Pizza, and Vespas, and Volcanoes Oh My!

I arrived in Naples at about 2pm from Rome. The train rumbled to a halt and I got off just barley managing all my luggage. I headed for the metro as per my instructions and fumbled down the stairs and onto the metro. I stayed close by the doors to bail at the first stop. Once I got off I lugged my bags up the stairs to the street I followed my directions and walked uphill towards the National Museum of Naples, then uphill towards to street, then uphill towards the right building. By the time I got to the building and rang the bell I was hot and sweaty and out of breadth. Giovanni’s voice came through the intercom asking who I was. I told him and he directed me up to the 4^th floor. I walked through the gate towards the stairs to find there was on stairs and all I could think was “You’ve got to be friggin kidding me!!!!!!” I got up to the 2^nd floor before stopping to catch my breath a bit. Apparently Giovanni got worried and did a little search and rescue finding me stranded with 2 bags and a pink face. He grabbed my suitcase and carried it the rest of the way commenting that it must be full of rocks as it was so heavy.

Upon arrival in the hostel’s office/foyer I found Anastasia, an Aussie girl that was on the same train sitting already. I joined her and we sat and checked in and paid, then listened to Giovanni’s info on Naples and the sights of the city. He colored coded a map of the city for us and showed us the sights from books on the area and how to get to the big stuff: Pompeii, Capri, Herculaneum, Amalfi Coast and so on. About half way through the “talk” another new arrival arrived, Payal an East Indian girl from Oregon. So we started again and went over everything from places to avoid to the best coffee and pizza places in Naples, which was good as he went through it so fast the first time I missed half of it. After we finished the “talk” he showed each of us to our rooms and around the hostel, you know kitchen, bathrooms, terrace, the important stuff. The hostel was empty as everyone was out and about in the city during the middle of the day. So once I had settled in Anastasia and I decided to head out and see part of the city and follow the infamous pink line through Naples.

As we walked out to follow the line to the harbor we both got a hunger pang and since it was not after 3pm and I hadn’t eaten anything but a croissant 6 hours earlier we stopped off and bought a strange pasta quiche thing. We ate on the steps of a church in the sunshine and chatted about our travels. When our snacks were gone we got up and continued the walk down the harbor. We walked down the street of wood carved miniature figures. They are hard to describe but think little wood carved crèches, but with various occupations such as bakers, woodcutters, fisherman and what not. We continued on down the hill, past the Church of Gesu Nuovo with its strange flat front with little pyramids all over it. You have to see it, it’s hard to describe. We stopped off for a gelato along the way and then continued through the city to the harbor.

We walked on the bridge set up around the castle and looked over the excavations being done underneath and around the castle of the old roman ruins, all the while dodging guys selling various designer knock-off purses, sunglasses and shoes. Then we walked along the harbor past the new palace and to the Palazzo Real shopping center which is reminiscent of the Milan shopping center with its glass ceiling. We took a few pictures then continued on to the “Egg Fortress”. Giovanni told us 2 stories about the fortress and why it was called the Egg Fortress. One being that the fortress was shaped like an egg and the other that the city was cursed after Vesuvius’ explosion and the fortress was built with a magical egg in the walls and that as long as the egg was safe the city would be safe from the volcano. Who knows which it is? If nothing else it is an entertaining story for the tourists.

We walked along the water front and then walked uphill on a different street back towards the hostel. We stopped off at a local grocery store and bought some yogurt, wine, and salad fixings for dinner. Then on the walk back to the hostel we contemplated going to get pizza at the famous Gino Sorbillo’s. According to Giovanni, Gino Sorbillo’s grandfather was the inventor of calzone (pretty cool, huh?). We stopped by but they weren’t open yet and remembered Giovanni telling us they didn’t open for dinner until 7pm. So when we arrived back we started meeting the other hostel goers and ended up on the terrace with the group talking about food. A little bit later Giovanni let us know he was taking a couple of hours off to go for a drink with someone so we were on our own.

