One of the highlights of last year's trip in the wake of Odysseus was a visit to the entrance to the Underworld – at Lake Avernus (see this blog, An Odyssey in the Year of the Plague – 10: 8-14 September 2020).
But the entrance to another underworld was only a few miles away to the west... Naples, home of the Comorra, the Neapolitan mafia.
The corruption, cruelty and misery associated with the city's criminal shadow world was documented by the journalist Roberto Saviano, putting his own life at continual risk.
I have since read his shocking book Gomorrah... the exposé that meant he subsequently had to live under 24-hour security protection.
Take in his book, watch the documentary about his life on the run (on Netflix) and then decide if you would want to visit Naples. I certainly can't wait to return to this most vibrant of cities... but I will now see it in a new light – and a new darkness.
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