Inside Italy’s Craziest City - Naples 🇮🇹

There's only one religion in Naples. Police don't have any control over it? No, totally not. This is where Margherita was invented. That's the story of my ancestors. Marta and I are going on a date. Take Marta out for some pizza. This is where the Italian jail looks like. There was a revolt. You can find your future here. Classic story in Naples. Are there any guys that are like 50 years old that live at home? We were Neapolitans. Without our language, our traditions. You're worried about living near this? You can get fat in seconds. So there's a whole other world right inside here. And that's Naples for you. The most extreme of everything. Good afternoon, guys. Here we have beautiful Naples, Italy. Downtown right there. Mount Vesuvius. Ancient city of Pompeii. One of the most fascinating places in Europe and the world. Some of the best food. Today we have the great privilege to meet up with a local who knows the ins and outs of Naples. Knows what goes on beneath the noise on the streets. So we're going to meet up with him and get a better understanding of this super fascinating city. Let's do this. We have to talk to the old mamas. They don't speak Italian. They speak only Neapolitan dialect. Okay, is that totally different than Italian? And this you were telling me off camera, Naples, I should have known this, but it's older than Rome. Yeah, founded by Greeks. They came from the other side of the sea and started this weird situation we call Napoli. So you call Napoli a weird situation. Yeah, totally. It's full chaos, but it works, right? Yeah, totally like that. Wow, look at this. Absolutely beautiful. I first came here 20 years ago. 20 years ago? Yeah, there were no tourists. No. Pretty much no tourists, and everyone thought it was the most dangerous place. Yeah. And I think it cleaned up a lot by that time. Maybe in the 90s it was super dangerous. In the 90s, absolutely. How about right now? Now it's much more safe, you can say, because there's always a lot of people in the streets. Just so many rich persons and so many poor persons. There's not much in the middle here. Okay, yeah. Not much in the middle. And so we're going to get into some food, but why do you guys do food that seems so much better than most parts of Italy? Coming from Rome, for example, pizza. There's no comparison in my book. No, no. It's only two hours away. Yeah, but it's like a different nation. Italy is a bunch of different nations together. Little different nations together. When did it unify? Like 1850? In 1860. 1861. And then Rome came 10 years after. But the mentality stayed of we're from Naples, this is sort of our nation. We're from Rome, this is sort of our nation. Yeah, always like that. And everyone in the South doesn't like mulatto. Yeah. That's universal, right? Everybody hates Milano. You know, I said... That's what unified Italy. They hate Milano. Gaetano, is this about as tight as the streets get here? Is this one of the tighter ones? One of the tighter, yeah. So it always stays dark. These bottom apartments are always dark, huh? Yeah, always. When you live in a house like that, you're always watching people in front of you from other houses. So privacy, it's a big problem in this case. Maybe in the night, it's always a problem. They're like, Gaetano has a new girlfriend. Did you see her last night? Yeah, everybody knows that. Everybody knows everything. Is crime low in places like this where everyone knows everybody? A strong community is the reason you have low crime rates. Okay, so you can't be Facebook tough here and yell and then leave. That person's going to be right there. In these environments, the apartments pass down family to kids to kids to kids, so it's been for centuries. Here in Naples, when we are young, we are living with our parents, but when we are grown up, we continue to live with our parents. Not always we go away, so we just live with these really big families all together. What's the average age say a man moves out of his family's apartment in Naples? When he gets married. He must be lucky to find the right person. That's the age. As he gets older, maybe his chances go down. Are there any guys that are 50 years old that live at home? Really? A lot of them, yeah. They have a life. They go to work. It's not like a stigma. There's not a stigma? It's normal. What is this here? A religious shrine? We call it in Italian Just like when you go in church and you ask for a pleasure from God. Forgiveness? There are saints and Mary, of course. So people in the community come down here and pray? Yeah. So this is great. The mamas come out of the windows, speak with people on the streets. Do you think these people living here, if they had a lot of money, they'd want to live out of the center in a bigger apartment, or no? I don't think they are. They have enough money. They work. They have enough money to live outside, but they are connected. So when you go away, you have to say farewell to your entire life. So people don't want to do that? It's your life. You have to maintain it like it is. So literally living 5 kilometers from here is like living in another country almost. Yeah. This woman has her kitchen right here. So the apartments just come right out into the streets. You just walk across the street to the barber shop. You, not me. On this kind of long streets, this is one of the main streets of Naples. You always have these palaces that are huge. Then if it's open, you can see through it. And then you have these courtyards. Can we walk in? Yeah, sure. Really Spanish type of architecture. So it just quiets right down. You can get water if you want. Oh, there's a well from the volcano? No, from the mountains. The region your