Italia - Napoli

In the middle of our Roman tour we took a side trip to Napoli aka Naples. Napoli is known as the home of Pizza and I can tell you they sure know how to make it right :) For those of you that have been to Napoli, I am fairly sure that you would agree with me when I say it is one of the loudest, most chaotic places in western Europe. I felt like I had stepped into a whole other world. When I was in Italy in 2005, we visited the city, but I don't remember much about it. This time I think it will remain in my memory.

Beginning even before we left the train station we had somehow managed to attract three stay dogs. I'm not kidding here, we couldn't get rid of them....they followed us across the street and then back around and almost into a cafe. We had to hid out for a bit before they would leave. Its as though we were being followed by creepy men....Once we finally lost the dogs we headed for lunch!! Pizza of course, what else are you going to eat in Napoli. We were recommended a couple of places, rival shops in fact. We picked the shop with more options. It was packed and I know why. The pizza was incredible, and they were incredibly efficient. The shop was quite massive, it probably held at least 60 people and all they served was pizza, coke, water and Italian beer. I don't remember exactly what I ordered, but its not what I got (no worries it was still great). I ended up with a pizza with fresh mozzarella, baby tomatoes and basil. I ate pretty much the entire thing, and I learned something new as well. According to the locals sitting at the table with us, the pizza is to be eaten with a knife and fork (we knew that) and that the crust is supposed to be left on the plate, meaning that you eat just the inside. The majority of those around us, ate it just that way.

After our glorious meal we were on our way....a walking tour of Napoli as told by our trusty tour book (I know you must think we are total dorks, but to be honest I would not have known any reason to go to Napoli without the suggestions and history from the book). We did get a bit lost at the start, but finally made it....we also ended up backtracking but after eating an entire pizza it was ok to walk a bit more. We began at a Piazza dedicated to Dante, which was obvious not only by the giant monument, but by the plethora of book stores on the surrounding streets. As we continued down the main road we were confronted by noise like I have never heard in such a small space. With horns blaring, people shouting and rushing past it was a bit overwhelming. I would say I got over it, but by the end of the day I was ecstatic to get on the train back to Rome. So as we wandered through the streets, just as in most other Italian cities hawkers tried selling us their wares, anything from umbrella's to bras and everything in between. The scenery on the walk was varied, from beggars to large wealthy banks with large art collections we saw it all. The old Palace with statues of every ruler ever to have lived there (I think it was only 7, although maybe 8). The bay, which was beautiful, but rather grey and not as lively as I would have expected, seemed to be from another time. One of the reasons we went to Napoli was to honor Alyse's grandparents. They had met, or been married there and had always spoke very fondly of it. As Alyse put it, "I could see the charm they must have seen..." Then we headed back to view a couple of churches along the route back to the train station, but of course not without stopping for a treat. (I'll have to find the name of it). It was a pastry filled with ricotta and something else, people love them, but Alyse and I weren't convinced. We both prefer Gelato, but hey its worth a shot.

The Gesu Nuovo Church was quite peculiar. The outside is covered in these Pyramid shaped cement blocks and its very odd looking. But the inside was breathtaking. I didn't take any photographs inside as they were in the middle of a service and I felt that it would have been rude. But it was spectacular. Especially in the evening. The entire church just glowed and was brimming with people, people praying, waiting for confession, lighting candles in honor of family, saints....it was a lively affair and it was magnificent. I was very pleased to be seeing it.

Soon after our visit to the church it began to get dark and neither of us had an desire to be wandering around Napoli at night. It is a very rough city known for its crime and mob histories. As we made our way back to the train station we couldn't help but just wander a bit. The city seemed to come alive even more at night. Shops became homes and streets/an open area became living rooms and space for socializing. There were no boundaries. It didn't matter if your shop had been for fish or clothes it was put away and out came your drinks and food, in addition to music and maybe even a disco ball. As we strolled down one street we were basically in the midst of a small disco....it was a bit entertaining to see and slightly odd at the same time.

All in all our trip to Napoli was an adventure and it began as one of the most stressful days of our trip. It is hard to explain the intensity of the city. It seems to never stop and being so loud and over-crowded it was difficult to bare at the start. I don't know if it actually became easier as the day went on, or I just got better at ignoring it. We took a slow and relaxing train back to Rome to spend our last night together before I headed off to Vienna.