Member-only story

Travel

A Sailor in Naples for Christmas

My first Christmas in the US Navy was in this magical city.

Dan Hanley
2 min readDec 24, 2022

--

USS Eisenhower in center with water in foreground and city of Naples in background.
USS Eisenhower in port in Naples, Italy. Photo credit: US Navy

It was December of 1984 and I had been in the Navy for six months. At 18, I was already having the adventure of my lifetime, and watching the city of Naples get bigger as we pulled into port was wonderful.

Being away from family and friends during the holidays is difficult.

Being able to spend Christmas (and New Year’s) in Naples deifnitely helped.

Although my memories of this first time in Naples are not as clear as they used to be, I definitely remember loving Naples.

The USO there was super helpful, as they always are.

The history and architecture were wonderful. This was my first time in Italy and my first European city. I loved just walking around.

I loved the food and I loved the business of the city. Speeding motorcycles everywhere, with smells of all sorts of foods in the air.

I realize being in Naples for me as a US Navy sailor is a lot different than being there as a tourist. There are commonalities though. If you love the idea of a simple walk in a beautiful city, with new experiences around every corner, then you would love Naples whether there for work or as a…

--

--

Dan Hanley
Dan Hanley

Written by Dan Hanley

I write about nonprofits, fundraising, recruiting, self-care. Human rights, domestic violence, borders, and refugee focused. Sober. Vegan. https://altrui.org/

Responses (1)