After much discussion we decided to take a group trip to Sorbillo’s for pizza. The group consisted of 2 Aussie sisters from Adelaide, an Aussie couple from Melbourne, Sophie an Aussie from Sydney, Anastasia and me. I was the only American and other me there were 2 German guys and everyone else was Australian. But we had a grand time sitting and talking. We walked down as a group and got pizza and then carried it back to the hostel and ate together on the terrace. I had an amazing pizza called the Diavola that was tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and spicy sausage. It was so yummy, by far one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. We spent the night eating, drinking wine or beer and talking. It was actually really fun listening to them all talk about Australia and what part they were from and what had been happening recently back home. Sophie and Anastasia had both been out of Australia for almost a year so they got a chance to catch up on the local news and I got a chance to learn a few things and prep for March. We broke up and finally went to bed after midnight.

I got up the next morning at 8:30 and got dressed. I met Anastasia and Sophie and we walked to the ATM for cash then got a cup of coffee and walked back to the metro station. We took the metro to the Circumvesuviana train to head out to Vesuvius. Unfortunately we weren’t paying attention and got on the train going the wrong way which was filled with several very odd and freaky people. When we figured it out we got off and waited about 15 minutes for the train going the other way. We got off at Barra which was the first station on the way back that would allow us to get on the right train towards Sorrento. So we had a half hour stop in Barra and spent it walking into the city for a snack and some drinks. We got back in time to catch the correct train which was packed so we stood together. When we got off at the right stop we found the travel agency for the Vesuvius tours and went in to buy tickets.

After a little waiting around we all climbed in the bus and were driven up the hill to the parking area of Vesuvius. From there we had to hike the rest of the way. I got a calf cramp walking up hill along with a dry sore throat and so went a little slower then Anastasia and Sophie. I met them at the top and we walked around the rim with a pause for pictures and a chat with a British family. I will say it was a little anti climatic once we got to the caldera. I was at least hoping for a little puff of smoke or something but it was just a big crater. Sophie bought all of us whistle pops and talked and ate around and then back down the hill. We climbed into the bus and were driven back down the hill to the city again. Once there we walked until we found a restaurant and sat down for a little lunch with some white wine. I had some really good pasta.

After lunch we walked down to Herculaneum, which is a lesser known and smaller sight of ruins from the same volcano eruption and buried Pompeii. There we ran into Anik the Italian Swiss girl from the hostel and the 4 of us walked through the ruins and admired the ruins some of which still had intact frescoes on the walls. There was even one courtyard that had a fountain that was in the process of being restored. It was amazing to see what had survived the eruption. We walked around and read the little signs and stuff while walking through the old city. After a little while left and took the train back to Naples and from there split up. Sophie went to go buy a bottle of perfume for a friend and Anastasia and I walked a different route looking for a pharmacy so I could get some more Kleenex. My nose was starting to run and I was almost out of Kleenex, plus it’s always good to have extra for when the public bathrooms are out of TP. After our pharmacy pit stop we walked back to the hostel were we sat around talking with everyone and sharing our days. Anastasia and I made our salads and ate out on the terrace with Sophie and some of the newcomers. At about 9:30 Sophie convinced Anastasia and I to go with her to the bakery and get some desert. So out we went against Gionvanni’s advice and ran down the street to bakery and each got a desert of some kind and walked back. We were gone less then a half hour and when we got back we greeted some more new arrivals then settled in to go to bed. It was a nice quiet night.

