So, I'd heard Naples was a tough town.
In '09, I met a guy from Naples in a Roman wine bar, and he cautioned me strongly against going. (Probably this had something to do with sleeping with me and not very much to do with Napoli, but that's what he said.) Stories floated around various hostels: "Like, doesn't the Mafia totally run Naples or something?"
Nonetheless, there was no way I was not going to Naples. For one thing, the tragic story of Pompeii has fascinated me since I was a child. And also, everyone knows that in Napoli you find The Best Pizza in the World.
I booked five nights in Naples, intending to use one for Pompeii, one for Vesuvius, and probably one as a downtime-day. My Hostel, Hostel of the Sun, was distinctly above-average. Not the newest building, and my eight-bed dorm was pretty cramped when full, but none of that mattered because the staff were awesome. The most helpful and friendly since Lisbon. Would definitely recommend them!
Right away I started chatting with two girls staying in my dorm, Asia and Sami. They were on their way to Gino Sorbillo's, one of the famous Napoli pizza places (the hostel circled the top three on our maps), and invited me out with them along with another girl from the hostel who actually knew how to get there. :) I was happy to have company for my first night out in Naples; my first impression of the city when leaving the train station had not been the best! Naples is quite unlike any other city in Italy that I've seen. It reminds me strangely of Eastern Europe, with the graffiti everywhere, laundry strung across grey apartment buildings, and people shouting all over the place. It has its own beauty and certainly its own very distinct character, but is not exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of Italy.
That is, of course, until one thinks of Italy and PIZZA.
There's really no way I can adequately explain the uniqueness of Napoli pizza. The thing looks enormous, and it is, but aside from the crust which puffs up a little when cooked, the majority of the pie is so thin it's almost crepe-like. The toppings as you can see are minimal, not a ton of cheese, sauce, or pepperoni. Just one sprig of basil in the middle. With nothing overpowering, the whole concoction just sort of... comes together. Perfectly. The subtle tastes and flavors all come together in a way that I've never quite experienced in a pizza before. And because there's not a ton of toppings and the dough so thin, it IS possible to eat an entire one of these and still have room for gelato.
(Oh, and Georgia? Seriously. Either get your shit together or just plain stop making pizza. The idea of having to face one of your mayonnaise-covered monstrosities -- after THIS -- makes me want to weep.)
Next to Gino Sorbillo's is a wine shop that has 12 different kinds of wine on tap. They'll let you do a couple tastings and then pour you wine by the litre into repurposed plastic soda and water bottles. I got a litre of sparkling red (sounds weird but was awesome) for 2.40 euro.
Post-pizza, we hung out in a Napoli square for a while and sipped our wine alongside all the locals. It was a perfect first night in this crazy, delicious city!
So Asia and Sami kind of ended up adopting me. They invited me out with them again the next day, first to the market for supplies (trying to be good and buy food to eat at the hostel!), and then out to explore the city. You know what they love in Naples? Christmas. Pretty much every kitch shop we passed was already decked out for the holidays, complete with every Christmas thing possible for sale and giant animatronic Santas at the front beckoning you in. We saw a Nativity scene made of bread.
We got what turned out to be the best gelato I've had in Europe so far, and checked out the beautiful Napoli Cathedral, including the crypt where we found a vase full of bones.
Then we decided to take this massive hike up a hill in the center of the city, to see a castle up there.
So we got all the way up there and then the girls didn't want to pay to get in the actual castle. I was a little confused as to the point of the trip, but at least we got some nice views.
And I really didn't care about castles, because that night we were going on a pilgrimage. To the Pizzeria Da Michele.
Anyone who's read or seen Eat, Pray, Love knows that supposedly The Best Pizza in the World is made here. There was no way I was coming to Naples and got getting this pizza, but I was a little nervous about braving this mecca filled with shouting Neapolitans all by myself. So the fact that Sami and Asia wanted to do this on their last night in Naples could not have been more perfect. We showed up "early" for dinner, around 7:30, and only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table! (This is even more amazing than it sounds, given the crowd we fought through when leaving, and the even bigger crowd I saw on my last day.)