family is from. Yeah, 100 years ago. They got on a boat and came here. They came at 18 years old. No English language at all. Poor. Yeah, very poor. Boat across the Atlantic. Get to New York, Ellis Island. My great-grandmother, who I never met, she never even spoke English in all the years living in the United States. Didn't even pick up hello, I don't think. We used to cook our Sunday sauce in the pot, in her pasta pot. And my dad took such pride in it, right? All day, stirring the sauce. He thought it was so Old World. And the sauce was terrible, man. It was really bad sauce. Nothing like here. And then my mom, I just asked her about that pot, actually, recently. Because I'm like, I want the pot. It's a very historical thing to have. And she said, well, it's been leeching metal forever. You know, like putting off metal. So I think that's why the sauce was bad. Here, the thing is, the contrast between the two areas. Because here, on the low side of Naples, we have a rich street, so many rich shops. But on the upper side, there are Spanish quarters. One of the poorest district areas of Naples. It looks good right here, but as you go further, it gets... Yeah. If you go there, it's because, mainly it's because you are looking for a drug dealer, or for a prostitution. It's all mixed. Because there is the old mama outside her home, and there is the drug dealer. Do they work together at all? Yeah. Yeah, sometimes they work together, sure. Because if police is coming up the streets, maybe the old lady gives a signal, you know, and they are living together. It's a strange way to help each other. You can go like that. And here is another one of these doors, right? They are just all over the place. And so there is a whole other world right inside here. Do people have a hard time listening to Rome, like the government, of how to live, what to do? We were an independent nation for so many centuries, before the Italian unity. We were Neapolitans, with our language, our traditions, our laws. Yesterday, we became Italians. Right? On the grand scheme of things, like on the timeline, it was just like, just happened. Just happened. Okay. And this is a really whole city, so it's like it's organized, it's an old idea of what we were, and not what we are now. So I think it's normal that we sense this kind of distance from Rome. This is a very nice part of the city, but it seems the city in general seems very disorganized and chaotic. But there is an order to it. Right? It's like, there's no way you could control it, but there isn't, you know, a push and pull, a cycle to everything here, and it functions. Yeah. You can try to achieve this kind of order, a self-organized order of life. Yeah. But you can dominate it, you can control it, you can decide what kind of, what direction it must have. It's just a matter of living with the others. Is it fair to say there's a little Vesuvius in all of you? Like there's some explosiveness, right? There's passion, there's fire. Yeah, we literally live under the cow. It's in our culture, in our songs, in our literature, and maybe in our food too, I think. Oh yeah, for sure, 100%. So... Neapolitan, the language, do you speak that with your friends, or how does that work? It depends on if your family is well-educated or rich. Okay. That's the kind of story. The well-educated and rich speak Italian or Neapolitan? Now Italian. Okay, so that's like a higher class language. There are even luxury shops here. Oh wow, that is stunning. What is this called? Galleria. Galleria. Umberto I. Which is a name for one of the Italian kings, the first Italian kings. Okay. And the nicest McDonald's in the world, perhaps. So this wasn't taken out in World War II, obviously. No. No damage? No. Was there much damage to Napoli in World War II? It was quite completely destroyed. Completely? Not completely, but yeah. So they just rebuilt a lot of these old structures? Look at the mosaic. The money from the Marshall Plan. Money from the Marshall Plan, right? I mean, the United States just had a huge advantage at that time, right? Because we didn't get destroyed, and Europe was rebuilding. We had a ton of kids, right, at that time. The boomers, they're called, right? And now we have the millennials that come from the boomers. And Europe doesn't have that, because you didn't have the boomer generation. Not everyone is having kids after the war, because they're dealing with the aftermath of a war. So it's interesting how demographics and birth rates are being impacted right now because of that. That's the situation here. I mean, maybe in Europe, but especially in Italy, because we suffered so much for the war. Margarita. Margarita pizza? Yeah, of course. It was invented there. This place? Yeah. Is it a tourist place or the locals go here? Both. Because it's famous. Right. For locals, too. They got the old oven. So that's it? Just very simple ingredients? Yeah. In the wood-burning oven. Grazie. And this is where margarita was invented? Yes. Margarita was born in 1889. How long have you been here? Me? Yeah. 42 years. Oh, wow. My father before me, and my grandfather before my father. Has the margarita changed at all? No, no, no. It's the same. It's very important for us to use a traditional way to make a margarita. The tomatoes from the volcano? No. Not, not, not. It's from San Marzano zone. San Marzano is around Vesuvius, but not Vesuvius. Around? It's just a little bigger. Just a little bigger than the cherry tomatoes from Vesuvius. And so how long does it go in here for? Between 60 and 90 seconds. That's it? Yes. Two margaritas. Oh, yeah. Grazie. Grazie. Very simple. Dough, cheese, basil, sauce. Little puff in there. Puff? Show me the proper style. That's the way we eat pizza in