We arrived on a rainy Friday night from Catania and took a taxi to our charming apartment in the historic center - “Centro Storico’. Our host, Paolo, met us on the street and led us through the enormous gate and up a flight of stairs to our apartment. In the morning we discovered how grand a setting we landed. Turns out his apartment is part of 17th century palace with 12 foot ceilings. Although our digs were modern with up to date appliances, it was accessed by a 24 foot broad staircase that made you feel like royalty. The archway that led out to the street was adorned with a 400 year old fresco. 

 

Naples is an ancient city that is adept at being quite modern. It has a reputation for being gritty but that is only because it has to accommodate 3,000 years of infrastructure. It is a marvel to walk along streets older than Rome and log onto the internet with Google maps. 

 

Naples is a very walkable city. There are many ‘pedestrian only’ sections and numerous crosswalks on streets. We ambled freely along the avenues and were delighted with the friendly energy of the city and its citizens. The shops we passed were filled with animated conversations by costumers and diners. 

 

There are two particular buildings that we like to visit while traveling; churches and coffee shops. In Naples there seemed to be a magnificent church every other block. It is grounding to step inside a church and take in its quite reverence. We like to light a candle at an altar and pause to offer payers for family and friends. Speaking of being grounded, we also like to sip the hot beverage that is brewed with grounds; coffee! Here is an article I wrote about our communing with coffee while in Naples. 

 

Unbeknownst to us our visit to Naples coincided with their winning the Italian soccer Championship this year. It had been three decades since their last championship. The blue and white bunting of the team’s colors still festooned the streets and shops throughout the downtown area. Streamers and banners were all over and created a festive atmosphere for our wanderings and wonderings.

 

Another insight into the psyche of Naples is their adoration of the late Argentinian soccer player, Diego Maradona. Maradona is the heart and soul of Naples soccer. Naples is a blue collar town overshadowed by the well heeled cities to the North; think Rome, Florence and Venice. In the 1980’s Maradona brought glory to Naples soccer by winning championships and trophies for the city’s soccer team. In an homage to their adopted son residents have painted the sainted Maradona on walls throughout the city. Some images had him as an angel with wings while others as a king with a crown. 

 

One of the reasons for visiting Naples was to explore its pizza scene. Naples is the Mecca of Pizza and I wanted to taste and see its offerings. We decided to limit our pilgrimage to the heart of the city as there were dozens of options within a square mile. What we soon discovered is that there were two kinds of shops; those with lines with over an hour wait and those with under a half hour wait. We decided for the later and were not disappointed. 

 

Now here is why Neapolitan pizza is so special. It uses particular ingredients that make it unique in flavor and feel. The flour is the regional '00' from Caputo and the tomatoes are San Marzano, grown near the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. The pies are cooked in a wood fired oven for approximately 90 seconds and drizzled with local olive oil. When it is done it is served ‘wallet style’. The circular pizza is folded twice and held like sandwich. There is nothing quite like it in the world. The chewy yet toasty crust, the sweet tomato sauce and the licorice bite of basil. I have written a separate article here on our pizza crawl.

 

Naples is a fortunate survivor of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. Just to the south are two of its sister cites who were not as blessed; Herculaneum and Pompeii. These two metropolis' were famously entombed in ashes for 1700 years. Since their discoveries they have revealed incredible insights into daily life of Antiquity, especially the era in which Jesus and Paul lived. 

 

We had toured Pompeii a few years back and enjoyed walking the immense city.  This time we wanted to visit the world famous Archaeological Museum of Naples. There are not enough superlatives to describe this museum. It houses the recovered remnants of all of Pompey and Herculaneum. The exhibits are stunning. Room after breath-taking room are the original technicolor painted walls of the villas and homes of Pompeii. One is humbled by the splendor and craftsmanship of the artists. An additional delight are the Farnese marble collection. Here is the world’s largest collection of statuary from antiquity. All the ruins of Rome, Ephesus and Athens come to life when you walk among these pristine marbles. 

 

On Sunday we made a day trip to the Amalfi Coast. We purchased round trip tickets on a ferry that took us to Positano and Amalfi, with brief stops in Sorento and Capri. It was a great way to access these impossibly remote towns perched on cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Salerno. These picture postcard villages are both charming and intriguing. They boast some of the best limoncello in all of Italy and delicious gelato. What’s not to like! 

 

Our journey back to the Naples harbor allowed us to watch the sun setting on the western horizon. The yellow red orb radiated for a few moments in the clouds. It made us think of pizza and our dinner to come.