The Finest Buildings
And Palazzi Line The Chiaia On The Land Side And Above Them All Tower
The Castle Of
St Elmo and the Chartreuse with several villas intervening.
The garden of the Chiaia contains gravel walks, grass plots, alleys
Of
trees, fountains, plantations of orange, myrtle and laurel trees which give
a delightful fragrance to the air; and besides several other statues, it
boasts of one of the finest groups in Europe, called the Toro Farnese. It
is a magnificent piece of sculpture and represents three men endeavouring
to hold a ferocious bull. It is a pity, however, that so valuable a piece
of sculpture should be exposed to the vicissitudes of the season in the
open air. The marble has evidently suffered much by it. Why is such a
valuable piece of sculpture not preserved in the Museum?
On the Chiaia are restaurants and cafes. 'Tis here also that the
nobility display their carriages and horses, it being the fashionable drive
in the afternoon: and certainly, except in London, I have never seen such a
brilliant display of carriages as at Naples.
The principal street at Naples is the Strada di Toledo. It resembles the
Rue St Honore and can boast of as much wealth in its shops. The houses
are good, solid and extremely lofty, and the streets are paved with lava.
There are two excellent restaurants at Naples, one in the Largo del
Palazzo, nearly opposite the Royal Palace, called the Villa di Napoli;
the other not far from it in the Strada di Toledo, called La Corona di
Ferro. Naples is renowned for the excellency of its ices. You have them in
the shape of all kinds of fruit and wonderfully cheap. Many of the ice
houses and caffes remain open day and night; as do some of the gaming
tables, which are much frequented by the upper classes. The theatre of St
Carlo, which was consumed last year by fire, is rising rapidly from its
ashes and will soon be finished. In the mean time Operas are performed at
the Teatro Fondi, a moderate sized theatre. I here saw performed the
opera of Don Giovanni of Mozart, with the ballo of La pazza per
amore. Mme Colbran, a Spanish lady, is the Prima Donna and an excellent
singer.
In all the private societies at Naples a great deal of gaming goes on, and
at some houses those visitors, who do not play, are coolly received. The
following may be considered as a very fair specimen of the life of a young
man of rank and fashion at Naples. He rises about two p.m., takes his
chocolate, saunters about in the Strada di Toledo or in the Largo del
Palazzo for an hour or two, then takes a promenade a cheval on the
Chiaia; dines between six and seven; goes to the Opera where he remains
till eleven or half-past eleven; he then saunters about in the different
Cafes for an hour or two; and then repairs to the gaming table at the
Ridotto, which he does not quit till broad daylight.
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