Naples
Classy, Gritty Naples
Farnese Collection: Toro Farnese is 13 feet tall, carved out of one piece of marble! It's the largest intact statue from antiquity. Michelangelo helped restore this piece that's from the 3rd century A.D.
Italian 101: It’s not necessarily erotica! A phallus signified to Italians fertility, happiness, good luck and fortune. It warded against the “evil eye.”
Tuesday, May 1
Tour: Day 11
“As you walk around my city remember it's like historic lasagna. So many layers," Pina proclaims.
Pina will guide us through Underground Naples tomorrow and we will see firsthand some of those layers of Naples. But today she guides us through the National Archaeological Museum, one of the most important ones in the world we're told. After seeing Pompeii we now see artifacts from that city. As we view the Battle of Alexander we're told one million tesserae (tiles) were used to create the mosaic which dates back to the second century. It once decorated a floor in one of Pompeii's villas. We go into the Secret Room where erotic frescoes and statues once adorned houses, brothels and shops in Pompeii. We also view the Farnese collection, restored statues from Rome’s Baths of Caracalla.
Farnese Collection: Farnese Hercules is a 10 foot tall marble statue of a tired Hercules, leaning on his club. We'd be weary too if we had just fought men and gods! 3rd century A.D.
Battle of Alexander
Walking Tour
Getting introduced to Naples.
"You feel death brush your shoulder here." Caterina relating the psyche of the Neapolitan.
Caterina explains that carpe diem, living in this one present moment, is how Neapolitans go about their days because a certain level of chaos is ever present... and in the distance is the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Seize the opportunity to experience good times with friends, celebrate life, live passionately. We have seen this throughout this trip, and Naples certainly embraces this philosophy, too, as we witness it celebrate May Day.
We are introduced to this city and its psyche on this holiday. This is brilliant, in one way, because the juxtaposition will be striking. Today, on May Day, throngs of people are celebrating this national holiday that's analogous to Labor Day in the U. S. Cacophonous, crowded streets and corners. Restaurants bulging with patrons. Garbage overflowing from bins. But tomorrow the city will seem so calm and ordinary. It’ll be a Jekyll and Hyde experience. But right now on May Day Caterina sees our group’s lagging energy and the street’s intensity and fuels us with one of Napoli’s famous cookies as we continue our walking tour.
To understand Naples, it helps to realize it’s not just a crowded, gritty and chaotic city. Caterina tells us it’s a city of music, art, creativity. It’s a city pulsing with students. It’s a city full of Neapolitans waving their hands as if using sign language to speak. It's a city that had the first opera house in all of Europe. It’s a city that's proud of its depth of history. Caterina also instructs us that it's a city that demands everything of you. Mark and I are glad we have a guide to help us get our bearings before we go off on our own to explore this intense city.
Naples' famous cookie.
History Bite: A significant event in liberating Naples in WWII was the Quartto Giornate di Napoli, the Four Days of Naples, (Sept. 27-30, 1943) a citizen uprising against the German occupation forces. This is something the Neapolitans are proud of.
Mark at Mattozzi, enjoying his first bites of a Neapolitan pizza!
Our First Bite
A group of us decides to dine at Mattozzi pizzeria for lunch. It's close to our hotel, the Grand Hotel Oriente, which is a quiet oasis to escape to when done exploring Naples. It's May Day so Mattozzi is hopping! It's commedia dell'arte here!
Mark orders a beer and gets it. One of us women orders a beer. The male waiter brings it eventually but gives it to Mark, who is drinking his already. We laugh and get the beer to its rightful owner. Next, the waiter whisks away our silverware to give it to another table. We wait and wait to be served. We’re in Napoli! Once our pizzas arrive we dig in and enjoy our first tastes of Neapolitan pizza.
For dinner, Caterina takes us all to De Mateo, one of the most proclaimed pizzerias in Naples. Mark and I think it’s good but we think Punch Pizza in our hometown is just as good (Punch owners were trained in Naples). Sorry, DeMateo! Sorry Naples! We love your pizza but are glad we can find good slices back home, too.
Pleasure Activist Tip: Share pizzas. When ordering pizza in Napoli, if you are with a group, order several different kinds of pizza and taste them all. We did this as a group and it was fun tasting a variety of pizzas!
Mattozzi pizzeria with tourmates.
What sleeps underneath our feet in Naples.
