Napoli {day 1}
last week, Nick had Thursday evening and all of Friday free, so we decided to venture outside of Rome for the first time. i had done some research on Orvieto to the north, but we eventually settled on Naples, and i'm so glad we did. (i'm sure we'll love Orvieto too, when we make it up there!)
Rick Steves' Italy 2018 has been our Bible since we arrived, and he describes Naples as "Italy in your face". we weren't quite sure what that meant, but we were excited to find out -- and looking forward to exploring the archaeological museum, the churches, and the city in general.
i booked our train tickets a few days before we left. in the interest of economy, we opted for the regional (slow train) on the way down, which would take about 2 hours (tickets were €27 per adult, no charge for kids under 15). coming back, however, the same regional train must have been making four hundred stops because the trip duration was listed as 3 hours 45 minutes! so we splurged on the Frecciarossa high-speed train, which makes the journey in 1 hour, for €45 per adult. per Rick Steves' recommendation, i booked us a room at the Grand Hotel Europa, just across the street from the train station.
as soon as Nick returned from his afternoon duties at the college on Thursday, we got everything loaded up and walked down the hill to the bus stop to catch the 64 bus to Termini station. the scrupulous reader may recall that this was the same bus and same route on which we were fined for not validating our bus ticket a few weeks ago. needless to say, we successfully validated our tickets and breathed a sigh of relief (of course, no one came to check them this time...) but the bus was running about ten minutes late, and we arrived at Termini just a minute before our train was supposed to depart. by the time we made it into the station and determined which platform we needed, it was already 5 minutes past departure time. by some act of God, the train was still sitting there ... cue us running with Greta in the stroller and Cece in the Ergo (cackling with glee at the bouncy ride) to find our train car and clamber aboard. in my haste, i mis-read the numbering on the side of the car (it said 2 for second class, but it actually was coach number 4, which is where we had reserved our seats), and i strode confidently through two coaches before seeing a sign that said coach number 6. thoroughly confused, i turned back to find Nick waving me down to tell me the coach we originally entered was our coach. after all that, we got up to our quartet of seats to find two of them occupied. after some deliberation, Nick politely showed the men our reservation with the seat numbers and they left without a fuss. (i think some of the super-cheap or last-minute fares don't guarantee seat selection, so they were just picking seats at random.)
we settled in for the extremely relaxing ride to Napoli. i think train travel really is the most comfortable ... the seats are spacious, you have room to move about with access to the dining car and the WC, and the views (at least in Italy!) are spectacular. the girls were thrilled not to have to wear seatbelts. the two-hour journey passed quickly, and my heart skipped a beat when we caught our first glimpse of the Mediterranean sea.
we disembarked at Napoli Centrale station, keeping a close watch on our bags. as soon as we exited the train station, all of our senses were accosted at once. some woman was standing on the sidewalk screaming a fanatical tirade to the background music of honking horns and revving motorcycles; the scent of stale urine wafted towards us on the warm breeze; colorful graffiti was splashed over almost every building; and there were people everywhere, walking every direction on the sidewalk and across the street, slalom-ing through traffic that resentfully slowed down but didn't actually stop for them. Italy in your face, indeed.
we walked around the station and found our hotel, which was every bit as kitschy as promised (part of the charm for us!). i can't believe i forgot to take a picture of the room key, which was attached to a huge knob with a gaudy red tassel (impossible to misplace it). the room was air-conditioned, spacious by European standards, and clean, so all the rest was icing on the cake.
by this time it was 7:30 pm and we were all hungry. i had high hopes of eating at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which claims to be the oldest pizzeria in Naples, opened in 1870. its main claim to fame is that Elizabeth Gilbert ate here while on the journey that became the book Eat, Pray, Love (and thus Julia Roberts came here as well, while filming the movie). we set off on the fifteen-minute walk to the pizzeria. dusk was falling and there were no street lights. the sidewalks were crowded with people, and every time we crossed the street i felt like we were taking our life in our hands (even if there was a crosswalk, there are no pedestrian crossing lights -- you essentially just have to wait for a lull in the traffic, make up your mind and go, while making eye contact with the drivers of the oncoming cars so you know they see you). as much as i wanted to take pictures and capture the city, i definitely did not want to stick out as a tourist, so i just put on my game face and walked.
