Italy 2013 – Day 9 part 2 / Naples

Well the rest of the day was a complete turn around! It stopped raining so we made it up to Vomero and the Castel’Elmo to get some amazing views over Naples. To get up to Vomero, you have to take the funicular; needless to say I now have ‘Yamma! Yamma! Yamma-Yamma-Ya! Funeeeeeculeeeee Funeeeeculaaaa’ in my head and it won’t get out!!!

Totally worth it, the views from up there were spectacular!!!! The Bay of Naples, Capri, Vesuvius…  gorgeous!

We also strolled around the park of Villa Floridiana where I got to play with some new friends!

 

You may have also noticed that from the knees down my jeans an shoes were still soaked! I rolled up the jeans because they were so heavy with water they were dragging on the ground!

Then it was off for our last supper in Naples, again we fell into a Tourist Trap with just OK food, but I don’t regret it because we had some sparkling red wine. I was dubious at first, but it was really quite good!

So that’s it for Naples. I liked it, but I feel like I need a holiday to recover from it!!! 

Onwards to Sorrento tomorrow…

Italy 2013 – Day 9 part 1 / Naples

This day so far is a total write off!!! It rained like CRAZY all day!!  Not just a little rain to slow you down but you can still get on with your day type of rain. No. This is hunker down under your umbrella and get soaked to skin type of rain.

I am a drowned rat. Even with my umbrella and rain coat, I am drenched to the bone. I can hear the squish squish of my shoes with every step I take, my jeans are heavy with water…  I am sure none of this will dry by tomorrow!

We didn’t let the weather totally stop us, but it slowed us down significantly. We went to the Archaeological  Museum in the morning, then by 11 we decided to slowly start making our way to the restaurant we had in mind for lunch (the pizzeria featured in the movie Eat Pray Love) figuring it will be close to noon by the time we got there. It took us over 90 minutes to find it because of the rain!  We missed so many streets and turns because we were tucked under our umbrellas, watching our feet and dodging ankle-deep puddles while avoiding the rivers in the streets!!! We made it eventually; the pizza was great and the bill was 12€ for 2 pizzas, 1 water and 1 beer!!

After lunch, with the water still pouring outside, we make our way to another café for a drink and just sat around. Really, it’s all we can do!

It’s a little after 3PM now, and the rain let up enough to be “Not ideal but tolerable while on vacation rain” we stopped by the hotel so my husband can change his pants – I don’t want to change because I only want ONE wet outfit to deal with. We have nothing more planned for the day other than just hitting one café after another until it’s really time to call it quits.

Please God, if it has to rain for the next few days as planned, let it be like right now: drizzle as opposed to a downpour!!!

Pregate per noi!!

Italy 2013 – Day 8 / Naples

Oh my God…  I am EXHAUSTED!  Naples has completely drained me.

It’s TOTAL CHAOS! I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative way, it’s just the best word I can find to describe the city. It’s loud, fast, noisy, busy, bustling, pulsing…  Vespas RACING down little roads ready to run you over if you make a false move. There is graffiti on EVERYTHING, nothing is sacred: buildings, signs, Churches, statues... There is garbage everywhere; and I don’t just mean litter like cigarette butts and bottle caps – I saw vacuum cleaners and mattresses… and lots of dog shit.

This all makes Naples sound awful, but somehow it’s not – you just have to know what to expect so you can find a way to love it. My guidebook sais: take time to look behind the grime and you’ll learn why true love was never meant to be easy.

We hit the ground running after checking into the hotel – which is excellently situated I must say!  We kept walking by it when we were looking for it today, and even when we decided to call it a night we missed it again. It’s behind an innocuous door on the street at opens up into a huge courtyard and the hotel is one floor up. It’s not much from the outside, but we like it.

Our room is almost in the lobby! I wonder how that will work out tonight? Here you can see what I mean – the bathroom sink & toilet are behind that couch!

We didn’t really have a sightseeing plan for today, we just walked everywhere for about 5 –6 hours in all, not really playing attention to the locations, and not trying to check off all the sights in my guidebook, but just rather to soak up the atmosphere. Boy did we ever! We soaked it up so much that I am completely worn out!

  

Naples is know for being the birthplace of Pizza, so we went to a pizzeria that is listed on all the “top 10” lists of pizzerias in Naples: Sorbillo. HUGE pizzas starting at 3.50€!! Amazing!  Plus it was full of locals which is always a good sign, but at those prices it’s hardly a mystery to see why! The wait was about 30 minutes to get a table, you give your name at the desk then wait around in the street outside for your name to be called. It was PACKED!

It was a liquid super to me tonight after that HUGE and CHEAP lunch :) I could not eat another bite today even it I tried!

Ciao!