I got up Saturday morning to find Sophie packing up, and my nose running. Yes the cold started. Sophie was checking out that morning and we were planning to go to Capri before she headed down the coast to Pisano. Since she was busy I was going to go get a cup of coffee when Giovanni invited me to join him for coffee at Gambrinus, his favorite coffee shop. I agreed and so we walked downstairs and pulled out his BMW motorcycle. Giovanni put a helmet on me and told me to hop on the bike. It was easier said then done as I was wearing a skirt. Luckily it was my black stretchy one that I was able to creatively tuck in so it wouldn’t fly up. We took off like a bullet, zooming through the streets of Naples, dodging cars and other motorcycles as well as pedestrians. It is my first ever motorcycle ride that I can remember and boy was it a way to start. It’s not a long ride down to Gambrinus and when we got there I climbed off and followed Giovanni in holding my helmet. Once inside Giovanni bought me a cappuccino and a sfogliatella, which is a famous Neopolitan pastry with a thin crunchy fried outer shell that’s filled with sweet ricotta cheese. It was an awesome pastry and I as soon as I find another Neapolitan bakery either on this trip or when I get home I’m totally going to eat those things. They are wonderful. So we ate and drank our coffee and about 10 minutes. Giovanni was nice and bought it all and then we jumped back on the bike and headed back to the hostel.

Once back I found Sophie about ready to go. We discussed our plan to get to and from the ferry and Giovanni listened to us and tried to dissuade us from going as a rain storm was going to be rolling in pretty soon. We figured we might as well at least try to go as who knew when we’d get back to Naples. So off we went walking down the pink line to the harbor. We found the offices and bought tickets on the next ferry over to Capri. We also checked the returns and found Sophie could take a ferry straight to Positano instead of going to Sorrento then taking the bus down the coast. And I could obviously get a ferry back to Naples really easily. So it ended up working out perfectly. After we boarded our ferry and got seats upstairs we both fell asleep and slept the entire ride over.

The ferry pulled into Capri harbor and we disembarked and went straight to tourist information to find out where to store Sophie’s bag. After a little confusion and several laps along the harbor we found the luggage storage was in the back room of a t-shirt store. Sophie dropped off her bags and we started walking around. Our first stop being buying gelato and an organic gelato place that I must say was absolutely amazing and probably some of the best gelato I had in all of Italy. Then we went back to the harbor and bought our tickets to the Blue Grotto. We had a little while so we sat on the pier and ate our gelato and waited ever so patiently for our boat to board. We saw a huge group of Japanese tourist coming onto the pier and boarding a boat next to us. A few minutes later we boarded another boat then took off on our shuttle boat to the Grotto. The original plan was to do the island boat tour but it wasn’t running due to rough seas on the other side of the island so the Blue Grotto was it.

It was a 20 minute boat shuttle to the Grotto and once there we had to wait patiently for our turn to board the dingy boats that go into the Grotto. Once we got in I was in the front of the boat by myself sitting on the bottom of the boat and Sophie and another American couple were sitting in the back all piled up. So I will admit going to the Blue Grotto is kind of a rip off as it’s 10 euros for the shuttle and another 9 euros to go in the grotto which usually only lasts about 3 minutes. I was sitting watching people and boats going in through this tiny hole in the cliff wall and soon enough we were headed that way too. They have a chain set up for the boat guys to use to pull the boats through the little hole and they have to pretty much Limbo there way in. Once inside it is absolutely unreal!!!!!!! The cave is pitch black at the back and the water glows to the most amazing electric blue shade I have ever seen. Sorry kids, I tried to get a good picture but it just didn’t come out so you’ll all have to go and experience for yourself. But to make it even better the boat guy in our boat was singing opera in a beautiful tenor voice. So I got to stare and crazy water and listen to some opera to boot. After our couple of minute ride the boat headed back towards the opening and just as we were about to go through I was under the cave wall that dips down and everyone ducks under when a swell came and I had my face about 2 inches from rock. It was almost a very bad ending to a very cool experience. But I survived and made it out safely and even made it back into the big boat without taking a drink.