when we turned off the main road (Corso Umberto) to the side street where the pizzeria was located, things seemed a bit more calm. several restaurants had tables and chairs out on the sidewalks with welcoming lighting. but when we arrived at the pizzeria, there was already a large crowd of people outside the door, and we decided we just needed to get some food. Rick Steves to the rescue yet again -- in precisely this situation, he recommended eating at the arch-rival pizzeria across the street (no different from the Sheetz/Wawa rivalry, i assume).
so we headed over to Trianon da Ciro, which i think turned out to be the better choice for us for many reasons. first, Pizzeria da Michele has only a few indoor tables, and they serve only two varieties of pizza (marinara and margherita). Trianon da Ciro has an elegant and spacious marble interior, with close to 25 pizza toppings, much to our carnivorous delight. we ordered a margherita pizza for the girls to share, pizza diavola for me (with salami and spicy chilies), and pizza salsiccia e funghi for Nick (with sausage and mushrooms). each pizza was €8, so we were expecting 4-slice personal pan pizzas. OH NO. these pizzas were easily 12 inches across and they were unbelievably delicious. Neapolitan pizza dough is thin but chewy -- similar in some ways to naan. the toppings were so fresh and flavorful. we all ate until we were stuffed, but still didn't feel sick the way i often feel after over-indulging in Pizza Hut.
the couple sitting at the table next to us got the biggest kick out of Cecilia and how much she enjoyed her pizza. the woman made the Italian gesture for "delicious", pointing her index finger into her cheek and turning it. they both kept saying "ciao!" and "buonasera!" to the girls, and after they left, they knocked on the outside of the window by our table to wave goodbye and Cece finally said "ciao!" back to them.
our walk back to the hotel was a much less nerve-wracking experience than the walk over. all the streetlights had finally come on and there were fewer people on the sidewalks. we stopped into a little bakery called SfogliateLab to pick up some Neapolitan treats -- sfogliatelle and baba. the further south in Italy you go, the sweeter the pastries become! they wrapped them up in pretty paper and once we made it back to the hotel room, we all dug in.
after the girls got settled, Nick went out to explore a little on his own. when he came back an hour later, the girls were still up -- maybe the pastries weren't such a good idea. but eventually, everyone fell fast asleep.
to be continued...
Rick Steves' Italy 2018 has been our Bible since we arrived, and he describes Naples as "Italy in your face". we weren't quite sure what that meant, but we were excited to find out -- and looking forward to exploring the archaeological museum, the churches, and the city in general.
i booked our train tickets a few days before we left. in the interest of economy, we opted for the regional (slow train) on the way down, which would take about 2 hours (tickets were €27 per adult, no charge for kids under 15). coming back, however, the same regional train must have been making four hundred stops because the trip duration was listed as 3 hours 45 minutes! so we splurged on the Frecciarossa high-speed train, which makes the journey in 1 hour, for €45 per adult. per Rick Steves' recommendation, i booked us a room at the Grand Hotel Europa, just across the street from the train station.
as soon as Nick returned from his afternoon duties at the college on Thursday, we got everything loaded up and walked down the hill to the bus stop to catch the 64 bus to Termini station. the scrupulous reader may recall that this was the same bus and same route on which we were fined for not validating our bus ticket a few weeks ago. needless to say, we successfully validated our tickets and breathed a sigh of relief (of course, no one came to check them this time...) but the bus was running about ten minutes late, and we arrived at Termini just a minute before our train was supposed to depart. by the time we made it into the station and determined which platform we needed, it was already 5 minutes past departure time. by some act of God, the train was still sitting there ... cue us running with Greta in the stroller and Cece in the Ergo (cackling with glee at the bouncy ride) to find our train car and clamber aboard. in my haste, i mis-read the numbering on the side of the car (it said 2 for second class, but it actually was coach number 4, which is where we had reserved our seats), and i strode confidently through two coaches before seeing a sign that said coach number 6. thoroughly confused, i turned back to find Nick waving me down to tell me the coach we originally entered was our coach. after all that, we got up to our quartet of seats to find two of them occupied. after some deliberation, Nick politely showed the men our reservation with the seat numbers and they left without a fuss. (i think some of the super-cheap or last-minute fares don't guarantee seat selection, so they were just picking seats at random.)
