Two months later, and I'm finally getting to post day six of our trip to Italy. Whew, life has picked up here on base in Del Rio, and life is by no means boring, but it hasn't left much time for editing pictures. The good news is, I'm almost completely finished with them, and ready to make a book. I'm so excited to see the finished product!!
After our Journey out to the Island of Capri from Sorrento, we packed up our luggage, and got back on the train to Rome, making a pit stop halfway through in Naples. The original plan was to stay a night in Naples, but after visiting, I'm rather glad we hadn't, as the city itself has deteriorated greatly in the recent global economic downturn. Unfortunately, in recent years, this great metropolis of grand cuisine, art, and culture has been overrun by the crime, and the economy only continues to decline. Ornate buildings stand like ancient dinosaurs, and exquisite restaurants and museums are tucked away like hidden treasure amidst streets cluttered with trash and overrun by gang violence and shady dealings in narrow alleyways.
Though I was rather content not staying the night in this chaotic city, I was so glad we stopped to check it out. Naples has so much culture, it's like a whirlwind of sites, smells, and tastes that hit you in the face and knock you over the second you step foot in it's bustling streets. Every nook and cranny had a new experience tucked into it, and I really do wish I could have at least spent another day visiting some of the famous museums here, such as the museum that contains a bulk of the artifacts found during the excavations at Pompeii.
Our one mission, and our absolute favorite part of visiting Naples was the pizza. If you want to find the best pizza in Italy... or the best pizza in the world for that matter, you will find it here. We opened up our travel guide, and read about this place known as the "Home of Pizza". Apparently this restaurant is where the Margherita Pizza started. I can't even express to you the explosion of flavors in my mouth. Stephen and I took our first bite (with a knife and fork, as it's too thin and saucy to eat with hands), and we immediately looked at one another with the biggest smiles on our faces! What makes a Napoli Margherita Pizza is the wood fired oven it's cooked in, the dough that remains paper thin, soft and stretchy even after it's cooked, sweet tomatoes crushed into a fresh and juicy sauce, globs of fresh mozzerella, and finally topped with fresh basil leaves. The flavors just light up every sensation in my mouth, and are incomparable to any pizza I've tasted anywhere else I've visited in Itally, let alone anything in the states. Buonissimo!
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| The pizza we had at the "Home of Pizza" in Napoli. It was so dark inside, it was hard to get a picture! |
This little hole in the wall restaurant was very rustic to say the least! It was so busy, I have to say the service wasn't the greatest. Order all the wine you want up front, because chances are they are not coming back! Might as well just order a pitcher, because the wine was cheap, and they served it in cups rather than wine glasses, which we thought to be so interesting. In fact, the wine was cheaper than the water!! However, it didn't taste like cheap wine, and one bite of the pizza and you will definitely forgive the service!! After all, you can only do your best as a waiter when the people are literally causing the place to burst at the seams because of it's popularity!
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| More pizza just lining the streets in hole-in-the-wall eateries all over. |
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| Handmade Pasta hung from rustic walls on almost every corner |
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| Fresh tomatoes practically lined the streets |
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| I had to somehow capture the busyness of the city, the chaotic manner of crossing the dangerous streets, with fast cars intertwined with lots of people, and a serious lack of organization! |
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