Once back on the island we walked around the harbor a bit then decided to head up to the city via the funicular. We got out and started walked around and looking in the shops. I’ll be honest we looked through the windows at the designer shops and drooled. We ended up going to a restaurant for a little lunch. We sat down on the patio and each got a glass of wine and decided to split a big salad (neither of us were that hungry). So we sat and ate and drank and looked out down the cliffs to the harbor. Sophie had an admirer in one of the waiters so we each got a free glass of wine and stayed a little longer at the restaurant talking. The waiters at the patio tarp covering open just in time for the rain to start. So when it was about time to go catch our ferries so we headed out into the rain and ran through the city to the funicular and took it down the hill. There the rain died down again so we got another gelato (yes, it was that good). We ate and picked up Sophie’s stuff and bought our ferry tickets and chatted a few more minutes. Then we said our goodbyes after trading email information. I headed over to my ferry and she to hers.

I got a seat on the ferry and almost immediately went to sleep as I was really tired and the wine didn’t help. Once I got back to Naples I walked back up from the harbor and dropped off my stuff at the hostel. Everyone was starting to come back from their excursions and right about the time I was ready to head out to Sorbillo’s pizza the monsoon started. Let me tell you it was pouring rain and I was looking out at sheets of water coming down and gave up on that idea especially when Giovanni decided to cook pasta for everyone. We sent in Michael an Australian bloke who had arrived the day before to help Giovanni cook as he was a chef at a Neapolitan restaurant in Melbourne. The rest of us set up a table and benches/chairs in the foyer/office and set the table. Then we pulled out the beer and wine and set the table up for dinner with 15 people. Giovanni called us when the Putanesca was ready and we lined up chow hall style to get a plastic bowl of pasta. What made it even for chow hall style was the pasta was made in one giant pot (the biggest I’ve ever seen, totally restaurant style) and served into the bowl with a giant soup ladle. As each bowl was filled we walked back and grabbed seats at the table squeezing together to make enough room. Let’s just say we all got really friendly that night. I opted not to drink alcohol hoping to care for my cold instead. Dinner was amazing some of the best pasta I had in all of Italy.

After dinner was over we cleared the table and Giovanni pulled out his guitar and it was like a campfire sing along minus the campfire and toasted marshmallows. Giovanni had the whole set up, the guitar and the harmonic on a brace around his neck so he could play both. So we all spent the night crowded into the foyer listening to Giovanni play songs that we would try and remember the words to. We were good at the chorus but the verses were not so much. But regardless we had a famous time trying and laughing at each other when we came up with the wrong words. The sing along went on for hours and we drank, sung and listened to the rain. Rory the Irish guy and his singing and caustic sense of humor and Lizzy and her ditzy nature had me cracking up the entire night. Overall it was one of the more fun nights I spent in a hostel. We finally broke up and went to bed about midnight.

The next morning was Sunday and I got up and showered before the crowds hit the bathrooms. Giovanni invited me for coffee again so I went back and changed out of my skirt and into a pair of shorts. We headed out after pulling out the bike and putting helmets on. He started with a detour to go get gas then we drove down to Gambrinus and I enjoyed yet another cappuccino and sfogliatella. After our breakfast he offered to give me a tour of the city on the bike. Of course I agreed, I mean what better way to see Naples then on the back of a motorcycle. So we took off driving along the water then up into the hills around Naples. At one point we were speeding along like a bat out of hell and Giovanni had to slow down to tell me I was squeezing him too hard with my legs. I apologized and tried to relax but it’s hard when you feel like you might go flying off the back of a bike speeding around the curvy hill roads above Naples. After about an hour of driving we headed back to the hostel.

Once back I took some cold medicine and headed out to catch the metro and train to Pompeii. I sat on the train and listened to my music and after a half hour or so got off at my stop. I showed my ticket for Pompeii and got a map from the guards at the gate. Then I headed out walking around. Between my cold and the terrain around the ruins had to concentrate to walk around without falling on my face. I was feeling nauseas and tired and walking around in the sun wasn’t helping me any. After a couple of hours of fighting my way through my icky feeling I gave up and headed towards the ampi-theater to see the last big thing before leaving and there I ran into my friend Rory and told me I looked like crap, wasn’t that nice of him. We sat together and talked for a while and I actually started feeling a little more normal. We left and about the same time and I followed Rory’s directions to go see the ancient brothel. It is quite the destination and I had to get in line to get in it. It is one of the better preserved buildings in the city and there are frescoes of each woman’s specialty above the doors to there room. It was entertaining to say the least. After that little detour I left Pompeii almost colliding with a super hot guy in my attempt to dodge a big puddle.