To tell the truth, I was a little apprehensive. For one thing, hearing that something is going to blow your mind for three straight years really does make it unlikely that the actual thing, whatever it is, is going to be able to live up to the hype. And then there was the fame. Pizzeria Da Michele, pizza itself aside, was now one of the most famous pizzerias in the world, thanks to Julia Roberts. Fame tends to change things. Would this still be the tiny hole-in-the-wall that Liz described?
Little did I know that Pizzeria Da Michele, which has been around since 1870, could not give a crap about fame or Julia Roberts. (Although there is a picture of her on their wall. It's not a huge picture.) The three of us ordered beer and the Doppia Mozzarella, and I was even able to order in Italian which our waiter thought was adorable. And then the pizza came.
Yeah. What can I say. I had an actual emotional moment taking the first bite of this pizza. I was just so relieved. Over three years of hype and this pile of dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and basil just spoke to me and said "Calm down. We wouldn't even think of being disappointing." I wanted to hug it. Instead I hugged it with my tummy. It was, simply... the best pizza I have ever had or will ever have in my whole life. It was spiritual. It was The Best Pizza in the World.
And then it was back to the hostel to embark on our new callings as Da Michele Prophets, telling everyone we saw about this moment of Holy Pizza Perfection that we had just experienced, and how they must, simply must, go and experience it as well.
(Fast-forwarding here, because the next day I went to Vesuvius and Pompeii which gets its own post, and then the day after that I stayed in for laundry and recharging.)
And so it happened that my last full day in Naples was actually my first day on my own in the city. I had a good but pretty quiet day, visiting the Castel Nuovo (for six euros) and the Castel dell'Ovo (free.) The Castel Nuovo was okay but not quite what I was expecting. A large part of it had been taken over by municipal offices, and then there was sort of a small generic art museum. Very little of it remained actual castle.
There is an interesting legend associated with the Castel Dell'Ovo (Castle of the Egg). Apparently in ancient times an egg was hidden somewhere in the castle. As long as the egg remains unbroken, the city will never fall.
I wanted to head over to the Napoli Archeologial Museum, but my goddam Achilles tendons were freaking the fuck out again. And this just after a day off!!! I limped home and decided I'd see the museum tomorrow before getting on the train for Sorrento.
That night I ate at the third famous pizza place, Di Matteo. It was good but NOT as good as Da Michele!! I kind of had a bunch of pizza in Naples.
So, yeah. Last day in Naples, I stored my pack at the hostel and headed over to see the Archeological museum They have one of the largest collections of ancient Roman statues, as well as a whole bunch of art from Pompeii.
The best thing about this museum was the "Secret Room", that housed all the naughty paintings and sculpture from Pompeii. These were some randy folks.
Post-museum, I decided to try my luck one more time, and headed over to Da Michele to see if I could eat there for lunch. Yeah... No. The crowd outside was enormous. I sighed and limped off to eat another, far inferior pizza.
And then it was off to Sorrento.
In '09, I met a guy from Naples in a Roman wine bar, and he cautioned me strongly against going. (Probably this had something to do with sleeping with me and not very much to do with Napoli, but that's what he said.) Stories floated around various hostels: "Like, doesn't the Mafia totally run Naples or something?"
Nonetheless, there was no way I was not going to Naples. For one thing, the tragic story of Pompeii has fascinated me since I was a child. And also, everyone knows that in Napoli you find The Best Pizza in the World.
I booked five nights in Naples, intending to use one for Pompeii, one for Vesuvius, and probably one as a downtime-day. My Hostel, Hostel of the Sun, was distinctly above-average. Not the newest building, and my eight-bed dorm was pretty cramped when full, but none of that mattered because the staff were awesome. The most helpful and friendly since Lisbon. Would definitely recommend them!
Right away I started chatting with two girls staying in my dorm, Asia and Sami. They were on their way to Gino Sorbillo's, one of the famous Napoli pizza places (the hostel circled the top three on our maps), and invited me out with them along with another girl from the hostel who actually knew how to get there. :) I was happy to have company for my first night out in Naples; my first impression of the city when leaving the train station had not been the best! Naples is quite unlike any other city in Italy that I've seen. It reminds me strangely of Eastern Europe, with the graffiti everywhere, laundry strung across grey apartment buildings, and people shouting all over the place. It has its own beauty and certainly its own very distinct character, but is not exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of Italy.