the original way. You cut the pizza in four parts. You must do four triangles. Just like that. It's so simple. Just separate in two parts. Then you turn the plate. Turn the plate. If someone doesn't cut a pizza like this here, you'll know they're not from here. That's the only way you can legitimately eat pizza. Just go like that. How do you eat it? In the Napolitan original way of eating pizza. You're not educated if you use a fork? Yeah. You must use hands. In Rome, they use a fork. In Rome, they use a fork, yeah. You do just one big cross-cut. A cross-cut, yeah. Do I look like a local doing this or no? Yeah. My angle's okay? Okay. Throw away your fork and your knife and use your hands. Perfect. It has another taste. It's fantastic. You like the burnt on the bottom. It's so important. It gives taste to pizza. There's so much competition in this city with pizza. Nobody does it wrong. Everyone has good pizza, right? They're not going to survive a day if they make a bad pizza here. Just like this. At least 20 or 30 restaurants where you can eat a perfect pizza. Everyone does it in a particular way. So you have 20 or 30 ways of doing pizza in a perfect way. That's the climax of the free market. Mario, thank you. Thank you. Our pleasure. Mario's moving to Orlando, Florida. I will leave in January and I will work at the Epcot Empatina restaurant. An Italian restaurant at Epcot? Yes, at Epcot of Disneyland. We'll see you there. I just want to compliment you on your mustache. It's one of the nicer ones I've ever seen in my life. You're pulling it off. Mario, thank you. Great place. You were saying that's a classic story here in Napoli right now. The young guys 20 to 25 or whatever are leaving. You can find your future here. That's a classic story in Naples. It's not a new story though because that's the story of my ancestors. It's literally the same thing. It's dramatic because what kind of person remains here? That's the problem. Maybe me. You're a good guy though. You said you're not going. You're staying. I don't know. How do you change that? You need more industry, more jobs, more economy. A vision. There's no one providing that vision right now? No, that's the problem. Us as a generation, we go away. We don't stay here and fight. Maybe that's a problem too. So much of the shops, of the restaurants you can see in the streets and the streets like that must pay money to Camorra. Camorra? The mafia. The local mafia. It's not always like that. Sometimes they are sort of businessmen. You make money from drugs, then you recycle them, invest in money laundering. Money laundering. And the police don't have any control over it? No, totally not. They just can go to... There is only one religion in Naples, and there is football. So during the pandemic, I have a hard time seeing people being locked down here. I don't think they take orders too well from authority, and everyone's living on top of each other. And I thought Naples would have gotten hammered with COVID because of that, but it really happened in Lombardy, right? The worst of it? Look at the streets. You can understand that a police car can never get up there. So narrow streets. They can't move. So you can't really control the streets. You can close the community inside here, and don't let them move around and move outside. That was what happened during the pandemic. Really blocking off parts of the city. Here was so much more calm situation. I thought it was like that because we are well-organized. What's she saying? Come here. We'll see. You guys want to drink water? So you guys, you're not even speaking Italian? At this moment, no. She's talking Neapolitan. She knows how to speak Italian. How do they like living in the neighborhood? Do you like? She wants to go to Florida. Let me see the muscles. Altar dedicated to Maradona. Altar dedicated to Maradona. People celebrate this all the time. Napoli just won a match. There he is. How long ago was it that Maradona played? 20 years ago or something? It was from 1984 to 1993. Do you have a passionate feeling towards Maradona? You do? Sure. Everyone here does. It's a religious cult. It's beyond love? He was so much representative of Neapolitan common desires. He's from Argentina, but he spoke to the people here? How so? It's always this kind of behavior with Neapolitans. Saying, OK, I'm one of you. I'm like in my country, I'm like you. There's a Maradona fan in the making? What would you say Italians from outside of Napoli don't understand about you guys? What do they not know about you or understand? A lot of prejudice. Because the media and the public discuss in Italy, there's a part of the country that doesn't work and slow the other part of the country, the rich one. So I think it's a political thing too. The relations between us, when we meet someone from the north, that's not like that. This street and then the Spanish quarters, it's all together. It's a commission of things together. And these guys selling all the knock-off brands, purses and whatnot, what's their story? They are organized in groups. OK. They have deposits in the suburbs of Naples and they organize together themselves to sell this. I think quite often the things they sell is from what we call in Naples the system, the name for local mafia or Camorra. So the Camorra controls all of that stuff? At the end of the day, yes. It's complicated. It's complicated because it's like, OK, I give to you the things you have to sell. If you go to someone else, you have to pay consequences for that. Paying consequences, they get physical with them? Yeah, sure. So those guys selling the purses and all the things on the streets, in a way they're held hostage. They have to buy from the Camorra or they're going to have