At 8am, I felt more confident to explore the streets of Napoli alone as the bloodsuckers retreated from the daylight. Napoli was everything the guidebook described - loud, polluted, messy - a frenzied chaotic scene compared to the rest of Italy I had seen but on the other hand, there was an exciting pulse and energy to it too. The morning traffic was at its peak along the Corso Umberto and I cringed at the unrelenting loud impatient horning and replied 'ciao' to those who stared and even waved at me from their cars. Luckily I decided to walk to the monuments because I soon overtook the R2 bus, strolling by narrow cluttered lanes and street stalls parading fresh produce to belts and hats.
On the way back after haggling with the street vendor on 3 hats (knocked them down from 5 to 4euros each!), I wriggled into the thick action of a long protest march against unemployment in the local iron industry. Imagining myself to be a political photojournalist, I went trigger happy and snapped shots of the banners-waving guys who happily posed for me and rejoiced in their freedom to protest; grinning at the Italian aunties and uncles in their white worker's labcoats blowing their whistles ever so enthusiastically. 
Armed with my favourite cioccolato sfogliatella (which happened to be Napoli's premium pastry, what luck!), I headed back and packed my backpack for the last time and braced myself for the long depressing flight home. Just when I was reserving my Eurostar seat (22,20euros) to Roma at the cramped ticketing office, Alessandro called and caught me by surprise. I didn't expect him to remember that I was leaving today and my heart was weeping as we said our final goodbye and promised that we'd meet again. I don't know when but somehow I knew I'd be back for sure.
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