Rosalyn D'mello: Queens of the Italian night

On the ferry leaving the island of Burano at dusk pic courtesyRosalyn DmelloBecause the high chairs and tables extending onto the pavements are arranged like invitations because the indigo sky greets us with its distinct hue informing us that though the sun has set and it is past 8 pm the evening has only just begun because our feet so tired from daytime explorations miraculously find the strength to continue their march because Macs Ruby Red lipstick enhances our personalities making spectacles of our skin tone or maybe because we are not alone by 9 pm unfailingly and with impressive regularity Mona and I become Queens of the Italian night There are travellers who tuck themselves in early so they can restore their bodies for the future that awaits them when they awake Not usWe are nocturnal explorers unbound by the limitations of cartography We find tentative destinations and then walk the streets like we own them like they belong to us We allow ourselves to get distracted by the sights we suddenly stumble upon we make commentaries on street signs we take pleasure in seducing policemen into smiling sheepishly at us we keep ourselves open to conversations with strangers During the day you could ostensibly call us tourists We visit monumental sites pay entry fees download audio guides and take photographs of everything that impress us But at night we are uninhibitedBecause we come from a reality that is both condemned and celebrated as third world we have few filters about what constitutes safe and unsafe European streets We trust our intuitions that have been finetuned through years of navigating streets that ought to be friendlier towards womens presences that could do much more to encourage womens loitering Online guides tell us to be wary of specific areas but because Napoli feels like a somewhat seamless city with one street urging you on to the next one inviting faccedilade leading you to explore another we do not exercise too much restraint as we navigate a city that feels overwhelmingly familiar We walk through gritty and unpretentious streets walk into dive bars and surprisingly cheap restaurants On our first evening in Napoli for example we followed a cyber suggestion and found ourselves at an institution where every drink on the menu was priced at one euro It was teeming with as many people as could be found in a single Mumbai local compartment all elated and happy drunk We had a few AperoSpritzes and proceeded towards a jazz bar stopping in between because we were lured by a boutique shop on a wayside streetThere we had excellent red wine and the choicest green olives The jazz bar was a bust it turned out to be a pretentious speakeasy where the bartenders wore white coats like mixologist doctors Yes there was what sounded like Billy Holiday singing in the background and plush red sofas and a superbly well stocked bar but it was cosmetic and expensive and after a small moment of indecision we decided to simply walk out and go elsewhere It wasnt a disappointment because on the way we had encountered so much of the citys past by way of arcades historic fountains grand edifices and random ruinsThis behaviour of ours hasnt been confined just to Napoli Even in Firenze and Venezia our nightly excursion was the days highlight In those cities more than in Napoli nighttime turned out to be the only time when we werent part of a swarming mass of tourists when we didnt have to wait in extensive unending lines to get in somewhere It was surreal navigating the canals of Venice at 2 am when the waterborne city feels like an abandoned ghost town when there isnt a single tourist for miles Our friends and us had no compunctions being the last to leave a bar Our friends lived just around the corner while we for costeffectiveness had chosen an Airbnb in neighbouring Mestre We were undaunted by the prospect of finding our way to the 24x7hour ferry to Piazzale Roma then taking the night bus home There was something deeply thrilling about having the luxury of public transport at that hourI always remember the feminist Shilpa Phadke when Ive had a successful latenight out She speaks frequently about the significance of the feminist claim to fun Fun in public spaces cannot be quantified or sometimes even explained she says How does one communicate the pleasure of asphalt under your feet the rush of finding the bus you want at a traffic signal and managing to jump into ithellip the exhilaration of wandering in your city at night laughing with your friends This is not simply fun its belonging to your city and having it belong to you I could argue theres something similarly exhilarating about doing all of that as two women in a foreign land When our male friends in Venice caringly offered to let us crash in their spare bedroom because it was past midnight we politely declined Are you sure you want to go back so late they asked Yes Mona replied Because we canDeliberating on the life and times of Everywoman Rosalyn DMello is a reputable art critic and the author of A Handbook For My Lover She tweets RosaParx Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates