Napoli

After the conference on Friday and Saturday, I took my final trip with the lovely and talented Emma. I will reiterate how blessed I am to have had Emma with me these past months! She was the perfect travel companion and, as always, an excellent friend. I am extremely glad we got to reconnect here in Italy and I know that we will continue to keep in touch now!

On Sunday, Emma and I visited Naples, the town credited with inventing Italian pizza as we know it. For us, self-proclaimed foodies and overall appreciators of fine cuisine, Napoli is Mecca. Personally, if I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be pizza (Chicago style, New York style, Roman, Napolitano…anything REAL and not cardboard). So, pizza capital of the world? An absolutely necessary field trip!

We began our day by missing the train from my apartment in Trastevere to the main train station, Roma Termini. Typical. At this point, we were quite worried, seeing as we tend to have bad luck with transportation and I live pretty far away from Roma Termini. We hoped on a bus that would take us to the Metro which we could take directly into Termini. However, the timeline was as tight as a new pair of jeggings, so every time the bus stopped for passengers or red lights (or for the driver to talk to a friend….WHY DIDN’T HE UNDERSTAND?!), Emma and I exchanged exasperated looks and prayed for speedy delivery.

We made it to our train with ten minutes to spare because we are mavericks. The train ride was actually really fun! It was two hours of us in a compartment with an Italian family going on vacation and a Spanish man. The Italian family was a 12 year old boy, Adamo, a 13 year old girl, Lina, and their mother. Adamo was so funny, quizzing Emma and I and forcing us to eat cookies. It was fun to see a family interact and it was exciting to be included. We spent the entire two hour train ride speaking with the Spanish man, the mother, and the kids. Very fun!

Once we arrived in Napoli, we had a plan: visit Sansevero, get hazelnut coffee, get pizza, go up the funicular, get gelato, maybe see the sea. I’m pleased to report we accomplished all of our goals, with the exception of seeing the sea.

We began with Sansevero, which is a mausoleum and chapel from the 16th century. The chapel is home to one of the most exquisite sculptures I have ever seen – The Veiled Christ. The absolutely stunning piece of art depicts Jesus, after being taken down from the cross, covered in His burial shroud. The detail on the work is insane; it looks as though Jesus could wake up, shake off the dust of death, and walk out of the chapel at any moment. Marvelous!

After getting our fill of this amazing marble piece, we were fully prepared to visit Brandi, the restaurant that claims to have invented margherita pizza. Wandering around Napoli, we had no idea that our lives were about to change forever. Brandi, a very typical Italian restaurant, has expanded over the years into two shops – one on either side of the street. There is an official city plaque that reads “Birthplace of Pizza Margherita – 1889” right outside the restaurant, just in case you were wondering how seriously Naples takes its pizza.

Beer with pizza, never wine

THE PIZZA

Obviously last weekend was a pretty big weekend for me – I met a Nobel Peace Prize winner, I helped organize a big seminar on economic inclusivity, I nearly burst into tears upon shaking hands with the Pope… but the excitement did not stop there. This pizza was barely three notches below meeting the Pope. It was REALLY GOOD. Words fail to describe how perfect it was. The crust was soft, but still crispy. The sauce was simple and elegant. The cheese melted perfectly and carefully stretched with each bite. It was unobtrusive, modest, but completely extraordinary. I can honestly say it was the best meal I have had in my time abroad.

After the pizza, THE pizza, we went looking for the famous café, Del Professore. Beyond pizza, Naples is known for a hazelnut coffee drink called “caffe con la nocciola” and Del Professore claims to be the original caffe con la nocciola bar. (Napoli is very concerned with “the original” whatever… I’m sure it would have been great anywhere, but when in Napoli, be Napolitano.) I’m glad we had the coffee after pizza because it was like dessert! Very delicious, reminiscent of a Starbucks drink but without all the fake sugars and sweetners. I highly recommend trying caffe con la nocciola!

Having inhaled our coffee, we wanted to check out the funicular. The funicular turned out to be just a subway that went up the mountain, but we took it anyway figuring we could at least enjoy the view from the top.

Another funicular well worth the trip! Emma and I relaxed and attempted to recover from our pizza-and-hazelnut induced comas while azing over the city and a teeny part of the bay. From here, our plans were very up in the air; we had enough time to get gelato and do something else, but we didn’t know what we wanted to do and we didn’t want to wander too far.

Keeping up with our we-must-try-the-real-original, we headed down to Gelateria La Scimmia. La Scimmia (which means “monkey”) was founded in 1933 but has since had quite a face lift. It’s adorable interior offers dozens of gelato flavors as well as other frozen specialties, like chocolate dipped bananas. I had Madagascar vanilla and salted caramel gelato – both of which were fantastic. Emma got melone, which she was happy to report tasted delightfully refreshing. We sat in the sun, munched on our gelato, and discussed buying a bufalo in order to produce our own fresh bufalo mozzarella back home in the States.

With an hour before our train, we decided to check out briefly the university zone of Naples. It is very interesting to see so many different cities in Italy and note their similarities and differences. Naples was different than any other city we had visited, and yet still so quinessentially Italian. There is graffiti, cobblestones, and classic red roofs situated alongside tall, modern buildings and busy intersections.

All of the wanderings this blondie has encountered lead to a conclusion: a city is a city, no matter where in the world you are; yet every city is different and not every city is for every person. I love Rome, I love Milan, I love Innsbruck, I love Paris, I love Vienna, I love Jerusalem, I love Madrid, I love New York, I love Chicago – I could see myself living in any of those cities someday. They are all so unique but they could all be home. Cliché alert: home is where the heart is. And my heart is still wandering.

 

Con affetto,

Sara