problems. Yeah, sure. But can't they just work at a store like this or no? No, it's not legal. If you do things in a legal way, then there is another state, the system, Camorra. An alternative Italian republic. So there are two systems at play here. Almost two governments operating in parallel. Interesting. And then we have this. And then we have this. And that's Naples for you. The most extreme of everything. You're saying things fall a lot from above. Yeah. That's how you get things upstairs. Just pull it up. Sometimes things are going up, sometimes they're going down. So you're saying this is one of the best bakeries in Naples? Yeah, one of the best. Beautiful. You're worried about living near this? Yeah, because you can get fat in two seconds if you don't stay careful. So when you're a tourist, you're not doing that. It's sort of a chastity you have to maintain if you want to be thin. Oh my god. Just like tightly woven crust, right? What is this called? Sfogliatella. Wow. What is this? It's a babba. A babba? With chocolate inside. There's some alcohol in there, right? Brandy? Is that what it is? Rum. Cannoli. With pistachio and Nutella. Great texture. Beautiful. Ciao! Oh, Marta! Marta and I are going on a date. Take Marta out for some pizza. That sucks. The castle up there we were talking about, there's a neighborhood called what? But the neighborhood is really rich. It's like being in Milano. So you must love it? I think that sucks. It feels totally different. Totally different. It was built in the 60s. So it's all new at least for our standards. People don't feel comfortable around all that friendliness up there. Not me. The walls are clean. There are no signs and writings. What's at the end of the street? The building where the community which I'm part of. Did you start this community? Yeah. Together with other people. So this is lower class, middle class? This is lower and middle class. Okay. So there is a little middle class. A little middle class. It's like being at an amusement park in a way. It's thrilling. I love these little doors here. This little door is the one we are looking for. This is your place. Uh-huh. That's not mine. It's ours. So who owns it? You all own it together? It's public, but managed by the local community. So is it free housing? No, it's free housing only for people who are in need. Oh, this is interesting. So you have a whole cafeteria, bar. It's all self-organized. How many people live here? 60 persons. We are waiting for a restoration of the place. We want a project this year to start in 2024. What was this? A jail. A jail? Really? A jail for minors. This is what Italian jail looks like? You're part of this. I'm part of this. You're helping its development. My role in taking decisions during discussions, during meetings. Look, this is an old prison cell, huh? The original. We must maintain it closed because people are strange sometimes. People are strange, yeah. And this is a celebration. People from Sri Lanka. Let me show you. Gayan. Nice to meet you. Sir, I see you've taken on the Italian style. You pop the collar now. They don't do that in Sri Lanka, do they? No. Gratitude. Wait, wait, wait. I thought Milano has the nicest people in Italy, no? It's a joke. How is it different? In Napoli, like friends? So up there it's more like I'm the master, you're the slave. Get to work. Something like that. You smell like that. 100% like that. Smell like that. These are all former cells. For minors. Is the law hard on kids in Italy? If a kid commits a crime, they have their own jail cell? Not anymore nowadays, but when I was young, I don't remember the name. Halloween. These are the kids that were here? Yeah, the list of names. Bit of a heavy feel in here, huh? A lot's happened in here. Someone tells that there is even a ghost here. I'm sorry for them. I don't doubt it. I'm sure when it gets dark in the winter, when it's cold in here. Yeah, sure. The doors are slamming shut. One day in the 80s, there was a revolt for children here. They went against the guards and closed all the guards somewhere. And then they took control of the jail. So special forces arrived on a helicopter. Oh, wow. And they just beat everyone they met. The kids took complete control of this place? Yeah, sure. How old were the kids that were here? From 13 years old to 18 years old. A lot of mafia kids? A lot of mafia kids. The ones who take the first step in the process of becoming... Career criminals? Oh, this is a little more destroyed, huh? This is really creepy. But... Ah! Ciao, Napoli! Oh, wow. And the sea. So beautiful. It's really beautiful. Thank you. Thanks for bringing us in. It's a unique view of Napoli that I don't think has been seen by too many foreigners. Didn't think I'd end up here. But that's my style of video. So thank you. Alright, guys. True adventure today. I want to finish with a few thoughts about this wonderful city. I did give you an unorthodox tour of Napoli. It is really a special place. It's got a bit of everything. It's got a lot of extreme, a lot of edge, but really it's the food that holds this place together. The food is some of the best in the world. And even if you don't like busy streets or chaos or horns, it'd be worth it just to come here for the food. This is one angle in. There are very wealthy neighborhoods. There are places on the sea near where I'm staying that are totally different than this. But the goal is always to present you that authentic, on-the-street look at a place. And lastly, these videos, 20, 30, 40 minutes usually are a big part of what I do, but not everything. So I don't want you to miss out on future events or content. So join the mailing list we have. Link is down below. Thanks for coming along. Until the next one.