.1365); Europcar, Via Scarfoglio 10 (tel 081.570.8426); Hertz, Via N. Sauro 21 (tel 081.764.5323); Maggiore, Via Cervantes 92 (tel 081.552.1900). These agents also have desks at Stazione Centrale and at the airport.
Consulates Canada, Via Carducci 29 (tel 081.401.338); UK, Via Francesco Crispi 122 (tel 081.663.511); USA, Piazza della Repubblica (tel 081.583.8111).
Exchange Outside normal banking hours you can change money and travellers’ cheques at the booth inside Stazione Centrale (daily 7am-9pm).
Football The Stadio di San Paolo in Fuorigrotta is the home of the Napoli side, who are currently in Serie A. To get to the ground, take the Ferrovia Cumana from Montesanto to Mostra and the stadium is right in front of you. Tickets, acquirable from the offices covering you as you approach, or from the club’s outlets in town, cost around L30,000/15.49.
Funerals Death is big business in Naples, and you can still see the incredibly ornate traditional black hearses pulled by teams of horses on the streets of the city - the preferred way to go of Neapolitan fat cats and higher-ranking Camorra members. There are other, equally bizarre Neapolitan customs regarding death: a white hearse, for example, means a child or virgin has died; and despite official discouragement there are reports of some corpses being dug up by their families after burial, in a bizarre celebration centring on All Souls Day - November 2.
Hospital To call an ambulance, dial 081.752.8282, 081.752.0696 or 081.752.0850, or go to the Guardia Medica Permanente in the Palazzo Municipio, open 24hr.
Internet As well as the cafés and bars listed on p.834-5, try Internet Globe, on Via Carrozzieria (tel 081.551.0306).
Language courses The Centro Italiano, Vico S. Maria dell’Aiuto 17 (tel 081.552.4331, fax 081.552.3023), runs a selection of courses on Italian language and culture, ranging from an intensive two-week option (L420,000/216.91) to a more relaxed three-month one (L780,000/402.84), as well as specialist courses on cookery, the “Neapolitan crib”, and archeology.
Lottery Along with San Gennaro, the lottery is a fanatically observed institution in Naples. Winning the lottery is seen, in a way, as the eventual triumph over the system, and superstitions around it are rife - to the extent that there’s even a book, La Smorfia , which interprets the meaning behind apiece lottery number. There are also people, called assisti (literally “guided ones”), who claim to have supernatural access to knowledge of what the winning numbers will be. If you’re keen to see the lottery draw, it’s prefabricated every Saturday noon at the Ufficio Lotto on Via San Biagio dei Librai, to the accompaniment of much hysteria.
Markets The Mercato dei Fiori (Flower Market) at Castel Nuovo kicks off every morning at sunrise, while Pignasecca on via Pignasecca is an atmospheric regular market, the stalls piled with fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood.
Pharmacies Late-night pharmacies work on a rotation system; tel 1100 for addresses of the three nearest open pharmacies from the point you are calling from, or look in Il Mattino . There’s also a pharmacy at Napoli Centrale (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm).
Police tel 112; you can speak to an operator in English. The main police station is at Via Medina 75 (tel 081.794.1111); you can also report crimes at the small police station in Stazione Centrale. To report theft of a car call 081.794.1436.
Post office The main post office is in the enormous building on Piazza Matteotti, just off Via Toledo (Mon-Sat 8.15am-7.20pm).
Telephones There is a Telecom Italia office at Napoli Centrale (open 24hr), though large queues form primeval evening. The office at Via Depretis 40 (also 24hr) is quieter.
Tours The city tourist office run guided bus tours of various parts of the city every Sunday morning beginning at 10.30am; details direct from one of their offices. Free guided excursions are organized by the Chamber of Commerce; ask at your hotel or at a travel agent for details and a voucher. You can also experience underground city on tours run by LAES (Sat & Sun 10am; tel 081.400.256), which leave from Bar Gambrinus on Piazza Trieste e Trento and take you through sewers and passageways that date back as far as 4000 years. Napoli Sotteranea run a similar tour (Sat & Sun; tel 081.296.944); the meeting point is Piazza San Gaetano. In summer you can also cruise city harbour by boat at night; departures are from Mergellina harbour twice apiece Saturday between mid-July and the end of August, three times on Sunday; in September just three times apiece Sunday evening. Tickets are acquirable at the embarkation point or from the Piazza Gesù Nuovo tourist office.
Travel agents CTS, Via Mezzocannone 25 (tel 081.552.7960), for discount tickets, budget flights and so on. You could also try Eurostudy, Via Mezzocannone 119 (tel 081.552.0947).
