64 - Naples - The Beautiful Lady with Ugly Shoes

So, we arrived back in Naples and settled in for our pet/house sit for the next 10 days.  Our house was in an area called Lago Patria that was a 3-minute walk to the beach and about a 30-minute drive to downtown Naples.  The house was great and once they warmed up to us, the animals were all great too!  Despite the fact that we'd met them all the night before when their humans were still around, Mika and Lucy (the dogs) kept a considerable distance and barked at us for an hour or so until they realized that we were their ticket to beach walks.  The cats are Oscar, Oren and Olivia.  Oscar was so friendly and immediately curious about us and every move we made.  He was affectionate and followed us everywhere (he even tried to go on our walks and balked when we made him go back home).  Oren and Olivia warmed up to us after a couple of days and turned out to also be very friendly. Both the dogs and cats also play very well together (especially Mika and Oren)!  We, of course, fell completely in love and wanted to take everyone one of them back home with us. 

No sooner had we settled in, than we started making plans to explore Naples.  Chelsea, the human for our furry clan, described Naples as " A beautiful lady with ugly shoes - just don't look down."  It didn't take us long to see what she meant. The city is amazing and there are so many sights and areas to visit but she is also a big city with all of the inherent issues.  Gone were the gleaming manicured little towns that we'd explored and we found ourselves somewhat overwhelmed by the scale of both people and sights.  As with most of these amazing Italian cities, everywhere you look seems like a photo op.  I was fascinated by the little streets and alleyways - at least when I didn't have to drive on them.

Taking our cues from both Roberto and Chelsea, we set out to see as much of Naples as we could.  Our first day, we decided to just meander the streets and the perfect place for such an endeavor was Spaccanapoli.  This is the nickname - literally translated it means Naples splitter - given to a street (or more apt a couple of streets) that travers the old historic section of Naples.  Walking along this area, one cannot help but be overwhelmed by the architecture, the people (obviously locals and tourists alike) and the food.  Naples is justifiably famous for its street food and Roberto (who still makes the best pizza) told us that we had to try a pizza fritta (fried pizza) as this was the original pizza.   We found a place with a huge line so we knew we were in the right place.  While it was delicious, we both agreed that we still prefer a baked pizza.  In the interest of quality control, we tried several pizza places - even stopping at a delicious Michelin starred restaurant at Roberto's recommendation.   Another lunch day we ordered a cuppo - a cone of various fried foods that were all delicious.  We also tried pasta in various forms and even bought some clams that Roberto told us buy to make Spaghetti alle Vongole (spaghetti with clams) at home.  I have to say that it may have been even better than the restaurant.  Not to be overshadowed, but we also enjoyed our fair share of local pastries (trying Roberto's favorite Easter desserts) and gelato.  It's a good thing there was a lot of walking both with and without dogs.

Next, we visited Herculaneum.  We'd planned to visit Pompeii but in Chelsea's opinion, Herculaneum was more interesting and I think she was right.  Buried completely under ash following the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, the city was not discovered until 1709.  I'd heard about Pompeii but never Herculaneum its nearby neighbor.  Although smaller than Pompeii, it's believed that Herculaneum was, in its day, a much wealthier city and seems to be better intact. 

Since we were so close, we also headed up to see Mount Vesuvius.  The drive up was gorgeous and we were excited about hiking to the top.  However, since we'd neglected to purchase tickets in advance and we didn't have cell service to purchase them on-line, we had to content ourselves with the amazing views from about 1/2 way up.  Next, we drove over to Pompei (the modern city is spelled with only one i) to catch a glimpse of this town and the ancient ruins of Pompeii.  The modern city was cute in its own right and we meandered around a bit, admiring the cathedral and the town cats!

We did stay home a few days to catch up on work things and play with the animals.  One day, we borrowed bikes from our hosts (yes, they gave us permission) and rode around our hometown area and the nearby lake.  We even happened upon a lady selling grilled artichokes.  We bought a tray and took them back to the house for an amazing lunch.

The next day, the weather was overcast with some rain so we decided to explore some Naples underground.  Our first stop was the Catacombe San Gennaro - the principal patron saint of Naples.  The tour of the catacombs was fascinating.  Our guide took us to both of the currently unearthed levels and gave details on the various spaces that were burial sites for bishops, wealthy families and everyone in between.  There are underground chapels and many of the family crypts still have mostly intact mosaics or fresco paintings.  Our guide even told us about the Miracle of San Gennaro.  Every year on September 19th, what is believed to be a vial of the saint's blood is put on display where believers pray for the blood to liquify.  Liquification of the blood is taken as a good sign.  We were told that blood failed to liquify in 2021, so we're all holding out hope for 2022.

From Catacombe San Gennaro, we walked over to Catacombe San Gaudioso.  To access this catacomb, we were first taken into the Santa Maria Basilica.  The Basilica was amazing to see and then we descended into the catacomb.  While much smaller, it was in many ways more interesting.  The paintings that have survived all of these years were fascinating.  Our tour guide was excellent as she explained so many facts (most of which I've forgotten but if you're in Naples, you have to go).  

Thinking we were getting a break from a couple days of rain, we decided to take a trip to see Sorrento.  This adorable Amalfi Coast beach town made for a great day trip.  We meandered the town, walked down to the beach and found a great gelato store that was owned by a friend of Roberto's.  Unfortunately, we didn't get our break in the rain for long and were surprised when it started to hail on us.  We still managed to see most of the town and caught a great sunset on our way home.

Again, following the advice of Roberto, we spent a few hours walking the Lungomare.  This is a great boardwalk just a few minutes' walk from the heart of Naples.  It runs about 2 miles along the seafront with wonderful views of small fishing boats and beautiful castles. 

 

Our last full day in Naples, we drove up to visit Castel Sant Elmo.  This Castle was amazing.  The views from this huge castle lay the entire city of Naples, Mount Vesuvius and the islands of Naples Bay out in front of you.  It's definitely a must do in Naples.

As usual, I took a ton of pictures so here's a link if you want to see more.

Naples Pictures

Finally, our time was up. We left Chelsea's car at the airport (she was flying in a couple of hours after us) and headed back to the boat.  As I type this, we're still in Sant Carles de la Rapita, Spain awaiting completion of a couple of more boat projects and a good weather window to take off.  Everything seems to be coming along nicely so hopefully we'll be able to post boating adventures soon.

Until next post!