After the tour of Pompeii, we headed to a local restaurant for authentic Margherita pizza from Naples. This product was carefully monitored so that the tomatoes, basil, grain, olive oil and cheese were all produced from the Campania region. The pizza chef had to be certified too. It was simple and delicious, and served with a side salad and a crisp local white wine. Barbara had told us that the worst drivers were from Naples (but also the jolliest people), and we saw this first hand. It was a slow crawl all the way into the city center along the water front. All over Italy, families go out walking after church and in the evenings, dressed in their Sunday best. This was a sunny and warm day so they were out in force. The “passeggiata” down the water front made for a painfully slow transit but we got a glimpse of the old Italian America’s cup boat Luna Rossa on display.
Naples had a huge port and possible the ugliest castle (built by the French apparently), that we had seen thus far. There was a massive central square with some gorgeous statues. Other than the pizza, Naples was also known for a specialty pastry that was a fried pasta shell filled with lemony ricotta called “Sfogliatella”, and one of the best places to buy it was in the square at a restaurant/bakery called Gambrinus. There were several bus tours that unloaded around the same time and the bakery was packed 3 deep, so instead we wondered off and had a espresso macchiato. (Another tip from Barbara was this shot of espresso with some foamed milk was the same price as a regular espresso..it became our new favorite and we ordered it as a “doppio” = double).
In the summer months the tour goes to Mt Vesuvius for a guided hike, and Naples is just a quick stop during the cooler months when the weather doesn’t cooperate. I think I had maximal absorption of history after Pompeii for the day, and with the traffic and the short time allotted, I wasn’t overly impressed with my first experience of Naples. The people were very friendly though, so I would go back again and spend more time there, (and bring Todd for the pizza!).
