—Province exhibit— There is a good little exhibit currently running in the old church of the Incoronata entitled Due Secoli della Provincia (Two centuries of the Province). It is a display of the problems of and progress in the province of Naples since the time of the French presence here under Murat. Exhibits show how the old province, Terra del lavoro, was subdivided; there are demographic charts, time-lines of the eruptions of Vesuvius, displays on the birth and growth of industry, the changes wrought by the unification of Italy, the phenomenon of massive emigration, the urban renewal (risanamento) at the turn of the 19th-to-20th century, and the growth of post-WWII Naples. The exhibit runs through November 15.

—New Busses— I don't know if they are red green busses or green red busses—they are painted red and run on ecologically friendly fuel such as methane and moose-chips. In any event, there are 1,250 of these spanking new marvels of mass transit destined to replace the clunkers currently prowling the streets of the Campania region of Italy, the city of Naples included. They cost 290 million euros and were presented to the region in June. They are still sitting up in Rome waiting to be delivered. I don't know why, and I'm afraid to ask.

—Pino Daniele Lawsuit— Well-known Neapolitan cantautore (singer songwriter), Pino Daniele, is apparently going to have to cough up 500,000 euros for having defamed or slandered (I don't know the difference) Umberto Bossi, the head of the Lega Nord(Northern League). At the San Remo song festival in 2001, Daniele publicly (from the stage) referred to Bossi as "un uomo di merda" (a man of s---). I guess that's actionable, although it does not sit well with many Italians (not just Neapolitans) who know that Bossi has still to pay a cent or spend a day in jail for various episodes of having defamed the Republic of Italy by—at least on one occasion—saying that he uses the Italian flag for toilet paper. Bossi is a member of parliament and enjoys immunity even for such outbursts.

—2nd University of Naples— I've got it figured out. I mistakenly referred to "la seconda università di Federico II", which would be spoken as "the second university of Frederick the second"—confusing in any language. A woman kindly corrected me. Here's the deal: due to overcrowding at the medical school, the original Federico II University spun off a second university, now called, simply, "la seconda università di Napoli" (the second university of Naples). It has run classes since November of 1992. As far as the medical departments go, the massive university clinic up on the Vomero hill, which opened in 1973, is officially the Frederick II Polyclinic hospital; that is, it is run by the original (i.e. first) University of Naples. Everyone still calls it "the new polyclinic." The old polyclinic hospital, located at the west end of the historic center of Naples and the result of construction at the beginning of the 20th century, is run by the new (i.e. second) university of Naples. Now, tell me that is not confusing.

—Line 6. It's Alive!— or, Rush Hour on the Ghost Train (photo, below). When they were still finishing up this part of Line 6 of the metropolitana subway line, I complained about the slow progress. Well, four stations are now up (down) and running—those from Mergellina to Fuorigrotta. It has already been called (by the same woman who corrected me on the university in the item above this one) the most "useless piece of track in the world". (This is one useful lady!) Essentially, it doubles a line of the old subway train that has existed since the 1920s. This line will serve almost no purpose until it is completed into the area of the city hall and port in one direction (that is years away!) and, in the other, up to the Monte Sant'Angelo campus of the university. But it's still a nice little train. There are almost no passengers, so if you have nowhere to go and like to ride comfortably back and forth, this is for you.

photos:top, Due Secoli exhibit; bottom, Line 6.