we settled in for the extremely relaxing ride to Napoli. i think train travel really is the most comfortable ... the seats are spacious, you have room to move about with access to the dining car and the WC, and the views (at least in Italy!) are spectacular. the girls were thrilled not to have to wear seatbelts. the two-hour journey passed quickly, and my heart skipped a beat when we caught our first glimpse of the Mediterranean sea.
we walked around the station and found our hotel, which was every bit as kitschy as promised (part of the charm for us!). i can't believe i forgot to take a picture of the room key, which was attached to a huge knob with a gaudy red tassel (impossible to misplace it). the room was air-conditioned, spacious by European standards, and clean, so all the rest was icing on the cake.
 |
| first bidet sighting ... Greta said, "Look, Cece, a little sink just for you!" |
 |
| poorly lit but you get the idea. pretty much the only negative TripAdvisor reviews for this hotel mentioned the "outdated decor" like it was a bad thing ... |
by this time it was 7:30 pm and we were all hungry. i had high hopes of eating at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which claims to be the oldest pizzeria in Naples, opened in 1870. its main claim to fame is that Elizabeth Gilbert ate here while on the journey that became the book Eat, Pray, Love (and thus Julia Roberts came here as well, while filming the movie). we set off on the fifteen-minute walk to the pizzeria. dusk was falling and there were no street lights. the sidewalks were crowded with people, and every time we crossed the street i felt like we were taking our life in our hands (even if there was a crosswalk, there are no pedestrian crossing lights -- you essentially just have to wait for a lull in the traffic, make up your mind and go, while making eye contact with the drivers of the oncoming cars so you know they see you). as much as i wanted to take pictures and capture the city, i definitely did not want to stick out as a tourist, so i just put on my game face and walked.
 |
| Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi (our route from the train station) - photo credit here |
when we turned off the main road (Corso Umberto) to the side street where the pizzeria was located, things seemed a bit more calm. several restaurants had tables and chairs out on the sidewalks with welcoming lighting. but when we arrived at the pizzeria, there was already a large crowd of people outside the door, and we decided we just needed to get some food. Rick Steves to the rescue yet again -- in precisely this situation, he recommended eating at the arch-rival pizzeria across the street (no different from the Sheetz/Wawa rivalry, i assume).
so we headed over to Trianon da Ciro, which i think turned out to be the better choice for us for many reasons. first, Pizzeria da Michele has only a few indoor tables, and they serve only two varieties of pizza (marinara and margherita). Trianon da Ciro has an elegant and spacious marble interior, with close to 25 pizza toppings, much to our carnivorous delight. we ordered a margherita pizza for the girls to share, pizza diavola for me (with salami and spicy chilies), and pizza salsiccia e funghi for Nick (with sausage and mushrooms). each pizza was €8, so we were expecting 4-slice personal pan pizzas. OH NO. these pizzas were easily 12 inches across and they were unbelievably delicious. Neapolitan pizza dough is thin but chewy -- similar in some ways to naan. the toppings were so fresh and flavorful. we all ate until we were stuffed, but still didn't feel sick the way i often feel after over-indulging in Pizza Hut.
 |
| hard to see in the picture... while Vesuvius looms in the background, this lovely lady calmly holds a pizza in one hand and a glass of wine in the other |
the couple sitting at the table next to us got the biggest kick out of Cecilia and how much she enjoyed her pizza. the woman made the Italian gesture for "delicious", pointing her index finger into her cheek and turning it. they both kept saying "ciao!" and "buonasera!" to the girls, and after they left, they knocked on the outside of the window by our table to wave goodbye and Cece finally said "ciao!" back to them.
 |
| "clearly my parents have been holding out on me all this time!" |
 |
| a valiant effort |
 |
| where the magic happens |
our walk back to the hotel was a much less nerve-wracking experience than the walk over. all the streetlights had finally come on and there were fewer people on the sidewalks. we stopped into a little bakery called SfogliateLab to pick up some Neapolitan treats -- sfogliatelle and baba. the further south in Italy you go, the sweeter the pastries become! they wrapped them up in pretty paper and once we made it back to the hotel room, we all dug in.
after the girls got settled, Nick went out to explore a little on his own. when he came back an hour later, the girls were still up -- maybe the pastries weren't such a good idea. but eventually, everyone fell fast asleep.
to be continued...
I truly love your stories and daily updates about your travels with your family. You make them so interesting. We love you and miss you.
ReplyDelete