Exploring More of Naples
Wednesday. May 2
Tour: Day 12
Pina is once again our guide. She's showing us some of the many layers of Naples. We begin at the Sansevero Chapel Museum which houses the Veiled Christ. It’s one piece of marble so exquisitely sculpted you think you are looking at tissue, not marble. I feel deep reverence and emotion as I look at this masterpiece. I find the other statues, like Disinganno (Disillusion) also mesmerizing: the message of breaking free of dogma is powerful as I view the statue breaking out of a net. (No photos allowed.)
San Lorenzo Maggiore is where we explore the basilica which is said to be one of Naples' finest medieval buildings. We also get a glimpse of what's underneath this complex when Pina ushers us underground to see ruins of a Roman market where we see remnants of a bakery, shops, porticoes and more.
The Underground Tour continues our captivating look at what sleeps underneath our feet. It lets us glimpse at Naples from about 500 B.C. to 1st Century A.D., spanning from the Greeks to Roman period. Above us is a modern, bustling city but below we walk past ancient memories of what this city offered.
Our final stop with Pina is Naples' Duomo, a cathedral dedicated to San Gennaro, the patron saint of the city. The Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro is said to be in thanks to San Gennaro for liberating Naples from disasters and stored in the chapel is a vial of his blood. Naples celebrates this saint on Sept. 19, for that's the day he's said to have been executed in 305 A.D. On that day, and two other days of the year, the vial of his blood is said to miraculously liquefy.
Also in the Duomo is St. Restituta's Basilica, one of the ancient cathedrals of paleo-Christian Naples our brochure tells us, built in the 4th century. Also here is the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, a baptismal font from the 6th century.
(NOTE: May Day altered the regular itinerary, so the Museo Capodimonte was omitted and replaced with other experiences.)
Pina guiding us in San Lorenzo Maggiore.
Free Time in Naples
Aperitivo one final time!
Grazie to two fabulous people: Caterina and Alexis!
We lunch with some of our tour family members at Antica Cucina Campagnola after we're finished with Pina's guided tour. Marinated anchovies, spaghetti frutti di mare and house red wine are superb. If it seems like I mention food a lot it's because it's such a part of being in Italy and understanding this culinary culture. Also, it's so tasty!
We have a little time to do whatever we want to before joining the group for our final evening together. We keep it simple: we stroll.
The rootfop bar of our hotel is where our last aperitivo takes place. The weather is gorgeous and we all seem to be in good spirits as we share memorable moments. I give a short thank you, on behalf of the group, to Caterina and the cameo necklace is presented. I tell her what Christian said about her, “she has the soul of a butterfly,” because it is such an apt and poetic description of her. I also thank her for helping us better understand southern Italy so that we could become temporary locals. She made this trip so much richer because of what she taught us and because of her savvy guidance.
I thank Alexis, again on behalf of the group, for her sunny disposition and her willingness to help us in any way. I know she's been very patient answering all my questions about various tours!
AND because this has been such a music-filled trip, three tour members have written and perform a song dedicated to Caterina.
Fun dining companions.
Pleasure Activist Tip: Indulge! Stop at the pasticcerie (pastry shops) and panifici (bakeries). We enjoyed many stops, including Roscioli, right across from Hotel Smeraldo. It serves tasty bakery treats and pizza. In Amalfi Town we delighted in pastry at Andrea Pansa. But, my advice is simply to follow your eyes and nose and let your senses be your guide. There are so many pastries to try. My favorite is the sfogliatella. Bits of its crisp, flaky shell will end up on your clothes. Just flick them off. Bite into the sweet ricotta filling and you won’t care how you look.
After lunch, a last saunter around Napoli.
Caterina pours Prosecco for our final aperitivo. We're at the rooftop bar of our hotel in Naples.
Serenading Caterina with their song!
The Last Supper
I Dduje Scugnizzi restaurant opened up just for Caterina and our group. She has made a point of making relationships with the hoteliers, restaurant owners, shopkeepers and it shows. As she says, “this is her family on the road.”
Not only did they open just for us, they brought in a singer too. We started our first group dinner by being serenaded by an Italian choir and now our last group dinner we are serenaded too. We sing for the waiters our now well-rehearsed song, That’s Amore, and one of the waitresses videotapes us!
We dine and reminisce about this amazing time in Italy. Some of us talk about future travel dreams. We say arrivederci to some of our travel partners who are leaving very early in the morning and won't be at breakfast. I feel a mixture of gratitude and joy for this adventure and sadness that it's almost over.
Bet this musician enjoyed this gig. The waitresses tipped him with kisses!
Our first dinner began with a choir singing to us. Our final dinner we're surprised with singing, too!
Enjoying the food and toasting to the memories made together!
© 2019 Jana Bauer
Page Seven - Naples