That is, of course, until one thinks of Italy and PIZZA.
 |
| Could not imagine a better introduction to Naples! |
(Oh, and Georgia? Seriously. Either get your shit together or just plain stop making pizza. The idea of having to face one of your mayonnaise-covered monstrosities -- after THIS -- makes me want to weep.)
Next to Gino Sorbillo's is a wine shop that has 12 different kinds of wine on tap. They'll let you do a couple tastings and then pour you wine by the litre into repurposed plastic soda and water bottles. I got a litre of sparkling red (sounds weird but was awesome) for 2.40 euro.
Post-pizza, we hung out in a Napoli square for a while and sipped our wine alongside all the locals. It was a perfect first night in this crazy, delicious city!
So Asia and Sami kind of ended up adopting me. They invited me out with them again the next day, first to the market for supplies (trying to be good and buy food to eat at the hostel!), and then out to explore the city. You know what they love in Naples? Christmas. Pretty much every kitch shop we passed was already decked out for the holidays, complete with every Christmas thing possible for sale and giant animatronic Santas at the front beckoning you in. We saw a Nativity scene made of bread.
We got what turned out to be the best gelato I've had in Europe so far, and checked out the beautiful Napoli Cathedral, including the crypt where we found a vase full of bones.
 |
| One more long-shot of a church. |
 |
| Famous bones on display. |
 |
| Me and Naples |
And I really didn't care about castles, because that night we were going on a pilgrimage. To the Pizzeria Da Michele.
Anyone who's read or seen Eat, Pray, Love knows that supposedly The Best Pizza in the World is made here. There was no way I was coming to Naples and got getting this pizza, but I was a little nervous about braving this mecca filled with shouting Neapolitans all by myself. So the fact that Sami and Asia wanted to do this on their last night in Naples could not have been more perfect. We showed up "early" for dinner, around 7:30, and only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table! (This is even more amazing than it sounds, given the crowd we fought through when leaving, and the even bigger crowd I saw on my last day.)
 |
| This is their whole menu. |
Little did I know that Pizzeria Da Michele, which has been around since 1870, could not give a crap about fame or Julia Roberts. (Although there is a picture of her on their wall. It's not a huge picture.) The three of us ordered beer and the Doppia Mozzarella, and I was even able to order in Italian which our waiter thought was adorable. And then the pizza came.
Yeah. What can I say. I had an actual emotional moment taking the first bite of this pizza. I was just so relieved. Over three years of hype and this pile of dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and basil just spoke to me and said "Calm down. We wouldn't even think of being disappointing." I wanted to hug it. Instead I hugged it with my tummy. It was, simply... the best pizza I have ever had or will ever have in my whole life. It was spiritual. It was The Best Pizza in the World.
And then it was back to the hostel to embark on our new callings as Da Michele Prophets, telling everyone we saw about this moment of Holy Pizza Perfection that we had just experienced, and how they must, simply must, go and experience it as well.
(Fast-forwarding here, because the next day I went to Vesuvius and Pompeii which gets its own post, and then the day after that I stayed in for laundry and recharging.)
And so it happened that my last full day in Naples was actually my first day on my own in the city. I had a good but pretty quiet day, visiting the Castel Nuovo (for six euros) and the Castel dell'Ovo (free.) The Castel Nuovo was okay but not quite what I was expecting. A large part of it had been taken over by municipal offices, and then there was sort of a small generic art museum. Very little of it remained actual castle.
 |
| Castel Nuovo |
 |
| Bones found in the castle foundations. |
 |
| Castel Dell'Ovo |
I wanted to head over to the Napoli Archeologial Museum, but my goddam Achilles tendons were freaking the fuck out again. And this just after a day off!!! I limped home and decided I'd see the museum tomorrow before getting on the train for Sorrento.
That night I ate at the third famous pizza place, Di Matteo. It was good but NOT as good as Da Michele!! I kind of had a bunch of pizza in Naples.
So, yeah. Last day in Naples, I stored my pack at the hostel and headed over to see the Archeological museum They have one of the largest collections of ancient Roman statues, as well as a whole bunch of art from Pompeii.
 |
| Mosaic art taken from Pompeii |
 |
| Penis, with wings. And bells. |
 |
| "Are they playing leapfrog?" |
And then it was off to Sorrento.
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