When I got outside I still wasn’t feeling well and opted to get a snack and a drink to have while waiting for the train. I was hoping it was a blood sugar issue that was making me nauseas and woozy. I caught the train and had to stand for the first 10 minutes until a seat opened up. I chilled and looked out the window and relaxed on the way back to Naples. When I got in I walked back to the hostel and checked my email and relaxed hoping I would start to feel better. I had rallied the troops for another group trip to Sorbillo’s when Giovanni came in and spoiled my plans by saying that Sorbillo’s is always closed on Sundays. So much for my plan! But Giovanni decided he would do another cooking session this time with the help of Mama (Payal’s mother who we all called Mama). Tonight the menu was pasta with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). We moved the table back in and set it up again. We ate together as one big crazy group. The pasta the second night was good but not nearly as good as the Putanesca from the night before. After dinner we broke down the table and cleaned up the kitchen and foyer. Then broke up into small groups and talked. I got some India advice from Payal and Mama then sat down and wrote in my journal and was generally quite. I went to bed pretty early and slept really well thanks to my Nyquil!

I slept in and woke up whenever I woke up which was 9am. But there is something really nice about not having to wake up to an alarm. I got up and took a shower which started out warm and ended up being cold. I got out and dressed and organized my stuff as I would be departing the next day for Rome again. Giovanni wasn’t going to have a chance to take anyone to coffee so he made his own and gave all of us cups. It was pretty tasty but I wanted more caffeine so I headed out to the local bakery and had a cappuccino and sfogliatella and sat on the patio and wrote in my journal. When I got back to the hostel it was quite so I did a little laundry in the sink and changed into my jeans as it was a little chilly outside (a sign of the impending fall). Then I headed out to the National Museum in Naples. There I wandered through the exhibits on jewelry, statues, frescoes from Pompeii, glass, bronze and clay containers of various sorts. I spent several hours wandering around and admiring everything. I even had to laugh when I saw the actual fresco which is used as the cover for the HBO Rome series. I took a picture of it for my Dad.

When I finished up at the museum I went back to the hostel and relaxed and talked with Rory. I checked my email and chilled for the afternoon. I again rallied the troops again and at 7pm when Sorbillo’s opened Giovanni called and made a reservation for all 12 of us to go have pizza. This time we stayed in the restaurant and ate at one giant table. I tried the Mondial pizza which had mozzarella cheese, black olives (with the pits), and tomatoes on it. It was okay but the olives were really salty and it was a pain to have to spit the pits out. I really wish I had gotten the Diavola again for my last Neapolitan pizza. But regardless it was still a tasty dinner. When we finished dinner we all walked to the bakery and we got some pastries for dessert. After we got back I spent some time reading and writing in my journal. When the new arrivals came we hung out and talked with them for awhile. We all oogled Todd’s I phone and he had fun showing how to use it. I finally went to bed about midnight and slept very well.

I got up at about 8:30 and felt horribly. I got dressed and packed up all my stuff then went out to get coffee at my local bakery. A couple people came with me and we sat out on the patio talking and drinking. About 11am we went back to the hostel and met Lizzy and Giovanni. I said my goodbyes to Giovanni, and got a little bottle of champagne for it, and the rest of the people. Emma, Lizzy and I walked down to the station together and then split up. I got my ticket and found my train and climbed on for the 4 hour journey back to Rome.

Overall Naples was wonderful and I had an amazing time there. I loved staying with Giovanni and everyone else that I met there and there were a few over my 5 days. I can’t say enough about the city and would encourage anyone considering going to Naples to go and not worry about the crime everyone talks about. I didn’t have any problems and I’m sure if you’re careful you won’t either. But Now I’m off to Rome and then Athens, Yeah!!