Hi From Naples
We shall not be moving to Naples. The city is a little rough around the edges and time is not permitting us to walk the nice shopping areas and/or to see the nice sections of the city. We assume such things exist. You are not doing justice to any city when you spend less than 6-10 days, but you can’t see everything as it should be seen.
Up this morning to a tray of breakfast food presented by Mrs. Barone. Some eggs, orange juice and two pieces of toast with cheese and ham in between. Out the big front door of the building we went and Marlene was nice enough to pose. Then, off to the nearby Metro station, which is practically new. The Naples Metro Linea #1 is very nice, much to our surprise. However, a bit noisy as the windows in the cars were open. Not sure why, as it wasn’t particularly warm. Maybe it’s something unique to Naples.
The most notable thing to see in Naples is the Archaeological Museum, located only three Metro stops from our room. Since the museum features the top items remaining from the excavation of Pompeii, which we’re planning on visiting tomorrow, it seems logical to visit. The items were amazing and just further proof of how sophisticated the Roman Empire was. The museum includes many great statues from the Farnese Collection. One photo shows Keaka in front of a statue from the 2nd century AD, while there’s also a photo of Hercules. Some of these statues stand 13 feet tall.
The museum building is old and large. The outside looks like all of the surrounding buildings, both old and dirty. The streets outside are all cobblestones. Just about any direction you turned it looked like the 1920s or 1930s. There’s no shine to the few sections of Naples that we saw. In one photo, Sophia and Keaka are standing close to the museum, as we were just beginning our walk up the hill to Starita pizza restaurant. Other photos show typical street scenes --- don’t forget to add the constant horn blowing. We walked down a very narrow Via Mater Dei to a large group of people gathered outside Starita. We were told the wait was one hour. Well, anything for pizza in Naples, though the gang was a bit tired and there wasn’t a chair within sight. The wait turned out to be 90 minutes. There’s a photo of the narrow street and the crowd in front of Starita. I was not surrounded by happy campers. Well, how was the pizza you ask? It was unique and big time all the way. The restaurant was quite a place and they’ve recently opened restaurants in New York and Atlanta under a different name. But, this was the real deal. I’ve never had pizza like this pizza. The scouting report said “famous for montanara pie – deep fried first”. So, we ordered this gem, which is actually simply a cheese pizza. They take the dough and deep fry it lightly and then put on the cheese and olive oil and bake the pizza quickly. Starita has great dough. I’ve never had anything like it ---- very light and soft and on the sweet side. What a great taste! Not much tomato sauce was used, but it was marvelous. The montanara was great and might just be all you’d need on a repeat visit. Marlene ordered her traditional sausage and onion pizza, which featured the great tomato sauce. I saw the cook making a pizza with peas, so I ordered that. It was the great dough, then a very light coating of cream, then the peas and ham on top of that, with the cheese on the very top. I believe it may have been better with the tomato sauce, but it was the first time I ever tried cream sauce on a pizza and it was great, but again, the dough carried the day. On the walk back to the Metro station, Keaka told me if he was down to his last meal he would have the deep fried pizza and broccoli. I asked why broccoli? Of course, he said he wanted something healthy. Oh, by the way, the big building to the left in another photo is the museum, as we were passing it on the way back from the delicious pizza.
We tried to catch the city double-decker tour bus to get a better overview of Naples, but it was near 5 pm and we couldn’t catch the last bus. So, we’re back in the room resting, which means we’re all on computers and phones, while Marz is lying on the bed snoring. There’s no telling if dinner is in the future, as the city has pretty well struck fear in our group. I’m told I’m not smart enough to know danger when I see it. Well, I am smart enough to keep quiet and not bother explaining that I’ve been down some pretty dark and scary streets dating way back to my teen years. I suppose Naples wouldn’t be the best spot nor time to meet my demise and leave the group some distance from home in Portland. And, exploring or even just going to dinner with folks who are afraid wouldn’t be that much fun. Usually the back up is a quick visit to McDonalds. However, here the McDonalds is in the train station, one dangerous mile from our room.
Off on the train to Positano on the Amalfi Coast tomorrow, with the stop to see the Pompeii ruins. We do have a bad weather forecast, with a 90% chance of rain and temperatures in the mid-60s. Not ideal. Oh, the train is supposed to be old and loaded with criminals. The report is to sit in the first car near the train engineer and hold on to everything you have. We’ll see. Our entire week in Positano was basically scheduled for sun, beach and doing nothing, so the week long weather forecast of rain and temperatures in the 50s doesn’t have us thrilled. It looks like lots of reading and umbrellas coming up.
The Wilsons
